If all you can do is buy one book, this is the one! This book is warm, understandable, thorough, educational, and worth every penny. To make things even better, it is full of wonderful recipes! I consider this book a companion, and I am not alone anymore.

I have been diagnosed with diabetes for almost a year. I have struggled through materials from different sources, doctor visits, and nutritionist visits for months and was still confused. With this book in hand, I feel more positive, more grounded, and more capable of managing my disease.

If I could rate this book freely, I would give it more than 5 stars.

This book provides me with meals that are as delicious as the resturants I frequent in Beverly Hills. It is different from other cookbooks in that, it is not typical Diabetic "American." You do not feel as if you are preparing or eating a meal for diabetes. This cookbook is romantic, especially when you are planning passionate evenings and breakfasts. Another equally import ingrediant of this gourmet book are the educational guidelines for explaining how to critical think through what your goals are and how to achieve them in a chapter by chapter "diabetes 101" support style. Mary Donkersloot wrote a very savy book for everyone to feel as if they are dinning in Beverly Hills or at the Chez Panisse!

Diabetes is a major part of every family physician's practice. Though the DCCT in Type 1 diabetics and similar evidence in Type 2's mandates better control, the patient must do the bulk of management with our guidance. Unfortunately, the amount of time we have for education and the coverage for diabetes educators may be limited under managed care. I found a solution to this dilemma with The Simply Gourmet Diabetes Cookbook. The first 116 pages of the book contain the best, most concise, patient friendly explanation of diabetes and its management I've read. With nary a wasted word author Mary Donkersloot covers the New Guidelines for diabetic nutrition, the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, carbohydrate counting, weight loss, exercise and cholesterol. In the next 300 pages, she has written a complete cookbook from breakfast to desserts. A very helpful appendix contains the traditional exchange system values for common foods, a guide to reading the new nutrition labels and lists of lean, medium fat and high fat meats along with "free" foods.

Besides clear writing, the formatting is clear with well organized tables. For Type 1 diabetics, the chapter on carbohydrate counting explains how to maintain a consistent caloric intake and match one's insulin requirements for any changes. One big help is advice on compensating for sweets like occasional desserts (for which the author includes a variety of recipes). Also helpful are recipes for various ethnic foods like burritos, quesadillas and enchiladas along with information about eating out at regular restaurants and fast food restaurants. For Type 2 diabetics, chapters on weight loss and exercise essentials are superb.

The recipes are quite varied and well organized. They all contain ten or less ingredients and most have just three steps so they are easy to make. Each recipe lists total calories, percent of fat, sodium, carbohydrate choices and food exchanges for easy calculations.

The cornerstone of good diabetes control is consistent caloric intake and this book tells patients how to accomplish this. It contains everything I want my patients to know. As you all know, after informing patients of their diagnosis, the first question they usually ask is, "What should I eat?" Rather than searching through my files for my diabetic diets, I'm going to be recommending this book to answer their questions, to start them with a good diabetes education, and to save me time.

Five stars for this lovely childrens book!! My kids love to sing the songs and delight in all the animals. The lively illustrations mezmerize the children as they learn about all the animals in Alaska!! This catchy rhyming book is sure to be your childrens favorite! Can't wait for the next book to be published soon!!! This writer is on the right track when it comes to kids and learning!!!

This book contains good information about the science behind nicotine addition. For someone sincerly trying to quit, it's useful - if you can get past the pedantic "sure it's hard, but aren't you worth it?" tone. Recipes are good.

This book has been immensely helpful in my attempt to quit smoking. It's only been 3 weeks, but I'm feeling lucky to have made it so far. Without the common sense guidelines & advice from this book, I doubt I would have made it through the first week.

It's a clear, concise, and factual approach to quitting smoking & staying smoke-free. The menu plans make sense, and are easy to follow. The recipes are great - haven't tried them all yet, but those I've had are delicious.

The information on nutritional values & supplements are also great. There's a lot to think about & take into consideration when you stop smoking, and the authors explain the rationale for managing each type of nutrient.

and as an added bonus, i've even lost 2 pounds =]

Are you smoking to avoid weight gain? If so, you are not alone. Forty percent of female smokers found do so as a way to manage their weight--25% would like to stop smoking but continue to do so because of fear of weight gain. In addition, 55% of female smokers report that they have little to no confidence that weight control is possible without the use of nicotine.

This book challenges conventional beliefs about smoking and weight, and is packed full of strategies for preparing to leave cigarettes in your past. The truth is, there may be a small initial rise in weight in the months immediately after quitting smoking, but in the long run, ex-smokers have NOT been proven to gain weight after quitting.

The authors of this book have created a series of self-assessments to evaluate your "smoking personality", or root reasons nicotine consumption can be a positive behavior. Is it habit? Or biochemistry? Each possibility will need a different approach. Once you know, you can use one of the many strategies provided to reduce the need for nicotine and greatly improve the chances of permanent success at quitting.

In my experience, understanding the cause for a behavior is always the starting point for changing that behavior; Donkersloot and Ferry do an outstanding job of building the foundation for kicking one of the most potent addictions known to man. And they don't stop there! The second half of the book is menus, recipes, and step-by-step strategies, so detailed and practical that if you REALLY want to quit, there is something for everyone who reads this book. There is nothing else like it currently available, which is why I highly recommend it as a must read.

Monika M. Woolsey, MS, RD