Back in 1999, pagers worn on the belt meant the wearer was either a doctor or an important businessperson. So when contestants at the Miss America pageant saw what looked like a pager around Miss Virginia Nicole Johnson's waist, they thought, "Wow, she must think she is important."

When Nicole Johnson Baker, a diabetic and former Miss America, helped put together a cookbook for diabetics, "Mr. Food: Every Day's a Holiday Diabetic Cookbook," she included Broccoli Corn Casserole, left, Nicole's Famous Chicken and Great Grape Crumble.(John Heller, Post-Gazette) Sources "Mr. Food: Every Day's a Holiday Diabetic Cookbook," American Diabetes Association, 2002 "Mr. Food's Quick & Easy Diabetic Cooking," American Diabetes Association, 2001 "Living with Diabetes: Nicole Johnson, Miss America 1999," Lifeline Press, 2001

They didn't know the device was actually her insulin pump, which helped stabilize her blood glucose. When the young women learned that this wasn't an electronic gadget after all -- it was Nicole's lifeline -- they apologized to her for their misperceptions.

When she was crowned Miss America, she became even more determined to bring diabetes awareness to the public and to corporations and government agencies that fund diabetes research.

There are 18.2 million Americans with diabetes and another 20 million with pre-diabetes. Two hundred thousand people die each year from diabetes and its complications. More than 5 million Americans have diabetes but don't know it. In many cases, diabetes is not diagnosed until after the person has suffered a heart attack.

Nicole Johnson's diagnosis came at Thanksgiving 10 years ago, when she was 19.

"In my first year of college," says the 30-year-old former Miss America, now Nicole Johnson Baker, after her wedding to WTAE-TV anchor Scott Baker last August.

" I was very tired ... but because I was involved in lots of campus activities, I thought tired was a normal part of being a student. I had lost some weight. I also always had a water bottle in my hand ... just like every other college female. I was always thirsty."

She began entering pageants in high school to win scholarship money for college. During a competition as a college sophomore she became violently ill. She had experienced flu-like symptoms -- aches, exhaustion and nausea -- for some time, but they worsened during the pageant. She managed to make it through, but once back home for Thanksgiving break she just couldn't take the discomfort any longer. After blood tests, she got the news: She had Type 1 diabetes.

It came as a shock, although she now recognizes that the thirst, weight loss and exhaustion are all signs of diabetes. In the months that followed, Baker realized that entering pageants gave her a perfect platform to spread the word about diabetes.

In September 1998, winning the Miss America crown gave her the ultimate chance to become an ambassador for diabetes education.

But the title didn't bring contentment. She became frustrated with the bland recipes for people with diabetes.

"Food had become the enemy," she says. "Everything tasted like cardboard. I thought, 'Why not show people with diabetes that they can eat all foods in moderation?' "

Around this time she met Art Ginsburg -- also known as TV cook "Mr. Food" -- at a health fair in North Dakota.

"I talked him into doing a cookbook," Baker recalls. She says the first one, printed in 2001, was "so successful that we did another in 2002."

Baker contributed some family favorites, such as her grandmother's Salmon Croquettes.

Through Mr. Food she was re-introduced to Scott Baker, news anchor at WTAE-TV. She had met Baker a few years earlier at a seminar he was teaching on careers in journalism. He advised her on her career from time to time, but they lost touch.

"About two years ago I was on his noon show with Mr. Food making Apple Crisp. We reconnected," she says. She surprised him by having the same Apple Crisp at their wedding reception. The couple live in the North Hills area.

Asked if her new husband had a hard time adjusting to her diet, she says, "Scott is very disciplined and eats a healthy low-fat diet. He is actually more strict about his diet than I am, so it was me who had to adjust a little."

In 1994, new research-based guidelines from the American Diabetes Association gave people with diabetes the go-ahead to substitute sugar-containing foods for other carbohydrates as part of a well-balanced meal plan. Well-controlled blood sugars are the goal of any eating plan in order to prevent the heart disease, kidney disease, eye disorders and nerve damage often seen with diabetes.

Meal planning for people with diabetes has changed dramatically in the past 10 years. The use of food exchange lists to plan meals is diminishing, with the majority of people newly diagnosed with diabetes just counting the grams of carbohydrates in their food and beverages.

"Basically, if you eat too much sugar, or any carbohydrate-containing food, your blood sugar will jump higher, " writes Baker in "Quick & Easy Diabetic Cooking."

Meal plans, of course, should be designed with the help of a physician and registered dietitian based on individual needs and medications. Many people with diabetes are instructed to lose weight.

"Popular diets, such as the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet, that are very low in carbs, are not a good idea," she cautions. "Elimination of a food category is a bad idea for everyone, including people with diabetes. Since we're already at risk for kidney disease, we don't want to put any extra stress on the kidneys, and these high-protein diets do that.

"In any cookbook for people with diabetes, every recipe is not appropriate for every person."

The recipes in these cookbooks are good not just for people with diabetes, but also for anyone who is trying to eat more healthfully.

Books can be purchased at bookstores or ordered online at www.diabetes.org.

Tips for diabetes control from Nicole Johnson Baker:

1.. Always work with your physician and dietitian.

2. Plan ahead. Good options help you deal with cravings.

3. Eat about the same amount at about the same time every day. This helps to keep blood sugars stable.

4. Keep things " no frills." Fancy sauces and accompaniments can make it difficult to estimate carbs.

5. Include fiber in your diet. Fiber One cereal is a good choice because it has lots of fiber but minimal carbohydrates.

Definitions

Type 1: Results from the body's failure to produce insulin, the hormone that "unlocks" the cells of the body, allowing glucose to enter and fuel them.

Type 2: Results from insulin resistance (where the body fails to properly use insulin), combined with relative insulin deficiency.

Pre-diabetes: Blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but not high enough for diagnosis of Type 2 disease. This level was recently lowered from 110 mg/dl to 100 mg/dl.

Gestational Diabetes: High blood sugars during pregnancy when blood was normal before pregnancy. This occurs in 4 percent of pregnant women.

For details, contact the American Diabetes Association, 412-824-1181, or online at www.diabetes.org.

Symptoms of diabetes

Frequent urination

Excessive thirst

Extreme hunger

Unusual weight loss

Increased fatigue

Irritability

Source: www.diabetes.org

-- Mary Miller

APPLE CRISP

• 6 medium apples
  
• 1/4 cup plus 2 table-spoons all-purpose flour, divided
  
• 1 tablespoon sugar
  
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  
• 1/2 cup quick cooking rolled oats
  
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar
  
• 2 tablespoons reduced-fat margarine

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a 9-inch microwave safe pie plate with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the apples, 2 tablespoons flour, sugar and cinnamon; mix well. Spoon into the pie plate and cover with waxed paper. Microwave on high power for 4 to 6 minutes, or until the apples are soft.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup flour, oats, and brown sugar; mix well. With a fork, blend in the margarine until crumbly; sprinkle over the apples. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden and bubble. Serve warm.

Makes 8 1/2-cup servings.

"Mr. Food's Quick & Easy Diabetic Cooking"

THE GREAT GRAPE CRUMBLE

• Nonstick cooking spray
  
• 6 cups seedless green or red grapes (we used a mixture of both for a holiday look)
  
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar, divided
  
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
  
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, divided
  
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
  
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• 1 teaspoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Coat a 13-by-9-inch baking dish with cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine grapes, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup melted butter, 2 tablespoons flour, orange zest, and nutmeg; mix well. Pour into baking dish; set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, the remaining 1/4 cup melted butter, the remaining 1 cup flour, sour cream, egg and baking powder and mix well. Spoon evenly over grape mixture. Bake for 45 minutes or until the crust is golden and the juices are thickened. Let cool slightly, and then serve warm.

Makes 12 servings.

Exchanges: 2 carbohydrates; 2 fat; calories 210; total fat 9 grams; carbohydrates 30 grams; dietary fiber 1 gram; sugars 18 grams; protein 3 grams.

"Mr. Food: Every Day's a Holiday

Diabetic Cookbook"

BROCCOLI AND CORN CASSEROLE

• 3/4 cup coarsely crumbled saltine crackers, divided
  
• 3 tablespoons butter, melted
  
• 1 package (10 ounces) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained
  
• 1 can (16 ounces) cream-style corn
  
• 1 egg, beaten
  
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
  
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs and melted butter; mix well. Reserve 1/3 cup of the cracker crumb mixture and set aside. Add the remaining ingredients to the large bowl; mix well and spoon into the loaf pan. Sprinkle the top with the reserved cracker crumb mixture and bake for 40 to 45 minutes, or until heated through and the top is golden. Makes 6 1/2-cup servings.

Exchanges: 1 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 fat; calories 196; carbohydrate 21 grams; dietary fiber 3 grams; sugars 5 grams; protein 7 grams; total fat 10 grams.

"Mr. Food: Every Day's a Holiday

Diabetic Cookbook""

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Registered dietitian Mary Miller is a Fox Chapel freelance writer and Simply Entertaining columnist.