Empower Yourself

At Centegra Health System, we want to teach you how to be healthy, which does not mean going on a diet. We want you to stay nourished with all of the good vitamins and fuels your body needs without the added sugar. To stay healthy, it is important to learn what foods are good for your blood pressure, cardiovascular needs, cholesterol and blood sugar. We want to prevent any unnecessary complications, and educating you about nutrition is part of the prevention process.

Our Goal

The goal of our self-management class is to educate you about diabetes and ways to aggressively maintain or keep your cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar managed so there are no complications after diagnosis. These classes are taught by registered dietitians and nurses so you understand both the nutrition and clinical changes caused by diabetes. We want to empower you, and we offer these classes as a way to achieve that. For your convenience, classes are offered at morning and evening hours to accommodate many different schedules. Each class is outlined in the following way:

• 1st Class
  • Dietitian: Carb counting
  • Nurse: What is diabetes? What medications are needed?
• 2nd Class
  • Dietitian: Diet, how to eat and cholesterol
  • Nurse: Large blood vessels and their relation to complications like heart attack and stroke
• 3rd Class
  • Dietitian: Different foods that  include: salt, fiber, omega-3 fats, stanols, sterols and ongoing techniques to use when choosing the right foods to eat
  • Nurse: Small blood vessels  that include eyes, kidneys and nerves

To sign-up for the next self-management class, call (815) 356.2382.