Best Diabetic Cookbooks 2024: Delicious and Easy Recipes

Although we learn about diabetes in high school biology classes, understanding the larger-scale implications of developing the disease later in life is not something we can necessarily grasp as children.

One thing is certain: dietary and lifestyle choices are essential to managing glucose-related disease when it develops in adulthood.

According to the NHS, type 1 diabetes is a chronic condition in which the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin, the hormone created by our bodies to help manage blood sugar levels. Type 2 diabetes is much more common than type 1 and occurs when the body does not produce enough insulin or the body’s cells do not respond properly to insulin.

Type 1 diabetes is a disease that occurs at birth, while type 2 diabetes develops later in life. Both types of diabetes are treatable, but not completely curable. However, type 2 diabetes is often referred to as “reversible.” While this does not mean that the disease is completely cured, it does mean that glucose levels can return to a normal or prediabetic range through large-scale lifestyle changes.

In the UK, more than 90% of adults with diabetes have type 2 diabetes.

Also called non-diabetic hyperglycemia, prediabetes occurs when blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be considered diabetes. With the help and guidance of doctors, combined with changes in diet and lifestyle, people diagnosed with prediabetes can prevent the condition from developing into type 2 diabetes.

Although the exact reason why the body no longer produces insulin or responds properly to it is obesity and inactivity, they are thought to be the main contributing factors. This is because fat cells are thought to be more resistant to insulin and can cause beta cells (beta cells are the cells that make insulin) to malfunction.

No lifestyle changes can help treat type 1 diabetes, and daily insulin injections – whether by electronic pump or manual needle – have become a part of everyday life. As a result, people with type 1 diabetes can generally benefit from the same healthy diet as people without the condition. In the case of type 2 diabetes, lifestyle and dietary changes are essential to reduce the risk of diabetes-related diseases, such as heart disease and stroke.

We’ve rounded up a selection of the best diabetic cookbooks to help you make delicious and easy recipes. Keep scrolling to improve your lifestyle and manage your health effectively, one meal at a time.