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Have you read a diabetes-related book that had an impact on you? If so, share your recommendations in the comments!
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When I was originally diagnosed diagnosed diabetic I read everything I could. Spent Sundays at the library, than the UAB medical library (at the suggestion of the library staff). However two of the best were “Dr Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution,” and “Dr Atkins’ Diet Revolution.”
Not so much for dietary advice but the explanations on how the endocrine system works, how food interacts, the reactions the body has with hunger, digestion, and everyday life.
Taught me diabetes isn’t just food, insulin, pills, and activity. It’s stress, lifestyle, likes and dislikes, stress, work, love (and hate?), and hmmm… Us. These two books were great with their explanation of how diabetes effects the body. I used the original Atkins plan just before my diagnosis “changed” from TYPE 1 to TYPE 2 (after 3 years diet alone?), losing the last 30odd pounds (than 20lbs underweight?) at the endocrinologist’s direction. I do question avoiding specific foods (starches, meats, etc) but these two books explained the mechanics of diabetes that even this idiot could read and run with it.
Thanks to these two books I adjust my own dietary life with carbs, fats, protein, life, and insulin. While I’m not a spokesman for a ZERO carb plan (if anything I do moderate to low carb) that education is beneficial.
“Think Like A Pancreas” by Gary Scheiner.
Yes, 2 have had marked impact (like previous posters). Think Like a Pancreas and Dr Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution.
Diabetes for Dummies
Bright Spots and Land Mines
I had a book called “Bringing Diabetes to School” when I was a kid, but I wouldn’t say it had an impact. I really only remember what the cover looked like.
(1) Stop the Rollercoaster: How to Take Charge of Your Blood Sugars in Diabetes (1996) by John Walsh PA, CDE, Lois Jovanovic, MD, and Ruth Roberts, MA
(2) Pumping Insulin (2006) and later editions) by John Walsh and Ruth Roberts
(3) Any of the TCOYD publications by Steve Edelman , MD and colleagues.
Authors Edelman, Jovanovic, and Walsh are renowned diabetes care experts in the medical field and are all long duration T1D people, diagnosed in childhood or adolescence.
The Discovery of Insulin, made the greatest impact on me. It was the Banting and Best story. I believe Eli Lilly put the book out sometime in the 70’s.
Think Like a Pancreas!
Not Dead Yet by Phil Southerland
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
currently reading Bright Spots and Land Mines!
Yes, The Diabetes Solution by Dr. Bernstein
Bright Spots and Landmines by Adam Brown
Mastering Diabetes
Agreed – Mastering Diabetes by Khambatta and Barbaro. They do a great job explaining how fat effects glucose uptake by the cells. I’ve adjusted my lifestyle (but do not strictly follow their diet) and, as a result, have better blood glucose control.
An especially helpful book for me was Diabetes Burnout: What to Do When You Can’t Take It Anymore by William Polonsky to be especially helpful. The particularly interesting thing about it is that it opens with a multiple-choice assessment that you take regarding your own care and management. Once you finish, you add up your score, and based on how many answers you give per letter, that’s the order in which you should read each section of the book.
Bright Spots and Landmines by Adam Brown
The Discovery of Insulin was amazing! When I first started using a pump, I read Pumping Insulin and it was very helpful!
There are 2 books that I credit with being a turning point for me in my diabetes control. The first was Dr Richard Bernstein’s “Diabetes Solution” which made me aware of the critical role played by carbohydrates in elevated glucose levels. The second, is Gary Scheiner’s “Think Like a Pancreas” that provided me with the knowledge and understanding about how to treat my diabetes with insulin. I was diagnosed Type 1 in 1976 but did not read these books until the early 2000’s. They were both a game-changer for me.
Dr Bernstein’s Diabetes solution
Think like a Pancreas
Bright spots and land mines
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution.
Dr Bernstein! Also his youtube channel
Bright Spots & Landmines by Adam Brown
Think Like a Pancreas
Think Like A Pancreas First and latest editions.
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
Thanks for the suggestions, everyone!
Pregnancy with Type 1 Diabetes by Vieira and Smith
Some of the above as well as Sugar Surfing.
Diabetes Burnout.
Taught me why we lose weight when we have a high A1c and why we gain weight with a healthier A1c. Your not always spilling keytones and burning fat. So, while the weight gain sucks, your body is actually healthier. That helped me be not so hard on myself when I gained both weight and good control at the same time. It’s a vicious double edged sword. Sigh.
TCOYD by Dr Steve Edelman – Informational because he has lived with it all his life and he is involved in lots of research! Written in a style that I could understand!
Pumping Insulin, Sugar Surfing, and Think Like a Pancreas.
The pink panther book.
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution_ The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars; Books’s Jason Fung
Many of those already cited plus just got a new one: Diabetes Sucks and You Can Handle It by pyschologist Mark Heyman, who has T1D.
Long ago I read everything I could, Pumping Insulin, Think like a pancreas,Taking control of your diabetes. Now I just read the intrnet.
“Think like a Pancreas” is a great book. Also, “Metabolical” gives a whole look at nutrition for everyone, even those without T1D.
A book on counting carbs – a long time ago!
Bright Spots & Landmines By Adam Brown. Easy reading and Adam keeps it real…
I said no because I didn’t finish Bernstien’s book. But it changed where I did my finger sticks from the front to the back between cuticle and first knuckle
Why is that???
“Playing for Life” by Bill Talbert. Talbert was a world class tennis player diagnosed with “Juvenile Diabetes” in the late 1920’s. He was also an acquaintance of my mother’s who came to visit me in the hospital when I was diagnosed in 1960. He became my role model.
Sugar Surfing
Think like a pancreas
Glucose Revolution
Braving the World: Adventures in Travel and Retirement on Amazon. A Type 1 diabetic travels for a year, buys insulin, has an ER visit and manages diabetes. Available on Amazon.
Pumping Insulin. A great primer on setting up an insulin pump regimen.
That book was recommended to me by my Tandem pump educator who helped me set up my pump when I first started pumping in 2018. In my opinion, a very detailed book, but since it has been awhile since reading the book, I can’t say what suggestions I used.
Dr. Bernstein’s books were wonderful and helpful. I also would recommend the Sugar Surfing book.
As an autobiography, I liked “Shot: staying alive with diabetes” by Amy Ryan. Newly diagnosed in her busy 20’s, she had experiences that paralleled mine at that age.
Richard Vaughn, who has commented in this post today, has a very interesting chronicle of his T1d life, starting in childhood in the 1940s and still going strong today. “Beating the Odds, 6 years of diabetes health.”
There are a number of other memoirs that I would not recommend at all, but I am not here to bash them.
Dr. Bernstein “Diabetes Solutions”
Keith Runyan MD “Master Type 1 Diabetes”
Adam Brown “Bright Spots & Landmines”
Jenny Ruhl “Blood Sugar 101”
“The Truth about Low Carb Diets”
“Your Diabetes Questions Answered”
I did a lot of reading about diabetes when I was first diagnosed and can’t remember the names of the books. I also devoured the pages of the magazine Diabetes Forecast for many years. Not so much now.
Conquer Your Diabetes- Martin Abrahanson, MD and Sanjiv Chopra, MD
The Diabetic Athlete- Sheri Colberg, PhD
Thhk like a Pancreas- Gary Schooner, MS, CDE
Soon after being diagnosed Type I at age 56 a friend gave me a copy of “Understanding Diabetes” (Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Health Science Center, Denver CO), a “Pink Panther” cartoon book designed for children, but the best practical guide to introduce someone new to all aspects of diabetes (type 1) management I have ever seen. I’ve read a lot of the books mentioned above, and they are good, but as an introduction for someone newly diagnosed — regardless of age — I still find this cartoon book (quite long and extensive) the best of all. I read the 10th edition (2002) so I don’t know if production continued, but if it did, I strongly recommend it.
Dr bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
The Diabetes Solution. Dr Bernstein
Dr Bernstein Diabetes Solution
Yes . Think like a Pancreas.
Dr. Berstein’s book about ketogenic diet fir T1D.
Yes, in addition to the helpful books like “Think Like a Pancreas,” I recommend “The Discovery of Insulin” by Michael Bliss. It’s inspiring and very interesting to learn more about the history of diabetes, and learn more about Frederick Banting, who was a complex person. “Cheating Destiny” by James Hirsch was impactful, but sobering. I don’t recommend it to any parent with a T1 child. But if you are trying to solicit donations to the JDRF, “Cheating Destiny” is the book to read!
I feel talking to order diabetics and their experiences is most helpful.
Sugar Surfing, by Stephen Ponder.
Immediately after diagnosis I purchased “American Diabetes Association Complete Guide to Diabetes”.
It helped me, a beginner, understand the basics of most subjects. and search for more information if needed.
Later books were those mentioned by others: “think like a pancreas” and “type 1 diabetes for dummies”.
Dr. Richard Bernstein’s, Diabetes Solution
Preferring the wit, wisdom and humor myself rather than the How-To books for beginners, I thoroughly enjoyed Richard Vaughn’s Beating the Odds ISBN 978-1450515962 and Kerri Sparling’s Rage Bolus & Other Poems ISBN 978-0-578-64799-9
Reading and learning is how I cope with diabetes. Several books come to mind, Think like a Pancreas, Stop the Rollercoaster, TCOYD, 50 People Living with Diabetes over 50 years, Diabetes Strong.
No, but maybe I could write a book based on my 55 yuearsT1D experiences, part of which 39 years on a pump, along with 10 years on a CGM. I made many mistakes, so with a funny outcome.
Reading books are ok for starters but joining a group has taught me the most about Current changes in Diabetes technology and physiology. Having a monthly two-hour meeting with a Highly trained CDE/Dietician. Goes a long way to understand when and if you made an error in your thought processes.
Write the book. Write the book, please. Mistakes made make the most edifying reading.
I also read the very first edition of Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution. I had already had diabetes for 25 years and had been using a glucose meter for 12 years at that point. It was fabulous, and I immediately followed his advice.
Think Like a Pancreas – – Great Book!!
Mastering Diabetes
Upon diagnosis of our four-year-old, I got this book by Calentine and Porter and it gave me a piece of mind. It’s called: KiDS FiRST Diabetes Second: tips for parenting a child with type 1 diabetes
Yes, the book was called “Elle & Coach”. It was about a young girl, who had been recently diagnosed with T1D & the story of her adopting a diabetic alert dog from CARES in Concordia, KS. It was #4 on NYTimes list. I read it & decided to start the 18 month process of applying for a Service Dog. It is an easy read & even though I have a pump & CGM, I love my dog Mya & she alerts to glucose highs & lows.
Gary Scheiner- Think like a Pancreas
Diabetes Dominator
The Diabetic Athlete. Before high speed internet was a thing. I figured out how to run my first marathon with this book.
Dr. Anne Peters wrote a book entitled “Conquering Diabetes”. It changed my life. She is a researcher who also sees individual patients in California.
Reading the book I suspected I was LADA. I thought it would be difficult to get an appointment with an author, but found it was quite easy.
I went to California to be seen by her and she determined by a test that I was in fact Type 1. During the visit I learned that she had fired her ghost writer because she wanted a layperson to understand.
It is a great book and is now in paperback. I urge you to read it and make sure anyone you care about, who might be pre-diabetic or diabetic, read it. It is an easy read.
“Your Diabetes Science Experiment” was a great mind shift to the reasons for a high or low. There’s always a “reason” why something happens and this book made me feel more in control when newly diagnosed.
Sugar Surfing, Think Like a Pancreas, Dr. Bernstein’s book.
Think Like a Pancreas – 3rd Edition by Gary Scheiner (Paperback)
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
The Complete Guide to Achieving Normal Blood Sugars
By Richard K. Bernstein · 2011
Chris Feudtner
Bittersweet: Diabetes, Insulin, and the Transformation of Illness (Studies in Social Medicine)
pumping insulin by john walsh and ruth roberts
Needles: A memoir of growing up with diabetes. That book scared me so much as a child.
Sugar Surfing was uplifting