The Prediabetes Diet Plan: How to Reverse Prediabetes and Prevent Diabetes through Healthy Eating and Exercise

by Hillary Wright

Overview

A practical, empowering guide to managing and reversing prediabetes through diet and exercise, from a registered dietitian. 

Affecting 79 million Americans, prediabetes often develops into full-blown type 2 diabetes, one of the leading causes of death in the United States. Increasingly diagnosed by doctors, prediabetes is a condition in which blood sugar levels are elevated, but not yet high enough to be labeled diabetes. While diabetes cannot be cured, prediabetes can be reversed, so it is critical to take action at an early stage. In straightforward, jargon-free language, The Prediabetes Diet Plan explains insulin resistance (the underlying cause of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes) and offers a comprehensive strategy of diet and lifestyle change, which has been proven more effective than medication. With sections on meal planning, grocery shopping, dining out, supplements, and exercise, this book empowers you to make healthier everyday choices that can effect real change on your insulin levels and overall well-being.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781607744627
Publisher:	Potter/TenSpeed/Harmony
Publication date:	11/05/2013
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	22,489
Product dimensions:	5.78(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.67(d)

About the Author

HILLARY WRIGHT is a registered and licensed dietitian with more than two decades of experience counseling clients on diet and lifestyle change. She holds a bachelor’s degree in human nutrition from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a master’s of education in health education from Boston University. 
     Hillary is the director of nutrition counseling for the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health in Waltham, Massachusetts, where she specializes in diabetes prevention and women’s health issues. She is the author of The PCOS Diet Plan: A Natural Approach to Health for Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. 
     She is also a nutrition writer, speaker, and consultant to industry and health-related organizations, including the nutrition logging system GoodMeasures.com, and has been quoted widely in national media. She holds a part-time position as a nutritionist for the Dana Farber CancerInstitute in Boston, counseling patients during cancer treatment as well as cancer survivors through the Adult Survivorship Clinic. Visit www.prediabetesdietbook.com.

Read an Excerpt

Foreword
More than 26 million Americans have diabetes, so it’s likely that you know someone with the condition, perhaps a family member or friend. Diabetes has serious health consequences, and it garners considerable attention from the medical community and the media. Prediabetes, the forerunner to diabetes, gets less press, but has recently come into its own and is being recognized as a force to be reckoned with.
     While the number of Americans with diabetes is nothing to quibble about, more than three times as many people—an estimated 79 million— have prediabetes. With prediabetes, blood sugar (glucose) is higher than normal, but not yet elevated enough to be considered diabetes. Prediabetes may be symptom-free, and it’s likely most people won’t know that they have it until they take a blood test.
    In spite of the somewhat disarming terminology, there’s nothing “pre” about prediabetes, which, like diabetes, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure. Some experts argue that prediabetes and diabetes are actually one and the same condition, because harmful health effects from high blood sugar progress with time. In fact, about half of the people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within ten years as their blood sugar levels creep upward.
    The news isn’t all bad, however. Today’s prediabetes diagnosis need not become tomorrow’s diabetes, nor does prediabetes necessarily have to play havoc with your health in any other way. There is hope for reversing prediabetes and preventing diabetes. That’s the essence of The Prediabetes Diet Plan.
    If you, or a loved one, have been advised to lower your blood sugar, you’ve come to the right book. Hillary Wright is a compassionate and experienced dietitian with an obvious passion for prevention. It will seem as though she is speaking directly to you in her warm, conversational tone when explaining the details of prediabetes and diabetes and how best to manage your health. As a highly skilled communicator, Hillary dishes up scientific evidence in easy-to-understand terms, an absolute must for understanding what’s happening with your body.
    Knowledge is power, but knowing what to do doesn’t always mean you’ll do it. As a registered dietitian who happens to have several relatives with type 2 diabetes, I am all too aware of how difficult it can be to change your eating habits, even when a better diet would greatly improve your health. The Prediabetes Diet Plan leaves no stone unturned on the topics of prediabetes and diabetes, but it also goes to great lengths to help you jumpstart your journey to better health and keep you, and the rest of your household, on the right path.
    I especially appreciate the way Hillary avoids preaching about what you should do for better health. She goes out of her way to avoid giving one-size-fits-all advice about weight control, healthy eating, and blood sugar management. Hillary embraces difference, and, in that vein, presents reasonable, real-life scenarios to help guide lifestyle choices.
    Consumers and health professionals alike should thank Hillary Wright for her laser focus on prediabetes, a condition that’s become a personal burden for millions of Americans, as well as a financial strain on the health care system. Prediabetes, you’re finally getting the attention you deserve!
 
 
Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD
Author, MyPlate for Moms, How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better

Table of Contents

Foreword   
Acknowledgments
Introduction   
 
Part 1: Defining Prediabetes and Its Causes   
Chapter 1: Understanding Prediabetes   
Chapter 2: Insulin Resistance Explained   
 
Part 2: The Prediabetes Diet Plan: Preventing Diabetes    
Chapter 3: Managing Your Carbohydrate   Intake to Reverse Prediabetes   
Chapter 4: Building a Balanced Plate: Carb-Distributed Diet Approach 1
Chapter 5: Carbohydrate Counting: Carb-Distributed Diet Approach 2  
Chapter 6: The Details of Counting Carbohydrates   
Chapter 7: Making It Happen: Meals and Snacks   
 
Part 3: Reversing Prediabetes Through Weight Loss, a Heart-Healthy Diet, and Exercise    
Chapter 8: The Prediabetes-Obesity Connection   
Chapter 9: Reducing Your Risk of Cardiovascular Disease   
Chapter 10: Exercise: Time to Take It Seriously   
  
Part 4:  Fine-Tuning the Prediabetes   Diet Plan   
Chapter 11:  Sensible Supplementation   
Chapter 12: Mastering the Market: An Aisle-by-Aisle Shopping Guide   
Chapter 13: Considerations When Dining Out   
 
Part 5: Preventing Diabetes with a Healthy Mind-Set    
Chapter 14: Managing Emotions for Success   
Chapter 15: Devising Your Own Prediabetes Diet Plan   
 
Appendix 1: Sample Meal Plans  
Appendix 2: Food Journal   
Resources   
Notes   
About the Author   
Index

Editorial Reviews

10/07/2013
Though registered dietician Wright (The PCOS Diet Book) focuses on prediabetes (a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal) and diabetes, her recommendations can be applied by almost any adult. Wright’s latest book explains basic concepts of prediabetes, insulin-resistance conditions (such as metabolic syndrome and polycystic ovary syndrome), and diabetes, then delves into a more detailed discussion of insulin function, insulin resistance, and the metabolic processing of blood sugar, thus laying the groundwork for a series of comprehensive diet strategies. Wright guides readers in how to calculate carbs from calories, control portions, snack, and even dine out. Her smart suggestions are also applicable for those with, or concerned about, cardiovascular disease. In addition to tips about exercise, supplements, how to grocery shop, and read labels, Wright offers an extensive selection of sample meal plans and resources in this well-researched book. If there is one criticism, it’s that the title might restrict the book to a diabetic or pre-diabetic audience. Whether readers are looking for a prediabetes diet plan or for a no-nonsense strategy to better health, this book delivers. Agent: Judith Riven, Judith Riven Literary. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

This excellent introduction for readers recently diagnosed with (or at risk for) prediabetes will also interest readers with other forms of insulin resistance.”
—Library Journal, STARRED REVIEW
 
“Whether readers are looking for a prediabetes diet plan or for a no-nonsense strategy to better health, this book delivers.”
—Publishers Weekly

 “At long last—a practical, positive, and informative guide for people who have prediabetes. The Prediabetes Diet Plan reflects Hillary Wright’s long-standing expertise as a registered dietitian and educator. Her book is engaging, taking complex topics and making them easily understandable. The positive, upbeat nature of Hillary’s book will empower and encourage anyone who is struggling to prevent diabetes and live a healthier life. It’s a must-have resource for anyone who’s at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.”
—Amy P. Campbell, MS, RD, CDE, manager, Clinical Education Programs, Joslin Diabetes Center
 
“Readers are likely to discover the answers to any questions they may have about prediabetes in this book. But it’s Hillary Wright’s advice on making lifestyle changes that’s the real value here. Hillary provides readers with important and practical suggestions on how and what lifestyle changes are important for the prevention of diabetes. The message to the reader is—read and do!”
—Marion J. Franz, MS, RD, CDE, diabetes educator and nutrition/health consultant at Nutrition Concepts by Franz, Inc.

From the Publisher

★ 10/01/2013
According to registered dietician Wright (The PCOS Diet Plan), type 2 diabetes cannot be cured, but prediabetes—a condition where blood sugar is higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes—can be reversed. In this diet-planning guide, she clearly explains how even small diet and lifestyle changes can reduce the risk of developing diabetes. Armed with compelling statistics, results from research studies, and intelligible medical information, Wright presents two ways to manage carbohydrate intake: a "balanced plate" approach that's visually reminiscent of the USDA's MyPlate (choosemyplate.gov) and a more structured carbohydrate counting method based on the American Diabetes Association's Diabetes Exchange Lists for Meal Planning. She also offers weight-loss strategies, tips on managing emotions, comparisons of other diets (e.g., DASH, Atkins), and tools such as sample meal plans and a food-journal template. VERDICT This excellent introduction for readers recently diagnosed with (or at risk for) prediabetes will also interest readers with other forms of insulin resistance.

Library Journal