Hillary Wright - The Prediabetes Diet Plan: How to Reverse Prediabetes and Prevent Diabetes through Healthy Eating and Exercise

The information contained in this book is based on the experience and research of the author. It is not intended as a substitute for consulting with your physician or other health care provider. Any attempt to diagnose and treat an illness should be done under the direction of a health care professional. The publisher and author are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from the use of any of the suggestions, preparations, or procedures discussed in this book.

Text copyright 2013 by Hillary Wright
Foreword copyright 2013 by Elizabeth M. Ward
Illustrations copyright 2010 by David Parmentier

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
www.tenspeed.com

Ten Speed Press and the Ten Speed Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC

The illustrations herein are taken from The PCOS Diet Plan by Hillary Wright, published by Celestial Arts in 2010.

The Exchange Lists are the basis of a meal planning system designed by a committee of the American Diabetes Association and The American Dietetic Association. While designed primarily for people with diabetes and others who must follow special diets, the Exchange Lists are based on principles of good nutrition that apply to everyone. Copyright 2008 by the American Diabetes Association and The American Dietetic Association.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wright, Hillary.
The prediabetes diet plan : how to reverse prediabetes and prevent diabetes through healthy eating and exercise / Hillary Wright, MEd, RD, LDN. First edition.
pages cm
1. DiabetesDiet therapy. 2. Prediabetic statePatientsDiet therapy. 3. DiabetesPrevention. 4. Physical fitness. I. Title.
RC662.W75 2013
616.4620654dc23
2013018751

Trade Paperback ISBN: 978-1-60774-462-7
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60774-463-4

v3.1

More than 26 million Americans have diabetes, so its likely that you know someone with the condition, perhaps a family member or friend. Diabetes has serious health consequences, and it garners considerable attention from the medical community and the media. Prediabetes, the forerunner to diabetes, gets less press, but has recently come into its own and is being recognized as a force to be reckoned with.

While the number of Americans with diabetes is nothing to quibble about, more than three times as many peoplean estimated 79 millionhave prediabetes. With prediabetes, blood sugar (glucose) is higher than normal, but not yet elevated enough to be considered diabetes. Prediabetes may be symptom-free, and its likely most people wont know that they have it until they take a blood test.

In spite of the somewhat disarming terminology, theres nothing pre about prediabetes, which, like diabetes, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure. Some experts argue that prediabetes and diabetes are actually one and the same condition, because harmful health effects from high blood sugar progress with time. In fact, about half of the people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within ten years as their blood sugar levels creep upward.

The news isnt all bad, however. Todays prediabetes diagnosis need not become tomorrows diabetes, nor does prediabetes necessarily have to play havoc with your health in any other way. There is hope for reversing prediabetes and preventing diabetes. Thats the essence of The Prediabetes Diet Plan .

If you, or a loved one, have been advised to lower your blood sugar, youve come to the right book. Hillary Wright is a compassionate and experienced dietitian with an obvious passion for prevention. It will seem as though she is speaking directly to you in her warm, conversational tone when explaining the details of prediabetes and diabetes and how best to manage your health. As a highly skilled communicator, Hillary dishes up scientific evidence in easy-to-understand terms, an absolute must for understanding whats happening with your body.

Knowledge is power, but knowing what to do doesnt always mean youll do it. As a registered dietitian who happens to have several relatives with type 2 diabetes, I am all too aware of how difficult it can be to change your eating habits, even when a better diet would greatly improve your health. The Prediabetes Diet Plan leaves no stone unturned on the topics of prediabetes and diabetes, but it also goes to great lengths to help you jumpstart your journey to better health and keep you, and the rest of your household, on the right path.

I especially appreciate the way Hillary avoids preaching about what you should do for better health. She goes out of her way to avoid giving one-size-fits-all advice about weight control, healthy eating, and blood sugar management. Hillary embraces difference, and, in that vein, presents reasonable, real-life scenarios to help guide lifestyle choices.

Consumers and health professionals alike should thank Hillary Wright for her laser focus on prediabetes, a condition thats become a personal burden for millions of Americans, as well as a financial strain on the health care system. Prediabetes, youre finally getting the attention you deserve!

Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD

Author, MyPlate for Moms, How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better

As with any large undertaking, it took a village to guide and support me through this book. Id like to start by thanking my parents, Alan and Marie Wright, who demonstrated that through education and strong family ties its possible to raise healthy children with type 1 diabetes, and my brothers Michael and Christopher, and their families, who show every day that by taking care of yourself you can still live active, successful lives with this disease. To the rest of my siblings, Alison, John, and Brian, their families, my in-laws Jack and Nancy Holowitz, and the Holowitz/Parmentier clan, thank you all for your unwavering support.

To the hundreds of people with diabetes I have counseled and learned from over the years, thanks for teaching me the real challenges of living with this disease, and how taking small steps can make a difference. To my past, present, and future patients with prediabetes, including all my PCOS girls, this ones for you.

Thanks to my agent, Judith Riven, my editor, Sara Golski, all the folks at Ten Speed Press, dietetic intern Emma Laskey, and graphic artist David Parmentier for helping to massage this book into its final form. Also, the encouragement of my friends and colleagues at the Domar Center for Mind/Body Health and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute has been invaluable.

On a personal level, words cant express how much I valued the support of my townie friends, my fabulous nutrition pals, and my nutrition soul mate, Elizabeth Ward, MS, RD, during this crazy time. Most importantly, thanks so much to Tony, John, Matt, and Brian. Without your love and ability to laugh with and at me, none of this would have come to be. I love you.

Talk about diabetes is everywhereon the nightly news, in health magazines, and most definitely in the doctors office. In my world, it seems like the subject has always been present. Im one of six children, and when I was twelve, my seven-year-old brother was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. At the time all I understood was that he had to take shots of insulin every day. If he took too much, it could kill him, so he always had to carry a snack. It was pretty scary stuff for us kids, but my parents were so proactive about learning how to manage my brothers condition that before long, it was just part of our familys reality. My mother credits a dietitian at Childrens Hospital in Boston with helping them feel confident in their ability to manage my brothers diabetes. (This woman, by the way, was also the inspiration for my mother to encourage me to become a dietitian.)