Asian Health Secrets: The Complete Guide to Asian Herbal Medicine

by Letha Hadady

Asian Way of Wellness is the first interactive guide to herbal medicine, presenting breakthrough guidelines for self-diagnoses that help readers understand how to evaluate their personal health needs and use readily available herbs to treat common maladies, boost the immune system, prevent illness, maintain wellness, and ensure longevity. The author is a herbalist and accupuncturist.

Genres: Health, Herbs, Nonfiction, Reference

516 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Letha Hadady · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wrote this book in 1996 as a guide for people interested in alternative medicine, Asian healing modalities, or herbs. It can help people who prefer to use the advice of Asian herbalists or acupuncturists understand what their health practitioner is doing/thinking during diagnosis. It can help individuals or families learn more about correct treatments according to their symptoms and offers practical, simple ways to monitor progress in gaining health and wellness.

It also contains chapters on the medicinal use of spices and teas; a chapter on several ginsengs; and a chapter on Yunnan Paiyao an amazing natural treatment to speed healing of injuries and surgery.

Asian Health Secrets was a pre-internet book. For that reason, I update the information when necessary with my website: www.asianhealthsecrets.com. At that website also can be found health news, recipes, and advice at a FORUM.

[Gina · Rating 1 out of 5]

I think the most disappointing part was the reliance on pills.

I came to this book via a conversation about traditional Chinese medicine and how it influenced cooking in SE Asia, so I was thinking of balancing meals, but she is so into the pills and capsules. For just one remedy you might take 30 a day; is it that much better that they are herbal?

As a New Yorker, maybe there is more difficulty in getting fresh herbs and produce or incorporating them -- the home city might at least explain all the heroin and cocaine references -- but it was just really disappointing. A large part of the disappointment was the dismissal of some pretty healthy foods (especially Mediterranean).

Her actual accreditation is in acupuncture, so maybe if she were writing about that I wouldn't keep thinking "quack", but as it was I thought that a lot, especially in the later chapters.

On the plus side she has a really high opinion of herself, so my criticism shouldn't hurt too much.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reference source
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[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are interested in both the theory and practice of Chinese medicine, this is essential for your library. Consult it frequently, and don't be afraid to take her advice.

[Alison Frost · Rating 4 out of 5]

Word of caution --some of her suggestions are over the top. However, every time I use what she teaches for diet correction I feel better and I lose weight. No fad stuff here, but just reasonable recommendations. My only other comment is that much of the foods she recommends are hard to find in rural west virginia. If she included the actualy chinese characters for some things instead of pin yin, I would have an easier time finding them.It's still a good book full of good recommendations with solid work to back her up. Very few other diets help at all.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most comprehensive Asian health philosophy book that I have found for the Western schooled patient. It bridges the gap between Western & Eastern style disease/diagnosis, which is quite a large canyon. If you're a huge skeptic, this is not the book for you, but if you're open minded and seeking to understand a completely alternative mechanism for health and illness, this is one of the best that i have found.

[B.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great reference book.