false 0 65 27 true 6352610 read 1 true 4867588 currently-reading 37 true 4867566 to-read 0 false 4867604 the-giver http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79596820 to: A Separate Peace (Paperback) by John Knowles
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/79596892 Babyproofing Your Marriage: How to Laugh More, Argue Less, and Communicate Better as Your Family Grows (Hardcover) by Stacie Cockrell
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/77303949 to: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life (Hardcover) by Barbara Kingsolver
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75216513 World Peace Diet: Eating for Spiritual Health and Social Harmony (Paperback) by Will Tuttle
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/75216367 to: The Heart of a Woman (Oprah's Book Club) by Maya Angelou
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/63424981 to: A Prayer for Owen Meany (Modern Library) by John Irving
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/53232714 to: The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health (Paperback) by T. Colin Campbell
In laymen's terms, the author, researcher T. Colin Compbell, PhD, demonstrates how animal proteins and animal based diets directly contribute to elevated cholesterol levels, blood pressure levels, and "diseases of affluence."

Diseases of affluence include heart disease, breast cancer, Type 1 and 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis, kidney stones, cataracts, age related macular degeneration, cognitive dysfunction, vascular dementia, Alzheimer's, osteoporosis, autoimmune conditions and more. Diseases of affluence are diseases that are especially related to Western diets and Western peoples. Disease of affluence are not found in countries where the people eat a predominately whole-foods, plant based diet. Of course these people die from health problems as well, but their deaths are related to diseases of poverty.

The author demonstrates that this difference between Western diseases (disease of affluence) and Eastern diseases (diseases of poverty) is not related to genetics; he explains that moving a person from the East to the West and subjecting that person to a Western diet will create the same Western diseases that the Easterner had never suffered from previously. The research is also age controlled, so that it takes into consideration age and lifespans. That is to say, the studies show that just because a Western might live longer that doesn't account for his or her ability to develop a Western disease.

The author explains how he evolved from growing up on a diary farm where he assumed that animal protein created "healthy teeth and bones," to a seventy some year-old, vegetarian/ almost vegan, healthy man. It is through his extensive, honest, and impressive research that he decides to adopt--and his family as well--a diet composed of vegetables, fruits and whole foods.

Towards the end of the book, the author shows how the food industry controls and influences the information that the public believes is sound nutritional advice. He shows how the diary industry has infiltrated the public school systems and how some academic "researchers" are puppets for the food industry. The author shows how the food industry spends millions of dollars on marketing campaigns to increase interest for their products, and how the industry tries to stifle research that is damaging to their interests. Many times the food industry succeeds by creating confusion within the publics' mind about what is consider safe and healthy.

The author also discusses how physicians receive little nutritional training in medical school, and how the majority of them are unable to accept that dietary changes are really what most patients need more than anything else. Instead of trying to merely treat the symptoms of disease, e.g., heart disease, the author wants physicians to treat what is causing the disease to begin with. He has found throughout his entire career that there is much opposition to this, and many physicians do not think it is practical or possible that their patients would switch from a predominately animal based diet towards a whole-foods, plant based diet. The author believes it is the physicians' obligation to present the research and facts to his or her patient, and it is then up to the patient to decide what he or she will do. (If I was dying of cancer, I think I would try it out!)

This is a must read for anyone interested in doing all that he or she can to improve your health and lifespan. If you have been diagnosed with heart disease, cancer, another disease or you have high cholesterol or blood pressure and you are looking for something substantial, something other than another surgery or more pills, then this is a book that you should read. If you have someone in your family who has suffered from an awful disease and you are afraid that your genetic make-up is the same,then you should read this book.

]]> http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/12568-veganism Tamra made a comment on The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health:

I found this book to be extremely insightful. Nutrition books can become a bit overwhelming because so many of them can contradict one another. This book and its perspective is based on factual evidence, and it is simply refreshing.
After finishing the book, I followed-up with Dr. McDougall, who is mentioned towards the end of the book. I switched to a vegan, oil-free lifestyle. At first it was difficult, but now I find it pretty easy.
I came across this book while I was reading reviews on Amazon. An impressive reviewer recommended this book, and I'm so glad that he did. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60473060 to: The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity (Paperback) by Julia Cameron
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/60472991 to: The Oxford Murders (Paperback) by Guillermo Martínez
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