Contents:

• Executive summary
• What is diabetes?
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Gestational diabetes
• Metabolic syndrome
• Pre-diabetes
• Common health complications
• Why do people become diabetic?
• Genetics
• Lifestyle and environmental factors
• Life with diabetes
• Classical approach to treatment
• Medication
• Type 1 diabetes
• Type 2 diabetes
• Diet
• How well does it work?
• The D-Diet
• Basic principles of the D-Diet
• Why and how it works
• The D-Diet nutrition basics
• Conclusion
• References

Pre-diabetes

Individuals with impaired glucose metabolism (elevated blood glucose) which has not yet reached diabetic levels are diagnosed with pre-diabetes. This condition is also associated with insulin resistance. The main risk factor for pre-diabetes is obesity and related risk
factors include high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides (fats in the blood).

Pre-diabetes almost always precedes type 2 diabetes but many people don’t know they have the condition until diabetes has developed. However, pre-diabetes, as well as metabolic syndrome, is reversible with the D-Diet (see page 16).

Diabetes is not usually diagnosed immediately after its onset and by the time the diagnosis is made, many people will have already developed some health complications. However, even people who are aware of their condition and have adjusted their lifestyle accordingly, are still at considerable risk of heart disease, stroke, eye problems, kidney disease, nerve damage and amputations.