Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 9, Number 4, 1 April 1992 — ʻAi Pono, E Ola [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

ʻAi Pono, E Ola

By Terry Shintani, M.D. »!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!•!

(This eolumn is open to all OHA Trustees as a uehiele for them to express their mana'o. Opinions expressed are those of the indiuidual Trustees and do not necessarily represent the official position of the OHA Board of Trustees.)

Wai'anae Diet Program now on Neighbor lslands

Recently, at the Wai'anae Diet Program III, there were tears of joy and an outpouring of support and congratulations when one of our participants who was on 110 units of insulin was told that she should now stop

her medication because her blood sugar was under control. It was another of the "ehieken skin" experiences that we have had repeatedly in the program. The Wai'anae Diet Program III and the Kaua'i Native Hawaiian Diet Program are currently in the second week and by the time this article is published, they will both be over. Last month I described how we helped Kaua'i begin its program modeled after the

Wai anae diet and that they would run at tne same time for 21 days. There are onee again more dramatic results with patients in terms of weight loss, blood pressure control, and diabetes control. For example, earlier in the week one participant who was on 60 units of insulin was also taken off his medication. One of our participants was taken off blood pressure medications. From the Kaua'i Native Hawaiian Diet

Program we have similar reports. Two individuals, one on 37 units and the other on 29 units of insulin had their medications stopped because of normalizing blood sugar levels. Weight loss of up to 16 pounds has been reported on both programs.

The importance of these results is not only the benefit to the patient. These results mean that the great benefit of the Wai'anae Diet Program ean be repeated, and it ean be replicated in other locations. The ability to teach and spread the important message of traditional Hawaiian diet, culture, values, and lifestyle has been the intent and design of the Wai'anae Diet Program.

This is of even more significance because of the Wai'anae diet's now legendary Edward Aikala. His losing over 150 pounds was picked up by the Associated Press and made available to the world. It has already been published on the Big Island, Maui and Kaua'i. By now it will have been seen in papers across the nation.

There is already great interest in the Wai'anae Diet Program and we are in the process of trying to obtain funding to assist other communities in helping their Hawaiians to better health. Last week I was on the island of Hawai'i doing a seminar for Professional Secretaries International. There I met Kahu Henry Kahalehili of Glad Tidings Church in Hilo who asked me if I would help start a pro-

gram at their church. I hope that those of you who are thinking of starting programs do so carefully. There are many safeguards that must be taken to ensure the safety of participants if there are health problems or if the participants are on medications. (Note the warning on the inside cover of the Wai'anae Diet Program book.) Be sure to have the supervision of a physician and in many circumstances the approval of eaeh participant's physician before starting.

It is our hope that Hawaiians everywhere ean be helped by this approach. For those of you who do not have access to an organized program, the Wai'anae Diet Program book is still available at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center (send $9.75 to WCCHC 86-260 Farrington Hwy, Wai'anae, Hawai'i 96792.

In doing so, we hope that tears of joy ean be shed and the "ehieken skin" experience of seeing tbe restoration of health my be shared among all the Hawaiian people. Dr. Terrg Shintani, physician and nutritionist, is director of Preuentive Medicine at the Wai'anae Coast Comprehensive Health Center. Its board is predominantly of Native Hawaiian ancestry. He also has a eall-in nutrition talk show on K108 Sundags 7-9 p.m. where people ean ask questions on nutrition and healih.