PALEOBETIC DIET - REVIEW OF LATEST DIET BOOK BY DR. STEVE PARKER


PALEOBETIC DIET
Defeat
Diabetes & Prediabetes
With Paleolithic Eating

A REVIEW of the newest book by Dr. Steve Parker, M.D., and Sunny Parker.  This book is available in print and online. Try this link for Amazon (CLICK HERE). 

This book, detailing the Paleolithic low-carb diet, is designed to lower blood sugar, eliminate or reduce diabetic drugs and to help people lose excess weight. It is the first created diet of its kind for people with diabetes.  The Paleobetic diet is designed to lower blood sugar naturally, eliminate or reduce diabetic drugs and help with losing excess weight. Dr. Parker has 3 decades’ experience in practicing Internal Medicine and treating patients with diabetes and prediabetes.  His other major areas of interest are weight loss and physical fitness (great chapter on exercise in the book).  Dr. Parker has several other books as well worth checking out – all with diabetes, weight loss, low-carbing and the Mediterranean low-carb diet in mind.

Several testimonials of eating a low-carb, Paleolithic diet are provided in the beginning of the book and really enthuse one to continue reading.

A shocking fact: “Sugar-sweetened beverages kill almost 200,000 worldwide annually.”  These beverages lead to obesity, which in turn leads to diabetes, cardiovascular disease and some cancers.  Higher sugar consumption is also implicated in cognitive impairment, often leading to full-blown dementia in the elderly.

The Paleobetic diet is a low-carb diet that is gluten-free, dairy-free, no green beans (this surprised me!), industrial seed oils and artificial sweeteners (stevia is allowed).  Vitamin D and calcium supplements may be necessary.

The Components of the diet: 
Nuts and seeds
Proteins
Vegetables
Fruits
Condiments and oils

Low-carb eating – recommended: 45 to 80 grams net carbs per day! That’s a very healthy level of carbs for most people.  There is a way to optimize knowing exactly how many carbs to consume (for each individual) using a glucometer.  This method is expanded on in the book.

Some starchy vegetables are allowed in small portions at a time and should be eaten with a main meal, as should fruit, to minimize the effect on blood sugar.  Tips for hunger and losing weight are useful reading.  Stevia is the sweetener of choice.  Search for a good-tasting one! It exists!

Full, easy meal menus for a week (breakfast, lunch and dinner) are outlined with their nutritional analysis.  In addition, a few special recipes are provided.

Hypoglycemia, the many different types of diabetes drugs (had no idea there were so many!) and how to adjust them are discussed.  A new diabetic drug sounds rather exciting and hopeful.

A chapter called Daily Life with Paleo Eating is very helpful with sub-categories:
1.  Learning to cook
2.  More paelo diet recipes and cookbooks
3.  Short-term physical effects
4.  Shopping for food
5.  Dining out
6.  Cheating
7.  Sweet cravings
8.  Holdiays
9.  Hunger
10.  Record-keeping
11.  Weight-loss tips
12.  Miscellanea
13.  Social Issues

A good chapter on exercise from a doctor’s viewpoint and how to stay safe (with regard to blood sugar too) while getting fitter.  Walking and weights are emphasized.

The Scientific Support of Paleo Diet for people with Diabetes chapter will be of great interest to those who need more convincing.

All in all this is an excellent diet, obviously well-researched, and this intelligent doctor with a heart for people with pre-diabetes, diabetes and/or weight problems, lays it all out there for you in easy-to-read format.