Chef Curtis Aikens will give a cooking demo at the Cleveland Clinic

Celebrity Chef Curtis Aikens will be at the Cleveland Clinic farmers' market tomorrow, July 29, to give a lunchtime cooking demonstration.
The chef from Georgia will be whipping up tasty dishes that can work into any healthy lifestyle, but that can also help people with diabetes maintain good blood sugar levels. Aikens, who has diabetes and who has lost family members to the disease, continues his love of food and his mission of improving health. Part of that, he believes, is learning to raise and eat fresh foods.
"I love farmers' markets," he said. "I'm a produce guy. I started in television giving folks tips on how to prepare fruits and vegetables."
Aikens is best known as host of The Food Network's, "Pick of the Day" cooking show. But, he also works as a diabetes educator for Novo Nordisk, a maker of insulin and other diabetes medications. He will lead a noon diabetes education program, "Diabetes 101: Staying Healthy," that will offer recipes, strategies and a cooking demonstration.
Aikens thinks there are no limits to the kinds of food that diabetics can enjoy, but that they need to employ some safe-eating strategies like portion control and exercise. His message is important in light of a national health trend. Once a relatively uncommon disease, diabetes has mushroomed into a health crisis. In 2012, nearly 10 percent of the population had diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Aikens said he has succeeded in losing weight after shifting his tastes from traditional southern-style food to a healthier diet. For his cooking demonstration, he will show how to make a sweet potato pie with less sugar and more sweet potato, and will lighten up macaroni and cheese with sauteed onions and mushrooms.
The Cleveland Clinic farmers' market takes place every Wednesday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Crile Mall, between E. 100th and E. 96th St., south of Euclid Ave.