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Let me put it succinctly–THIS BOOK IS A SOLUTION TO DIABETES.

What does that mean? It means that after 28 years of following the ultra-high carb diet of the ADA (which now that I have my blinders off makes zero sense) I have NORMAL blood sugars. My A1C went from 8.0 while on the ADA (which they see as only slightly high) to 5.0 (almost normal). I still have a bit of fine tuniing to go.

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I had heard about it from his web site, and ordered a copy before it was published. Even though I read Diabetes Solution (both editions) I did not realize that Dr. Bernstein was the FIRST diabetic to monitor his own blood sugars (and his account of how he stumbled on his program is pretty funny–he thought exercise and not diet was the key).

I got the book about three days ago and have already read it cover to cover and tried some of the recipes. The chef is a genius. She runs a restaurant but has a son who is a type 1 diabetic, so she knows how to cook for a diabetic, but she also really knows how to cook–or create, or whatever–she’s an artist.

We had people over for dinner and I made the veal with fennel and mushroom cream sauce and the green bean recipe and people raved over the food so much that I had to write down the recipes for three of my guests. I’ve had people ask for recipes, but never had THAT happen before (not a single one of them was a diabetic or low-carb dieter).

Despite what seem so far like fantastic recipes (I tried the turkey and stuffing recipes for Christmas and they were WONDERFUL), the book itself is easy. Dr. Bernstein lays out all the information very clearly without a lot of the science that is in Diabetes Solution. The science is good, but sometimes it’s a little overwhelming and you just want to say, Okay, fine, but just tell me what to do. Dr. Bernstein does that in this book very clearly and does it really well.

As usual, he debnks a lot of myths and explains exactly why, for example, the glycemic index isn’t worth much (there are many of them, they don’t agree on what food should be what number, etc.).

For people who want to cut to the chase and start his program to get their blood sugars into normal ranges–without knowing all the ins and outs of why–this book is perfect. It’d be great for people who just want to eat a tasty, low carb diet. As a companion to Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution, it’s worth it for the recipes alone, but it’s much more than that.

While the book is called The Diabetes Diet, it could also be used by anyone who wants to eat healthy and avoid diabetes. And with the endless rise of diabetes around the world, that’s a lot of people. Dr. Bernstein treats lots of overweight people–people not technically diabetics–and helps them avoid the awful side effects of diabetes.

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First things first: There have been other reviewers who seem to not only to have missed the point that this is for *diabetics*, but also have an axe to grind with snarky comments about “low carb taliban”. Thats an idiotic thing to say when uncontrolled carbs are the very things that are killing the type II diabetic with uncontrollable blood glucose levels. This is not some flavor of the month to be glib about – this is a lifestyle change to treat a life threatening disease.

There is no cure – you will have to change your life; Dr Bernstein is quite clear about that. And Diabetes is all about rules you must use to control your blood sugar. It all begins with your food. Control your food intake and you will enable control of your blood sugar. And thats is where the “strict” and “forever” come from. Regardless of how snarky some people wish to be about it, this is a choice between eating that cinnabon and dying of diabetic complications, or moving along and realizing that you are making a trade-off: the carbs for your health. Either you control your diabetes or you will die from it.

There have been comments made about the “outlawing” of Splenda (and Equal as well, had that the review bothered to read further), but this applies only to the *powdered form*. Dr Bernstein instead recommends Stevia if you wish to use a powder, or the *tablet* form if you wish to use Equal or Splenda. In fact, the tablet form of Equal is what Dr Bernstein writes that he himself uses.

All the facts: dieters should note that many of the artificial sweeteners in the dry form you find in those blue or yellow or pink packets actually contain sugars other than sucrose in order to provide bulk and avoid bitterness. Read the label in the grocery store and you will see that is the truth about a vast majority of the powdered forms, especially things like dextrose.

Beware of poeple who cavalierly and foolishly dismisses the presence of those substances, even though they are sugars! This causes me to seriously question whether that such people did much more than skim the book to reinforce thier biases. I urge people to go browse this book or the reviews for the other Bernstein book (or other sections of the book as published online at Dr Bernsteins web site).

Back to this book now that some common erros and misconceptions have been pointed out:

The recipes in here fit very well into almost any low-carb diet. But unlike the typical “Atkins” recipes (which some people use as an excuse to have a bacon-grease free-for-all), they also take into account protein and fat content to a much greater extent. There is a lot of difficulty in coming up with a menu that keeps your carbohydrates in line with Dr Bernstein’s inescapable “Laws of Small Numbers”, but this cookbook is a great starting place.

The recipes do not use many exotic items, and are reasonably easy for an experienced home-cook to prepare. There is a lot of “flavor” in these dishes, so, unlike some other low-carb diet plans I’ve had, there is no need to eat with your fork in one hand and the tabasco sauce in the other.

However, after a while, even these recipes will get “stale” if this cookbook is all you are using. There are not really as many recipes as most other low-carb cookbooks. But by examining how this book put together the proper amounts of protein and carbohydrate, proper portioning, and the proper types of carbohydrates, you can readily take other low-carb recipes and menus and adapt them to fit into the Bernstein Diabetes Solution. For example I was able to adapt many of the recipes in Carpender’s “500 Low-Carb Recipes” and “15 minute Low Carb Recipes” books with little trouble at all.

Bottom line: For the casual dieter, there are probably easier ways of doing that, but for the diabetic, this is the gold mine. This book, along with the main “Solution” book will be invaluable for those working with their doctors to implement their own personalized “Diabetes Solution” to control and achieve normal blood sugars.

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But this book is also more than a cookbook, as I was surprised to find it also has much information and inspiration for dealing with diabetes.

It is worth the buy.

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Jenny’s book, on the other hand, made me feel like “I can do this”. It is clearly written and provides a step-by-step program for getting one’s blood sugar under control. Best of all, I can sit down and read it without suffering a panic attack. Highly recommended for the newly diagnosed, or anyone wanting to learn more about this disease.

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I’ve been taking Jenny’s advice since I was diagnosed with Type II eleven years ago, and I’ve maintained my health while others around me have been listening to the professionals and suffering complications.

The vast majority of doctors are not diabetics and don’t know very much about the disease other than that their Type II patients gain weight over time and get worse. Yet these doctors tell their patients they can eat bread, potatoes, rice, pasta and desserts but that they must cut back and get exercise. For Type II’s, these foods make you hungry, make you fat, increase your insulin resistance, raise your blood sugar sky high, make you feel awful and prompt you to eat more of these troublesome foods. If one eats this way and takes a lot of meds or insulin, they can maintain the recommended A1C, which is dangerously high, but they will get worse over time. Because the time horizon for complications varies, many diabetics come to believe that they are immune to complications. Not so.

Why do doctors hide the truth from their Type II patients? It’s not their lives that are at stake. Many simply listen to the ADA’s bad advice and most are afraid of depressing their patients with the truth and driving them to other doctors with sunnier dispositions.

Diabetic complications are so awful, they make dietary restrictions look like a minor inconvenience. It’s easier to change your behavior when you know the real consequences. Sadly, too many Type II diabetics resist the truth and attack the messenger.

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I like that it speaks to all the major factors (food, exercise & medication) in a way that is simple to understand and specific with numbers that will help us live with this disease and I mean live without damage.

Thanks Jenny – everyone with diabetes should read this book and best case would be all those newly diagnosed would be handed a copy and told – This book will keep you on the right track and allow you to do what it takes to stay healthy with this disease.

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For those of you suffering from Type 1, 2 or MODL type Diabetes, this book has the best advice for really improving your Blood Sugar Control and health. I have been able to bring my A1C from 8.4% to 5.8% in 3 months by using the key advice found in this source. (I stumbled on some of the Medication and Diet Techniques on my own but found all of them concisely listed in this wonderful book).

Book Strengths:

1. Good, practical advice on making the necessary lifestyle changes stick!

2. Keeping the focus on understanding your individual diabetes situation and tuning for it.

3. Outstanding references to support all advice and continued emphasis on healthy skepticism.

4. An excellent, handy reference which to keep nearby.

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The core message of the book is (1) that blood sugars over 140 are damaging, and that you should keep your blood sugar below this level all the time, and (2) that keeping your blood sugar below 140 is something that everyone can do.

The problem with blood sugars over 140 is that they cause diabetic complications: increased heart attack risk, nerve problems, eyesight loss, kidney problems, blood vessel and circulation problems that can lead to amputations, etc. High blood sugars also accelerate damage to your pancreas, so that you get ongoing higher and higher blood sugars, a vicious circle. Not fun stuff.

The best early warning sign that your blood sugars are spiraling out of control is your peak blood sugar after a meal. If your blood sugar spikes to over 140 after eating, you need to start working on it. The best way to check it is to buy a low-cost over-the-counter blood sugar meter at your local pharmacy, and check your readings at 1, 1.5, and 2 hours after a typical meal.

The problem with fasting blood sugar as an indicator is that this is the last to go. You can have normal fasting blood sugars and high after-meal peaks for a long time, then “overnight” have very high fasting blood sugars when your system loses the ability to recover. Only when you show high fasting blood sugars will your doctor start treating you.

The best solution for high peak blood sugars is to reduce carbohydrates, which lowers the amount of blood sugar that your metabolism has to cope with.

One interesting piece of information is that carpal tunnel syndrome is often an early warning for blood sugar problems. Since I had carpal tunnel and other RSI problems years before I realized my blood sugar was not well-managed, this certainly fits for me.

This book is a great summary of what I’ve learned for myself, with enough new info and good ways of looking at things to make it extremely worthwhile. Thanks, Jenny!

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One of the first questions one might have is “What should I eat to prevent diabetes?” In this total life plan, which includes practical advice for weight-loss and exercise–the two imperatives of prevention, Woodruff and Saudek also provide two weeks of menus and 150 superb and healthy recipes that are easy to make.

I have served many dishes to guests who just thought I had made a terrific meal. They had no idea the recipes were from a diet book. Some tasty examples are Grilled Tuscan Tenderloin, Slow-Cooked Sicilian Pot Roast, Scallops with Peanut Sauce, Salmon with Roasted Plum Tomatoes, Cherry Bavarian, Cinnamon Peach Crisp, Dilled New Potatoes and Peas, Crab Louis Dip, Double Bran Muffins, Toasted Muesli and Citrus Vinaigrette. These have all become favorites in our menu repertoire!

My husband and I have both lost several pounds in a few months with these recipes/menus. Sandra Woodruff’s other cookbooks are great too. And, don’t forget the exercise. We are also walking 35 to 45 minutes every day. Making time to exercise daily and eat right is a better choice than sliding blindly into what could become a debilitating and life-threatening disease. Buy both books and start taking back your life.

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One of the first questions one might have is “What should I eat to prevent diabetes?” In this total life plan, which includes practical advice for weight-loss and exercise–the two imperatives of prevention, Woodruff and Saudek also provide two weeks of menus and 150 superb and healthy recipes that are easy to make.

I have served many dishes to guests who just thought I had made a terrific meal. They had no idea the recipes were from a diet book. Some tasty examples are Grilled Tuscan Tenderloin, Slow-Cooked Sicilian Pot Roast, Scallops with Peanut Sauce, Salmon with Roasted Plum Tomatoes, Cherry Bavarian, Cinnamon Peach Crisp, Dilled New Potatoes and Peas, Crab Louis Dip, Double Bran Muffins, Toasted Muesli and Citrus Vinaigrette. These have all become favorites in our menu repertoire!

My husband and I have both lost several pounds in a few months with these recipes/menus. Sandra Woodruff’s other cookbooks are great too. And, don’t forget the exercise. We are also walking 35 to 45 minutes every day. Making time to exercise daily and eat right is a better choice than sliding blindly into what could become a debilitating and life-threatening disease. Buy both books and start taking back your life.