This First Nations chef went into a diabetic coma at 21. Now he teaches healthy traditional cooking

Anna-May Zeviar · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 20, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 5 hours ago

Kirk Ermine was 21 years aged erstwhile helium fell into his archetypal diabetic coma. At the time, helium didn't cognize what was going on.

The archetypal doc helium saw did humor work, but didn't trial for diabetes. The 2nd doc assumed immoderate sores connected Ermine's rima were connected to an STI outbreak successful Prince Albert, Sask., wherever helium was surviving astatine the time.

In reality, the symptoms were from Type 1 diabetes.

Some signs of diabetes see utmost exhaustion, sores that don't heal quickly, predominant urination and infections, utmost thirst and blurry vision.

WATCH | Diabetic cook focuses connected steadfast cooking utilizing accepted ingredients: 

Ermine was yet diagnosed aft helium experienced exhaustion truthful utmost helium couldn't get retired of furniture and had to beryllium rushed to hospital. His humor sugars were astir 10 times higher than they should person been.

"It took them about nine days to bring my sugars down to normal," helium said. "In that clip I ended up successful a coma."

Doctors told him he had juvenile Type 1 diabetes. He has been insulin-dependent ever since.

Type 1 diabetes is simply a information successful which the pancreas does not nutrient immoderate insulin, a hormone that helps our bodies power the sugar in our blood.

About 10 per cent of radical surviving with diabetes person Type 1. The different 90 per cent person Type 2 diabetes, which is much communal successful older adults. It's besides becoming much communal owed to obesity, but it tin beryllium prevented oregon postponed with manner changes, specified arsenic limiting abdominous and sweetener intake, exercising much and not smoking.

Both types of diabetes are besides much prevalent among Indigenous populations. According to Diabetes Canada, rates of Type 1 and 2 diabetes are 17.2 per cent successful First Nations radical surviving connected reserve, and 12.7 per cent for those surviving disconnected reserve, compared to astir 5 per cent of the wide population. Nearly 10 per cent of Métis radical are diabetic.

Ermine was calved and raised successful Sturgeon Lake First Nation. He admits his fare was not the best.

"Eating convenience foods — the Kraft dinners, the ramen noodles, a batch of breads — a batch of hollow carbs that truly crook into sugars erstwhile they're successful your body," Ermine said.

After his diagnosis, helium became much funny successful however nutrient tin impact us. He started to announcement that radical utilized nutrient to either harm oregon heal their bodies, depending connected their affectional state.

"So erstwhile we're harming ourselves, we thin to spell for the accelerated foods, the comfortableness foods, thing that's going to get into america quickly," Ermine said. "But we don't recognize the precocious cholesterol, the precocious salt, the precocious sugars that we're putting successful our bodies. And that's similar sweetener bombing our pancreas."

Ermine was moving arsenic a firefighter successful the bush erstwhile helium started paying person attraction to his humor sweetener levels. He could archer erstwhile helium needed to eat, truthful helium started cooking for himself and the crew.

"I got bushed of the carnal labour. So I decided 1 time that I mightiness arsenic good spell and bash thing that I tin person a passionateness about."

He completed the Saskatchewan Polytechnic Professional cooking programme successful 2007, graduating with honours.

Since then, he's worked for SIGA, Prairieland Park, Dakota Dunes Casino Restaurant and the University of Saskatchewan.

After adopting his children, helium decided it was clip for a alteration of pace. He stayed location to attraction for the kids, and started a catering and consulting business, teaching others however to navigator health-conscious meals utilizing accepted ingredients alternatively of processed food. 

"I promote radical to devour little of it, oregon beryllium originative with it," Ermine said, adding that radical tin besides incorporated much nutritional density to their nutrient by adding vegetables, eggs and different elemental proteins.

Even the pickiest of eaters tin beryllium swayed, Ermine said. He said it's each astir moving with flavour profiles that a idiosyncratic likes, and investigating antithetic types of vegetables utilizing antithetic cooking methods. He suggests having amusive with it, with a sensation test.

"Kind of similar a achromatic container challenge," helium said. "They commencement tasting worldly and they'll realize, oh, this is really good."

One staple constituent Ermine loves to usage is saccharine potato, due to the fact that of its precocious fibre contented and debased glycemic index. He besides said crippled meats similar moose oregon venison tin beryllium swapped into recipes if radical don't person entree to beef.

Pemmican is another food that helium likes to experimentation with. The staple of galore First Nations diets is made of dried meat, dried berries and carnal fat. He said it tin beryllium modified to suit anyone's taste.

"You tin adhd much nutrition by adding antithetic ingredients, antithetic flavours, and antithetic berries, [you] tin add traditional nuts, similar hazelnuts and pecans," helium said.

Ermine does pemmican teachings with the Saskatoon Public School Board, and presents astatine taste camps with the University of Saskatchewan and First Nations University of Canada. 

He's besides held workshops connected his location reserve, showing kids and families however they tin marque healthier meals successful their ain kitchens.

"Some of the recipes that we were doing, I was amazed to spot however galore kids ne'er tried definite vegetables," Ermine said. "But erstwhile they tried it successful antithetic cooking techniques and antithetic flavour profiles, they really enjoyed vegetables."

Ermine said he whitethorn subdivision retired successful the aboriginal and commencement creating videos and recipes helium and his kids tin stock online. At immoderate point, helium whitethorn adjacent constitute a cookbook.

For now, helium said he volition support perfecting his recipes and inspiring others to devour healthier.

"It makes maine consciousness truly bully wrong knowing that done my illness, my disease, that I tin make a affirmative alteration successful the world, taking a antagonistic and creating a affirmative retired of it."

Ground bison with saccharine potatoes and chaotic mushrooms, implicit a furniture of basmati and chaotic rice 

Chef Kirk Ermine shared 1 of his recipes with CBC.

It's a hearty and nutritious repast utilizing accepted ingredients that anyone tin marque successful nether 20 minutes.

Ingredients:

• 1 saccharine murphy peeled and chopped into half-inch cubes.
• 900 grams crushed bison meat.
• 500 grams of dry, chaotic mushrooms, re-hydrated.
• 1 tablespoonful minced garlic.
• Three pinches of allspice.
• Salt and capsicum to taste.
• One cupful of basmati rice.
• 2 cups of chaotic rice, cooked and cooled.
• 1 tablespoonful butter.

Instructions:

• In a mean pot, adhd basmati rice, butter, and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil, screen and trim heat. Simmer until h2o is absorbed.
• In a ample frying pan, vigor 2 tablespoons canola oil, adhd saccharine murphy cubes and sauté for 10 minutes.
• Add mushrooms and sauté for different 2 minutes.
• Add the crushed bison, allspice, salt, pepper and garlic.
• As the crushed bison cooks, interruption it up into smaller pieces until it's afloat cooked and mixed.
• In a abstracted bowl, add hot basmati atom to the cooked chaotic atom and harvester evenly.
• Put a furniture of atom onto a plate, and apical with the sauteed bison, saccharine murphy and mushroom substance and enjoy.