- Hungry for Change: This DVD is very informative about hidden ingredients in packaged foods, and explains what some of the mysterious ingredients really are. As one individual who had to learn much of this on my own because of horrifying allergic reactions, I was happy to see it all presented in a scientific format.
- Forks over Knives: This DVD is amazing. Anyone who has fears about heart disease or cancer may want to watch this. Two reputable doctors, one Chinese and one American have spent decades studying diets all over the world to compare the effect of diet on disease.
- Sugar Shock by Connie Bennett with Stephen Sinatra, M.D. Connie Bennett reviews the insipid and harmful effect of sugar and sugar imitators (e.g., High Fructose Corn Syrup) on our health.
- The Way of Herbs By Michael Tierra. I recently read that Fybromyalgia is aggravated by lack of restful sleep. Recommendations to ease pain were the use of St John’s Wort and 5-htp as these herbs enhance serotonin absorption. After many years of maintaining or regaining my health by making changes in my diet, I realized that often there are herbs available that can help us weather crises and make our transitions easier. The Way of Herbs is a great book to use to start learning about herbs, their effects and how to use them. Tierra’s book is nicely organized and a lot of useful information on diet and health is dispensed before the “materia medica,” or the listing of the individual herbs and their nature.
- Holistic Herbal by David Hoffman. This beautiful book presents a lot of information about the human body and our connection to Earth and Spirit as part of the formula to maintain health. Hoffman is the one author who points out clearly that when we are the individual who is ill, we are also THE healer, regardless of how we go about finding our health. One beautiful page is dedicated to his sketch of the healing mechanisms. It forms a cross, with vertical ends reflecting the Spiritual (i.e. prayer, meditation, miracles, etc. representing spiritual sources) and Earthly (chemotherapy, medicines and herbs, etc. representing Gaia or Earth) foundations of healing. The horizontal ends represent physical therapies (massage, exercise, etc.) on one side and psychological therapies (counseling, gestalt, etc.) on the other. Hoffman wisely includes our full contemporary arsenal of healing mechanisms and comments that these must all be used judiciously. It is true that I am revisiting this ancient art of healing through Rosemary Gladstar’s Herbology School, but that is not the only reason I recommend these books. We sometimes forget that we are not alone with our “dis-ease.” There are many spiritual and physical sources of assistance to healing, and he encourages us to learn so that we may better heal ourselves.
- The Daemon by Anthony Peake is a look at our amazing two-brain consciousness. For 90% of us, the left brain,which he calls the “Eidolon,” is our control center. The Eidolon is the center of communication and organization, and is that inner voice that maintains a constant inner dialogue. The right brain, which he calls “the silent observer” or the “Daemon,” is where our higher consciousness resides. Peake explores schizophrenia, migraines and epileptic seizures, and their connection to right brain premonitions and déjà vu. I especially enjoyed the last chapter about Philip K Dick, author of The Matrix and Vanilla Sky. Follow this book of theories with My Stroke of Insight, by Jill Bolte Taylor, to get the examination of an actual left brain/right brain event.
- My Stroke of Insight by Jill Bolte Taylor. This book works well with The Daemon, as Jill Bolte Taylor provides a great deal of first hand information about brain activity and strokes. A lot of the insight she provides could be useful to those partaking in Spirit Walks. I also find her compassionate voice to be very instructive and helpful to both victims of stroke and stroke caregivers. This book should definitely be read by all health care providers and the family members of those who have had a stroke.
- Suicide By Sugar by Nancy Appleton, PhD., is a fast read and very informative. Dr. Appleton, author of the best selling book, Lick the Sugar Habit, gives the reader 140 reasons to quit eating sugar in an easy to read list. She also explains why we should all consider eating less sugar, including fruit juice, listing the many modern diseases which are exacerbated by the consumption of sweets. Like my grandmother, who once told me, “Annie. . . Sugar – is – sugar,” Appleton explains convincingly that Agave nectar, honey and many other popular sweeteners are still just sugar, causing spikes in our glycemic levels, diabetes, weight gain and ill health. When Immanuel handed me this book, he said, “You’re not going to like what she says about chocolate.” Appleton says the only good chocolate is the chocolate the Mayans drank, RAW and unsweetened. Appleton convincingly argues, citing current research, that sugar feeds Cancer and anyone who has Cancer would do well to avoid all sweets while going through chemo-therapy or trying to recover from any form of Cancer. I disagree with her food plan, as the author spent only a few pages on it leaving many information gaps. (i.e., she fails to mention the important part synthetic food ingredients, such as citric acid, natural flavors, MSG, and autolyzed yeast extract, have on allergic sensitivities and the need to eliminate them first). After you read what she has to say about carbonated beverages, you may never drink another soda pop, and that would be good.
- The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite by David Kessler, MD. Kessler, the former head of the U.S. Food and Drug Association (USFDA), has more degrees behind his name than any other authority on diet and health I’ve seen, but his claim to authority stems from his own battles with obesity. Kessler writes simply and well and uses very few words to get the message across. There is no accusation, no special dietary recommendations. What Kessler does, authoritatively and well, is explain the way the food industry has used our own instinct-based behaviors to create irresistible foods. Kessler hopes that by explaining to us our addiction to food, and the common pitfalls of eating certain addictive foods, that we may be able to rein in some of these habits and lose weight. In the documentary, King Corn, we learned that a man lost 100 pounds just by giving up soda pop (see below). Kessler takes us a step further to explain how these products hook us and reel us into habits of overindulgence and ill health.
- King Corn, documentary film by filmmakers Aaron Woolf, Curt Ellis and Ian Cheney. Two college graduates spend a year growing an acre of corn and researching government subsidies, pesticide use, corn as cattle feed and the making of high fructose corn syrup. I thought this would be a boring documentary, but while the corn was growing or being processed, our researchers went around to many authorities and uncovered some pretty astonishing information about the most ubiquitous ingredient in the contemporary “American” (i.e., North America/USA) diet. For example, American bodies are made mostly of corn. (We are what we eat). High fructose corn syrup is in most packaged drinks and most of the “farmed” animals used in our food are fed corn for several months prior to processing. One man commented that he had lost 100 pounds just by giving up soda pop.
- Riddled With Life by Marlene Zuk. The author manages to make the unappealing subject of parasites interesting and draws thought provoking conclusions. In one chapter she describes bizarre behavior that parasites incite in their hosts. There is some evidence that if a certain parasite infects a pregnant woman, it can cause schizophrenia in her child. Providing multiple examples of birds and animals deploying aromatic herbs to limit pest infestations, the author concludes that parasites are an important part of mammal makeup and we too should learn to control rather than eradicate our internal friends. I was particularly fascinated by the example of monkeys who carefully fold a certain leaf and swallow several whole to rid themselves of hookworms.
- Natural Cures “They” Don’t Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau
Finally, someone who talks straight with his reader about the giant industrial health machine. Pharmaceuticals, chemotherapy, and processed food are all big businesses that make money off our disease. The only real way to regain health is to get out of the way of our body’s natural healing processes. Comprehensive information on disease and where to go to find the information to regain health. Trudeau was the first person who put in print the truth about those items you assumed were innocuous in the ingredients panel: “natural flavors,” “spices,” “hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein,” “autolyzed yeast extract” and “citric acid.” These ingredients are ubiquitous in packaged foods and at the root of many health problems. Congress and the food companies got together and passed a bill legalizing these non-foods for human use because they are cheaper than their natural counterparts. We can not recommend Trudeau’s website or buying products directly from him. Trudeau has been hounded by the Federal government most of his life, and he talks quite a bit about that in his books. Any Google search will find plenty of negative reviews. Please consider that the big businesses mentioned above have plenty of money to throw at character assasination. Skip the rants and get to the INFORMATION. If you like what you read use the information. If not, below are other sources of health information. - More Natural “Cures” Revealed by Kevin Trudeau
One more Trudeau. His section on Aspartame is enlightening and he includes all the resources to which he alluded in the first book. Again, we do not recommend purchasing membership through his website, which cost is extravagant. - Ultraprevention: The 6-Week Plan That Will Make You Healthy for Life by Mark Hyman and Mark Liponis.
These doctors are into comprehensive health. Reading it made me want to go to “the ranch” where they report miraculous healings using fasting and nutritional support. - Can We Live 150 Years? by Mikhail Tombak
- Cure the Incurable by Mikhail Tombak
If you aren’t into home remedies or are allergic to lemons, forget this book, as many of his healing recipes require lemon juice. Still, there is a lot of good information in his book. - Restoring Your Digestive Health Book by Jordan S. Rubin, N.M.D. and Joseph Brasco, M.D.
As a vegetarian, we were not, at first, too excited by these two authors. However, they put a lot of terrific information into this book about fermented foods and intestinal health. Good reference book. - 7-Day Detox Miracle, Revised 2nd Edition: Revitalize Your Mind and Body with This Safe and Effective Life-Enhancing Program by Peter Bennett, Sara Faye, and Stephen Barrie
This book is a bit scientific and difficult to read, but the explanation of leaky gut clarified for me the problem I had because of the citric acid in my diet. As all health professionals do, these authors recommend eliminating any food from your diet that could cause your particular symptoms. For us, as well as several friends, that also meant shedding pounds! - Eight Weeks to Optimum Health, Revised Edition: A Proven Program for Taking Full Advantage of Your Body’s Natural Healing Power by Andrew Weil
- Dr. David Williams, Library of Medical Lies
- Nourishing Traditions By Sally Fallon
A cookbook that focuses on fermented foods as a source to health. - Passionate Vegetarian by Crescent Dragonwagon
- School of Natural Healing by Dr. John R. Christopher (Hardcover – Jan 1, 1976)
- Prescription for Nutritional Healing, 4th Edition by Phyllis A. Balch
- Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, Revised Second Edition by Michael Murray and Joseph Pizzorno
- The Riddle of Gender by Deborah Rudacille. Rudacille begins her book with anecdotal accounts of famous transgender people throughout history (Chevalier d�Eon and Abel Barbin), then closes in on the true subject of her book, transgender males and an estrogen drug (DES) supplied to women in the late forties and fifties ostensibly to prevent miscarriages. The tragic result of high doses of estrogen on male fetuses was that many were born with partially developed genitals. Some doctors removed the undeveloped genitals believing that the child could be trained into being a female, but these “females” grew up feeling uncomfortable with their gender. Society often punishes the victim and in this case it was especially true. Very informative.
SInce 1978
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