by Marilyn Helton
Greetings and welcome to 2004! Beginning with this issue, you'll notice some changes in the format and number of book reviews you'll be seeing in each issue. The good news is, you'll be seeing more reviews in each issue; the not-so-good news is they will be somewhat shorter in length. We have quite a backlog of excellent books to share with you, so this new format should help to bring us up to date.
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You're probably among those lamenting a 7 to 10 pound average holiday weight gain. Don't waste any more time chastising yourself for it, just get down to the business of taking care of it! Some good starting points for weight loss can be found in 101 Weight Loss Tips for Preventing and Controlling Diabetes, by Amy Daly, MS, RD, CDE, Linda Delahanty, MS, RD, LD, and Judith Wylie-Rosett, EdD, RD.
With so many weight loss programs for sale these days, it's becoming an art to maneuver yourself through the madness of the tricky diet maze. If you're ready for a simple plan to support good health for the rest of your life, you'll find most of the answers in this book, written by three experts in the fields of nutrition and diabetes.
101 Weight Loss Tips also covers topics such as: how to evaluate a weight loss program, identifying your high risk stages of life, whether weight loss drugs or surgery are right for you, how your emotions figure in the "food triangle" and other roadblocks to weight loss, why exercise may be the magic key, and more. Presented in a simple question-answer format, this American Diabetes Association publication is easy to digest and a great start on the road to your weight loss success. Softcover, 114 pages.
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They don't call it "middle-age spread" for nothing, and if you're in the 50+ age group, you'll probably be interested in 101 Tips for Aging Well with Diabetes, another book in the best-selling series of self-care books published by the American Diabetes Association.
Written by David B. Kelley, MD, Aging Well with Diabetes was written to give maturing people with diabetes guidance to improve their lifestyles. Topics such as glucose levels, medications, exercise, risks and complications, foot care, neuropathy, nephropathy, menopause, Syndrome X, diminishing appetite, alcohol consumption, family support and more are addressed in a way that is easy to understand and follow. Aging well and staying healthy are challenges for everyone, and even more challenging when you have diabetes.
Answers to questions such as: "Am I alone with my diabetes? What factors affect my glucose levels? How do diabetes pills work? Why would I learn to count carbs? Am I too old to exercise? How do I manage diabetes when I'm sick?, and why did my spouse's personality really change after the diagnosis of diabetes?" are among those explored in detail. Published in softcover; 128 pages.
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No journey would be complete without a good overall tips book, like 101 Tips for Coping with Diabetes. Written by a dynamite team of experts, this book covers stress management, anger, depression, emergencies, emotional issues, healthy habits for busy schedules, and more. Authors Gary M. Arsham, MD, Ph.D., Catherine Feste, BA, David Marrero, Ph.D., Richard R. Rubin, Ph.D., CDE, and Stefan H. Rubin contribute more than 200 years of combined experience with diabetes to this publication. Four of the authors have diabetes, and the fifth has lived for more than 40 years with diabetes in the family.
Did you know that the stress of living with a chronic disease (such as diabetes) can actually cause out-of-control blood sugar levels? By increasing your diabetes knowledge and building emotional coping skills, you'll be better able to steer clear of dangerous "coping" habits such as drinking, smoking, or eating too much. In 101 Tips for Coping with Diabetes, you'll learn how to replace these addictive habits with healthier ways to deal with your issues, which is bound to improve every aspect of your life.
Having type 2 diabetes myself, I readily identified with several common issues which affect my control, such as: "I worry that I'll go low while exercising; how do I adjust my insulin so this doesn't happen?" Or, "How can I keep from getting really scared every time my blood sugar goes too low?" And, "How can I avoid overeating when I am low?"
This tips book, one of the best in this self-care series, gives straightforward answers to the most common questions and lets you know it's possible to cope well with the scheduled and unscheduled demands of your disease. Published by the American Diabetes Association, in softcover; 120 pages. Highly recommended.
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While you're on your weight-loss journey, you'll need to pack a couple of good recipe sources, so I've tucked a couple of cookbooks into this review mix. Here are two brand new releases you're destined to love.
If you've finally graduated from diabetic exchanges to counting carbs, you'll be happy with Quick and Easy Low-Carb Cooking for People with Diabetes, by Nancy S. Hughes.
With hectic schedules and little time to cook (holidays or otherwise), it can be difficult to find the time and energy to do the food math required by low-carb "diets" (don't you just hate that four-letter word, d-i-e-t?) Being a great fan of Nancy Hughes' recipes, I'm always thrilled to see another new cookbook from her. Once again, she's come to the rescue with a new publication chock-full of tasty choices for low-carb eaters and people with diabetes. Says Hughes, "These recipes are geared for the real (that is busy) lives that we all lead. You can throw your calculator in a drawer because, I've done the homework for you!" She continues, "I've kept the ingredient lists short and the prep time even shorter."
Quick and Easy Low-Carb Cooking is divided into five sections (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, desserts and snacks), and is based on the "carb choice" exchange system. All recipes have the carbs calculated per serving and in addition to a complete nutritional analysis, traditional diabetic exchanges are also available, for those who have not adopted "carb-counting." As a time-pressured cook myself, I appreciate the "try it with" section which suggests possible sides with each meal. My salivary juices start flowing with recipe titles like Rustic Cajun Chicken and Sausage Rice, Creamy Baked Chicken with Crunchy Corn Bread Topping, Sticky Maple Pecan Pull-Aparts, Weekend Morning Bacon-Potato Casserole Cheddary Vegetables au Gratin, and Lemon Zest Pound Cake with Apricot Topping. Where's my apron?
Published by the American Diabetes Association, Quick and Easy Low-Carb Cooking by Nancy Hughes is another sure keeper.
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Speaking of carb-counting, the new Better Homes and Gardens Carb Counters Diabetic Cookbook is another winner. With an introduction by Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE, co-author of the American Diabetes Association's Complete Guide to Carb Counting and The Diabetes Food and Nutrition Bible, carb-counting is made easy.
The Carb Counters Diabetic Cookbook begins with Warshaw's introduction to the basics of counting carbohydrates. Written in a question-answer format, Warshaw's explanation of carb-counting is thorough and easy to understand. Carbohydrates are found in all foods (starches, fruits, vegetables, and milk) except meats. The book contains a handy chart on the number of carbohydrates your body needs each day. This chart is a great visual aid to help you understanding how the carb-counting system works. Sample menus for a full week of breakfast, lunch, and dinners, based on 1,600 to 1,800 calories per day, are suggested at the end of the section. For more information, you'll find several Internet and other resources, as well.
Each recipe includes a complete carb count, nutritional analysis, and diabetic exchanges. There is a definite drawback, however, a difficulty reading the nutritional information, as it is printed in a lime-green color, and in very small print. It's a real problem for visually-impaired readers.
If you can live with carb counts at a glance for each analysis, the recipes are worth it! And, if you've visited the Cinnamon Hearts Web site in recent months, you'll see how much we like this cookbook. More than a few of these delicious recipes have starred in several of our recent food features. Better Homes and Gardens Carb Counters Diabetic Cookbook, (c)2003, is published by the Meredith Corporation, Des Moines, IA.
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What if you just don't have time to cook, and have to eat out? You'll need a reliable guide to healthier restaurant eating. Here's the ticket: Eat Out, Eat Right! by Hope S. Warshaw, MMSc, RD, CDE.
Having spent the last 20 years advising clients on navigating the pleasures and pitfalls of restaurant menus, Hope S. Warshaw is a nationally-recognized expert on diabetes and healthy eating out. In Eat Out, Eat Right!, published by Surrey Books, she has managed to condense her knowledge of what's good and what's not good for you into one compact resource.
Covering the 14 most popular kinds of restaurants (including Mexican, Italian, Chinese, American, breakfast/brunch, fast food and seafood), Eat Out, Eat Right! gives you basic strategies and specific food choices for controlling calories, carbs, fat, cholesterol, and sodium amounts in restaurant foods. Each chapter familiarizes the diner with the nutrition traits and pitfalls of a particular style of cooking. "Pre-planning is key," says Warshaw. "Do you go to your favorite Mexican restaurant and order chimichangas or enchiladas? Do you go to the ballpark ready for a jumbo hot dog, chips, and ice cream or will popcorn and a slice of pizza do?"
One of book's best assets is its Menu Profile, a basic description of each cuisine, its healthy points and hazardous pitfalls, along with a run-through of what to order (and not to order), from soup to dessert. Following the detailed description of the cuisine's typical fare, author Warshaw gives the reader a "Nutrition Snapshot" which is a quick look at some of the nutrition numbers for a cuisine's typical dishes. You'll also find green flag (good) words, such as "lightly sautéed," and red flag (bad) words, such as "fried," about each cuisine, along with "special requests to make to the waiter," which are designed to help you make the healthiest choices.
With Eat Out, Eat Right! you can plan ahead by "studying-up" on a specific cuisine before you go to the restaurant, or slip this compact book into your purse or the glove box of your car for no-excuses dining out.
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That's a wrap for this issue, folks! I can't wait to bring more exciting reading your way in the Spring issue -- A great time to turn to more thoughts on new beginnings. In the meantime, stay focused and in the moment; it's the best place to be!
Marilyn Helton, diabetic since 1993, is the publisher of Cinnamon Hearts: The Art of Living a Winning Diabetic Lifestyle, a positive-power E-zine for diabetics and their families. Visit the Cinnamon Hearts Web site: www.cinnamonhearts.com.