Rethinking Diabetes

What Science Reveals About Diet, Insulin, and Successful Treatments

By: Gary Taubes

Narrated by: Arthur Morey

Length: 16 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

An eye-opening investigation into the history of diabetes research and treatment by the award-winning journalist and best-selling author of Why We Get Fat • "[Gary] Taubes’s meticulous, science-based work makes him the Bryan Stevenson of nutrition, an early voice in the wilderness for an unorthodox view that is increasingly becoming accepted."—Niel Barsky, The Guardian

Before the discovery of insulin, diabetes was treated almost exclusively through diet, from subsistence on meat, to reliance on fats, to repeated fasting and near-starvation regimens. After two centuries of conflicting medical advice, most authorities today believe that those with diabetes can have the same dietary freedom enjoyed by the rest of us, leaving the job of controlling their disease to insulin therapy and other blood-sugar-lowering medications. Rather than embark on “futile” efforts to restrict sugar or carbohydrate intake, people with diabetes can lead a normal life, complete with the occasional ice-cream cake, side of fries, or soda.

These guiding principles, however, have been accompanied by an explosive rise in diabetes over the last fifty years, particularly among underserved populations. And the health of those with diabetes is expected to continue to deteriorate inexorably over time, with ever-increasing financial, physical, and psychological burdens. In Rethinking Diabetes, Gary Taubes explores the history underpinning the treatment of diabetes, types 1 and 2, elucidating how decades-old research that is rife with misconceptions has continued to influence the guidance physicians offer—at the expense of their patients’ long-term well-being.

The result of Taubes’s work is a reimagining of diabetes care that argues for a recentering of diet—particularly, fewer carbohydrates and more fat—over a reliance on insulin. Taubes argues critically and passionately that doctors and medical researchers should question the established wisdom that may have enabled the current epidemic of diabetes and obesity, and renew their focus on clinical trials to resolve controversies that are now a century in the making.

©2024 Gary Taubes (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"One of the crucial responsibilities of scientists and science journalists is to question established beliefs and common assumptions. Gary Taubes accomplished precisely this in this thought-provoking book. Through his extensive research, Taubes offers significant insights, shedding light on the evolution of our understanding of diabetes, for good or bad. Additionally, Taubes delves into the potential of promising and efficacious treatments, offering a glimpse into the future of diabetes management."—Siddhartha Mukherjee, author of The Emperor of All Maladies

“Decades of research have brought us shifting and even contradictory recommendations on managing diabetes. In lucid prose, Taubes sifts through and critically reviews what is known. Rethinking Diabetes convincingly makes the case for a new paradigm for the prevention and treatment of this common disorder.”—Abraham Verghese, M.D., author of The Covenant of Water

"If there is one book that can help us understand where diabetes treatment has gone wrong and how to fix it, it is Gary Taubes’s Rethinking Diabetes. Taubes’s new book is both an objective, methodical history of type I and II diabetes—among the deadliest and costliest conditions of our time—and a blueprint for how to move forward. Taubes’s proposed approach leverages decades of evidence of efficacy of low-carbohydrate, high-fat nutritional strategies that can reverse diabetes in most people. This book should be required reading for our nation’s leaders and citizens alike, especially those failed by a standard of care dictated by misguided scientific dogma."—Jan Ellison Baszucki, author of A Small Indiscretion and founder of Metabolic Mind

Outstanding

Gary Taubes has produced an excellent work of the medical history about diabetes, T1 and T2. Anyone with diabetes or who has a family member with diabetes should read/listen to this book.

Quality As Always

Very thoroughly covered diabetes, from early treatments/ perceptions to modern day. No one researches a topic to greater depths. Some of his previous work is covered again here, but relayed in a different way. Just guessing, but done so to address critics of his other books. Whether you are new to Mr. Taubes work or have read all of it, this is most definitely worth your time.

Another fantastic book by Gary Taubes

This is an excellent and very comprehensive book about the unconventional treatment of diabetes. Hopefully more people will read this, and question the conventional approaches to the treatment of diabetes.

Thorough. Clear. Persuasive.

Taubes makes an excellent case simultaneously for: 1) a low-carbohydrate approach to diabetes care; and 2) real science that asks the hard questions.
I’m grateful for his research and his insights.

Of historical significance 

For over a decade I have been practicing medicine based on Gary's work. This book greatly fill in gaps of historical knowledge that gives both empathy for our predecessors as well as consternation over how hard it is to get diabetes care right.

I am so impressed by the research that went into this book. I could do my own searches of the medical literature when it comes to the biology. On the other hand I am deeply grateful for the historical context on diabetes found in this book.

Thanks! Maybe the profession will listen this time.

The amount of cognitive dissonance that exists in the medical community.

I felt like Gary Taubes  was very well researched in the rating of this book and  courageously exposed watch the medical community has been slow to embrace.

very detailed history of the study of diabetes melitus

it is unbelievable how much confirmation bias has colored what we know about how to deal with this disease.

Very informative.

I really liked the history lesson on diabetes and treatments through the years. Very good information throughout.

Lots of information

This was very helpful to see the history behind this disease and how it has been addressed through the years by the medical community.

Important, disturbing comprehensive state of diabetes

Gives both sides of the story on treatment of diabetes as well as the history