Atkins Diabetes Revolution: The Groundbreaking Approach to Preventing and Controlling Diabetes by Robert C. Atkins, Mary C. Vernon, Jacqueline Eberstein, Mary C. Vernon, Jacqueline A. Eberstein

From the Publisher

The statistics are staggering. Thirteen million Americans have been diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes; another 5.2 million don't know that they have it. During the past thirty years the diabetes rate has tripled, and each year about 200,000 people die from complications of the disease. The Centers for Disease Control project that one out of every three children born in the year 2000 will develop the disease. But Type 2 diabetes is largely preventable. Find out how you can avoid becoming a statistic.

As a respected physician and pioneer in the field of complementary medicine, Dr. Robert C. Atkins recognized early on that diabetes and obesity are twin epidemics, and that the way to reverse both is to permanently change the way people eat. Yet much of the mainstream medical establishment continues to advocate the treatment of diabetes with insulin and other drugs, while recommending a diet high in carbohydrates including sugar which raises your blood sugar. What you'll learn from reading Atkins Diabetes Revolution is that rather than correcting your metabolism, such a diet can actually increase your risk of developing diabetes — and heart disease.

The Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP) helps you identify the metabolic signposts that indicate trouble long before the onset of Type 2 diabetes so you can stop it in its tracks. If you already have the disease, the ABSCP offers you and your physician a strategy for weight management and blood-sugar control, while minimizing your exposure to drugs.

Atkins Diabetes Revolution presents a comprehensive lifestyle program, including diet, exercise, and nutrient supplementation. The book also containsmeal plans, recipes, a fitness routine, and case studies. This groundbreaking book, a fitting tribute to Dr. Atkins, tackles one of the greatest health challenges you and your family may ever face.

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. (On sale Aug. 3) Forecast: With national TV, radio and print ads, as well as online promotions, this latest Atkins guide should have no trouble climbing bestseller lists. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Product Details

• Table of Contents
• Read a Sample Chapter

Table of Contents

Read a Sample Chapter

Chapter One

The Diabetes Crossroads

It's a frustrating fact of life: We don't have much say over whether we fall victim to life-threatening diseases such as cancer, Alzheimer's, or, to a large extent, some types of heart disease. However, there is one, all-too-common killer disease over which we have a great deal of say. Most people do have a choice when it comes to Type 2 diabetes. Astonishing as it sounds, this epidemic disease is almost entirely preventable. Of course, no one consciously chooses to get diabetes. Various factors-some in our control and some not-combine to create the unfortunate scenario. But if we all took proper care of our bodies and kept vigilant rein on the factors that are within our control, there would be no diabetes epidemic. Do you think we're overstating things? No way. In fact, what we hope we have created with this book is a realistic and practical guide to wiping out Type 2 diabetes, one individual atatime.

According to the National Institutes of Health, in 2002, a record number of Americans -- 18.2 million, or 6.3 percent of the population -- were thought to have diabetes. Of these, 13 million were already diagnosed, while 5.2 million probably have diabetes but haven't been diagnosed yet. That means many millions of Americans are blindly chugging down this dangerous road. Sadly, in our experience, many well-meaning health care professionals give their patients the standard information, some of which perpetuates the very disease it's supposed to cure or prevent. That's why Dr. Atkins felt it was crucial to write this book.

In 2002 and 2003, the American Diabetes Association redefined and standardized the criteria for blood sugar abnormalities. Unfortunately, none of these changes were implemented in order to find patients earlier in the process. Our interest is in identifying patients with these metabolic problems long before they advance to the "official" blood sugar level defined as diabetes.

If you know what to look for, you can identify the metabolic signposts that signal trouble even earlier in the process -- and intervene immediately. If you are reading this book, you are clearly concerned about your health or perhaps it's someone you love about whom you're concerned. Either way, congratulations to you for picking up this book. Let's not waste another minute.

We will show you how to make relatively simple lifestyle changes that can significantly reduce your risk of ever getting diabetes, even if you already have some of the preliminary symptoms. And if you have already been diagnosed with diabetes, this book can help you mitigate its effects or maybe even stop further progression.

We can be your guides on the road to better health, but it is you who must take control of your destiny by making and implementing the right choices. Imagine that you are standing at a crossroads in the map of your life. Ahead of you lie two paths. One almost inevitably leads to diabetes and its accompanying health problems; the other leads to optimal health. Which will you choose?

THE RIGHT ROAD

Let us tell you about the path that Dr. Atkins recommended to his patients for decades. It differs dramatically from the treatment with drugs most health care practitioners have been taught. Instead, his path identifies risks for diabetes as early as possible, focuses on prevention, and involves permanent lifestyle changes to address the underlying metabolic problems that lead to diabetes. These lifestyle changes can be as simple as changing what you put on your plate -- a better option, we think you'll agree, than swallowing an array of expensive and potentially dangerous drugs. Those of you who have read Dr. Atkins' other books will recognize a point he hammered home for decades: Instead of treating the symptoms, his approach can correct the problem itself.

Finally, for individuals whose blood sugar abnormalities are further advanced or who already have diabetes, this path decreases or eliminates the need for drugs to treat these conditions. (Did you know that some of these drugs actually make it harder to lose weight? Talk about a vicious cycle.) Whether you're just beginning to be concerned about diabetes or you've already been handed the official diagnosis, controlling carbohydrates is the vehicle that will take you off the rutted road of self-destruction and onto the smooth one of recovery and excellent health.

The decision to improve your health is an obvious one, but to follow this "right road" -- and stay on it-you need clear directions and a good map. That's what the Atkins Blood Sugar Control Program (ABSCP) gives you. The ABSCP is a highly individualized approach to weight control and permanent management of the risk factors for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. And it works.

I've witnessed these life-changing improvements in patients such as this 45-year-old woman. Ruth L. weighed 375 pounds, with a body mass index (BMI) of 60.5 and uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes. Although Ruth took three medications daily in an effort to control her blood sugar, her glycated hemoglobin (AlC)was 11 (more than two times the norm, demonstrating very poor blood sugar control). The day she began the program, I had her stop all her blood sugar medications. After two months, her AJC was down to 7.7. After 18 months, she had lost 132 pounds, her lab values were normal, with an A1 C of 5.4, and she remained off blood sugar medications.

The ABSCP builds on the basic controlled-carbohydrate concepts of the famed Atkins Nutritional Approach and individualizes it specifically for people like Ruth who have -- or are at risk for -- blood sugar abnormalities and diabetes.

Once you're heading in the right direction, the program helps you to stay with it and map your progress as you pass milestones along the way. The ABSCP includes controlled-carbohydrate nutrition; supplementation with vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients; and exercise -- all of which are customized to your needs.

To begin, you need to understand more about this insidious disease. Let's start with the basics.