The Diabetes Diet : Dr. Bernstein's Low Carbohydrate Solution

Rating:
Summary: Low Carb fundamentalist... impractical if informative
Review: I read a pre-release copy of this book and found both positive and negative.
On the plus side, it's easy to read, and his life story is in fact engaging. His advice about testing blood sugars-- even if you aren't diagnosed with diabetes-- makes sense. Also he explains that there are way too many factors that affect blood sugar for the "glycemic index" or other rules to be easy: he advocates blood testing and personal experience, keeping a journal, and knowing your body, to keep blood sugar in the right range, thereby reducing the amount of insulin you use, thereby reducing the energy stored in your body, thereby making you lose weight.

On the minus side, he's the Taliban of low-carb diet gurus: No multi-stage diet. No grain of any kind, even whole grain. No fruit, not even tomatoes. No peas. No exceptions. No end. Ever. He outlaws balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, wild rice, quinoa... even Splenda, because they use dextrose as a filler. Basically unless you go into a low-blood-sugar coma, you'll never see another carbohydrate again. Plus unless you have a prescription, blood sugar testing is not cheap-- and even if you do, it does literally involve poking yourself with sharp objects two to four times a day. Eating right isn't always fun, but with this diet, it's *never* fun!

So, although it may be informative, it's not likely to be useful, unless you really, really love having very strict rules to follow. Always. Forever.

Rating:
Summary: A Great New Book on Diabetes-Five Stars for the Dr.
Review: I strongly disagree with the reviewer who only gave this book two stars.

Coming from a family full of diabetics, I fully know how important a low carbohydrate is for both diabetics and the general population as well.

The reviewer is wrong in stating Dr. Bernstein's plan is a no-carbohydrate plan. It is severely limited in carbs, but then again I know many folks who happily LIVE on the Atkins plan, lost weight and never gone far beyond induction (20 g. per day). The thing is, many folks are willing to give up the momentary pleasure of carb digestion for a lifetime of lower weight and good health. It's all about commitment, and I might also add, not deprivation, as the plethora of low carb cookbooks on the market now will testify.

I hope when this book does get released, all the diabetics and successful weight losers will come out of the closet and testify how Dr. Bernstein's advice has helped them, much like the nearly 100 reviewers did when reviewing his last successful book, The Diabetes Solution.

Dr. Bernstein has dedicated his life to helping diabetics, his eating plan works for both diabetes and weight loss. There must be some reason why low carb diets are still popular and have survived over 35 years of low-fat brainwashing from the media. These eating plans truly work AND you regain your health in the process.

Rating:
Summary: An Easy-To-Use, Well Written Guide to the Grail of Diabetes
Review: If you've read Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution, which I and a lot of other readers believe is the "gold standard" (as someone put it) for diabetes treatment, but found it a little technical, The Diabetes Diet is the book for you. This is Dr. Bernstein's program distilled to its essense.

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.