Book picks similar to
What Really Makes You Ill? Why Everything You Thought You Knew About Disease Is Wrong by Dawn Lester
health
non-fiction
science
history
The Contagion Myth: Why Viruses (including "Coronavirus") Are Not the Cause of Disease
Thomas S. Cowan - 2020
Virus Mania: How the Medical Industry Continually Invents Epidemics, Making Billion Dollar Profits at Our Expense
Torsten Engelbrecht - 2007
The latest headlines feature the human papillomavirus (HPV) alleged to cause cervical cancer and the avian flu virus, H5N1. The public is also continually terrorized by reports about SARS, BSE, hepatitis C, AIDS, Ebola, and polio. However, this virus mayhem ignores very basic scientific facts: the existence, the pathogenicity and the deadly effects of these agents have never been proven. The authors of Virus Mania, journalist Torsten Engelbrecht and doctor of internal medicine Claus K�hnlein, show that these alleged contagious agents are, in fact, particles produced by the cells themselves as a consequence of certain stress factors such as drugs, malnutrition, pesticides and heavy metals.The central aim of this book is to steer the discussion back to a real scientific debate and put medicine back on the path of an impartial analysis of the facts. It will put medical experiments, clinical trials, statistics and government policies under the microscope, revealing that the people charged with protecting our health and safety have deviated from this path. To substantiate these statements, the authors cite dozens of highly renowned scientists and present approximately 1,100 pertinent scientific references.The topic of this book is of pivotal significance. The pharmaceutical companies and top scientists rake in enormous sums of money by attacking germs and the media boosts its audience ratings and circulations with sensationalized reporting (the coverage of the New York Times and Der Spiegel are specifically analyzed). "The primary purpose of commercially-funded clinical research is to maximize financial return on investment, not health," says John Abramson of Harvard Medical School. Virus Mania will inform you on how such an environment took root-and how to empower yourself for a healthy life.
Dirty Genes: A Breakthrough Program to Treat the Root Cause of Illness and Optimize Your Health
Ben Lynch - 2018
Ben Lynch discovered the root cause—“dirty” genes. Genes can be “born dirty” or merely “act dirty” in response to your environment, diet, or lifestyle—causing lifelong, life-threatening, and chronic health problems, including cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, anxiety, depression, digestive issues, obesity, cancer, and diabetes.Based on his own experience and successfully helping thousands of clients, Dr. Lynch shows you how to identify and optimize both types of dirty genes by cleaning them up with targeted and personalized plans, including healthy eating, good sleep, stress relief, environmental detox, and other holistic and natural means.Many of us believe our genes doom us to the disorders that run in our families. But Dr. Lynch reveals that with the right plan in place, you can eliminate symptoms, and optimize your physical and mental health—and ultimately rewrite your genetic destiny.
A Mind of Your Own: The Truth About Depression and How Women Can Heal Their Bodies to Reclaim Their Lives
Kelly Brogan - 2016
It is a symptom.Recent years have seen a shocking increase in antidepressant use the world over, with 1 in 4 women starting their day with medication. These drugs have steadily become the panacea for everything from grief, irritability, panic attacks, to insomnia, PMS, and stress. But the truth is, what women really need can’t be found at a pharmacy.According to Dr. Kelly Brogan, antidepressants not only overpromise and underdeliver, but their use may permanently disable the body’s self-healing potential. We need a new paradigm: The best way to heal the mind is to heal the whole body.In this groundbreaking, science-based and holistic approach, Dr. Brogan shatters the mythology conventional medicine has built around the causes and treatment of depression. Based on her expert interpretation of published medical findings, combined with years of experience from her clinical practice, Dr. Brogan illuminates the true cause of depression: it is not simply a chemical imbalance, but a lifestyle crisis that demands a reset. It is a signal that the interconnected systems in the body are out of balance – from blood sugar, to gut health, to thyroid function– and inflammation is at the root.A Mind of Your Own offers an achievable, step-by-step 30-day action plan—including powerful dietary interventions, targeted nutrient support, detoxification, sleep, and stress reframing techniques—women can use to heal their bodies, alleviate inflammation, and feel like themselves again without a single prescription.Bold, brave, and revolutionary, A Mind of Your Own takes readers on a journey of self-empowerment for radical transformation that goes far beyond symptom relief.
The Diabetes Code: Prevent and Reverse Type 2 Diabetes Naturally
Jason Fung - 2018
Jason Fung forever changed the way we think about obesity with his best-selling book, The Obesity Code. Now he has set out to do the same for type 2 diabetes.Today, most doctors, dietitians, and even diabetes specialists consider type 2 diabetes to be a chronic and progressive disease—a life sentence with no possibility of parole. But the truth, as Dr. Fung reveals in this paradigm-shifting book, is that type 2 diabetes is reversible. Writing with clear, persuasive language, he explains why conventional treatments that rely on insulin or other blood-glucose-lowering drugs can actually exacerbate the problem, leading to significant weight gain and even heart disease. The only way to treat type 2 diabetes effectively, he argues, is proper dieting and intermittent fasting—not medication.
Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease
Gary Taubes - 2004
Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number. In this groundbreaking book, award-winning science writer Gary Taubes shows us that almost everything we believe about the nature of a healthy diet is wrong.
Mind Over Medicine: Scientific Proof That You Can Heal Yourself
Lissa Rankin - 2013
Or it’s just bad luck—and doctors alone hold the keys to optimal health. For years, Lissa Rankin, M.D., believed the same. But when her own health started to suffer, and she turned to Western medical treatments, she found that they not only failed to help; they made her worse. So she decided to take matters into her own hands. Through her research, Dr. Rankin discovered that the health care she had been taught to practice was missing something crucial: a recognition of the body’s innate ability to self-repair and an appreciation for how we can control these self-healing mechanisms with the power of the mind. In an attempt to better understand this phenomenon, she explored peer-reviewed medical literature and found evidence that the medical establishment had been proving that the body can heal itself for over 50 years. Using extraordinary cases of spontaneous healing, Dr. Rankin shows how thoughts, feelings, and beliefs can alter the body’s physiology. She lays out the scientific data proving that loneliness, pessimism, depression, fear, and anxiety damage the body, while intimate relationships, gratitude, meditation, sex, and authentic self-expression flip on the body’s self-healing processes. In the final section of the book, you’ll be introduced to a radical new wellness model based on Dr. Rankin’s scientific findings. Her unique six-step program will help you uncover where things might be out of whack in your life—spiritually, creatively, environmentally, nutritionally, and in your professional and personal relationships—so that you can create a customized treatment plan aimed at bolstering these health-promoting pieces of your life. You’ll learn how to listen to your body’s “whispers” before they turn to life-threatening “screams” that can be prevented with proper self-care, and you’ll learn how to trust your inner guidance when making decisions about your health and your life.
How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease
Michael Greger - 2015
In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of premature death in America -- heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson's, high blood pressure, and more -- and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches, freeing us to live healthier lives.The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease. The fifteen leading causes of death claim the lives of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn't have to be the case. By following Dr. Greger's advice, all of it backed up by strong scientific evidence, you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make to live longer.History of prostate cancer in your family? Put down that glass of milk and add flaxseed to your diet whenever you can. Have high blood pressure? Hibiscus tea can work better than a leading hypertensive drug-and without the side effects. Fighting off liver disease? Drinking coffee can reduce liver inflammation. Battling breast cancer? Consuming soy is associated with prolonged survival. Worried about heart disease (the number 1 killer in the United States)? Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which has been repeatedly shown not just to prevent the disease but often stop it in its tracks.In addition to showing what to eat to help treat the top fifteen causes of death, How Not to Die includes Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen -- a checklist of the twelve foods we should consume every day. Full of practical, actionable advice and surprising, cutting edge nutritional science, these doctor's orders are just what we need to live longer, healthier lives.
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress
Gabor Maté - 2003
With great compassion and erudition, Gabor Maté demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.
Ultrametabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss
Mark Hyman - 2006
It's embedded in our DNA. Our diet has changed dramatically over the past ten thousand years, but our genetic blueprint has not -- our bodies are not designed to process the types of food we are fed today. It's like putting diesel fuel into a regular car -- it just won't work. And making matters worse is the fact that diets don't work either: less than 6 percent of weight-loss attempts succeed. The average person who goes on a diet actually gains five pounds. But a medical revolution is under way, finally showing us precisely how the powerful forces that keep weight on can actually be reprogrammed to automatically burn fat and keep weight off for good. The concept is simple. By learning how to work with our bodies instead of against them, we can ignite the natural fat-burning furnaces that lie dormant within us. For the first time ever, Dr. Mark Hyman makes this new science of weight loss available to the general public. This medical revolution is based on a groundbreaking concept called nutrigenomics -- the science of how food talks to our genes. This science is actually startlingly simple. Food contains information and instructions for our bodies -- eat the right foods and send instructions of weight loss and health; eat the wrong foods and send messages of weight gain and disease. After spending the last ten years conducting pioneering, hands-on research with over two thousand patients at Canyon Ranch, one of the world's leading health resorts, Dr. Hyman has discovered the seven fundamental causes of obesity. While fad diets have identified one or two of these causes, never before have they all been integrated into a single, simple plan for automatic weight loss -- this is the promise of "UltraMetabolism." "UltraMetabolism" is an easy-to-follow eight-week plan to help you lose weight based on your own unique genetic needs. Since each of our bodies is different and may require more or less of certain nutrients to awaken our fat-burning DNA, Dr. Hyman shows you exactly how to customize the program for your own particular needs. The program includes menus, recipes, and shopping lists, as well as recommendations for supplements and exercise and lifestyle treatments designed to create a healthy metabolism -- an "UltraMetabolism" -- permanent weight loss, and lifelong health.Ultrametabolism Testimonials..".I lost 50 pounds and have kept it off for 4 years.""The last five years have become the healthiest years of my life. Because of Dr. Hyman's program, I have an in-depth understanding of my physical condition and have tailored a weight loss program for my needs. Since following his plan, I've significantly reduced my cholesterol from 240 to 160. In addition, I lost 50 pounds and have kept it off for 4 years."-- Joseph Bernstein Milwaukee, WI"I've dropped 2 dress sizes (so far)...Dr. Hyman literally gave me my life back.""Over the past few years I had gained 70 lbs and felt progressively worse as I bounced from doctor to doctor without any real answers for my weight gain, my migraines, or my many other ailments. Dr. Hyman helped me understand how many of my health issues were due to food allergies. Lab tests showed I was allergic to 28 different foods! I started on the DeTox phase of Dr. Hymans program and within 3 weeks, I lost 11 pounds and my swollen wrists and puffy face went away. I used to wake up extremely exhausted, but now I wake up at 6 am and maintain a constant level of energy throughout the day. No other program gave me a means to discover the real source of my problems. Now I have the energy to play with my 8-year-old and 11-year-old children. My entire family is finally eating healthier, and I've dropped 2 dress sizes (so far!) Dr Hyman literally gave me my life back."-- Audrey Meyer Lampert North Granby, CT"The menu was easy to implement, in spite of my hectic lifestyle...""Through Dr. Hyman's program, I not only dropped my cholesterol from 335 to below 200, but I lost 20 lbs and have kept if off for the last 2 years through his instructions including a specific meal plan, exercise, and supplements. The menu was easy to implement, in spite of my hectic lifestyle and easy to adapt when I traveled to hotels and restaurants. Matter of fact, I went from a pant size of 38 to a 36 and needed to buy a lot of new clothes."-- Cavas Gobhai Cambridge, MA"It was easy! All I needed to do was follow his instructions; in the first 30 days I lost 21 pounds.""Substituting simple foods with other healthy foods that I love helped me lose the cravings for all the junk I used to eat. Dr. Hyman's weight loss program gave me a lot of information about my body. It was easy! All I needed to do was follow his instructions; in the first 30 days I lost 21 pounds. I feel better than I have in 10 years and can now walk up the stairs without losing my breath. I forgot how good I could I feel."-- Deede Dominick Phippsburg, Maine"I was ready for a change, and Dr. Hyman's program helped me prioritize my life.""After I quit smoking three years ago, I snacked a lot in order to forget about smoking. After doing that for 6 months, I gained almost 30 pounds. I was sick and tired of having no energy, and I wanted to feel good again. In addition, I love to shop, and I wanted to buy fancy clothes without having to shop at the big and tall store. I was ready for a change, and Dr. Hyman's program helped me prioritize my life. Since I started in 2003 I have lost over 60 pounds and have maintained the loss. In addition, I've gone from a size 18 to a size 10. When I look at old pictures, I realize that I feel and look better than I did 15 years ago."-- Margarida Glenhage Gothenburg Sweden..".I lost 30 lbs with no exercise.""As a single mother, I was tired of feeling sick all the time and decided to change my life so that I could become healthy for my 3%-year-old daughter. After relearning how to feed myself and my daughter, I lost 30 lbs with no exercise from June to December and I dropped my cholesterol 105 points."-- Nancy Grey DC Bronxville, NY"I lost 30 lbs, went back to a size 4, and no longer have migraines.""After going through an 8-month period of being very sick with hives, having extreme inflammation in my face, and gaining 30 pounds, I found Dr. Hyman's program. Because I went through his simple plan, I uncovered that I am allergic to gluten, the protein in wheat, which was the source of all my problems. After getting on his plan, I lost 30 lbs, went back to a size 4, and no longer have migraines. My husband even noticed the change and went on the program too; so far, he's lost 45 pounds."-- Debbie Gosney Charlotte, NC..".it's easy to jump back on when I occasionally fall off...""This program gave me the satisfaction of being in control of my body and life. I've maintained my 18-pound weight loss since 2002, reduced my glucose levels from 170 to 102, and taken control over my diabetes to the point where I no longer have any symptoms. Going on a program like this is like a religious conversion; it's easy to jump back on when I occasionally fall off and I have more energy than I've ever had. At the age of 71, I run 4 miles a day and feel great."
Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art
James Nestor - 2020
Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.Journalist James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren't found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of Sao Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is.Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again.
Eastern Body, Western Mind: Psychology and the Chakra System As a Path to the Self
Anodea Judith - 1996
This groundbreaking work in transpersonal psychology has been revised and redesigned for a more accessible presentation. Arranged schematically, the book uses the inherent structure of the chakra system as a map upon which to chart our Western understanding of individual development. Each chapter focuses on a single chakra, starting with a description of its characteristics, then exploring its particular childhood developmental patterns, traumas and abuses, and how to heal and maintain balance. Illuminated with personal anecdotes and case studies, Eastern Body, Western Mind seamlessly merges the East and West, science and philosophy, and psychology and spirituality into a compelling interpretation of the chakra system and its relevance for Westerners today.Revised edition of the groundbreaking New Age book that seamlessly integrates Western psychology and the Eastern chakra system, including a new introduction from the author.Applies the chakra system to important modern social realities and issues such as addiction, codependence, family dynamics, sexuality, and personal empowerment.
The Biology of Belief: Unleashing the Power of Consciousness, Matter and Miracles
Bruce H. Lipton - 2005
Author Dr. Bruce Lipton is a former medical school professor and research scientist. His experiments, and that of other leading-edge scientists, have examined in great detail the processes by which cells receive information. The implications of this research radically change our understanding of life. It shows that genes and DNA do not control our biology; that instead DNA is controlled by signals from outside the cell, including the energetic messages emanating from our positive and negative thoughts. Dr. Lipton's profoundly hopeful synthesis of the latest and best research in cell biology and quantum physics is being hailed as a major breakthrough showing that our bodies can be changed as we retrain our thinking.
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet
Nina Teicholz - 2014
She documents how the low-fat nutrition advice of the past sixty years has amounted to a vast uncontrolled experiment on the entire population, with disastrous consequences for our health.For decades, we have been told that the best possible diet involves cutting back on fat, especially saturated fat, and that if we are not getting healthier or thinner it must be because we are not trying hard enough. But what if the low-fat diet is itself the problem? What if the very foods we’ve been denying ourselves—the creamy cheeses, the sizzling steaks—are themselves the key to reversing the epidemics of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease?In this captivating, vibrant, and convincing narrative, based on a nine-year-long investigation, Teicholz shows how the misinformation about saturated fats took hold in the scientific community and the public imagination, and how recent findings have overturned these beliefs. She explains why the Mediterranean Diet is not the healthiest, and how we might be replacing trans fats with something even worse. This startling history demonstrates how nutrition science has gotten it so wrong: how overzealous researchers, through a combination of ego, bias, and premature institutional consensus, have allowed dangerous misrepresentations to become dietary dogma.With eye-opening scientific rigor, The Big Fat Surprise upends the conventional wisdom about all fats with the groundbreaking claim that more, not less, dietary fat—including saturated fat—is what leads to better health and wellness. Science shows that we have been needlessly avoiding meat, cheese, whole milk, and eggs for decades and that we can now, guilt-free, welcome these delicious foods back into our lives.