Review of The Baby Boomers' Guide to Living Forever (Paperback)

At first blush most of the information if acted on in the book will probably result in adding years, if not decades to some peoples lives.My own recommendation is to do your own independent research [separate from this book], first, if you make any life changing adjustments, particularly if it involves consuming vitamins suggested in the book.Some of the recommendations only strengthened what I already knew, such as taking Co-Q10 on a daily basis.Co-Q10 is expensive, but a very good nutrient that can help protect your body from free radical damage, resulting in reduced risks of succumbing to various cancers and heart diseases.Other recommendations in the book did raise some concerns for me such as consuming L-Carnosine on a daily basis.Research i've found dating back to 1984 expressed that L-Carnosine built up in the body can potentially have dangerous neurotoxic side effects.Taking too much of it could induce what is medically referred to as "Carnosinemia", which also can be inherited.Most of the oral vitamin supplements in the market offer L-Carnosine at 500MG doses, recommending you take it once or twice daily.The book recommends 200MG per day in single or "divided doses" and stressed "its low level of toxicity"...... but I don't know how much is too much frankly, so I will avoid this particular molecule until more research data is known.

Product Description
This book presents the thesis that radical extensions ofhuman life span are only a few decades away. The problem is many babyboomers may not live long enough to avail themselves of thesebreakthrough technologies - but they will be close! This book offers away to live a healthier life now, so that anyone can maximize his orher chances of being alive when this new wave of life extension andrejuvenation really begins to take hold.

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Review of Sweet Deception: Why Splenda, NutraSweet, and the FDA May Be Hazardous to Your Health (Hardcover)

For probably all of my adult life or at least since college, I have been enamored with green tea.I drank generous amounts bottled ice teas any time I ventured into a convenience store.Arizona was my brand because they were the ones offering a veritable cornucopia of iced tea products from the sweet and well-known fruit teas (my favorite was peach) to the more exotic teas that I had never heard of such as black tea.When I tried their green tea, I was hooked.Later on as I jumped on the no-carb bandwagon and became searching for zero calorie drinks, they satisfied this junkies cravings with what would become my lifeblood for many years to come, diet green tea.

Each bottle of diet green had a peculiar label on it that I never paid much attention to.The tag read in large friendly letters, "Made with Splenda."I figured with the FDA around it really didn't matter what the heck Splenda was, I felt confident that if it was in my diet green tea, then it had to be good.Around this time I noticed copious amounts of the individual sweetener packets in my mothers kitchen where the sugar and the Sweet N Low used to be.My mother and all of the other yenta's that frequented our abode would rave about the wonders of Splenda over any number of pastries or bagels.My mother to this day sings its praises as a dietary wonder product.

What fools we have been!According to osteopathic physician and surgeon, Dr. Joseph Mercola and Naturopathic Medical Doctor Kendra Degen Pearsall, authors of the new book, "Sweet Deception: Why Splenda, NutraSweet, and the FDA May Be Hazardous to Your Health," Splenda is about as safe as ingesting DDT (no, not Jake Roberts wrestling finisher, the poisonous pesticide).As a matter of fact, Splenda and DDT are chemically speaking, remarkably similar according to the above authors.When I think about the gallons and gallons of diet green tea and other beverages containing Splenda I have consumed, I get a little more than queasy.

The good doctors have written a book that blows the lid on the real affects and history of sugar abuse, artificial sweeteners and just how corrupted the Food and Drug Administration have become.Because "Sweet Deception" is a comprehensive review of the sugar industry as well as a critique of the FDA, it is an indispensable tool for those who are trying in the face of insurmountable odds to better their health and maintain a healthy diet.At the very least, it provides good source material for people to check out and compare their diet against.After all, if you don't know what's in the food you are eating, then you can't combat against it.

The first chapter deals exclusively with sugar.Sugar has a storied life and is partially responsible for some of the more negative aspects of human history such as environmental degradation of the Everglades and slavery in the Colonial Era.But beyond being a dubious resource it is also a major factor in our collective health.Sugar in it's most basic definition is that with which something becomes sweet.Sweet is a signal to our brains that whatever we are consuming is good and won't poison us, as opposed to something that tastes sour or bitter.Sugar also satisfies our appetites more quickly than say another type of element like salt. Mercola and Pearsall explain in great detail what an appropriate amount of sugar intake should be and what happens when we overdose on sugar (like we currently are).In addition, the authors cover all of the additives in foods that are either derived from sugar or are meant to replace sugar such as High Fructose Corn Syrup.HFCS is almost all of the drinks we consume as well as other products and as other authors such as Michael Pollan (The Omnivore's Dilemma) have tried to warn the reading populace, is absolutely no good for you.

The next few chapters deal with the rise of artificial sweeteners such as saccharin, aspartame (which is in another one of the drinks I have made a part of my daily routine) and sucralose aka Splenda.Mercola and Pearsall explain the context of what gave rise to the artificial sweetener industry as well as what chemicals play a role in creating said products.What the authors reveal in these chapters is both horrifying and maddening all in the same verse.Not only are the artificial sweeteners mostly cancerous, but they also had the tacit approval of the federal government.

If the book were only about sugar and artificial sweeteners then it would have only been about 100 pages long.However, where health and diet is concerned, what you eat is only part of the conversation.As I stated at the onset of this review, I, like many of my fellow consumers, assumed that if the product made it to the shelves in my local supermarket, then it must be safe for me to place on the menu.However, Mercola and Pearsall explain in the next several chapters that the FDA is just as subject to lobby money and corruption and as another institution run by man.

Basically, what the authors show us is that on paper every food product needs to be demonstrated as safe before the FDA will approve.So the BIG corporations pay their own team of scientists to perform studies and tests and then their bosses either bury or scuttle the evidence, thus watering down or completely changing the stated outcomes of said study.When this information is presented to the FDA, it looks as if it was a perfectly good study and thus gets its approval to wait on the shelves for its chance to give us all cancer.Donald Rumsfeld makes an appearance in this section of the book.Not only is he responsible for the failed military post-war strategy in Iraq but also he's also responsible for bringing us NutraSweet, which causes brain tumors and cancer.

I am not the health nut that reading this book might make you think I am.My diet leaves much to be desired but where I can get information I try to and this book really opened up my eyes to what exactly I have been doing to myself by drinking products containing Splenda as well as other artificial sweeteners.If you value your health and are interested in making significant changes to your diet or even if you are just sick of going to doctors, you should read, "Sweet Deception," by Dr. Joseph Mercola and Dr. Kendra Degen Pearsall.

Product Description
Most people believe that sucralose (Splenda) is a perfectly safe artificial sweetener. Big business and the FDA have fostered that dangerous misconception. The truth is Splenda is by no means safe; and the same is true for many of the other artificial sweeteners being marketed today. Dr. Joseph Mercola---supported by extensive studies and research---exposes the fact that Splenda actually contributes to a host of serious diseases. Sweet Deception will lay out how the FDA really works for big food companies and should not be trusted when it comes to your health.

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Review of Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about Your Weight (Paperback)

As an eating disorders specialist, I see the problems caused by our culture's myths about weight and worth.Dr. Bacon has written a well-cited and persuasive book that teaches us that the real prize is health and well-being, at any size.How can you love the body you have? How can you focus on caring for yourself in your daily decisions and in the way you choose to live in the world?Many of us healthcare providers who understand that diets don't work, and that healthy people come in a range of sizes, now have this terrific book to recommend to our patients. And for the healthcare providers who don't yet know the research about the possibility of health across the broad range of body sizes, the book can educate and guide them in how to provide supportive, collaborative, and weight-neutral healthcare. I'd recommend you have this book in hand next time you go see a new healthcare provider!

Product Description

Fat isn't the problem. Dieting is the problem. A society that rejects anyone whose body shape or size doesn't match an impossible ideal is the problem. A medical establishment that equates "thin" with "healthy" is the problem. Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth About Your Weight by Linda Bacon, PhD, presents a well-researched, healthy-living manual that debunks the weight myths and translates the latest science into practical advice to help readers forever end their battle with weight.



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Review of Breaking the Food Seduction: The Hidden Reasons Behind Food Cravings---And 7 Steps to End Them Naturally (Paperback)

The goal of Dr. Barnard is to steer everyone toward a vegan diet.If that is not your intention, best not to pick up this book.The changes are far-reaching, and radically different than the SAD (Standard American Diet).

I tried being a lacto-ovo vegetarian off and on throughout my life.The thought of giving up cheese was just too much to imagine.Additionally, having a husband whose first words about a meal were "where's the meat" made vegetarian life difficult.But if you experience a health crisis (cancer, high cholesterol, high blood pressure) it is amazing how quickly you can moderate your behavior.

My husband and I have been vegan for approximately 5 weeks now.We have never felt better in our lives.If you are holding on to meat, cheese and milk but don't feel good, this book will improve your health.Dr. Barnard also explains why it is so difficult to give up sugar, chocolate, cheese and meat.Apparently these items contain various addicting compounds.If someone had tried to tell me this 6 months ago I would have thought they were crazy. Now that I have adopted a vegan lifestyle I can say that my health has improved so much is such a short period of time that it is almost miraculous.Also, it is important to note that after 2 weeks my cravings for sugar, chocolate, cheese and meat are all but gone.

In the last 5 weeks my husband and I have seen dramatic improvements in our health.We have both each lost 12 pounds without being hungry or exercising more.My husband has decreased his total cholesterol from 177 to 113 (this happened in 24 days).He has been taken off this high blood pressure medication.I have not had a sinus headache in 5 weeks.Prior to becoming a vegan I had chronic sinusitis.My skin has a youthful glow (amazing for 43 year old woman).I also sleep better at night, and wake up more well rested.

If you don't feel as good as you did in your 20's and are willing to make a radical lifestyle change, I believe that this book will improve your health.I have also reviewed other books that advocate a vegan lifestyle if you are interested.Check out "Eat to Live" and "Stop the Inflammation Now".

I highly recommend this book for anyone that wants to improve their health.Try it for a month; what do you have to lose?It is a small investment in time and money that could result in a dramatic improvement in the quality of your life.

Update:4 August 2006

My husband and I are still following a mostly vegan (95%) lifestyle.It is amazing how simple it is once you decide it is just the way that you are going to live.We both continue to feel fabulous.My husband, at 52, is back to the weight he was when he graduated high school.He is even considering beginning to exercise.We have both lost over 20 pounds in a little under 4 months.I continue to highly recommend this book if you are looking to make a lifestyle change for health reasons.



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Review of Fed Up! : The Breakthrough Ten-Step, No-Diet Fitness Plan (Hardcover)

"The only effective means of protecting yourself from developing an eating disorder is to avoid diets that push you, both psychologically and biologically, toward a destructive new level of food restriction and weight preoccupation." - Wendy Oliver-Pyatt, M.D.

In Fed Up! Wendy presents a back-to-basics approach to healthy living. First, she dispels the myths associated with dieting and boldly declares:

"Dieting wreaks havoc on the mind, body and soul."

Dieting has failed us. Dieting preys on our insecurities. Scientific research indicates that dieters only succeed in weight loss 2% of the time. Dieting also leads to a tense and uncomfortable relationship with food. In fact, Diets can in fact encourage eating disorders.

In reality, the less I eat, the more weight I seem to gain. Wendy explains why this occurs! I'm a big fan of the Suzanne Somers' approach because I'm now a believer that it is not really how much you eat, but more the combination of what you eat and when. The only time I've ever lost weight and kept it off was when I was eating more food! Imagine that.

Personally, I think dieting is depressing and I'm happy to see Wendy saying that diets don't work. I don't have time to count all those silly calories and I get so stressed out trying to figure out how much of this, how much of that. I give up in a day.

With a diet, you know that all the weight you are trying so hard to get rid of is going to come back as soon as you go back to your regular routine. So it seems you should try to find balance and a healthy lifestyle that includes foods that are good for you and will encourage a healthy approach to eating.There are foods you should be eating to encourage health. Those foods are not discussed in this book. This book deals with eating from a psychological perspective.

Wendy also deals with the following questions:

Why do we allow the diet industry to get rich while we become overweight?
Do you have an eating disorder?
Why do we accept our cultural myths about dieting?
Are you addicted to exercise?
Is your weight gain related to a medical condition?
What effect does cortisol have on your body? Can the stress of being on a diet actually make you gain weight?

So, we are still hungry, we crave foods we are told are bad for us and we want to have the perfect figure and the perfect life. Wendy gives us a dose of reality by stating the facts.

Our society has presented a pleasing view of an unpleasant situation. Models are unhealthy. The images we see flashing across our screens, in magazines and on every billboard scream "Be like me," "I'm attractive," I'm what you want to be." Yet have you ever heard that some models lay in bed all day because they feel so sick and depressed they have no life besides modeling? I've heard these stories.

The advertising industry is doing more harm than good all while filling their pockets with our money. They are feeding off our insecurity, our desire to belong and be loved. America is obsessed with beauty. As Wendy points out, "Perfectionism breeds low self-esteem." The harder we try to become "perfect," the more "imperfect" we feel.

"With the advent of the mass media, however, women now find themselves being compared not just to the girl down the street, but also to the most beautiful (and often surgically enhanced) women in the world. It's no longer good enough to look normal'; instead, you need to look like Calista Flockhart or Demi Moore." pg. 35

Wendy gives us back a calm sense of control. She encourages the reader to achieve a sense of balance in their life through maintaining a healthy view of life.

While she encourages us to evaluate our own lives, she also explains what didn't work for her and what isn't working for millions of Americans. She herself struggled with an eating disorder for ten years.

Her purpose in writing "Fed Up!" is to encourage a "nationwide rethinking about whether dieting and maintaining mental lists of so called good and bad foods actually leads to long term health and weight management." She wants her readers to think seriously about the impact of cultural pressures and the pursuit of unrealistic beauty standards.

Wendy's book provides steps you can take to achieve a healthy mind and body. You will become more relaxed in your relationship with food and consider the psychological barriers to health and fitness.

The steps are:

Step One: Recognize Your Exhaustion: Is Food Preoccupations Running Your Life?

In this chapter, you can take a "Are You Exhausted?" Self-Inventory test. The results may surprise you.

Step Two: Reject the Cultural Myths That Make You Diet and Gain Weight

In this chapter you will find information on how to calculate your BMI (Body Mass Index). This will help you figure out what weight you should be as opposed to how much you weigh now. With a few simple calculations you will find out if you are actually underweight, a healthy weight or overweight.

Step Three: Decide That You Are Good Enough Today to Love Yourself Today
Step Four: Learn to Experience, Trust and Enjoy Hunger and Satiation
Step Five: Straight Talk about Exercise
Step Six: Get Your Doctor on Your Weight-Loss Team
Step Seven: Learn to Wait to Lose Weight
Step Eight: Break Through the Secrecy
Step Nine: Redefine Your Life: What's More Important to You Than Dieting?
Step Ten: Give to the Next Generation: Preventing Eating Disorders and Obesity in Children

This is not a book about fancy meal plans, supplements, exercise equipment, foods you should and should not eat. There are no diets in this book!

This book is about taking control of your mind and body. Wendy offers advice on how to develop an enjoyable, effective and sustainable fitness program. She also discusses how parents can help prevent eating disorders in their children.

"Fed Up!" shows you how to enjoy the primordial pleasures of eating
while focusing on how to avoid the modern madness of diets.

If you are ready to break free from the prison of dieting, this ten-step plan will help
you to control your eating, lose excess pound and maintain your ideal weight.

Inspirational and Insightful.

~The Rebecca Review



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Review of Antioxidant Status, Diet, Nutrition, and Health (Crc Series in Contemporary Food Science) (Hardcover)

This book is an example of a multidimensional book.It succeeded well inintegrating topics of wide and current interest dealing with antioxidantstatus, nutrition, health and disease.The result is a book that is veryreadable and can benefit a broad spectrum of audiences.In addition tonutritionists, dietitians and health professionals, specialists from otherdisciplines such as chemistry, biochemistry, medicinal chemistry, pharmacy,and pharmaceutical sciences can benefit from this book.
Of particularinterest is the extensive discussion of the role of diet and nutritionalsupplements in health and disease. These topics have attracted wide publicinterest and have been making national headlines in recent years. Worldclass experts from academia, government and industry discuss these topicsapplying the same rules of scientific and clinical evidence used in thediscovery and evaluation of new drugs. The high caliber of this discussionis representative of the overall quality of this book.

Product Description
This is the first book to integrate the biological, nutritional, and health aspects of antioxidant status. Fifty contributors integrate and transfer the knowledge of free radicals and antioxidants from the test tube to the laboratory of the biologist, clinical nutritionist, and medical researcher, as well as to the office of the dietician, nutritionist, and physician. Topics examined include factors affecting and methods for evaluating antioxidant status in humans; effect of diet and physiological stage (infancy, aging, exercise, alcoholism, HIV infection, etc.) on antioxidant status; and the role of antioxidant status in nutrition, health, and disease.

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Review of Triathlete Magazine's Complete Triathlon Book: The Training, Diet, Health, Equipment, and Safety Tips You Need to Do Your Best (Paperback)

I am a beginner triathlete and I really thought this book covered the basics and then some.I am a marathoner so I didn't really go over the running section but the bike and swim sections were great for learning basics and getting some drill and cycling advice.
However, the one obvious thing missing in this book for me was training schedules.Not one in the whole book!That is really what I was looking for as a beginner because I didn't quite know how to structure my workouts on a daily basis.I did findquite a few training schedules on the internet though, and I recently bought a book with training schedules in it, so it wasn't a big deal.I found this book to be very complete in all other aspects of the triathlon so far.



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Review of The No Diet, Diet! (Paperback)

Let me start by saying that I don't generally enjoy reading diet books, as they tend to complicate things. When diets become too complicated, too time consuming, or too restrictive, people are less likely to make it a lifelong process. However, this is not your average diet book; it is about a way of life. It shows the importance of the Mind-Body connection, when setting out to do anything in life, including dieting. It speaks of setting goals, which are reached by setting clear and positive intentions and following through with them. It also speaks of finding someone who will hold you accountable. By doing so, you can set the tone for all aspects of life. To me, this is the recipe for a "Yes, Yes diet".

Product Description
You Can Achieve Optimal Health, Body Shape, & Vitality!This is a breakthrough book which takes the confusion out of essential health information regarding the best diet choices. This book covers how you can determine your individual ideal long term diet to lose weight, increase your energy and improve your mood. Neil's clear writing style and personal experience helping clients comes through clearly in this important test. A must read for everyone interested in improving their health & body shape through proper diet. Dr. Daniel Kalish, author of Your Guide to Healthy Hormones. After reading this book you will understand: The reason why millions of people fail on "fad" diets year after year. The root causes of obesity and health problems in this country How to identify YOUR body's unique nutritional requirements How to make immediate changes in your body and your life How to make this year the best and healthiest year of your entire life!

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Review of Mosby Medical Encyclopedia, The Signet: Revised Edition (Paperback)

I have the CD version of the Mosby's, and although I still prefer books to CDs most ways, the CD version is still a good product, so I thought I'd make a few comments on it.
First the interface, unlike a lot of reference works on CD that I have, is attractive, simple, and overall well done. I have at least 10 different encyclopedias and reference works on CDs at this point, and the Mosby's is one of the best I've seen. It's easier to use than the Britannica or World Book encyclopedias, for example, and more attractive. It's actually very similar to the Oxford Encyclopedia that I have, which divides the screen up into articles on the right-hand side, with the photos or other media and search boxes on the left. This makes for a nice, uncluttered screen. It probably looks best on a 17-inch monitor (16-inch viewable) or better where you can run at 1024 x 768 resolution.
The CD's main features, accessible by icons on the top left of the interface, include a drug guide, handbook of diseases, a human body atlas, resource lists, multimedia, search, and online, which is websites for further information and reseach.
The resource lists include lists and charts of various things such as height and weight measurements for girls and boys, selected genetic disorders,sexually transmitted diseases, safe sex pointers and risks, summary of carbohydrate classes, mode of action of antibiotics, types and causes of fractures, teratogens, and so on. There are about a hundred of these.
The multimedia section includes about 1400 photos, over 70 video animations, many useful tables, and a prounouncing dictionary of over 4000 terms. The voice has that computer-synthesized quality, but it's okay and this feature has certainly improved over earlier programs I've seen incorporating this feature.
Probably most people will be using the drug and disease entries. These aren't too technical and can usually be understand by the lay person with a little knowledge of basic human physiology and anatomy. I wish the drug entries weren't so short and the disease entries were a little more technical myself, but that's just my preference and one has to consider that this isn't a reference work intended for use by physicians. Overall, this is a quality medical reference for many things and a good value for your money, as the CD isn't very expensive compared to the book.

Product Description
The Signet Mosby Medical Encyclopedia is the largest, most complete mass market medical guide in print, with over 20,000 entries on such topocs as prescriptionand non-prescription drugs, setailed discussions of medical conditions, and the latest medical terminology. There is no other guide that provides this much medical information!

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Review of What to Eat (Paperback)

Every now and then a book or two comes along that makes me want to get on the phone to friends or email friends to tell them they must read the book.This happened this past week when What to Eat by Marion Nestle and Gone Tomorrow the Hidden Life of Garbage by Heather Rogers arrived at my cottage.

Starting with this book 'What to Eat' the author does an excellent job of explaining the psychology of food from its invention (since so much is man made or processed), to the thousand mile journey it makes, even if organic, to most grocery stores, and the vast amount of waste that is involved in getting even organic fruits and vegetables to your local grocer.And that local grown fruits and vegetables are often turned down for local sale in grocery stores, but packed and shipped across country, all as part of a man made game plan.As is the label game and how many label issues are voluntary and not mandated like for genetically modified foods.

Her section on dairy is good.Personally I buy organic milk from here in northern California and no matter where we have lived I have sought out locals who would allow me to make a 'donation' for their raw milk, since I prefer to make my own yogurt, butter, cheese etc.The taste of regular homogenized milk from the store tastes horrid to me. Probably because its altered so much to allow for weeks on the grocery shelf.How I wish people would demand that their grocer carry dairy products from humane farms that are also whole and healthy.

Her section on meat is equally interesting. As she notes well, those who cull (kill, slaughter) the meat Americans eat work for low wages in very dangerous conditions, with the buyer all to willing to ignore just what happens to get that piece of meat on ones dinner table or fast food meal.Page 139 'Raising cattle also consumes vast amounts of nonrenewable energy. According to figures in the June 2004 National Geographic, it takes more than 200 gallons of fuel oil to raise a 1,200 pound steer on a feedlot. ... You pay the costs of loss of environmental quality in taxes, not at the grocery store.' What is interesting to me is I come from a family where we hunted in the fall and wasted little of any animal we got.We did eat some beef, chicken etc but this was home grown either by us or friends. But when I did my own homework and found out what the local slaughter house near a town we lived in, I knew how unhealthy commercially raised meat can be.And having a son who has worked in the grocery business I admit I wasn't surprised when he told me that the clean cold cases that you buy your meat from are called meat coffins in the business.

Her section on eggs is good and basic but I also urge people to read up on humane egg production because the fact is, most eggs are from hens crammed into cages, beaks clipped to prevent hurting other chickens, and eggs not laid in straw nests but on a slopped cage floor that allows them to coast down an egg gutter where workers come by every few hours and collect them.No matter where we have lived, even in suburbia Dublin CA in the 70's, and now in the Sierras we have had a few free range laying hens, for eggs, not meat.I think its inhumane to buy eggs from caged animals.

I also agree with her frozen food section, that if you cannot buy fresh fruits and vegetables, then buy frozen. But as she notes, you still need to read labels and buy only those items that have a single ingredient i.e. frozen beans, whole strawberries. Rather than whole strawberries in sugar.

I smiled when I read on page 356 'The huge SG Superstore in San Gabriel, California, caters to a largely Chinese speaking immigrant community. The store prints all its signs in Chinese characters as well as English, and the one over aisle 14B says: SPEAR ASPARAGUS, MUSHROOMS, COOKIES, CANNED FISH, and --get this-- JUNK FOOD.'Honest advertising to say the least.

And as the author notes, if we shoppers would set aside a few hours to just walk up and down the aisles and honestly read labels and see how many 'foods' are processed and loaded with cheap sugars and other flavorings and little real food, and then stop and ask ourselves how much of our hard earned money are we throwing away on 'food' that isn't healthy we might be shocked.

As Dr Mehmet Oz notes in his books, shoppers need to stop and read labels as if they were reading a medical prescription.If it has sugar or ingredients you cannot pronounce steer clear of the item.Consider Pepsi, Coke and other manmade beverages.Most six packs around here are around $2.50.What do you get for that $2.50?Water, sugar, caffeine and flavoring.Yet it costs less than .25 cents to make that six pack that has NO nutritional value! None. Same if its sugar free.

And as the author notes, we as a nation are paying dearly for the obscene profits the food manufactures are making. In poor dental and physical health. Diabetes and obesity levels are higher than they have ever been.Now I am not one to simply blame the food manufactures since I think as adults we have the obligation to grow up and act like adults and NOT allow unhealthy things into our lives.I actually am proud to be a food snob!But how do we get others to be food snobs to?

The book is helpful in how it also points out that eating whole healthy food need not be expensive, if we learn to eat fruits and vegetables in season, and if we substitute beans and grains for meat.

On page 489 she gives an excellent example of commercial sliced bread, and their ingredients, fiber and health claims with her comments. As an example there are 22 ingredients in Wonder bread, including enriched white flour, malted barley flour, and various minerals and vitamins ALL added, and not naturally occurring.Compared to home made bread that is easy to make and has less than six ingredients like whole wheat flour, salt, honey, yeast water, milk.

The section on infant formula should be read by any parent who isn't breastfeeding.Page 459 'Beyond the difference in cost, does it matter which level of convience you choose in an infant formula? It might. Powdered formulas are not sterile. ...In 2002, the FDA warned pediatricians that powdered milk formulas could be contaminated with Enterobacter sakaskii, a type of bacteria that causes rare but terrible and sometimes fatal infections in infants, especially those who are premature.'Considering the high number of preemies being born here in the states I wonder how many parents were told of this serious situation.She also has a good section on baby foods.I remember making my own, because commercial baby foods until the 1980's were heavily laced with sugars, and fillers. And as she notes commercial baby food is mainly for convience.But I think buying a $5 baby food grinder and simply taking some of your own steamed vegetables or fruits and grinding them at the table is much easier in the long run and you know the food is fresh.

Also appreciated her health food and supplement section and because I think those of use who strive to eat healthy need to be reminded to read ALL labels no matter where we buy our foods.As an example.I would buy the 100 calories Power Bars thinking they were 'healthy,' until I started taking my own advise and reading the labels. Now I reach for piece of fruit instead.

There is so much helpful information in this book and its a book I think anyone interested in healthy food should own or at least read.You may even want to donate your copy to your local library so hundreds of other people can also become informed.



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Review of Little Sugar Addicts: End the Mood Swings, Meltdowns, Tantrums, and Low Self-Esteem in Your Child Today (Paperback)

Kathleen DesMaisons first book, Potatoes Not Prozac, changed my life. I went from a completely depressed person well on my way to taking anti-depressants, to a happy, confident person who loves life--all because I changed the way I ate! Since healing my own body and mind I have changed my children's diets with miraculous results.

Before Kathleen's program my kids would whine, scream, hit, be totally out of control, throw tantrums and in general, I didn't like them very much a lot of the time. I couldn't understand what I was doing wrong?!? How could I feel this way about my kids and what could I do about it? No amount of parenting advice or classes could change what was going on with them. Well, after getting myself steady on Kathleen's program I started to look at my kids diet. It took a little time and adjustment, but now by feeding them differently and at consistant times they are mostly fun, loving, compassionate, focused, easy to talk to and the joys I always knew they were. Food was the answer, pure and simple!

Get this book if you've ever had those feelings of helplessness with your kids. It will change your life and your families life!



Product Description
Sugar Is Not Love

Do you have a smart, creative, loving child who is also cranky, inattentive, and sometimes downright obnoxious? If you've written off this negative behavior as "typical" for your child's age-whether toddler or teen-stop and think: Does your child have a taste for soda, sugary breakfast cereals, and treats like candy and cookies? Does she eat regularly scheduled meals or skip them? What, exactly, does he drink and snack on throughout the day?

Your child's behavior may be linked to diet-specifically to the sugar in obvious sources like sweets and soda and to hidden sugars that lurk in many foods, fruit-based drinks, and "healthy" snacks like granola bars. And if your son or daughter is sugar sensitive, misbehavior and moodiness can be aggravated by missed or late meals and junk foods.

Now, bestselling author Kathleen DesMaisons offers you a workable solution for getting back your child by changing his diet-without creating a sense of deprivation, without setting unrealistic goals, and without turning sugar into "forbidden fruit." This book offers:

•A step-by-step program, backed by years of research, for gradually improving the food your child eats-you and your whole family will benefit!
•Tips for navigating the sugar-laden world of birthday parties, holidays, and school cafeterias
•Ways to incorporate healthy snacking and regular mealtimes into your child'sday, including suggestions for meals and snacks, plus recipes

Little Sugar Addicts isn't about strange foods, dramatic lifestyle changes, or complicated menus-just support, guidance, and real-life suggestions from other parents that work. It will help you make the connection between the addictive qualities of sugar and negative behavior and offer a healthy solution you and your whole family can live with.

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Review of Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living (Paperback)

This book does such a great job of tackling the seemingly overwhelming task of cleaning up what we take into our bodies by offering phases of what to eliminate from our diet as well as the rest of our lives. The author also gives a great deal of information on why we shouldn't ingest certain things, but at the same time seems pretty laid back and even gives a FANTASTIC chocolate chip cookie recipe that my family devours in one afternoon. And by the way, this recipe isn't healthy which is why I love this book. This author understands that we all need an occasional naughty sweet fix. Thumbs up to this one! I would like to get a hold of the author's cookbook!

Product Description
Shopper's Guide to Healthy Living by Kathy Loidolt is the highly readable, one-stop shopping and lifestyle guide for people who want to improve their family's health and vitality but don't know how.The author starts with simple changes readers can make in their eating habits and introduces five phases of wholesome directives to leading a healthy, full life.Each phase builds on the previous to assist the reader in eating healthy and living the good life. Ultimately moving into natural household and personal hygiene products, readers are provided simple explanations of everything from flax oil to why increasing omega-3 levels and reducing free radicals is imperative to one's health. Leaving no stone unearthed, this guide covers every aspect of what it takes to simplify the healthy way to live.

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Review of The Double Energy Diet: Improve Your Health and Vitality...Naturally! (Paperback)

The Double Energy Diet has helpful, healthful information on how to double ones energy naturally. I especially enjoyed the chapters on Raising Healthy Energized Kids and Power through Pregnancy. I had to take notes on all the excellent and innovative ways to have more energy. I especially loved the recipes in the book. Over 70 sugar free, plant based easy to make recipes in the book. This past weekend I had my kids pick out recipes they liked in the book, and then we had fun going to the store, picking out the foods, and making the tasty recipes! I bought three copies of this book last week to give to my sister and friends. Kudos to Judi and Shari Zucker, The Double Energy Twins inspiring all of us to live a more energized and healthier lifestyle

Product Description
Let the Â'Double Energy TwinsÂ' show you how to double your energy naturally. Judi and Shari present a new lifestyle guaranteed to help one lose fat, pounds, and inches, and easily keep extra pounds from sneaking back on. Their program helps you lose weight gradually and permanently while simultaneously boosting your energy with life enhancing natural foods. Over 70 flavorful, easy-to-prepare recipes will satisfy physical hunger and psychological cravings as well. Endorsed by doctors and fitness experts, The Double Energy Diet is based on smart, practical information that can improve your health and increase vitality.

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Review of The Younger (Thinner) You Diet: How Understanding Your Brain Chemistry Can Help You Lose Weight, Reverse Aging, and Fight Disease (Hardcover)

This book is a keeper, a must-have reference book for how food affects the brain. I have read hundreds of books on nutrition, even wrote one myself, but nonetheless found this book revolutionary in scope.

I love reading books that give me radically new information, and I found plenty of such nuggets here. For example, until reading Younger (Thinner) You Diet, I had no idea that my hepatitis C had affected my entire personality for years! I was further amazed at how much our personality is formed by neurotransmitters, which can be balanced with food.

Dr. Braverman discusses at length in layman's simple terms the following brain chemicals: dopamine, acetylcholine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) an serotonin. He shows how a lack of them can affect the personality, aging, and weight gain. Just looking at the various personality profiles Dr. Braverman provides, you can easily recognize which neurotransmitters you and your loved ones lack. But there is a quiz to make the diagnosis more accurate.

In this book you will also find tips for combating such things as osteoporosis, collagen loss, and other maladies. There is even a handy section called "Name the Pauses" in which you can which systems are your weakest (again, definitions and quizzes). There is a section that details the power of various spices and also such a section forteas. Parts like that make this a reference book. You will not want to sell your used copy on Amazon!

There are a few things that made me raise my eyebrows: advice to use aspartame, which has been proven to be very toxic, and canola oil, which is genetically modified. And he classifies someone as "excentric" who believes in telepathy and the sixth sense. (He obviously is not familiar with all the scientific studies referred to in such books as The Field.)

But I have never found a book that is 100% accurate and am able to overlook a few errors to see all the wonderful information in it.

This book is absolutely not just about weight loss, but about using nutrition and supplements to stay younger and even reverse aging. You can use this information no matter what your diet slant is: vegan, vegetarian, raw foodist, or omnivore.


Product Description
New research in nutrition and weight loss has revealed an amazing discovery: the brain-virtually neglected in all other diet plans-is the most important organ in dieting. Dieters can actually lose weight by eating foods, nutrients, teas, and spices that change the chemical balance of the brain for permanent weight loss-a major factor contributing to how quickly the body ages. In fact, everyone can take years off their age by changing their brain chemistry. In Younger (Thinner) You Diet, Dr. Eric Braverman expands upon concepts introduced in Younger You to present a totally new approach to lifelong weight management, where the key is not found in counting carbs, fat grams, or calories. Obesity is a brain chemical imbalance, an addictive disorder, treated successfully only through the combined approach of diet, nutrients, and hormones. One of the foremost experts in integrative medicine, known for his work on the brain-body connection, Dr. Braverman teaches readers:-which foods naturally boost the body's production of dopamine, the chemical in the brain that tells the body to start its fat-burning engine-how to choose foods, supplements, teas, and spices-even hormones and medicine-to avoid the effects of other aging organs that can destroy one's metabolism-how to personalize the diet for specific health concerns, such as heart problems, aging skin, weak muscles, and achy joints Eliminating the frustration and deprivation of conventional dieting, Younger (Thinner) You Diet will help anyone turn back the clock to a slimmer, healthier, younger you.


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Review of Diet, Shatkarmas and Amaroli - Yogic Nutrition & Cleansing for Health and Spirit (Paperback)

Once on the spiritual path, you will get a calling from within to watch what foods you put into your body and how you keep your body clean and healthy. This, namely saucha or purity, as Yogani explains in his book, belongs to the Niyama limb, one of the eight limbs of yoga from the sutras of Patanjali.
Yogani has done an excellent job in covering various factors of diet, and explains why most "fad diets" fail. The concept that one diet plan will fit all is not practical and it is important to listen to your body when you decide to improve your diet. He covers what kinds of foods to eat, how much to eat, and ways to cook food. He explains the foods that help balance the Ayurveda doshas - vata, pitta, kapha. He also covers fasting, addictions, drugs and yoga, and talks about the relation between kundalini (specifically the inner processes of soma, amrita and ojas), digestion and diet .
In Shatkarmas he covers cleansing techniques for mouth, nasal passages and sinuses (various forms of "neti"), colon ("bhasti"), intestinal wash ("dhauti"), nauli ("churning" of the abdominal muscles), kapalbhati ("shining face" technique) and trataka ("steady gazing").
This book also covers detailed instructions for Amaroli (urine therapy) and explains the many applications and benefits this practice has in health and spirituality.
He finally puts all of the techniques together and describes how all of this, when done along with meditation and pranayama, will help us progress on our spiritual path, increasing our inner silence, happiness and creativity in all we do in life.
This book helped me understand how to listen to my body for cues on what kind of foods I should eat to pacify the various dosha flare ups that I seem to go through on my spiritual path. Light and nutritious diet along with eating smaller quantities do help a lot. This book also helped me understand the changes occurring in me with respect to soma and amrita. I have added the neti, nauli, kapalbhati and trakata to my yoga practices and they do help with the movement of inner energies and seem to enhance my practice by a lot.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone looking for one place to find all the information required for yogic diet and cleansing in one book. Really awesome book.

Product Description
"Diet, Shatkarmas and Amaroli" provides diet guidelines and practices for cleansing and optimizing the functioning of the inner neurobiology. This is more than a diet book. It is an integrated set of instructions on yogic nutrition, hygiene and rejuvenation, aiding and facilitating the process of human spiritual transformation. The human body is the doorway between our outer world and a boundless inner realm of peace, love and creative energy. When the doorway has been opened through balanced spiritual practices - health, productivity and happiness in daily life are the natural result. Yogani is the author of two landmark books on the world's most effective spiritual practices: "Advanced Yoga Practices - Easy Lessons for Ecstatic Living," a comprehensive user-friendly textbook, and "The Secrets of Wilder," a powerful spiritual novel. The "AYP Enlightenment Series" makes these profound practices available for the first time in a series of concise instruction books. "Diet, Shatkarmas and Amaroli" is the sixth book in the series, preceded by "Samyama," "Asanas, Mudras and Bandhas," "Tantra," "Spinal Breathing Pranayama," and "Deep Meditation."

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Review of The End of Diets: Healing Emotional Hunger (Paperback)

Finally I have found the answers I have been searching for. I feel as if I have read every book on dieting and not dieting and most of them will tell you what to eat, what not to eat or that you are eating for all the wrong reasons. OK, great, I know that...so HOW DO I STOP? This book guides you through the process of recognizing the emotions that lead to overeating and guides you through the process of sitting with the emotions instead of eating through them. The author is so right on with the thought process and behaviors of emotional eaters (such as describing how we may come home and we are tired and instead of getting rest, we have a need to reconnect or unwind and tend to start eating at that point...I certainly can relate to that!), yet she takes it to the next level and beyond by giving tools to deal with feelings and emotions that don't involve food for coping. She doesn't suggest eating celery or lettuce or 15 gallons of water. This is not about temporary distractions, but permanent healing. I have a circle of friends that have recently purchased this book and we can't wait to have everyone go through it and start a discussion group!

Product Description
For most Americans weight = quality of life.We all have a compelling desire:
a) To feel vital and energetic
b) To feel attractive and desirable
c) To be able to participate in whatever activities we want
d) To feel secure that our physical profile is healthy
Yet despite the fact that 52 million Americans are on a diet, they invest $40 billion/year in diet products, and run up a $110 billion annual tab in health related costs, 2 out of 3 Americans are considered overweight. The End of Diets offers:
#1 An analysis of why, for an emotional eater, traditional weight loss approaches, such as exercise, diets, external motivation, and will power, are conclusively ineffective. This analysis explains why only 3% of anyone that attempts a traditional weight loss approach is successful in keeping the weight off long-term.
#2 - A thorough explanation of how an emotional eater uses food to deal with the ups and downs of life.
#3 - Insight into how emotions are process in the body.
#4 - An explanation of the top emotions that lead to overeating.
#5 - Explanations of how emotional eaters must first learn to be with their emotions instead of eating through them, before they can be successful in losing weight permanently.
#6 - Useful tools for emotional eaters to stop using food to cope with the ups and downs of life:
a) Understand how food is used as a repression mechanism to avoid our emotions
b) How to develop the body awareness to recognize the emotional hunger
c) Recognize the body sensations behind the emotional hunger.
d) Learn how to be with the feeling until they dissipate and stop manifesting as emotional hunger.
#7 - A long-term plan to be successful in loosing the weight once and for all.

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Review of Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Second Edition (Paperback)

I bought this book thinking that it would offer some new insights on health and diet. It ended up being far from it and it's just the same old stuff that's been written elsewhere. Get some exercise, eat more fruit and veggies and cut way back on the sugars/refined carbs. There, I just saved you the cost of this book. He suggests a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle that has grains at the bottom of its food pyramid. I could be wrong, but I'm thinking that stone age humans didn't eat much grain, but that's what's at the bottom of the pyramid and what your are supposed to eat the most of. He uses the research of Alan Keys, research that was nicely discredited by Gary Taubes in his MUCH better and more scientifically researched book "Good Calories, Bad Calories", to demonize saturated fat. Don't waste your time on this one.

Product Description
Health Secrets of the Stone Age draws on ancient body wisdom and recent medical research to explain why we get diseases that were rare until early in the last century, why dieting is genetically determined not to work and why the youngest generation is facing a decline in life expectancy.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago human body chemistry evolved to match an environment that changed extremely slowly. In only a few generations we have made enormous changes in that environment and our bodies have not been able to keep up with those changes. The result is an array of chronic diseases and the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes that threaten the financial stability of our healthcare system.
Fossil evidence makes it clear that Stone Agers were tall and strong, andthose few that evaded life's perils for a half-century or more had noevidence of osteoporosis. Present day hunter-gatherers, who live the samelifestyle and who follow the same subsistence pattern, enter the sixth orseventh decade of life with no obesity, no hypertension, no coronary arterydisease and no diabetes.
It isn't necessary to revert to a primitive lifestyle in order to maintain or to lose weight and to avoid the so-called age-related diseases. HealthSecrets of the Stone Age gives guidelines for a healthy lifestyle that arenot difficult, dull or demanding.Strange foods, challenging recipes andexpensive potions have no place in this simple, sensible approach to a long,vigorous life.

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Review of The Multiple Sclerosis Diet Book (Hardcover)

In 1995 I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. I had a MRI done of my brain and there were lesions present, and many neurological symptoms. I saw double, had light sensitivity, had problems with walking and my balance. I began studying this book and immediately went on the Swank Diet. My saturated fat intake went under 15 grams a day (he allows 20 max) and no more than 5 grams of fat at a serving. I used his tables to compute the fat - this meant that an egg counted for 5 grams, and no red meat or milkfat for the first year of the diet.Immediately I felt much better. Now, my neurologist is amazed at my condition. My neurological symptoms are pretty much normal. I take no other medicine for the MS, and I feel great. I recomend the book and the cookbook which is included. Ask your MD and follow his advice- but I don't think this diet could hurt anyone unless they were way underweight.The diet allows up to 60 grams of liquid oil each day which makes it easier to handle (ie- olive oil, hazelnut, etc,)and it seems really healthful. The oil makes it much easier to stay on the diet.) I feel great! The few times I have gone off the diet (even inadvertantly) I have felt worse quickly- even if I go off the diet even a little- so I stay on it religiously.

Product Description
Hundreds of new recipes for dishes that taste terrific but stick to the diet rules so important for controlling M.S.--now completely revised to conform to the latest medical research.

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Review of The Gene Smart Diet: The Revolutionary Eating Plan That Will Rewrite Your Genetic Destiny--And Melt Away the Pounds (Hardcover)

Gene Smart is so much more than a diet book.It's scientifically based nutritional guidance on the key nutrients your body needs to avoid disease and stay healthy so you can enjoy life!Dr. Chilton helps you understand why we crave certain foods, why we overeat, why the USA is getting more and more over weight - and what the solution is to stop the obesity train wreck.By working with our genetic code, we can get healthy and help our kids get healthy before it's too late.

I've never read such specific information on each of the Omega 3s and Omega 6s.I knew that consuming each of the Omega 3 oils was important, (which the book confirms) but I thought all types of Omega 6 needed to be decreased in the diet.The book explains that it's the Omega 6 oil, Linolaic Acid (LA), that we all get too much of.However, the Omega 6 oil, Gamma Linolenic Acid (GLA), is essential to promote health in many ways.Decreasing inflammation is so important and I'm glad that the author shares with us the science to back up why this is true (and he provides practical steps on how you can decrease inflammation through diet and exercise).We've all heard the BUZZ about how polyphenols are anti-aging - now we can see the research and know that it's worth it to start consuming more polyphenols through whole foods and supplementation.His website [...] is also a great resource for health tips, practical dieting advice, recipes and much more.I highly recommend this book!

Product Description
The Gene Smart Diet is going to challenge all that you know about the relationship between genetics, weight gain, and disease risk. In the process, it's going to change your healthand your life, for the better.True, your genes help determine how much you weigh, whether you're prone to certain diseases, even whether you live to a ripe old age. But your genes are not an indelible blueprint-far from it! You help decide which genes express themselves and in what way, largely by what you're putting on your plate.The Gene Smart Diet emphasizes the foods that your genes recognize and love. In the right mix and portions, these foods and their component nutrients communicate with your genes over complex genetic pathways, setting the course for lasting weight loss and optimum health.Each day of the 5-week plan features a complete menu, with every meal and snack developed to Gene Smart guidelines. Rest assured, it isn't your typical diet food. On Gene Smart, you'll feel full and satisfied. You won't believe that you can eat like this and still lose weight.But losing weight is just the beginning of what The Gene Smart Diet can do for you. By improving key biomarkers, it produces real reductions in your likelihood of developing certain chronic diseases-including those commonly attributed to aging. in fact, eating the Gene Smart way can help slow the aging process itself. Grounded in cutting-edge science, proven to produce results, The Gene Smart Diet is the solution you've been waiting for-and the last diet you'll ever need.

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