Author: Jennifer Elliott
ISBN: 978-0-646-55055-8
RRP: $29.95
Baby Boomers, Bellies & Blood Sugars is a helpful and informative book by Australian dietitian Jennifer Elliott. Personal experience within her family started her on a research journey that led to the discovery of a new way to help manage Type 2 Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and pre-diabetes. Jennifer’s approach differs substantially from the advice that is often given but her clients have demonstrated marked and measurable improvement.
In Baby Boomers, Bellies & Blood Sugars Jennifer takes us through this approach step by step, explaining how she came to her conclusions and including other reference material. The book is written in easy to understand language and presents Jennifer’s findings not as a diet but as a new way to think about eating and planning your meals. There is no calorie counting and watching portion sizes or eating a specific amount of meals or sticking to strict guidelines.
That’s not to say that Jennifer is saying this will be easy because there is a lot of re-training your mind about what you’ve learnt that does make any change in lifestyle difficult, but once you get the hang of it I think this could be quite easy to follow.
The approach in Baby Boomers, Belies & Blood Sugars is not one that will help everyone. It is targeted to a specific audience, those with Type 2 Diabetes, but it can also be beneficial to those who suffer a range of symptoms that are present in the years leading up to a Type 2 Diabetes diagnosis. If you do have trouble losing weight it certainly doesn’t hurt to check out the checklist and if you do suffer multiple symptoms then it may be worth it to give Jennifer’s approach a try.
How much of the body’s metabolic system do you understand? In my case the answer was not enough. Carbohydrates are broken down into energy to fuel the body — while this is a very simple answer, and I still think correct, it is only a fraction of the answer. Carbohydrates are broken down into sugars and if your body doesn’t burn them they are stored as fat.
Many of the things I was told about my diet while I was trying to control my blood sugar when pregnant has been overtunred by the findings in Baby Boomers, Bellies & Blood Sugars. Many of the options we take up thinking we are eating healthy and doing the right things are actually doing the complete opposite. But it all very much depends on individual needs and the way our body works.
As well as the background and findings we are taken through the reasonings behind Jennifers advice to limit carbohydrates, there is a lot of myth busting about other things we have been told about our diet – cholesterol and eggs, protein and kidneys, saturated fats and heart disease.
Included are food lists that break things down into lower or higher carbohydrate content and where and how they can be used. A very helpful guide because we were also told that lots of fruit all the time is a good thing – not so much if you are trying to manage your blood sugar.
To round out the book is a section of recipes, unlike most cookbooks these aren’t set out in groups for which meal or certain ingredients because the point of this eating plan is one carbohydrate meal a day and that can be any meal you choose. This gives the freedom to eat things when you want. I am thinking of giving this a go and I will be keeping my carb meal for dinner, and considering making it my usual breakfast of muesli, yoghurt and strawberries.
The recipes look absolutely delicious, they are not difficult and they are made using everyday ingredients that you will usually have in your pantry so it’s not a hard plan to follow, as long as you can retrain you brain and unlearn the years of things we’ve been told.
There were some interesting points I had been unaware of and I found this to be a very thought-provoking read, it has given me some inspirations and some ideas and a whole new outlook. I think this book is a great idea for people with Type 2 Diabetes and those who may have metabolic syndrome.
There is a checklist on the website if you want to explore whether this book might be for you.
For more information, and to purchase a copy of the book, please visit: Baby Boomers and Bellies.
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!