Foreword
More than 26 million Americans have diabetes, so it’s likely that you know someone with the condition, perhaps a family member or friend. Diabetes has serious health consequences, and it garners considerable attention from the medical community and the media. Prediabetes, the forerunner to diabetes, gets less press, but has recently come into its own and is being recognized as a force to be reckoned with.
     While the number of Americans with diabetes is nothing to quibble about, more than three times as many people—an estimated 79 million— have prediabetes. With prediabetes, blood sugar (glucose) is higher than normal, but not yet elevated enough to be considered diabetes. Prediabetes may be symptom-free, and it’s likely most people won’t know that they have it until they take a blood test.
    In spite of the somewhat disarming terminology, there’s nothing “pre” about prediabetes, which, like diabetes, increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, and high blood pressure. Some experts argue that prediabetes and diabetes are actually one and the same condition, because harmful health effects from high blood sugar progress with time. In fact, about half of the people with prediabetes develop type 2 diabetes within ten years as their blood sugar levels creep upward.
    The news isn’t all bad, however. Today’s prediabetes diagnosis need not become tomorrow’s diabetes, nor does prediabetes necessarily have to play havoc with your health in any other way. There is hope for reversing prediabetes and preventing diabetes. That’s the essence of The Prediabetes Diet Plan.
    If you, or a loved one, have been advised to lower your blood sugar, you’ve come to the right book. Hillary Wright is a compassionate and experienced dietitian with an obvious passion for prevention. It will seem as though she is speaking directly to you in her warm, conversational tone when explaining the details of prediabetes and diabetes and how best to manage your health. As a highly skilled communicator, Hillary dishes up scientific evidence in easy-to-understand terms, an absolute must for understanding what’s happening with your body.
    Knowledge is power, but knowing what to do doesn’t always mean you’ll do it. As a registered dietitian who happens to have several relatives with type 2 diabetes, I am all too aware of how difficult it can be to change your eating habits, even when a better diet would greatly improve your health. The Prediabetes Diet Plan leaves no stone unturned on the topics of prediabetes and diabetes, but it also goes to great lengths to help you jumpstart your journey to better health and keep you, and the rest of your household, on the right path.
    I especially appreciate the way Hillary avoids preaching about what you should do for better health. She goes out of her way to avoid giving one-size-fits-all advice about weight control, healthy eating, and blood sugar management. Hillary embraces difference, and, in that vein, presents reasonable, real-life scenarios to help guide lifestyle choices.
    Consumers and health professionals alike should thank Hillary Wright for her laser focus on prediabetes, a condition that’s become a personal burden for millions of Americans, as well as a financial strain on the health care system. Prediabetes, you’re finally getting the attention you deserve!
 
 
Elizabeth M. Ward, MS, RD
Author, MyPlate for Moms, How to Feed Yourself & Your Family Better