Until now, most health professionals have considered diabetes a one-way street. Once you developed it, you were stuck with it--and you could anticipate one complication after another, from worsening eyesight and nerve symptoms to heart and kidney problems. Enter Dr. Neal Barnard, who through a series of groundbreaking studies, the latest funded by the National Institute for Health, has shown it doesn't have to be that way. By following the diet outlined in this book, readers can control blood sugar three times more effectively than with the American Diabetes Association's diet and beyond that improve their bodies' ability to respond to insulin--in effect reversing the defining symptom of the disease. And there's more. Study participants lost weight, were able to cut back on and sometimes even discontinue medications, and left behind tedious exchange plans for delicious foods in generous portions. It's a new way to treat diabetes.