The Insulin Resistance Solution: Reverse Pre-Diabetes, Repair Your Metabolism, Shed Belly Fat, and Prevent Diabetes - with more than 75 recipes by Dana Carpender Paperback – January 1, 2016

Books, books.So, I went to the doc a couple months ago and my blood glucose and A1C were quite high (don't ask). I came home and panicked. I bought a bunch of books and did a lot of reading on the web (though I have to admit that I knew most of what I read already). By the time I got these books, I had already confirmed a lot of what I already knew. This isn't rocket science. Guys like me have to 1) watch what we eat and 2) move around once in a while. Anyone with a moderate level of education on Diabetes knows this to be true.I never opened this book. Never. It's been sitting on the end table for the past 2 months. It looks good enough, but the truth is that I already knew what I had to do. It has been 8 weeks now. I quit drinking ALL soda (only drink water), quit eating chips, quit eating bread, quit eating pasta and quit eating rice. Everything else, particularly meat, cheese, pickles, etc., is what I eat.After just 8 weeks, I have dropped my glucose from 250+ to a 30-day average (if you don't have a test kit, GET ONE, and test often) to 101. Yes, 101. That includes morning, noon and night, both before and 2-hours after meals. No book can make you do what you already know what you have to do. EAT RIGHT, limit portions and eat foods that don't spike your sugar.I was a big comfort eater. I used to eat anything I wanted, whenever I wanted. And I was up to 3 bills. In 8 weeks I have already lost 30 pounds and feel like a different person. I still want to lose another 70, but I already feel GREAT. I used to come home from work and virtually pass out on the couch with exhaustion. No more. I'm doing chores and engaging in other activities much more frequently and with a lot more energy.I'm not saying don't get these books. Education is ALWAYS good. But, if you already know what you have to do, don't waste your money on books. It's a matter of willpower and motivation. I was about rock bottom when my doctor said we should consider taking insulin and he said I had Type 2 Diabetes. I don't like taking drugs and won't do it. I finally decided to give this the proper attention it needs, and it's already paying off. Best of luck to you if you're in the same boat. Think of your family and friends, and DECIDE to change your life. I will tell you, after just a couple weeks, my hunger and cravings went away. I don't even care about Mountain Dew anymore. Or chips. In fact, I've reset my body/brain to view that stuff as poison (which, in bulk, they are). You can do it!

After reading so many diet books that just say, 'do this, do that,' it was so refreshing to open this book and hear Dr. Thompson's simple, cogent voice explain all this difficult science about metabolism in terms I could understand. And once I learned everything this book taught me about insulin resistance and its relationship to diet and weight, I was able to take a whole new approach to my health problems. Even better, for reasons I can't fully describe, actually understanding the mechanism of the weight loss I was pursuing made me much more motivated than I had been in past diets, where I was basically following the orders of diet gurus but not fully understanding why I was doing what I was doing. And although this diet wasn't painless, I was surprised by how little effort it took to shift my preferences. I didn't have to starve myself or choke down any foods I hated. I simply learned to avoid certain foods that I've always loved (like cinnamon roles) in favor of other foods that I've always loved (like barbecue ribs!). And once I truly understood what those cinnamon roles were doing to my system, honestly, they didn't seem so appealing anymore. I hardly eat like a 'dieter' these days, but since reading this book I lost 25 pounds and it hasn't come creeping back! I simply feel like I have a much better understanding of my own metabolism, and now I make much more well informed decisions about the trade-offs I'm making when I pick an item off the menu. Can't recommend it enough!

I bought this book in 2021 after I received lab results with an elevated A1c, and my doctor mentioned offhand that I should look at limiting simple carbohydrates and sugars in my diet. I'm so glad I did. This book offers both solid data for what causes insulin resistance, and reasonable plans for combating it. Reasonable because it doesn't recommend going keto or cutting out carbs to a drastic degree. It was a good idea to include low-carbohydrate recipes in the back of the book, but too many of the recipes call for expensive sugar alcohols (i.e., erythritol) in the ingredients. Eating foods with these substitute sugars was not good for my digestion, and a lot of people have trouble with them. It was better for me to just learn not to use added sweeteners and avoid recipes with high-simple carb ingredients.As for results, I lost 35 pounds using only the advice given in this book. I'll share one tip for free that was a revelation to me: a lot of delicious foods incorporate starchy carbohydrates: pizza, pasta, burgers, sandwiches, potato-based dishes. But it's not the starch that tastes good. It's all the other stuff that makes them tasty: pizza and pasta toppings, sandwich fillers, butter and cheese and sauces on the potatoes. Eat that stuff and not the carbs, and you're already ahead of the game.

If you are looking for a deep dive into the world of diabetes maintenance look no further! This author compiled the most minute details to lay out the chemistry needed to defeat high insulin levels, and keep them there. I've researched this topic over the years but never saw the biology explained in a way anyone can understand. Technically, the format is lacking a bit for Kindle, but don't let that deter you from giving this book the chance it deserves. Well done!!