According to the World Health Organization, an estimated 30 million people worldwide had diabetes in 1985. A decade later, the global burden of diabetes was estimated to be 135 million. The latest WHO estimate for the number of people with diabetes worldwide in 2000 is 171 million. This is likely to increase to at least 366 million by 2030. Two major concerns are that much of this increase in diabetes will occur in developing countries (due to population growth, aging, unhealthy diets, obesity, and sedentary lifestyles) and that there is a growing incidence of type 2 diabetes-which accounts for about 90% of all cases-at younger ages. In developed countries most people with diabetes are above the age of retirement. In developing countries those most frequently affected are in the middle, productive years of their lives, between 35 and 64.

Today there is a tremendous focus on diabetes today, due in large part to the obesity epidemic and the alarmingly increased occurrence of insulin resistance in children and adults. We know the ubiquitous sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, fast and processed foods, and refined starches in the Western diet are major contributors to metabolic syndrome and AGE formation-as is the lack of healthy fats, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fiber, all of which can help mitigate the negative effects of AGE-producing foods. This is the bad news. The good news is that my three-tiered formula of diet, supplements and topicals, each of which is designed to work synergistically to stop the destructive power of AGEs. By learning cooking methods that do not promote the formation of AGEs and discover a remarkable substance that safely blocks the digestion of carbohydrates-allowing us to occasionally have our cake and eat it too!