I was interested in learning more about preventing Type 2 diabetes so I picked up this book. The author had a lot of information about diabetes and its co-morbities but I struggled to connect. His plan is really restrictive and not something I will likely follow.
Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book for my honest opinion..

Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle by Richard Furman MD, FACS is a wonderful look at the research and best practices to prevent or help diabetes. I think the author does a fantastic job of this and really sets a positive tone for the book, bringing great hope at what a person can do to improve their health. This is not a detailed plan with menus or action steps, rather, this is a conceptual guide to overall lifestyle change. I think it is wonderfully written and I highly recommend it. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher with no obligations. These opinions are entirely my own.

This is an extensive read for gaining understanding of diabetes. As someone with a sweet tooth and whose maternal grandfather had diabetes I was keen to benefit from the knowledge in Furhman’s book. I wasn’t disappointed. He teaches the importance of tools beyond medicine, like exercise and nutrition.

There's not a lot here that hasn't been published elsewhere, but hopefully anyone who picks up this book will be inspired to treat the causes of Type 2 diabetes, rather than just medicate the symptoms. He makes the great points that lifestyle changes are twice as effective as medication, and that "You are the only one who can wholeheartedly treat your condition, not your doctor." Will people like to hear this? Unlikely. Will people be willing to drastically change their eating and exercise habits? Probably not most, but here's hoping Dr. Furman can help some on the journey back to health.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

Thank you to the publisher and to Net Galley for the opportunity. . My review is my own. .
I was pleased to receive this book for review as I am a extreme hypoglycemic patient. I am not diabetic . My blood sugar disorder is rare and I am always researching informative books regarding education on blood sugar issues. I found this very well researched and a excellent source of knowledge. As a vegan I approve of the doctors health advice regarding taking people off a dairy heavy diet as dairy products are very unhealthy and full of sugar. He has included here not just a change of diet advice, but how to address your own weight issues and maintain a healthy attitude and change of eating. I highly recommend this book for all who seek information on changing to a healthy lifestyle and managing their blood sugar issues.

This book is very informative. Nothing new here but well organized and detailed. I enjoyed looking through this book and feel it is a good reference for those unfamiliar with the progression and self care for those fighting blood sugar issues. I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I flipped through this book and found a lot of valuable information. My husband is Type 2 and our goal in 2020 is to try to get healthier. I took many notes while reading this book.

Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle is aimed at those who have been diagnosed with Type II diabetes. The first part of the book takes the reader through the results of numerous studies linking Type II diabetes with a host of other health complaints, especially heart disease. And that's the strength of the book: Dr. Furman has reviewed what feels like hundreds of medical studies from around the world, and successfully translates dense medical research into everyday English for the lay reader. Frankly, the early chapters are scary and convincing. Our health is in our own hands, and diabetes is largely a product of poor lifestyle choices.

His main point is that while we have medicines to keep diabetes under control, those medicines don't prevent associated illnesses (like heart disease). Instead, we should adopt a healthy lifestyle, lowering blood sugar and reducing—or eliminating—our risk of Type II diabetes through a combination of diet and exercise.

The weakness of the book, unfortunately, is the diet advice. Anyone who has read a diet book or a women's magazine in the last thirty years knows we'd all be better off if we ate more grains, fibre, and vegetables, and limited our meat intake to white meat (i.e. chicken and fish) or fish such as salmon that's high in Omega fatty acids, with a few nuts for variety.

The problem is that for those of us who like food, we can't think of anything more boring than a diet of oats or granola for breakfast, and chicken or salmon salad for lunch and dinner. Every day. Even Thanksgiving and Christmas—because Dr. Furman believes in an abstinence approach to food. As such, he believes we should never eat unhealthy foods. Ever. We're better to wean our bodies off our addiction to sugar, wheat, potatoes, white bread, white rice and the bad monounsaturated fats found in whole milk, cheese, butter, and fried food, and red meat.

Okay, I'm with him on fried foot and white carbohydrates, but I'm also wary of any diet that tells us to cut out entire food groups—like red meat and dairy. For myself, I know that my iron levels fall if I don't eat enough red meat, which means vitamin injections. Surely red meat in moderation is better than regular trips to the doctor for blood tests and injections? I'm also wary when someone tries to tell me rapeseed oil (generally marketed as Canola oil) is better for me than, say, peanut oil or avocado oil (especially when that same someone extols the virtues of avocados and peanuts).

Yes, Dr. Furman has convinced me of the importance of keeping our weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar at manageable levels to prevent diabetes, heart disease, and possibly Alzheimer's. But I'm not convinced his diet is going to be achievable for many people. Yes, he says:

"If you're reading this book, you've already proven you have the desire to change."

But the desire isn't enough if the solution feels impossible—as it will for many people on low or fixed incomes (i.e. not doctor incomes). Having said that, five of his six "secrets" to weight loss are sensible and achievable ("secrets" because they're not secret. They're common-sense things most of us don't or won't do). Even the sixth "secret" is sensible. It's just he didn't convince me his hard abstinence line was practical or achievable.

Thanks to Baker Publishing and NetGalley for providing a free ebook for review.

There's nothing earth-shattering here: a healthy diet and regular exercise can help prevent or control type 2 diabetes. But Furman does a good job of laying out the case for making these changes, as well as providing tools and tricks like sample menus and exercise suggestions.

Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle is an excellent information-packed guide on understanding diabetes and blood sugar. While I don’t have diabetes myself, loved ones do, so I wanted better insight into this disease. Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle was the perfect book to choose. It’s comprehensive, concise and easy to understand. It covers the disease itself and how it affects the heart and brain and the midlife years, as well as provides greater insight into prediabetes, medicine, diet, exercise and habits to manage it. If you or a loved one are affected by diabetes or are prediabetic, I highly recommend this book.

As a member of the medical field dealing with patients with chronic conditions such as Diabetes, I found that this book by Dr. Furman a wonderful read for both medical and non-medical alike. I found that Dr. Furman emphasized the importance of eating, exercise habits, and weight control to manage the long-term effects of Diabetes in the heart, the brains and other vital organs. This book certainly ensured to teach how to make lifestyle changes before any medical emergency ever occurs and before it is too late.

In Winning Your Blood Sugar Battle, Dr. Richard Furman clearly and carefully explains the latest medical literature and ensuring that his information is backed by the latest evidence and literature from well-known journals without having it become too complicated with numbers. Dr. Furman is able to present those complicated information and present it in a meaningful way to actually know how to make a change for the better. There are clear guidelines that are easy to follow on what to eat (and what not to eat), an effective exercise program and other suggestions to improve a Diabetic's life.

This book is for anyone who is diabetic, prediabetic, overweight, has a family member who is a diabetic, at risk for diabetes. The information is valuable to understand and mitigate the deadly complications from this terrible disease.

Thank you to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to voluntarily review this book. All opinions are my own.

Very interesting book to read. Lots of information to help you. Full of useful knowledge to put into practice.

Dr Furman gives us a lot of information here about how to maintain your blood sugar at a normal level. A lot of other diseases (particularly heart disease) can be caused by uncontrolled blood sugar. Very informative, easily understood guidelines as to diet, exercise and health. For me, even though not diabetic, I have always been interested in how blood sugar can affect overall health so reading this has given me a lot more information in general about foods to avoid etc. Dr Furman indicates that a lot could be gained by basically making small changes to your everyday habits.

After reading this, I will be making a few more lifestyle changes and now realise how important it is to do this.

Thank you to Revell, Netgalley and Dr Richard Furman for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.

I was diagnosed borderline diabetic last year and decided to handle it by eating properly.
This I didn’t always manage so was put on medication.

I was so confused by good carbs, bad carbs, sugar.

I learnt a lot since then and am losing weight which is a huge bonus.

This book has added extra extension to my learning of the disease as well as not pulling back as telling you exactly what could/can happen if you don’t take control of it right now.
Yep, scary indeed.

But the author doesn’t leave it like that with you swimming an ocean of confusion. He lets you know what diabetes is, types of diabetes.

He teaches you how important it is to get exercise, even a walk daily will help.

The food.
What to have, what to have occasionally and what to avoid and why.

This has been one of the most impressive books I’ve read that’s been so helpful to me.

A great resource for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I loved the fact that there was an actual meal guide to help readers have a better idea of what to consume. This book was well written and quite detailed.

An informative book giving advice on how to eat healthy to reduce your weight and blood sugar levels. It also gives advice on exercise and changing your eating habits.
I will certainly be trying to follow some of this advice.
Thank you to NetGalley and Revell for my e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

This ARC was courtesy of netgalley - all thoughts and opinions are mine and unbiased

I was interested in this book because I have recently been diagnosed as diabetic and this is a very useful book filled with lots of helpful information

Well written, I liked the layout and styling of the book - very user friendly

This is a book I will spend lots of time dipping in and out of

Highly recommended

I'm diabetic and found this book very useful and informative.
I appreciated the clarity of the explanations and the style of writing.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I love the way that Dr. Furman speaks to the reader on his/her level, rather than from a higher medical perspective. There is scientific-speak, but then it's all explained in layman's terms. Nothing is terribly new here in the way of ideas; what is new is the ideology and theory behind them being explained. There are a few things I'd like to see discussed more in depth......for instance, what about folks with special needs, handicaps, etc who cannot employ some of the major strategies (ie, exercise for handicap)? I'd like to see some of these topics addressed in an afternote or later chapter.