Northerner
Admin (Retired)
- Relationship to Diabetes
- Type 1
This is a small book, only 100 pages, split into three sections: understanding diabetes, an explanation of risks and how to minimise them, and finally a section that deals with the exercise plans themselves. Each section occupies almost precisely one third of the book. Bizarrely, the book opens with a foreword, an endorsement, a preface and an introduction!
The first section begins, rather alarmingly for UK readers, with a photograph of a blood glucose meter showing 112 ? obviously American, well obvious to me but possibly not to a newly diagnosed person! Odd, since the cover photo and a later picture show a meter with 5.3, an ideal UK reading (of course!) It covers, in basic detail, the signs, diagnosis, myths, and treatment options. Some people might find the text size a little small ? I rarely need my reading glasses, but I did for this. I can imagine a newly-diagnosed person with blurry vision having problems with this! On the whole the information provided is accurate and up to date, although every reference to the Diabetes UK website is incorrect, which may be frustrating for people new to diabetes and less au fait with computers.
The second section discusses various ways in which diabetes management and overall health can be improved and blood sugar levels maintained at good levels. Much of the section is taken up by a questionnaire of potential risk factors followed by an explanation of why they are risks and how they might be reduced. There is also a short introduction to the Glycaemic Index (GI) and how this can help maintain a steady blood glucose level avoiding spikes. However, no mention is made of Glycaemic Load, which is now thought to a be a more realistic and flexible approach to eating healthily.
Finally, we come on to the exercise section. Given the title of the book, I would have expected more from this section, as the ?plans? are very simplistic, and little more than some simple callisthenics, a generalised swimming programme, and a general walking/jogging/running programme. A questionnaire at the beginning of this section tries to determine whether it is OK for you to start exercising, strangely including the question ?Do you have diabetes?? Since a single ?yes? answer means you must see your physician before commencing, the remainder of the questionnaire seems rather pointless.
In conclusion, for someone newly-diagnosed or at risk from developing diabetes, the first couple of sections provide a basic introduction. However, I found the exercise section to be little more than common sense or at most a very basic introduction, and I believe to be covered in much better detail in other books. The title, therefore, I found misleading.
Type 2 Diabetes (Exercise Your Way to Health) (amazon link)
The first section begins, rather alarmingly for UK readers, with a photograph of a blood glucose meter showing 112 ? obviously American, well obvious to me but possibly not to a newly diagnosed person! Odd, since the cover photo and a later picture show a meter with 5.3, an ideal UK reading (of course!) It covers, in basic detail, the signs, diagnosis, myths, and treatment options. Some people might find the text size a little small ? I rarely need my reading glasses, but I did for this. I can imagine a newly-diagnosed person with blurry vision having problems with this! On the whole the information provided is accurate and up to date, although every reference to the Diabetes UK website is incorrect, which may be frustrating for people new to diabetes and less au fait with computers.
The second section discusses various ways in which diabetes management and overall health can be improved and blood sugar levels maintained at good levels. Much of the section is taken up by a questionnaire of potential risk factors followed by an explanation of why they are risks and how they might be reduced. There is also a short introduction to the Glycaemic Index (GI) and how this can help maintain a steady blood glucose level avoiding spikes. However, no mention is made of Glycaemic Load, which is now thought to a be a more realistic and flexible approach to eating healthily.
Finally, we come on to the exercise section. Given the title of the book, I would have expected more from this section, as the ?plans? are very simplistic, and little more than some simple callisthenics, a generalised swimming programme, and a general walking/jogging/running programme. A questionnaire at the beginning of this section tries to determine whether it is OK for you to start exercising, strangely including the question ?Do you have diabetes?? Since a single ?yes? answer means you must see your physician before commencing, the remainder of the questionnaire seems rather pointless.
In conclusion, for someone newly-diagnosed or at risk from developing diabetes, the first couple of sections provide a basic introduction. However, I found the exercise section to be little more than common sense or at most a very basic introduction, and I believe to be covered in much better detail in other books. The title, therefore, I found misleading.
Type 2 Diabetes (Exercise Your Way to Health) (amazon link)