[.ca] The Diabetic Athlete (ISBN 0736032711)

great format and advice:
The Diabetic Athlete was exactly what I was looking for. It describes the effects different sports and activities have on blood sugar and your body. Also, provides tables and advice on how to manage your glucose levels depending on sport and type of insulin being used. Great reference and easy reading.

Very informative, a must have book:
This book is divided to two parts. The first part explains the physiology of exercise and how it relates to diabetics. It includes general chapters and chapters dedicated to type 1 and type 2. The premise of the book is that knowledge is power, so knowing what the body does during an exersice is powering you to better manage your diabetes as it relates to exercise. It also has a chapter on nutritional supplements for diabetic athletes. The second half of the book deals with specific sport activities and gives advice on how to change your nutrition or insulin regimes to better accomodate for these activities plus examples from actual athletes. I found this part to be less usefull. However the book is worth its weight in gold just for the first part and is a must have for any diabetic that considers exercise as part of his medication. The book is very well written, full of concise and clear information.

Better for Type 1:
Dr. Colberg's book leans heavily towards Type 1 diabetics, which makes some sense because that is the type of diabetes she has. It has some very specific recommendations for those people which appear to be useful. She tries to incorporate information for Type 2 diabetics like myself, but it muddles the prose - the Type 2 reader has to read carefully to make sure they don't get the wrong advice. I found some of the physiology discussed a little hard to grasp, but those who have taken biology courses may not be so challenged. The one chapter directed specifically at Type 2 diabetics is very short and geared at people who are on meds (which I am not). The date of this book (2001) does mean that the "new" meds that she refers to are now in widespread use, so they don't get the attention that they should. Basically, the one key point I got from the book was to test my blood sugar a lot around (and during) exercise to see what my patterns are. While I can't recommend the book as a primary source for Type 2 diabetic athletes, it is probably useful as a secondary source until such time as a better reference comes along.