Healthful Book Of The Month
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June’s Healthful Book Of The Month
Change Your Brain, Change Your Body: Use Your Brain to Get and Keep the Body You Have Always Wanted
Author: Daniel G. Amen, MD Website: http://www.amenclinics.com
Why I Like This Book:
This is a good read for health geeks (like me) and the average person seeking to improve her health by exploring the connection between the body and mind. Dr. Amen covers enough science in this book to satisfy most informed readers. At the same time the Action Steps, Summaries, and Lists throughout the chapters make the book easy to apply. In fact, I seems like great care was taken to simplify the ideas in this book.
Low Points:
I think that one problem with writing and promoting any book that attempts to address the complex challenges associated with improving health is managing reader expectations. It is important that the readers of this book understand the principles in Change Your Brain Change Your Body must be accompanied by commitment and action in order to achieve results.
$16.00 paperback
May’s Healthful Book Of The Month
The Great Physician’s Rx for Health and Wellness
Author: Jordan S. Rubin,. Website: http://www.biblicalhealthinstitute.com
Why I Like This Book:
I have to admit that I am bias toward this author. I have used his Garden of Life products since 2003, he has been a guest speaker at my church, and he has one to the most phenomenal personal stories of healing you can ever read.
In The Great Physician Rx Health and Wellness Dr. Jordan provides an A-to-Z outline on how to live an incredibly healthful lifestyle. Anyone wanting a clear unfiltered message of how to start living a life of health and wellness will benefit from this book. He offers a prescription for stay healthy that covers everything from eating to hygiene and emotions. I found his section called “Reduce Toxins in Your Environment” especially eye-opening.
Low Points:
The book was so generally well written it had no low point is my option. With that said purely secular reader may struggle with the powerful faith inspired tone of this terrific book.
$24.99 Hardcover
April’s Healthful Book Of The Month
The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite.
Author: David A. Kessler, MD. Website: http://www.theendofovereatingbook.com
Why I Like This Book:
As a voracious readers of nutrition, diet, and health literature; I particularly enjoyed reading this book, because it exposures the epidemic of overeating from a different perspective. Dr. Kessler, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration, dissects the problem of overeating and obesity from the standpoint the brain’s role in our behavior.The author does a couple of things with this book that are noteworthy.
First, he makes the point that we are all wired differently, which explains why some of us find jelly donuts completely irremissible, while others are unfazed by tempting sweets. This helps explain why certain segments of a population may be more prone to overeating and obesity that others.
Secondly, rather than stop at providing a convenience excuse for overeating, Dr. Kessler offers solutions for anyone who might find herself subject to addictive eating behavior. His final chapters of the book walk the reader through methods of maintaining control in a cultural setting that encourage overeating.
Low Points:
I personally enjoy the content from beginning to end. As a former research and development chef for multi-billion dollar for companies, I could relate to the example of product engineer and the scientific details in the book. However, I can imagine that the amount of scientific information could be undesirable for some readers.
$26.95 Hardcover
March’s Healthful Book Of The Month
The China Study: Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health
Author: T. Colin Campbell, PhD. Website: http://www.thechinastudy.com
Why I Like This Book:
There are two main reasons I think that this book is worth reading First of all, it provides one the most compelling arguments for adopting a predominantly whole food plant based style of eating I could find.
Whether one is in agreement with the author or not the argument is compelling Secondly, the author’s position makes the connection between diet and chronic disease. Even the harshest critics of Dr. Campbell conclusions, avoid challenging the obvious link between diet and diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer.
Low Points:
It is clear throughout most of the book that the authors personal beliefs (Dr. Campbell is an acknowledged long-term Vegan) are at least partial motivation for his stance. This is not to say that his personal eating-style negates any solid reasoning or conclusions. It simply provides cause for extra scrutiny. $16.95 Paperback
February’s Healthful Book Of The Month
Clean Food: A Seasonal Guide To Eating Close To The Source
Author: Terry Walters Website: terrywalters.net
Why I Like This Book:
Terry Walters delivers a concise yet complete introduction to the world of Healthful Eating with Clean Food. The book is a short eating right handbook and cookbook in one. The first 23 pages provide one of the most densely packed sections on the fundamentals of adopting a Healthful Eating-style I’ve seen in sometime. This book is great for anyone with a beginning interest in healthy eating and cooking. Ms. Walter uses a comfortable and non-judgmental writing style that is disarming.
If you have doubts about making changes in your eating habits they dissolve in the face of comment like this quote from page 2:
“For many, health improvement can be accomplished by improving habits, reducing stress on bodies and increasing efficiency. All in all, the more you know about your food and your body, the more easily you can distinguish the food and habits that harm from those that heal, and the more successful you can be at maintaining health and balance.
I cannot imagine a gentler way of admonishing readers about the importance of understanding what we are putting in our bodies as food. Most importantly, the subsequent pages deliver a healthy dose of what beginners need to start their Healthful Eating Journey.
Low Points:
Clean Food is an all-around great book, which balances healthful insight and healthful recipes. I must admit that I have yet to try any of the seasonal recipes; although they seem technically sound from a chefs perspective. As a Health and Food enthusiast, I would have preferred a more complete treatment of the excellent topics that were touched upon in the book. I felt that the author, could have easily taken me on a much more detailed adventure, but for the sake of brevity, rightfully restrained herself.
$30.00 Hardcover
January’s Healthful Book Of The Month
The Jungle Effect: The Healthiest Diets From Around The World
Author: Daphne Miller, MD Website: drdaphne.com
Why I Like This Book:
Dr. Daphne Miller, MD – A Harvard Medical School Graduate – provides an extremely well organized case for healthful eating as a means of preventing diseases such as Hypertension, Cancer, Diabetes, Obesity, and Cardiovascular Disease. Her first-hand study of the diets of particularly disease-free indigenous people made her case more compelling than most. She goes way beyond repeating the alarming statistics that are so commonly cited. The structure of her book made it easy to connect each chronic disease with the eating-style most likely to prevent it.
The book is organized into four basic chapters each dedicated to a real-life patients, a chronic illness, a culture uniquely immune to the illness, and a set of eating habits believe to be the culture’s protective shield. The dietary advice is generally very sound. Dr. Miller’s effectiveness at weaving together the lives for her struggling patients with those of indigenous populations, as well as, her personal quests for answers; sets The Jungle Effect apart from the many nutrition related book that I have read. The book’s insights derived mainly from lively anecdotes messes well with the science required to support the books conclusions.
Low Points:
In the charter on Diabetes, featuring the indigenous people of Copper Canyon, Mexico; the author notes the fairly common practice of cooking with moderate amounts of Lard. This practice, although possibly acceptable in some cases, is not something I can embrace personally – as a Healthful Chef.
In addition, one underlining premises of the book is that there may be a genetic/heredity aspect to uncovering one’s healthiest diet. Although I find the research being done in the area of Nutrigenomic very interesting, as a chef, the idea of some day eating within narrow ethnic silos seem unappealing. I also doubt that most people are eager to head down that path anytime soon. The multi-cultural cuisine genie has been out of the bottle for some time!
$14.99 paperback
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