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 The Diabetes Snack, Munch, Nibble, Nosh Book
ASIN: 1580400000
Customer's Rating: 1
Summary: Don't even bother!
Comments: I was SO disappointed with this book! It's not the kind of "quick assembly snack type food" the title implies. With the list of weird ingredients and the "duh" recipe factor--you'd be better off winging it. Reviewing the book was not even interesting as there is only 1 "so called recipe" I would even try. This book would get a NEGATIVE 1 star if I had that option!
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 Diabetes Cookbook for Dummies (For Dummies)
ASIN: 0764552309
Customer's Rating: 3
Summary: Disappointing for this dummy
Comments: I found the first part of this book very informative. Being a person with type 2 diabetes, education is very important to me. However, the recipes fall far short of what I felt I needed. Who takes the time to serve Portobello Pate?Crab and artichoke dip. What in the world is yuca? These are not what the average house wife has on hand or even wants to shop for. These are not items I have in my pantry. Having a busy life style they just don't fit in. How often do I serve lamb to my family or veal? Poached pears in red wine, feta bruschetta, yogurt rice. No way.
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 The Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible : A Complete Guide to Planning, Shopping, Cooking, and Eating
ASIN: 158040037X
Customer's Rating: 4
Summary: most helpful book so far
Comments: Now that the condition called "pre-diabetic" has been recognized by the medical profession, even more people need information on meals, recipes and menu planning to aid in blood glucose control. I have just recently been diagnosed as pre- or "borderline" diabetic. Pre-diabetes and diabetes are medical conditions that are vastly under the control of the patient. We have all heard that losing weight and increasing exercise are vital to controlling diabetes. At this point I have read about six books on diabetes and this one is by far the best. Some of the books were a complete waste of money, in my opinion; for example, "Tell Me What to Eat if I Have Diabetes" was for processed and fast food junkies. All of the books present information on goals for blood glucose levels, what are carbohydrates, etc. But for me, I needed help with menu planning, balancing proteins, carbs, fats, calories, increasing fiber, etc.
"The Diabetes Bible" does have workable recipes - the ones I have made were very tasty. The biggest shock comes when you actually measure the serving sizes specified. A 4-ounce apple did not exist in my grocery store - they were all 8 ounces. So, if you follow their menu plans (I used the 1,200 to 1,400 calorie plan), you can eat only half that apple. It is amazing how small a half-cup portion of cooked vegetables is or two ounces of lean protein is an incredibly tiny piece (I once virtuously ate a small fish fillet, only to find out that I had consumed "four exchanges"). And one cup of milk is only a few swallows.
My biggest complaint about the book is that many menus rely on reduced fat cheeses, "lite" sour cream and margarine, although they do admit you can used the real thing, but (obviously) eat even less of it.
It is no lie to say that controlling pre-diabetes or diabetes is a heck of a lot of work. Given the risks of not controlling these conditions - eye damage, peripheral neuropathy, risk of heart attack and stroke - patient motivation to lose weight, increase exercise, control blood pressure and blood glucose, reduce cholesterol, etc. should be high, but it certainly is no day at the beach. The "Diabetes Bible" at least gave me some place to start.
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 The Joslin Diabetes Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Recipes for 1 to 4 People
ASIN: 0684839237
Customer's Rating: 5
Summary: GREAT BOOK...
Comments: Diabetes is a family disease, and all six siblings on my dad's side, including my dad, have been (or were before they died) diagnosed with Diabetes. As I watch my aunts and other members of our family cope or fail to cope with this disease, and my husband and I deal with symptoms of "insulin-resistance" I am taking steps to tackle the problem head on. Part of this effort is learning more about diet and putting what I learn into practice. I recently read, and am using THE INSULIN-RESISTANCE DIET, by Hart and Grossman and find it very helpful. I bought THE JOSLIN DIABETES QUICK AND EASY COOKBOOK with the hope of finding more information that would fit the scheme outlined by Hart and Grossman. I find Frances Giedt's book very useful, however, many of her recipes contain higher levels of carbohydrates than I am allowed with the insulin-resistance diet. In some instances I can make substitutions.
Good features of Giedt's book include - 1) recipes for 2 servings, a brilliant idea since Type II diabetes attacks older folks in greater numbers and the average household size for householders over 50 is less than two. I find dividing a recipe for six can be annoying. It's much easier to double or triple the recipe if you want extra servings for freezing. 2) a pantry list at the front of her book which allows one to assess current stocks. As many recipes call for the same items, and it's nice to have a "core" list. 3) a discussion of storage arrangements. Smaller households find big ingredients a hassle. (Giedt does not mention this, but Giam sells special storage bags and "keeper" disks for the refrigerator vegetable drawer, and they work well.) 4) calorie counts, content measures for protein, carbohydrates, fat, etc. and "Joslin" exchanges are listed beside each recipe. (The latter explained in an appendix.) 5) good ideas such as preparing a beef onion mix that can be frozen and used as an ingredient when a single bowl of Chili or some other meal that includes cooked and crumbled beef is desired.
For me, the annoying aspects of this book are these - 1) Although the recipes are low calorie, many of them are high carbohydrate. 2) While the book is loaded with gems of information, the reader will have to extract them. For example, I had to read through a number of recipes before I found the egg = egg substitute equivalencies. As many of the recipes call for eggs or egg substitute, it would have been good if she had included this information in an index. (If she did, I can't find it!) Neither of these complaints are a "big deal" however, hence the 5 stars.
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 The Official Pocket Guide to Diabetic Exchanges
ASIN: 1580400035
Customer's Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Pocket Guide
Comments: This is the pocket version of the American Diabetes Association Exchange Diet Plan. Although it is not comprehensive, it does give examples of enough foods in each category to be able to determine the exchanges for other foods which are not listed. Also contains a section on Combination foods and Fast foods.
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 The Type II Diabetes Diet Book
ASIN: 0737301031
Customer's Rating: 5
Summary: Diet Does What Diet Says
Comments: This book is amazing - it is easy reading and a breath of fresh air to those of us who keep struggling with diet after diet. Everything the authors say about not being hungry and experiencing a rapid weight loss is true. I am not a type 2 diabetic but have a family history of obesity. You do not have to have type 2 diabetes for this diet to work. If you are like me (fairly active and a nutritious eater) and still struggle desperately with weight, I know this diet will work as well for you as it has for me. The fast weight loss is instant gratification that really makes you want to stick with it - I lost 7 pounds within the first 12 days!
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 Tell Me What to Eat If I Have Diabetes: Nutrition You Can Live With (Tell Me What to Eat)
ASIN: 1564144267
Customer's Rating: 1
Summary: "Mouth-watering recipes"?!
Comments: If your idea of "mouth-watering recipes that you can't live without" includes ingredients like 1/3 low fat American processed cheese, low fat or fat-free cream cheese and sour cream, low fat frozen french fries, and powdered Ranch dip mix, then I guess this is the diabetic-diet advice book for you. As for me, eating low fat American cheese is akin to gnawing on a PVC pipe - pure chemicals. And eating fat-free cream cheese is like eating your art gum eraser. I can live without such recipes. Essentially, this book is for people who are used to quickie recipes and fast food chains and want to still eat that way but try to control their blood glucose levels. The popularity of the Joanna Lund style of "cooking" certainly suggests that there are many who cannot give up such things as chocolate cream pie and are willing to accept the substitutes of fat-free, sugar-free chocolate pudding mix pie topped with Lite Cool Whip. For those who fall into this group, this book has a number of useful tables giving the calories, carbohydrates, fat, protein and salt values for prepackaged common brand name cereals, frozen desserts, cookies, pasta sauces, salad dressings, frozen entrees and frozen pizza. The same breakdowns are also provided for restaurant chain food, such as Denny's, Jack-in-the-Box, Wendy's, MacDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Kentucky Fried Chicken and donut shops. However, if one doesn't eat this way, has type II diabetes and wants to figure out a glucose-controlling diet, this book is worthless. I think this is important to point out because I purchased this book based on the two glowing reviews and am now out the purchase price. Indeed, the book does try to take a positive attitude in telling diabetes what they CAN eat, but the general information can be gotten in much more detail in other books. I would make a recommendation, but I am in the early stages of this research and have not yet found a diabetic diet advice book that I would wholeheartedly recommend for those who avoid processed food. So far, the best has been "The Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible" which did offer some useful recipes, but even that book has menu plans that include frozen entrees, canned fruit cocktail, frozen waffles and margarine.
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