Diabetes Book Review: 50 Things You Need to Know about your Diabetes

I find that I don’t do as much reading offline about diabetes as I would like. When I was first diagnosed with diabetes, I read close to 5-6 books in less than a week, yes a book a day! There was so much that I wanted to know and so many things that I NEEDED to know about diabetes to live a healthy, long life. I’ve decided to dedicate myself to reading more diabetes books. Most books out there now are for people that are newly diagnosed and are educating them on diabetes. I would like to see more books about living with diabetes, real life stories, not just books from CDE’s and doctors. Enough of all that. I am going to start reviewing these books as well, so here is the first one.

The book that I am reviewing today is, 50 Things You Need to Know about Your Diabetes–Right Now!: Expert Tips for Taking Control (Amazon link). My initial thoughts of the book, just from looking at the cover was that it was approved by the ADA and that it mentioned expert tips. Right from the start the book was good. To summarize quickly, this is an excellent book for anybody who is newly diagnosed and doesn’t know what to do next. First part of the book takes you through the doctor selection process and finding the right team to put together for your diabetes. Don’t be afraid to ask around about your doctor and get medical opinions from other professionals. Stanley speaks about the other members of the team other than your end. CDE, RD, RN, eye doctor, dentist, etc. These are all medical professionals that are going to aid in the success of your health.

There is an excellent breakdown of the difference between your A1C and your eAG. Whether or not you care to know your eAG is up to you, but there is a formula in the book to figure it out. The other chart / breakdown that Stanley included that I loved was how to choose a glucose meter. Don’t just choose the one that was giving to you for free. Choosing the right meter is one of the most important parts of testing your blood sugar. If you ever needed encouragement on testing, this book will give you several reasons to make sure you remember to test all the time. One reason that I think is a big problem for people is testing at night is helpful in getting over your fear of going low in the middle of the night.

My favorite section of the book is #14, which is, 25 ways to get exercise away from the gym. I never have enough time to go to the gym, so these were some great tips on how to get the exercise you need, no excuses. Another section that caught my eye was her explanation of there not being any “perfect” foods for diabetes. Be a detective and do the research yourself. Create a food journal, eat something, track your blood sugar and then you know whether or not you can eat it again, and also how much of it you can eat. Also, eat something at breakfast. Even if it’s just a banana, at least eat something, don’t skip it. This is a big problem that I have a lot.

My final thoughts on the book were that it had a lot of additional resources, books, magazines, blogs, website, throughout the book at the end of each chapter. There is also a fantastic tip sheet on foot care. I don’t give my feet the attention they need, so that part is well worth the price of the book. Like I said before, this book is perfect for somebody who is newly diagnosed. I think it is also a great book for people that want a refresher on how they should be doing things, such as eating habits, exercising tips, foot care tips, and testing tips. If you have read this book, or read it in the future, let me know what you think about it as well.