Each issue the VIP birds endeavor to soar to the highest literary peak to peck out the most unique, informative, and accomplished book that contributes to vegetarian enlightenment.

This month we review a book that provides a program for stopping diabetes and restoring health.

Plunking down $7500 for an 18-day diabetes treatment at the Lifestyle Center of America (LCA) is out of the reach of many people, but purchasing this book and following the program outlined may be a lifestyle changer for many. For journalism professor and writer Ian Blake Newman, a visit to the center so profoundly affected his life that he joined with two physicians of LCA to create The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle.

Prior to his visit to LCA, Newman, a Type 1 diabetic, was injecting himself in the belly five times daily. His blood sugar fluctuated dramatically between 565 and 64. A fasting blood sugar level below 100 is considered normal by the American Diabetes Association, while they label anyone in 100 to 125-range as pre-diabetic.

The authors point out that most doctors depend on a fasting blood sugar test to detect diabetes. The LCA physicians believe a better way to detect pre-diabetes is for people to do their own testing two hours after a meal. "If the blood sugar is over 140 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) 2 hours after beginning the meal, there's a good chance you will develop diabetes within the next 5 years or so unless you make some lifestyle changes," they write.

Dr. Seale tells patients if they have a waist size of 40 inches or more for a man and 35 inches or more for a woman, they should do the test two hours after a meal. He and the other authors believe this is a better way to detect early onset insulin resistance than the fasting blood test.

In a chapter titled The SAD State of Our Diet, the authors discuss the excessive number of calories, at least 3,000 to 3,500 daily, previously consumed by their diabetes patients. "An overweight man who has diabetes and wants to lose weight should be consuming no more than 1,700 calories a day; an overweight woman with diabetes who wants to reduce her weight should stick between 1,200 and 1,400 calories per day--and those patients still need regular physical activity if they expect to drop pounds," they advise.

The LCA program doesn't stress calorie counting, even though the patients consume between 1,250 and 2,100 calories daily. They are reducing their calorie intake naturally by following a high-fiber, low-fat, plant-based diet that is low in calories. Although most diabetics are cautioned to check labels for sugar and carbohydrates, the authors say that all carbohydrates are not bad. They recommend eating "the right kind of natural, unprocessed, unrefined, high fiber carbs." Their program includes a daily diet of 60 to 65 percent of these carbohydrates. They devote an entire chapter to The Right Kind of Carbs.

The chapter The Edible Antidote to Diabetes emphazizes six health factors of the plant-based diet.

A Plant-Based Diet

1. Has more dietary fiber than an animal-based diet
2. Is lower in fat than an animal-based diet
3. Contains no cholesterol
4. Has all the protein you need, without animal protein
5. Has more antioxidants than an animal-based diet
6. Has more phytochemicals than an animal-based diet

Since the authors are focused on lifestyle change, they emphasize Physical Activity Is Medicine! In this chapter they discuss the importance of exercise that includes strolling, stretching, strength training, and intermittent training.

More than 50 pages are devoted to recipes and meal plan menus with ideas for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Menu charts include portion sizes and carb counts.

One of the most valuable chapters in the book deals with Secrets of Long-Term Success. The authors provide guidance in helping people overcome the most common obstacles in achieving success on this program., obstacles like food addictions, inertia, and defeatist thinking about diabetes. The volume concludes with a 30-Day Prescription for a Personal Diabetes Miracle.

The Appendix includes a sample chart people can use for Keeping Track of Your Progress, a Carb-Counting Guide in chart form, and Glycemic Guidelines for a Plant-Based Diet.

The 30-Day Diabetes Miracle is a remarkable guide for people who are dealing with this dreaded degenerative disease. It's everything you want to know about diabetes and more. Most of all, it provides a sensible, realistic way to deal with diabetes to avoid the consequences of this disease. Many people can't afford to enroll in the 18-day program at the Lifestyle Center of America, but they can achieve similar results by buying this book, reading it, and making the significant lifestyle modifications advocated by the authors.