Several well-known books claim to help you reverse type 2 diabetes, and each one takes a meaningfully different dietary approach. The good news: the core idea behind all of them has real clinical support. A major UK trial found that 46% of participants with type 2 diabetes achieved remission at one year through intensive lifestyle changes, with 36% still in remission at two years. The books differ in how they get there, so choosing the right one depends on which eating style you can actually sustain.
Before diving into specific titles, it helps to know what “reversal” actually means in medical terms. An international expert panel defined remission as an HbA1c below 6.5% that lasts at least three months after stopping diabetes medications. The panel specifically noted that “reversal” describes the process of bringing blood sugar down, while “remission” describes the sustained state of keeping it there. No book can cure diabetes permanently, but the right changes can put it into remission for years.
The Diabetes Code by Jason Fung
This is probably the most popular book in the diabetes reversal space. Dr. Jason Fung, a Canadian nephrologist, built his reputation with The Obesity Code in 2016 and followed it with The Diabetes Code, which focuses specifically on type 2 diabetes. His central argument is that type 2 diabetes is driven by chronically high insulin levels, and the solution is to stop spiking insulin through diet.
The book lays out three core principles: avoid fructose, avoid refined carbohydrates while increasing natural fats, and eat only unprocessed foods. Intermittent fasting is presented as a fourth principle, essentially an accelerator that lowers insulin levels faster than dietary changes alone. The book ends with a two-week meal and fasting plan designed to get you started.
Fung’s approach resonates with people who respond well to a clear physiological narrative. His explanation of why lowering insulin matters is detailed and compelling. The criticism, fairly noted even in a review published by the American Diabetes Association, is that his framing can oversimplify things. Saying “sugar causes type 2 diabetes” downplays the fact that the condition is multifactorial, involving genetics, body composition, inflammation, and other variables. Still, for readers who want a straightforward framework built around fasting and carbohydrate reduction, this is the go-to title.
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution
Dr. Richard Bernstein’s book takes the low-carbohydrate approach to its most disciplined extreme. Bernstein, himself a type 1 diabetic who earned his medical degree partly to advocate for his own treatment ideas, recommends an average of about 30 grams of carbohydrates per day for a 140-pound person. That’s roughly one slice of bread’s worth spread across an entire day. Survey data from people following his protocol show they typically consume 30 to 50 grams daily, representing less than 5% of total calories.
What sets Bernstein apart is his blood sugar targets. While the American Diabetes Association considers 70 to 130 mg/dL before meals acceptable for diabetics, Bernstein aims for a constant blood sugar of 83 mg/dL in adults. His 560-page book is dense, detailed, and written for people willing to commit to meticulous tracking and control. It covers both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, which makes it uniquely useful for type 1 patients who rarely see their condition addressed in “reversal” books. For type 2 patients, the strict carbohydrate limits can produce dramatic blood sugar improvements, but the rigidity of the plan makes it harder to maintain long term for many people.
Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes
Dr. Barnard’s book takes a completely different dietary path. Rather than cutting carbohydrates, he advocates a low-fat, plant-based diet built around fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains while eliminating animal products entirely, starting with red and processed meats. The emphasis is on high-fiber foods that rank low on the glycemic index: beans, oats, sweet potatoes, and similar choices that don’t cause sharp blood sugar spikes.
Barnard’s framework also calls for keeping overall dietary fat low by avoiding fried foods and oils, and minimizing added sugars. His theory is that excess fat inside muscle cells interferes with insulin signaling, so reducing fat intake addresses the root cause of insulin resistance. This approach appeals to readers who are uncomfortable with the high-fat emphasis of books like Fung’s or Bernstein’s, or who are drawn to plant-based eating for ethical or environmental reasons. The trade-off is that it requires a significant shift in how most people eat, particularly if your current diet is centered on meat and dairy.
How These Approaches Compare
All three books target insulin resistance, but they disagree on the mechanism. Fung says excess insulin is the problem, so stop triggering it with carbohydrates and fasting. Bernstein says glucose variability is the problem, so control carbohydrate intake down to the gram. Barnard says excess dietary fat is the problem, so switch to a whole-food plant-based diet.
- Best for structured fasting: The Diabetes Code gives you a clear fasting protocol alongside dietary changes, making it a good fit if you prefer eating windows over calorie counting.
- Best for tight blood sugar control: Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution is the most precise and demanding, ideal for people who like data and are willing to track everything closely.
- Best for plant-based eaters: Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes works well if you want to move toward a vegetarian or vegan diet and are comfortable keeping fat intake low.
None of these authors invented their approach from nothing. The DiRECT trial mentioned earlier, which produced remission in 46% of participants, used a structured weight management program delivered through primary care. Participants who lost 15 kilograms or more had the highest remission rates. The takeaway across all the research is that significant, sustained changes to diet and body weight are what drive remission, and the specific dietary pattern matters less than whether you can stick with it.
What Remission Actually Looks Like
Reading a book is the easy part. The harder question is what happens after you change your diet and your numbers improve. Remission requires maintaining an HbA1c below 6.5% for at least three months without diabetes medications. Your doctor will typically test your HbA1c before you start and again no sooner than three months into your new regimen after stopping any glucose-lowering drugs.
HbA1c reflects your average blood sugar over roughly two to three months, which is why it’s the standard benchmark. But it’s not the only marker worth tracking. Fasting insulin levels and related measures of insulin resistance can show improvement even before your HbA1c shifts. Day-to-day, many people track fasting blood glucose at home with a standard meter to see how their body responds to specific meals and habits. If your doctor uses a continuous glucose monitor, you’ll also get data on post-meal spikes, which is especially relevant if you’re following Bernstein’s tighter targets.
Why Some People Lose Remission
The DiRECT trial’s drop from 46% remission at year one to 36% at year two hints at the biggest challenge: maintaining changes over time. Weight regain is the primary driver of relapse, and the causes are often behavioral rather than purely metabolic. Disordered eating patterns like grazing and binge eating, depression, and simply drifting away from the habits that worked are the most common reasons people lose ground.
Every book on this list acknowledges the maintenance challenge to some degree, but none fully solves it. Regular self-monitoring of blood glucose, consistent follow-up with a healthcare provider, and ongoing attention to the dietary patterns that got you into remission are the most reliable strategies. If your blood sugar starts climbing again, identifying the cause early, whether it’s stress, a return to old eating habits, or a new medication, gives you the best chance of course-correcting before you’re back where you started.
Choosing the Right Book for You
If you’re on diabetes medications, particularly insulin or drugs that lower blood sugar directly, any significant dietary change needs to be coordinated with your prescriber. Dropping your carbohydrate intake dramatically while still taking the same dose of insulin can cause dangerous low blood sugar. This isn’t a reason to avoid these books, but it is a reason to loop in your doctor before you start.
For most people, the best book is the one whose dietary philosophy you can realistically follow for years, not weeks. If the idea of fasting energizes you, start with Fung. If you want granular control and don’t mind the discipline, try Bernstein. If you’d rather eat abundant whole plants and keep fat low, Barnard is your match. The physiology of remission doesn’t care which book you read. It cares whether you changed enough, lost enough weight, and kept it up long enough for your body to respond.