Chef Eric's Healthy Cooking Tips for People With Diabetes

The Diabetes Council asked Chef Eric how to cook delicious cuisine despite dietary restrictions. Key takeaways: cooking chard isn’t hard, and barley needn’t be gnarly.
Chef Eric also offers a variety of healthy recreational cooking classes, including classes such as “Healthy Cooking Class” and “Vegetarian Cuisine” which features an ALL VEGAN menu. Find your perfect class here!
For the original article (plus tips from 45 other fantastic chefs), click here! 
In all my years of teaching the finer aspects of cooking, I frequently get questions concerning diets. Be it low- sodium concerns, vegan alternatives, gluten intolerances, allergies and many others, I find myself motivated to help as much as I can.
When it comes to diabetes, my years of teaching experience have led me to discover the health benefits of ingredients such as:

• Whole Grains like Barley and Bulgur 
• Beans like Kidney, Black, or Pinto
• Dark Leafy Greens like Swiss Chard, Kale and Spinach
• Healthy Cooking Oils like Grapeseed Oil, Canola Oil, Sunflower Oil and Olive Oils
• Fish like Salmon, which is high in Omega 3 fatty acids

All of these ingredients are ideal for someone with diabetes. I created a 4-week Healthy Cooking Series where we cover all of these ingredients and more and how to cook them flavorfully.  In this series we work with students who have a variety of health issues and people who want to learn how to cook for a healthier lifestyle.
The challenge is to make the recipes easy, interesting, and tasty so they will embrace using these healthier ingredients. To make the lifestyle changes necessary for continued good health it has to be easy. If people with diabetes would start incorporating some of the ingredients that I have listed above, they will be happy with how dramatically their health will improve.