Product Description

The twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes are a 21st-century time bomb. The Atkins organisation is renowned for their work on diabetes and this book sets out a controlled carb diet and nutrition regime to help people lose weight and prevent, treat and even reverse diabetes. The conventional 'healthy' Western diet, based upon large amounts of carbohydrates and a small amount of protein and fat, results for many people in a state of hyperinsulinism, a key factor in developing diabetes. Insulin is a hormone that helps to regulate blood sugar levels in the body. The Atkins nutritional plan, based on eating the foods that balance your hormones to regulate blood sugar levels, controls the production of insulin and is therefore a great tool in treating and preventing diabetes. The Atkins plan also promotes healthy weight loss and freedom from other conditions, such as high blood pressure and heart disease. The book contains all the nutritional information diabetes sufferers need to plan their new, healthy diet, as well as recipes so the plan can be put into practice.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #418684 in Books
• Published on: 2004-08-01
• Format: Bargain Price
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 560 pages

Amazon.com Review
Two colleagues of the late Dr. Robert Atkins take on the obesity epidemic's deadly twin: type 2 diabetes. Dr. Mary Vernon and Jacqueline Eberstein, RN, adapt the carb-cutting, fat-allowing Atkins nutritional approach as a preemptive strike against this fast-growing killer. Diabetes--defined here as a condition in which glucose or blood sugar is above the normal range--is viewed as a preventable problem. "What we hope we have created in this book is a realistic and practical guide to wiping out type 2, one person at a time." Since obesity is the major risk factor for diabetes, they begin with the "fat lie" (i.e., the belief that fat causes obesity) to voice the Atkins mantra: low fat means high carbs and high carbs are broken down into sugar. With a convincing mix of essay/picture testimonials, clinical studies, quizzes, checklists, and menu planners and recipes, Vernon and Eberstein make the case for diet and lifestyle changes to alter the metabolism of those at risk for diabetes. They have done a yeoman's job of translating Atkins's medical nutrition advice into a step-by-step program. One can quibble about their missionary zeal or the omnipresent eggs in the breakfast sample menus. At times, the scientific data are overly detailed or hidden within a quiz. Thankfully, there is a spot-on summary of the book's paradigm-busting ideas in the appendix. -- Barbara Mackoff

From Publishers Weekly
Having been marketed to millions as a weight-loss solution, the Atkins diet is now presented as a means of preventing type 2 diabetes, a disease whose rates are skyrocketing, thanks to the prevalence of risk factors such as obesity and high lipid and blood sugar levels. The authors clearly outline their interpretation of the path to diabetes, arguing that carbs cause blood sugar spikes, triggering the release of more insulin—the hormone that regulates blood sugar—than the cells need. Blood sugar ends up stored as fat and the body's cells start responding more slowly to the insulin, which leads to elevated blood sugar levels. But the tone the authors adopt when touting their low-carb, high-protein, high-fat approach may arouse some skepticism and even fear. "In the end, only you can decide what's best for your health," they warn. "You can choose the Atkins approach and improve your health, or you can choose the ADA [American Diabetes Association] approach and descend into more and more medications and poor health." While studies now demonstrate low-carb dieting can lead to weight loss and cholesterol control over the short term, experts tend to agree that diets that demonize one food group aren't easy to stick to over the long haul. Still, the work includes valuable nutritional information and sounds a needed alarm about the diabetes epidemic.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
'More column inches than the Beckhams' HEAT Magazine

Customer Reviews

An Eye-Opener on Blood Sugar Disorders


The conventional test for diabetes in a doctor's office involves a blood-sugar level test after a fast of 12 or so hours. Atkins believes that this is inadequate. According to him, by the time a doctor's blood test shows elevated blood sugar following a 12-hour fast, and one is thereby labeled clinically diabetic (Type II diabetes), the blood sugar disorder is already well advanced. Atkins believes that blood sugar disorders are much more prevalent in the population than is commonly realized. In fact, Atkins asserts that he has never met anyone who was overweight that did not have some degree of blood sugar disorder, if only manifested by increased insulin resistance.

Atkins believes that the blood-sugar levels should be checked repeatedly after a meal, not just once after 8-12 hours. Using his words, what is needed is not a snapshot but a movie of the sugar metabolism. The normal curve for blood sugar is supposed to be as follows: A postprandial rise for about an hour or two (not too high at its peak) followed by a gradual decline, and one that does not need a great deal of insulin released to cause this decline. The first symptom of a blood sugar disorder is a normal blood-sugar curve that nevertheless requires excessive amounts of insulin to bring the blood sugar under control (hyperinsulism). For this reason, Atkins believes that measuring blood sugar alone is never enough. The insulin levels must also be measured. If the blood sugar goes too high one hour after eating, this also indicates a blood sugar disorder--even if the level after 8-12 hours is normal.

If Atkins is even half-right, then doctors are missing a lot. And Atkins believes that the solution to Type II diabetes is the reversal of insulin resistance, not the supplementation of additional insulin. Paradoxically, insulin supplements can make weight loss more difficult.

The Atkins Nutritional Approach has commonly been misrepresented as one where virtually all carbs are cut out. This is patently untrue. Atkins recommends the retention of natural, low-glycemic carbs, especially those which coexist with valuable nutrients, as is the case with many fruits and vegetables (for example, strawberries). Atkins mentions that, apart from weight loss, the elimination of empty carbs from the diet can bring such benefits as renewed taste of sweet things and a major drop in blood triglycerides. From personal experience, I can say "Amen!" to that.

FINALLY SOME CREDIBLE HELP FOR DIABETICS
As someone with Type 2 Diabetes, I have lots of experience with diet claims. This book nails down the reasons they have all failed - they were carb based. Counter-intuitive in many ways, this book patiently explains how the carbs get processed into fat and why low fat diets fail time after time.My knowledge of the Atkins approach was based on the often exaggerated claims made by both its supporters and detractors. When this book appeared, I decided to make my own analysis.I was thrilled to discover that this is not a diet book, but rather a guide to the Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP for short). With weight loss can come reduced dependency on drugs, less risk of complications, and a healthier, happier life.The book itself is divided into several sections. The core is a very well researched and documented 330 page overview of the state of diabetes research and how it applies to diabetics and those at risk for diabetes.There are 70 pages of meal plans, 37 pages of recipes (and a weblink for more), plus appendices on research documentation, induction foods, and various other helps to the reader.Because of the care with which this volume was put together, I found that many of the things I had been hearing about Atkins were just plain wrong. Authors Vernon and Eberstein are very clear that 4 ounces of cheese a day are the max; that eating foods with trans fatty acids is bad; and that the ABSCP is not an excuse to have a half dozen pork chops in one sitting. The allowed foods are also pretty tolerable for the fussy among us. I was able to put together meal plans that are easy to prepare and tasty. This is a good and helpful book, and I only wish I had been able to get as much knowledge about how diabetes works from the doctors who have treated me. Even the famed Joslin clinic never explained that my soaring trigycerides were the result of eating too many carbs on a low fat diet. Caveat emptor.

Atkins' colleagues carry on his work
I am still in the process of plowing through this book. Some may find that there is not much new in it. I think it's a great resource for the Atkins way of life in general.

I am a newly-diagnosed type II diabetic. There is far more information in this book than I was able to get from the doctor who diagnosed me. As a matter of fact, that doctor originally suggested that I go on *Slim-Fast* to lose weight--I about fell off my chair. Most doctors are still mired in the anti-fat, anti-cholesterol hysteria and myths. The Atkins approach is a breath of fresh air, since it dispels these myths.

So far, from what I have read, I would recommend this book in combination with Dr. Bernstein's Diabetes Solution (which seems to offer more practical day-to-day advice regarding the details of managing diabetes) as your standard diabetes references.

Unfortunately, few doctors out there are managing diabetes with the low-carbohydrate approach. The guy who diagnosed me immediately wanted to put me on four or five medications, and he actually vowed to talk me into taking a statin drug, even though he acknowledged that that would only mask the symptoms and not get to the underlying cause.

Some people may not like eating low-carb, particularly with its heavy emphasis on animal protein foods. However, for those like me, who like being carnivorous or omnivorous, you may like being vindicated in your liking to eat meat.