Product Description

Dr Whitaker presents a comprehensive lifestyle programme that has helped thousands of diabetic patients. Along with helping to reduce or even eliminate dependency on medication, it can help diabetics lose excess weight and lower blood pressure.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #125314 in Books
• Published on: 2001-06-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 435 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Physician Whitaker (Reversing Heart Disease offers some sound advice that is, unfortunately, shrouded by specious assertions, such as his belief that diabetes is a reversible condition and not a chronic disease. He promotes a sensible low-fat, high-carbohydrate and high-fiber diet (recipes included) and an exercise program, but his claims that diet and exercise will help "hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions, of diabetics in this country to become drug free" should be taken with more than a grain of salt. As he admits in the book, persons with Type 1 diabeteswhose diabetes emerged because of a lack of insulin in the body rather than the inability of the body to use it effectively"will almost always require insulin injections," although the amount may be reduced by following his regimen. He cautions readers to use this program under a doctor's care but repetitiously attacks his colleagues for their ignorance of nutrition and readiness to prescribe medications, and dredges up George Washington's unnecessary death by bleeding therapy at the hands of a doctor. He attributes eye damage to aggressive insulin treatment, which should also cause a stir in the medical community. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Insulin has been the treatment of choice for most diabetics since it was first administered to humans in the 1920s. Most physicians offer diet and exercise programs to their diabetic patients only as an afterthought, and the traditional diabetic diet, which restricts carbohydrates, may actually promote the disease in susceptible individuals. Dr. Whitaker, founder of the Whitaker Wellness Institute, outlines a low fat, low protein diet designed to increase sensitivity to insulin. Combined with regular exerise, it will reduce the need for therapeutic insulin or other diabetic drugs. Well referenced, the book includes recipes, daily menus, shopping lists, and nutrient charts and appears to be a sensible if uninspired dietary regimen. Karen McNally Bensing, Metro General Hospital Lib., Cleveland
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Ingram
The author of the bestselling Reversing Heart Disease returns with a proven program that allows diabetes to reduce or eliminate dependency on insulin or drugs and control their condition--naturally and effectively--with diet and exercise.

Customer Reviews

Readers' Results Prove the Value of Contents
I am surprised to read the negative reviews of this book. My husband weighed over 300 pounds when he was diagnosed with Type II Diabetes; his A1C count was 8.7 (about a year ago). Shortly after that, we bought this book and he has followed the plan outlined in it since. He now weighs 211, his A1C is 5.6, he has more energy than he's had in years and feels great. His fasting blood sugar has gone from 131 to 88, cholesterol from 227 to 163, triglycerides from 224 to 103. Anyone following the book's advice can see the effect on their blood sugar by their various test results, and as for the recipes being too much to make for a single person, making the whole recipe and freezing the surplus portions for another day's meals is an easy solution. We have known others with Type II Diabetes who did not follow a program like that outlined in this book and the impact the disease had on their bodies was frightening. This book can truly be a life-saver.

Informative but don't misread the carb-focused part
I found alot of the facts in this book very informative and interesting, especially the part about how the presence of insulin prevents the release of fat mobilizing(weight loss) hormones. I was determined after reading a good part of the book to start eating lots of low glycemic carbs and stop eating a high protein and fat and low carb diet. Well, I soon found myself starving with high blood sugars. (I started out high.) I found my blood sugar didn't take a negative slope unless I restricted my caloric intake to 1300 calories. (For an active 6'2" guy that's starving.) I then read Syndrome X by Burkeson and it balanced and helped me better understand the facts in this book. This book is great for understanding how you became and stayed overweight, and the ins and outs of insulin resistance and diabetes. This is definitely a must read, just balance it with other literature.

Recipes and menus nearly impossible for a single person
There is a lot of excellent information in the book, perhaps worth the price alone. However, I purchased it looking forward to having a month's worth of recipes and menus to follow. Most of the recipes are for 4 servings, some for 2. And the author admits they are nearly impossible to cut in half. Since we are told it is essential to follow the daily menus exactly to benefit from Whitaker's program, the book is nearly useless for a single person living alone.

The book is a major disappointment.