Linares gained a lot of weight after his parents moved the family to the United States. Wanting to assimilate into the American teen culture as fast as he could, Linares ate a lot of hamburgers and pizzas. His parents’ diet was also pretty bad.
Theirs is an experience shared by many U.S. Hispanic and Latino immigrant families, Linares said. As adults work for their families in the United States and abroad, eating healthy takes a backseat, he said.
“This is why I’m big on Latino health and us getting back to our culinary ways,” said Linares, who has a Cuban father and a Colombian mother.
After his freshman year of high school — and after repeatedly striking out with the girls at school — Linares decided to lose weight. He started exercising regularly and asked his parents to cook the healthy meals they ate when living in Colombia.
In the military, the nutrition and fitness habits he acquired deepened his commitment to healthy eating and exercise.
Yet Linares said he understands why Hispanics and Latinos with diabetes may find it hard to follow doctor’s dietary orders to keep their condition under control.
“As a Latino,” he said, “I’m not going to follow a doctor-recommended diet that’s telling me to eat boiled chicken, celery sticks or peanut butter because that’s not my culture.”
With that in mind, Linares tinkered with some of his favorite Cuban recipes. The result was Sabores de Cuba, a recipe collection of Cuban classic dishes with a healthy, diabetes-friendly twist.
The picadillo recipe, for example, is made with turkey instead of beef. To make pork marinated in mojo, he uses shoulder instead of tenderloin. And for the Cuban sandwich, he uses low-fat turkey, low-fat Swiss cheese, and multigrain bread.
Latin Americans can eat healthy meals that include the familiar smells and flavors from their native lands, said Linares, who savors the memories of his family meals in Colombia. He can still taste the herb-roasted chicken, red beans, and arepas that were staples of the gatherings.
“It was an awesome time.”