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110 of 112 found the following review helpful:
 Good advice for the diabetic, particularly on nutrition Oct 24, 2006
By calvinnme
It is interesting that two of the most helpful books on diabetes that I have found - this one and "Diabetes Solution: The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars" by Dr. Bernstein - were both written by diabetics and fellow engineers rather than by doctors. However, Dr. Bernstein is an engineer who went to medical school and became a doctor. Often it seems that those non-patients from the medical profession are stubbornly wed to what they have been taught is the truth about this disease regardless of outcome. Sometimes I wonder if it is the result of traditional medical training, based more on memorization than systematic problem solving, that causes this frustrating result.
In this book, the author goes over how he went from someone who went into a diabetic coma with a blood glucose of 1337 (80-120 is normal) who had been subsisting on processed food to someone who has slimmed down, learned to eat right, and now has a blood sugar in the 80-110 range. He talks about how the foods diabetics are not discouraged to eat by the medical profession such as potatoes, bananas, cereal, and many dairy products cause the blood sugar to spike and worsen glucose control. Instead, he recommends that you snack on veggies such as brussel sprouts. He even talks about his "power breakfast" - brussel sprouts with olive oil, salmon, and water. He determined what worked for him the same as Dr. Bernstein - by meticulous record keeping of his blood glucose after ingesting various foods.
The author also talks about other issues that will be more familiar such as exercise and record keeping. Also, he incorporates a spiritual component into his healing process that includes prayer and inspirational quotes. Finally, he talks about various nutritional supplements such as cinnamon, gymnema sylvestre, and bitter melon, and how each might be helpful in blood glucose control.
The reason I am only giving this book four stars is that, although everyone will be helped by reading this book and following its advice, not everyone will be, for all intents and purposes, "cured" of their diabetic condition. For one thing, the author is a man, and diabetes in women often faces the additional complications of insulin reacting with the female hormones to make the condition more difficult to treat. Then there are those of us with polyglandular failure where more than one of the endocrine systems fails - for example, hypothyroidism combined with diabetes greatly complicates the treatment of both conditions. Also, there are drug-induced cases of diabetes such as those caused by thiazide diuretics, necessary to limit blood pressure in salt-sensitive individuals. However, if yours is a case where there is not a strong genetic component or complicating factors, and your lifestyle is the greatly dominating cause of the disease, you might be able to mimic the author's truly tremendous outcome.
96 of 101 found the following review helpful:
 This Book is Changing My Life for the Better!!! Dec 19, 2005
By P. Priest
This book is changing my life, and I don't have Type II Diabetes! Notice on the cover that it also has tombstones for Obesity and High Blood Pressure. If I could read the other tombstones they would probably have other diseases engraved on them. I am Insulin Resistant and overweight which I learned from this book is a precursor to Diabetes Type II. I have tried everything for years (various food programs and various forms of exercise) and have not been able to lose weight.
Until now.
This book is written from DeWayne McCulley's personal experience at beating Type II Diabetes and I can tell from this book he has done a great deal of research. I've read many health books, but this is the first health book that I've read that takes me one or more steps beyond the others to explain why I should do something or why something happens the way it does. For example, my personal trainer said I should warm up for 5 minutes, weight train, do cardio for at least 20 minutes (with 5 minutes warming up and 5 minutes cooling down), and then perform a series of stretches. It worked for me for a while, but then I got smart and thought if I do cardio first, I should lose weight faster, but in fact I gained more weight - and DeWayne McCulley explains why this happens and why we need to exercise in a certain order - and the proper super foods we need to consume and when to consume them!
I use this book like I use an encyclopedia; I pick it up and start reading in any chapter and I'm not able to put it down until I finish the chapter! I have learned a great deal, have implemented the author's suggestions, and Iknow I will learn a great deal more as I continue to read this book.
This book is not theory, it's real. DeWayne McCulley's personal story is so inspiring -- there is hope for diabetics. It walks you through each step (stage) in easy-to-follow steps. If you want to understand the science, it's in there. If you just want to get better, you can just follow the steps. If you want to do your own research, it gives you medical references. And, I've never read a health book that provided inspirational quotes from people like Oprah, Muhammad Ali, and Arthur Ashe. This book does not ignore the power of the human spirit; and, it gives you ideas how to use that spirit to get well! It even warns you about some of the health scams and healthy foods that are not healthy -- and it explains why. And, there is so much more.
It explains in simple terms why people are diabetic and what they can do to change that in a short period of time. It explains why most vitamin supplements don't work and how to figure out if your supplements are any good. You can become your own expert by reading this book.
I went to DeWayne McCulley's website ([...]) -- you can look at his actual medical records (on the About Author page). And, you can look inside the book on the Book Highlights page, where DeWayne has given us various pages from Chapters 1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 11, 13, the Appendix, and the Index which adds up to 62 pages of his book!
This book is a must have for everyone who reads English!
Here's a small glimpse of what you'll find in this book and on DeWayne's website:
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Introduction
Chapter 2: My Coma & Recovery
Chapter 3: Types of Diabetes
Chapter 4: The Diabetes Control & Reversal Model
Chapter 5: The Major Macronutrients
Chapter 6: The 5 "Live" and the 5 "Dead" Foods
Chapter 7: The Super Meal Model
Chapter 8: Nutritional Supplementation
Chapter 9: Cleansing / Detoxification
Chapter 10: Exercise
Chapter 11: Blood Glucose Testing / Doctor Visits
Chapter 12: Drugs / Medications
Chapter 13: Mind & Spirit
Chapter 14: The 6 Stages of Diabetes Control & Reversal
Chapter 15: Diabetic Complications
Chapter 16: Next Steps
Chapter 17: Recipes of Super Meals
Appendix
Index
Figures & Tables
Figure 1: Diagnosis & Treatment Guidelines
Figure 2: Impact of Diabetes (Annually)
Figure 3: Type 2 Diabetes at the Cellular Level
Figure 4: Metabolic Doom Cycle
Figure 5: The Diabetes Control & Reversal Model
Figure 6: Super Meal Model
Figure 7: No. of Calories & Grams in a Super Meal
Figure 8: Nutritional Profile of a Super Meal
Figure 9: Hemoglobin A1C & Blood Glucose Readings
Figure 10: Schedule of Doctor Visits
Figure 11: Line Graph of Blood Glucose Readings
Figure 12: Bar Graph of Blood Glucose Readings & Meals
Figure 13: The Diabetes Control & Reversal Model
Figure 14: Timeline from Stage 1 to Stage 6
Figure 15: Super Meal Model
Figure 16: Alternative Healthier Foods
63 of 65 found the following review helpful:
Information on diabetes your doctor won't tell you Feb 19, 2007
By Gadget Man
This book is primarily written for Type II diabetics. I particularly like how the author provides ways to control diabetes through diet and how to wean yourself off drugs over time. Eating a diet high in complex carbohydrates such as vegetables and some fruits and getting rid of the simple or bad carbs from your diet along with exercise and weight loss will not only help you get your blood sugar under control but help your body to heal and in many cases actually reverse your diabetic condition. The diet he recommends is in some ways similar to the South Beach diet.
The author is an engineer, and has used his engineering skills to analyze the causes of his high blood sugar levels, what brought his blood sugar under control, and designed a diet that successfully brought his blood sugar under control. The author sets much higher standards than does the medical profession on what he considers to be healthy blood sugar levels and A1C levels. His goal, which he states that he has achieved over time, was to lower his A1C to around 4.5, much lower than the A1C levels of 5.9 to 6.5 recognized as "normal" by the medical profession. His reason for doing so is that an A1C reading of 4.5 is what is normal for a typical non-diabetic. He maintains that even slightly elevated blood sugar levels can do damage to your body over time, causing complications like heart disease. Although the lower blood sugar levels the author is recommending sounds daunting if not impossible at first, I do not believe they are impossible. To be sure, it will require a radical lifestyle change in diet and exercise to work. There are no quick or temporary fixes. I'm still in the process of implementing the ideas outlined in this book. But I have seen notable process in getting my blood sugar under control. How long will it take to complete the program? The author states that it could take between 4 and 18 months depending on how dedicated you are to sticking with the plan. In his case, he states it only took 4 months.
This is definitely not your average read on diabetes. But who can argue with improving your condition, something your doctor probably won't admit is possible, let alone the possibility of getting off prescription drugs for diabets entirely?
37 of 39 found the following review helpful:
Good advice and easy to follow and works Apr 22, 2007
By Denise M. Du Pont
"D@"
This book is worth the investment and will actually help you recovery from type II diabetes. I found this book completely helpful. And the average person (non-scientist) will benefit from this book by it's well thought out design. As a research immunologist I thought I knew everything and this book helped pull it all together for me in so many ways.
I came away with a few important points.
You can't take insulin in any form to supplement/support your bad eating habits. It will get you in the end.
You have to change your eating habits -period -might as well face that fact.
Dietians don't get it and you can't eat the same harmful foods in any exchange program, you have to change what/how you eat!
I have been following his eating formula and altered it only slightly to meet my tastes - I am in Montana, I don't like that much fish and lean organic range beef is our staple :)
Now my type II diabetes is almost completely under control without feeling hungry. This positive change happened in a short period of time.
Since I'm cooking for myself, I also started cooking healthy homemade dog food and my older dog is effected less by arthritis and the puppy isn't having upset stomach from the canned food (no matter how natural).
However, like other books, I disagree with taking a tons of weird expensive supplements from suspect suppliers and we all need liver detoxing or water washed up our colon etc.
If you start eating correctly - your body will re-balance it's self naturally. Making your poor body metabolize expensive supplements and vitamins while it's recovering isn't necessary in my opinion. Unless you have a distinct deficiency that a Dr or naturopath has discovered. Take a good multivitamin - one is fine -tons just tax your body and you pee it out anyway.
I found I needed only one supplement that put things back into line Drenamin - adrenal gland support supplement. Most type II diabetics besides having a poor diet are usually stressed and over caffeinated.
This is a great supplement with vitamins. Again, this book is worth the investment and will actually help you recovery from type II diabetes
35 of 37 found the following review helpful:
Absolutely Incredible Results!!! Jan 13, 2006
By Eileen Gallagher
This book is a MUST read for anyone with Type 2 Diabetes. After trying the program for just 3 days, my BS levels dropped 150 points and are still going down. I am hopeful that I will have a full reversal and will someday be medication free.
This is a simple program to follow, that will change your life completely. Your body will be fed the foods it needs to heal itself and you will no longer crave the "dead" foods that Mr.McCully speaks of in his book.
I can't thank Mr. McCulley enough for writing this book and sharing his own near death experience with diabetes. The plan he devised REALLY works! It's just amazing to see my BS levels dropping daily. When diagnosed in Oct 2005, my BS was 460 and with meds and the doctors direction, I couldnt get it below 300 on most days. I took it this morning, after being on Mr. McCulley's program now for 10 days and my BS level was 122. I think that's pretty incredible.
I feel as if I have control over my sugar for the first time since being diagnosed and I owe it all to Mr. McCulley.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!
Eileen Gallagher
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