Because complications from diabetes are the seventh leading cause of deaths in America, Dr. Furman wrote this book as a source of hope for people suffering from prediabetes and diabetes. According to 2017 statistics he quotes, 12 percent of adults in the U.S. suffered from diabetes, and one in three adults were prediabetic.
So Dr. Furman carefully explains what diabetes is, the contributing factors that lead to it, other complications that can arise (artery and heart problems as well as Alzheimer’s) and what steps to take to either prevent or reverse diabetes.
His main message that runs throughout his book is people need to make major lifestyle changes — changes that include weight loss, diet and exercise. He emphasizes that we need to change habits from bad to good ones.
Dr. Furman hopes that by reading this book and therefore learning what is happening in one’s body and proper steps to take, readers will take the first step on the road of recovery from diabetes. By following his suggestions, they will live longer with more quality to their life.
At times this book reads like a research paper, so if you do well with scholastic-type health books, this is the one for you. Written in two parts — understanding diabetes and defeating diabetes with lifestyle choices — I did feel it was more educational and less practical. He writes with the assumption that knowledge is power, and once the reader knows what their lifestyle choices are doing to their bodies, they will automatically be inspired to make changes — without really offering specific game plans.
Most of his helpful information was on the vague side — eat good fats, not bad fats, and good carbs, not bad carbs, for example — and he does offer a VERY generic sample daily menu, but without much guidance.
I would have liked to have seen a bit more practical advice to add to the medical class vibe.
So if you are looking for a good read on the medical side of diabetes and the effects it and your lifestyle choices will have on you, this is the book for you! If you’re looking for a practical, help me get through each day with some guidance, this won’t be the book for you.
Four stars out of five.
Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group, provided this complimentary copy for my honest, unbiased review.