Last Friday I went to the “Diabetes Cook-Off,” an event sponsored by SANOFI and hosted by father and daughter actor team, Paul and Mira Sorvino. The event was a pie competition. Two woman had sent in recipes for their healthy pies and they baked them up with the Sorvinos in NYC where a panel of judges awarded one the winner. (Recipe below) It was a generous event – all invited got to eat pie! 😉

But I was attracted to the SANOFI initiative Paul and Mira Sorvino are involved in, “Diabetes Co-Stars.” It’s awareness-raising around healthy eating and exercise, but also particularly, the importance of supporting a loved one who has diabetes. Paul was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes five years ago. 

I had the opportunity to interview the two actors for a few minutes after the event. (There will be a longer interview in November which I’ll post on the Huffington Post.) 

When I asked Paul Sorvino, “Why do you do this work?” he extolled the pleasure of helping others and gave me a great quote, “I wasn’t going to,” he said. “I was afraid it would hurt my career. But then I thought this is doing something good in two ways, educating others and it makes me more fearless to say, yes, I have diabetes.”

It turns out Mira didn’t even know her father had diabetes until he slumped over his plate during a family dinner. As for Mira, she said, “What can you give someone who’s given you everything, but sticking together through the hard times. It’s about family values.”

It was a lovely morning and all it took was one question to get these two sharing stories, recipes – now I know how Paul likes his salad – and I even have an invitation for dinner at the Sorvino’s should I ever be in L.A.  

But here’s the take-away. If you have diabetes, don’t go it alone. We all do better with support.