The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook: More than 175 Ultra-Tasty Recipes for Total Health and Weight Loss (The Dr. Mark Hyman Library, 2)

I was offered an advanced review copy of this cookbook, and decided to give it a look. Although I don't have diabetes, my mother died of complications from it, and I'm cautious about following in her footsteps. So, I do my best to eat a balanced healthy diet. That means a combination of protein, fat, and yes, carbs.

I also love to cook, and have amassed a collection of cookbooks from around the world. Given my background, a good number of them would be categorized as "healthy eating"-type books.

My primary beef with most low-carb diets is an over-reliance on individual glycemic index "scores." This book does NOT take that approach. It recognizes that these individual scores can be mitigated by what else one consumes at the same time, and that "glycemic load" is more realistic than "glycemic index" in determining the impact on blood sugar. In other words, some carbs are OK, in moderation, and combined with other foods. From page 36, "Adding fiber, protein, or fat to any carbohydrate will also lower the glycemic load of the meal." And the recipes reflect this sensible approach.

So what about the recipes? They're divided into two groups: "basic," and "advanced." The "advanced" group is much more restrictive, and is for people who are seriously obese, who already have diabetes, or who have other conditions that necessitate a more restrictive approach. There is a self-quiz in the introductory chapters that tells you which set of recipes to use as a start.

The advanced recipes eliminate grains and starchy vegetables and limit fruits to 1/2 C per day. Even with these restrictions, there are some excellent recipes in this section. The "Weekday Veggie Scramble," for example, is full of high-flavor ingredients (red bell pepper, onion, kale, garlic) and eggs. Filling, tasty, excellent! There are a couple of other egg/veggie breakfast recipes that are equally good (Vegetable Egg Scramble and Garden Omelet), and these have become some of my "go to" breakfast choices.

For lunch, I've made the Brazilian Black Bean Soup -- black beans, celery, onion, spices -- plus just enough heat (1/2 of a small poblano pepper) to make it interesting. The Chile Verde Chicken is right up my alley: a spicy tomatillo sauce over nicely seasoned chicken breasts. Yummy!

And that's just the "Advanced" section of the book.

In the "Basic" section, you get more options, more fruit (Tarragon Chicken Salad is nice this time of year, with chicken, watercress, and a diced medium pear, with a dressing containing cardamom, tarragon, and walnut oil), and some grains). Most of the recipes use easy-to-find ingredients, and so are accessible to most home cooks.

I ended up liking this book far more than I thought I would. And I've included it in my "kitchen shelf" where I keep the cookbooks I use most often. It's really that good.

Five years ago my husband and I both had pneumonia for most of the winter, when my husband endured a heart attack it was not all that surprising. However, a few days later when the cardiologist returned from the stent procedure and told me "your husband's heart is so badly diseased, his next step is a heart transplant!" my jaw hit the floor. I was stunned. Three days later still enduring pneumonia we returned to the emergency department - where the doctor failed to correct an electrolyte balance, further depleted his electrolytes with IV Lasix so my husband experienced death while in their care. Obviously this was the most traumatic week in my life... and his...

... upon resuscitation, my husband was scared. He instinctively knew he had *coded* and said to me "Hon, what's wrong with me? What's my body DOING to me?!"

The last five years our journey has led us to a path of not only successfully reversing his heart disease but to also RESOLVE his former 18 years of Type 2 Diabetes. Formerly, when maxed out on two oral diabetes medications his A1C was well over 10 and sometimes as high as 13 or more. Fasting blood glucose levels were often 300-400 with those occasional spikes into the 500s. Over the years his primary care doctors were all convinced he was not taking his medications, they used to chastise him. Family members ridiculed him when he wanted a soda or a glass of orange juice or a plate of spaghetti. He was depressed and frustrated. I made plenty of mistakes too - afterall I am the one who stupidly made the appointments and insisted we attended "diabetes education" where they insisted he eat *white* rice or bleached enriched products (but in very tiny amounts - starvation sized servings!) that we now know the truth about today. The problems were not only with portion control but WHAT he was eating - over-processed junk devoid of real nutrition. You know, that stuff sold as "food" in bright packages in the grocery. His body was STARVING for real nutrition, he was eating everything in sight - especially Fast Food Row. Those Golden Arches tugged at him to hit the drive-thru again and again as he drove past them at seemingly every suburban street corner. We all know the story... and it usually ends with Death. Only our story BEGINS with Death. My husband's Death. And his resuscitation which gave him, us, an opportunity to learn a new lifestyle.

We found the answers to his questions. We learned about reversing disease and the research of Dr. Stephen Sinatra MD and discovered the world of Metabolic Cardiology in [[ASIN:1591202914 The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology]]. We learned the value of proper Vitamin D levels and now maintain ours near 100. We learned about minerals and the research of Dr. Joel Wallach, DVM, ND and his wife Dr. Ma Lan, MD, OMD in their books [[ASIN:0974858110 Hell's Kitchen: Causes, Prevention and Cure of Obesity, Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome]], [[ASIN:0970149077 Let's Play Herbal Doctor]] and [[ASIN:0974858161 Immortality]] as well as the truth of Modern Western Medicine in [[ASIN:0974858102 Dead Doctors Don't Lie]]. We also found the truth and amazing guidance in Dr. Julian Whitaker's books including [[ASIN:0446556114 Reversing Diabetes]] and [[ASIN:0446676578 Reversing Heart Disease: A Vital New Program to Help Prevent, Treat, and Eliminate Cardiac Problems Without Surgery]].

In a nutshell, many of us who are obese or we suffer from Type 2 Diabetes and insulin resistance or we suffer from PCOS and various ovarian syndromes, or those of us who suffer from Chronic Fatigue or even those who's bodies are feeding cancers, we all have things to learn from the Blood Sugar Solution and now The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook. Dr. Mark Hyman MD has shared many time honored TASTY recipes that help us to restore our much needed vitamins and minerals and essential amino acids and phytonutrients that we all need for HEALTH and VITALITY.

Today my husband suffers from lingering mobility issues after enduring months of a paralyzing encephalitis. His hand initially shriveled up like a claw (thankfully with much therapy and rehab he is slowly regaining functionality and muscle tone in all the areas hit hardest by the "unilateral partial paralysis".) His weakness eventually caused him a fractured hip, then a broken back, and lingering tingling and pain from the misfiring nerves. Day by day his symptoms have been gradually improving. As we look back with 20/20 hindsight we are able to identify positive changes over the previous months. The one thing that he does NOT suffer from anymore is metabolic issues. Of any kind. His A1C levels are now 5.2 - THREE FULL YEARS without diabetes medications of any kind. All the other labs have shown improvements as well. Today we each require fewer medications than ever before; our goal is to become free of medications, a task we believe we can accomplish. His heart beats stronger with each passing season. Even his cardiac issues are slowly resolving themselves - something we were led to believe were impossible, afterall when I inquired into Cardiac Rehab for him their retort "Cardiac Rehab? That's for the LIVING!" and the electro physiologist statement "you don't understand, you're taking your husband home to die" as well as "he'll be dead within 2 weeks, probably a few days" was drilled into me by his (former) physicians in those early days as we began to realize we needed to not only reverse multiple chronic nutrient deficiencies but also the damages he incurred as a result of multiple severe failures in our modern medical system that ultimately shattered the engendered reliance we had for western medicine.

Anything is possible when we set our minds to making lasting changes. The Blood Sugar Solution Cookbook will NOT cure your cancer nor reverse your diabetes. However, it is a tool for you, if you are DEDICATED and SINCERE about making lasting change. Dr. Hyman's cookbook is a tool to learn how to make tasty recipes of the wholesome foods that are vital to helping to restore true health. Let food be thy medicine. We have been privileged to have had access to this book for a few weeks prior today's release. There are many recipes in this book that we have come to absolutely love!

My husband reports his favorite recipes are a tie between Grilled Rosemary Chicken Breasts and Lemon-Garlic-Basil Chicken (amazing since he doesn't usually prefer garlic!) I have too many favorites to list them all... The Worlds Healthiest Breakfast is up there as is Chinese Eggs and Greens (ideally made with farm fresh eggs from a farmer's market). The Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili is a favorite in our household, especially on days like today when we barely dodged a foot deep snow fall!

A special comment for those who are NOT particularly comfortable in a kitchen: I highly recommend this book for anyone who is not entirely familiar with their kitchen and has called the number of their favorite pizza delivery so often as to be able to greet their delivery driver by name! Dr. Hyman breaks down in simple instructions some basic food preparation methods such as how to steam or how to saute. He explains which inexpensive tools to have in the kitchen to help make meal preparation easier. Dr. Hyman takes a few paragraphs to explain how to stock a kitchen and which ingredients to maintain on hand. And most importantly Dr. Hyman encourages FUN while making his recipes, he even reminds us to listen to music when in the kitchen. If you have a loved one who is NOT the worlds most adept cook, then this book is absolutely for them!

This book by itself will NOT change a life. However for those who are serious that they WANT to change their lives and improve their health, then this book is a great tool for guidance and encouragement. If my husband who was a drive thru junkie can take a fasting blood glucose level of 502 WHILE ON MEDICATIONS and turn that around so now he has an A1C of 5.2 without medications while enjoying preparing fresh healthy meals then anything is possible! The nutrients we focused on for reversing his Type 2 diabetes included vitamin D, magnesium, chromium, vanadium and selenium as well as plenty of essential fatty acids (low fat restrictions for a recovering cardiac patient?? Heck no! We increased his omega 3 fats upwards of 8-12 grams per day plus healthy dietary fats!) We also found the benefits of adding D-Ribose to his drinking water to lower his blood glucose levels. It was a tremendous paradigm shift for us, I was adding "sugar" as d-ribose to his drinking water.. to LOWER his blood glucose levels! With some squeezes of lemons into this water he found the joy of "healthy lemon-aid" which was simply filtered water, d-ribose powder and fresh lemon juice, to taste. So if we can reverse both end stage severe congestive heart failure (his ejection fraction was less than 15% after FOUR stents were placed) as well as "resolve" chronic severe type 2 diabetes, then anything is possible with resolve and dedication when following a wholesome lifestyle full of life-sustaining nutrients while free of unnecessary modern food chemicals in the over-processed chemicalized sludge commonly referred to as "food" in those colorful packages in the artificially lit supermarkets.

Note: A copy of this book was provided for reviewing purposes. However, the author nor his publicist had any idea this book was on my wishlist of books I intended to peruse this year.

I love the concepts in this book. The recipes don't always work out which leads to waste and unsatisfying meals. They either need ingredients added or different cooking techniques to be successful. But again, I love what Dr. Hyman is doing.

This changed my life. I've done lots of different diets. Atkins worked while I was on it, but I wasn't able to sustain the diet long term. This book is really more about changing to a better way of eating all the time, as well as discovering the source of unending food cravings. I highly recommend it. Just be sure to follow it carefully.

In a recent magazine article Alison Sweeney was talking about kale chips and she said her kids liked them. That made me think that I really should try them. If kids liked them they must be good. Well this cookbook arrived and surprise surprise it had a recipe for kale chips. The recipe is good except I rinsed off the kale and dried it with a towel before I baked the chips. Also you don't need a lot of salt. The first time I tried this recipe I was a bit too liberal with the salt. Since the chips shrink a bit they don't need very much salt.

I found kale turns almost buttery when baked. It sort of tasted a bit like a creamy spinach - much different than when you eat a kale salad, which I also do these days. Now the recipe calls for one large bunch of kale but I could only find a small bunch and the tray was fully covered with only half of the kale.

If your bunch of kale is smaller you won't be able to get 3-inch pieces, they will be more like one- and two-inch pieces. But the basic recipe is good. I also decided to cook the kale eight minutes a side instead of five minutes and ten minutes. It seemed more logical to bake both sides for the same amount of time. Since the kale pieces were a bit smaller than the recipe called for they cooked quicker. So watch them during the last few minutes.

So this cookbook is worth the price to find this one recipe. I'll use this recipe again and again.

~The Rebecca Review

I received a copy free for review. This in no way changes how I review. My reviews
are my honest opinion.