Editors of Prevention - Prevention outsmart diabetes 1-2-3 : a 3-step plan to balance blood sugar, lose weight, and reverse diabetes complications

FROM HEAD TO TOE

WHOLE-BODY COMPLICATIONS

DIABETES ought to come with its own instruction manual.

The diagnosis can be confusing enough; just what is diabetes anyway? More to the point, once youve got it, how do you keep it in check?

Answering these questions could easily, well, fill a book. This one is the culmination of hundreds of hours of interviewing experts and scouring the scientific literature, driven by a singular objective: to empower you and others who have diabetes not just to live with the disease, but to live beyond itthat is, to manage it so effectively that it has the least possible impact on your long-term health and quality of life.

Its true that diabetes isnt curableat least not yet. But as we learned from doctors, nurses, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, certified diabetes educators (CDEs), and other professionals who specialize in diabetes care, the disease is treatable and controllable. In the case of type 2, by far the most common form of diabetes (and our primary focus here), this usually means lifestyle changes, possibly in combination with medicationthough its worth noting that maintaining a healthy lifestyle can delay and even eliminate the need for drug therapy.

Of course, maintaining a healthy lifestyle takes effort. Even the most vigilant among us will have moments when our self-care gets a little lax. The trouble is, high blood sugar can start doing damagethe kind that leads to diabetes complicationslong before diabetes is even diagnosed.

Thats the reality check. But the opposite is also true: You can lower your risk of complications by stabilizing your blood sugar at a healthy level. The pages that follow provide plenty of nuts-and-bolts advice about nutrition, exercise, weight loss, sleep, stress reduction, and the myriad other factors that influence your blood sugar, along with an ample dose of encouragement and reassurance to help you stay on track.

For ease of use, weve organized this book into four sections. The introduction, Understanding Diabetes, provides a comprehensive overview of diabetesits prevalence, its most common forms, and its whole-body effects. Whether youre newly diagnosed or youre well into treatment, these chapters will give you a clear picture of the state of the science in diabetes management.

In Step 1, Outsmart Diabetes Complications, we take a closer look at how this one disease can contribute to other health problemsquite literally, from head to toe. Here you can assess your risk of the most common complications and learn strategies for slowing and possibly reversing any diabetes-related damage.

This leads us to Step 2, Navigate the Diabetes Danger Zones. You probably already know how your eating habits and your activity level can cause spikes and dips in your blood sugar readings. But did you know that stress, lack of sleep, and even your mood can influence both your blood sugar level and your ability to bring it into balance? Here well explore how these and other lifestyle factors can undermine diabetes management and what you can do to shore up your self-care efforts.

Step 3, Diabetes-Proof Your Life, presents the 10 fundamental principles that collectively can help ensure optimal diabetes control. Incorporate these guidelines into your lifestyle, and you can stave off the diseases more insidious effects and lay the foundation for a long, vital life.

This is what we mean when we talk about outsmarting diabetes: Armed with the most reliable information and the best tools, you can stay a step ahead of the disease. So lets get started!