The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in "Healthy" Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain


Steven R. Gundry - 2017
    Stephen Gundry believes that these defense strategies make the seemingly virtuous plants that we consume every day--fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts, and seeds--far less "good for us" than we assume. Dr. Gundry outlines the health hazards posed by lectins. The main sources of lectins in the American diet include conventionally-raised dairy products, beans, and other legumes, wheat and grains, and specific vegetables and fruitsWith a full list of lectin-containing foods and simple substitutes for each; a step-by-step detox and eating plan; and easy lectin-free recipes, The Plant Paradox illuminates the hidden dangers lurking in your salad bowl—and shows you how to eat whole foods in a whole new way.

Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance


Atul Gawande - 2007
    But nowhere is this drive to do better more important than in medicine, where lives are on the line with every decision. In his new book, Atul Gawande explores how doctors strive to close the gap between best intentions and best performance in the face of obstacles that sometimes seem insurmountable. Gawande's gripping stories of diligence, ingenuity, and what it means to do right by people take us to battlefield surgical tents in Iraq, to labor and delivery rooms in Boston, to a polio outbreak in India, and to malpractice courtrooms around the country. He discusses the ethical dilemmas of doctors participation in lethal injections, examines the influence of money on modern medicine, and recounts the astoundingly contentious history of hand washing. And as in all his writing, Gawande gives us an inside look at his own life as a practicing surgeon, offering a searingly honest firsthand account of work in a field where mistakes are both unavoidable and unthinkable. At once unflinching and compassionate, Better is an exhilarating journey narrated by arguably the best nonfiction doctor-writer around (Salon). Gawande's investigation into medical professionals and how they progress from merely good to great provides rare insight into the elements of success, illuminating every area of human endeavor.

Taking Charge of Your Fertility: The Definitive Guide to Natural Birth Control, Pregnancy Achievement, and Reproductive Health


Toni Weschler - 1995
    Weschler thoroughly explains the empowering Fertility Awareness Method, which in only a couple minutes a day allows a woman to:-Enjoy highly effective, scientifically proven birth control without chemicals or devices-Maximize her chances of conception or expedite fertility treatment by identifying impediments to conception-Increase the likelihood of choosing the gender of her baby-Gain control of her sexual and gynecological health

Green Pharmacy: The History and Evolution of Western Herbal Medicine


Barbara Griggs - 1991
    The author provides an eloquent and engaging account of the use of herbal medicine from prehistoric times to the present, reaffirming the incalculable value of medicinal plants in the healing arts. She presents a strong case for the cyclical emergence of alternative medicine at times (such as our own) when allopathic methods of treatment have lost their safety and efficacy.

Stop the Thyroid Madness: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Treatment


Janie A. Bowthorpe - 2008
    It addresses a 60+ year, international thyroid treatment scandal involving the use of T4-only medications like Synthroid and other T4-only meds, as well as the TSH lab test--both which have left hundreds of millions worldwide either undiagnosed or undertreated. It explains in detail: 1) what medications work far better and why; 2) which labwork is better than others, and how to read the results (i.e., it has nothing to do with just being "in range"); 3) how a huge body of thyroid patients fall into adrenal fatigue/HPA dysfunction as a result of poor treatment by doctors, plus what patients have learned in treating it; 4) a long list of causes of hypothyroidism; 5) cutting-edge treatment of Hashimotos's disease and gluten intolerance; 6) why patients need to be aware of Reverse T3, plus how to treat it; 7) how to discover and treat low levels of Vit. D, B12, ferritin and iron, iodine and more deficiencies which doctors can miss. As always, this "Bible of Thyroid Treatment", as successfully experienced by patients worldwide, strives to educate the reader in order to bring this on-going and scandal-breaking information into doctors offices worldwide, and create needed change.

The Disease Delusion: Conquering the Causes of Chronic Illness for a Healthier, Longer, and Happier Life


Jeffrey S. Bland - 2014
    Jeffrey Bland has been on the cutting edge of Functional Medicine, which seeks to pinpoint and prevent the cause of illness, rather than treat its symptoms. Managing chronic diseases accounts for three quarters of our total healthcare costs, because we're masking these illnesses with pills and temporary treatments, rather than addressing their underlying causes, he argues. Worse, only treating symptoms leads us down the path of further illness.In The Disease Delusion, Dr. Bland explains what Functional Medicine is and what it can do for you. While advances in modern science have nearly doubled our lifespans in only four generations, our quality of life has not reached its full potential. Outlining the reasons why we suffer chronic diseases from asthma and diabetes to obesity, arthritis and cancer to a host of other ailments, Dr. Bland offers achievable, science-based solutions that can alleviate these common conditions and offers a roadmap for a lifetime of wellness.

Gut: The Inside Story of Our Body’s Most Underrated Organ


Giulia Enders - 2014
    Gut, an international bestseller, gives the alimentary canal its long-overdue moment in the spotlight. With quirky charm, rising science star Giulia Enders explains the gut’s magic, answering questions like: Why does acid reflux happen? What’s really up with gluten and lactose intolerance? How does the gut affect obesity and mood? Communication between the gut and the brain is one of the fastest-growing areas of medical research—on par with stem-cell research. Our gut reactions, we learn, are intimately connected with our physical and mental well-being. Enders’s beguiling manifesto will make you finally listen to those butterflies in your stomach: they’re trying to tell you something important.

The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick


Gene Stone - 2010
    . . a great read,"" and that has been praised as ""a delightful dance through science"" ("New York Times "bestselling author Mark Hyman, M.D.) and as a ""remarkable and insightful book [that] offers you the chance to achieve the best health of your life"" (Mark Liponis, M.D., Medical Director, Canyon Ranch).Written by bestselling author Gene Stone, "The Secrets of People Who Never Get Sick "arose from his desire to discover what might actually prevent him from getting sick himself. This book, the result of that exploration, tells the stories of twenty-five people who each possess a different secret of excellent health--a secret that makes sense and that Stone discovered has a true scientific underpinning. There are food secrets--why to take garlic and vitamin C, eat more probiotics, becomea vegan, drink a tonic of brewer's yeast. Exercise secrets--the benefits of lifting weights, the power of stretching. Environmental secrets--living in a Blue Zone, understanding the value of germs. Emotional secrets--seek out and stay in touch with friends, cultivate your spirituality. Physical secrets--nap more, take cold showers in the morning. And the wisdom that goes back generations: Yes, chicken soup works.The stories make it personal, the research makes it real, and the do-it-yourself information shows how to integrate each secret into your own life, and become the next person who never gets sick.

Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause


Izabella Wentz - 2013
    Most patients with Hashimoto's will present with acid reflux, nutrient deficiencies, anemia, intestinal permeability, food sensitivities, gum disorders and hypoglycemia in addition to the "typical" hypothyroid symptoms such as weight gain, cold intolerance, hair loss, fatigue and constipation. The body becomes stuck in a vicious cycle of immune system overload, adrenal insufficiency, gut dysbiosis, impaired digestion, inflammation, and thyroid hormone release abnormalities. This cycle is self-sustaining and will continue causing more and more symptoms until an external factor intervenes and breaks the cycle apart. The lifestyle interventions discussed in this book aim to dismantle the vicious cycle piece by piece. We start with the simplest modifications, by removing triggers, and follow with repairing the other broken systems to restore equilibrium, allowing the body to rebuild itself.

The Earthwise Herbal: A Complete Guide to New World Medicinal Plants


Matthew Wood - 2011
    The first in a two-volume set, "The Earthwise Herbal" profiles Old World plants (volume two will treat American plants). Organized alphabetically, the book encompasses all of the major and many of the secondary herbs of traditional and modern Western herbalism. Author Wood describes characteristic symptoms and conditions in which each plant has proved useful in the clinic, often illustrated with appropriate case histories. In addition, he takes a historical view based on his extensive study of ancient and traditional herbal literature. Written in an easy, engaging, non-technical style, "The Earthwise Herbal" offers insight into the logic of the plant: how it works, in what areas of the body it works, how it has been used in the past, what its pharmacological constituents indicate about its use, and how all these different factors hang together to produce a portrait of the plant as a whole entity. Ideal for beginners, serious students, or advanced practitioners, "The Earthwise Herbal "is also useful for homeopaths and flower essence practitioners as it bridges these fields in its treatment of herbal medicines. "From the Trade Paperback edition.""

Rosemary Gladstar's Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide


Rosemary Gladstar - 2012
    With Medicinal Herbs: A Beginner's Guide, Gladstar offers a fresh introduction for a new generation of gardeners and natural health and self-sufficiency enthusiasts.Thirty-three of the most common and versatile healing plants are profiled in depth to get the budding herbalist off on the right foot. Readers will learn how to grow, harvest, prepare, and use each herb. Step-by-step instructions explain how to prepare herbal teas, salves, syrups, tinctures, oils, and liniments to stock the home medicine chest. Simple recipes explore each plant's healing qualities - aloe lotion for poison ivy, dandelion-burdock tincture for sluggish digestion, and lavender-lemon balm tea for stress relief. Gladstar shows how easy it is to make safe, all-natural, low-cost healing remedies for common ailments.

Reaching Down the Rabbit Hole: A Renowned Neurologist Explains the Mystery and Drama of Brain Disease


Allan H. Ropper - 2014
    What is it like to try to heal the body when the mind is under attack? In this book, Dr. Allan Ropper and Brian Burrell take the reader behind the scenes at Harvard Medical School's neurology unit to show how a seasoned diagnostician faces down bizarre, life-altering afflictions. Like Alice in Wonderland, Dr. Ropper inhabits a world where absurdities abound:• A figure skater whose body has become a ticking time-bomb • A salesman who drives around and around a traffic rotary, unable to get off • A college quarterback who can't stop calling the same play • A child molester who, after falling on the ice, is left with a brain that is very much dead inside a body that is very much alive • A mother of two young girls, diagnosed with ALS, who has to decide whether a life locked inside her own head is worth livingHow does one begin to treat such cases, to counsel people whose lives may be changed forever? How does one train the next generation of clinicians to deal with the moral and medical aspects of brain disease? Dr. Ropper and his colleague answer these questions by taking the reader into a rarified world where lives and minds hang in the balance.

Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life


David Perlmutter - 2015
    But a medical revolution is underway that can solve this problem: Astonishing new research is revealing that the health of your brain is, to an extraordinary degree, dictated by the state of your microbiome - the vast population of organisms that live in your body and outnumber your own cells ten to one. What's taking place in your intestines today is determining your risk for any number of brain-related conditions.In BRAIN MAKER, Dr. Perlmutter explains the potent interplay between intestinal microbes and the brain, describing how the microbiome develops from birth and evolves based on lifestyle choices, how it can become "sick," and how nurturing gut health through a few easy strategies can alter your brain's destiny for the better. With simple dietary recommendations and a highly practical program of six steps to improving gut ecology, BRAIN MAKER opens the door to unprecedented brain health potential.

The Good Gut: Taking Control of Your Weight, Your Mood, and Your Long-term Health


Justin Sonnenburg - 2015
    The microbiota interacts with our bodies in a number of powerful ways; the Sonnenburgs argue that it determines in no small part whether we’re sick or healthy, fit or obese, sunny or moody. The microbiota has always been with us, and in fact has coevolved with humans, entwining its functions with ours so deeply, the Sonnenburgs show us, humans are really composite organisms having both microbial and human parts. But now, they argue, because of changes to diet, antibiotic over-use, and over-sterilization, our gut microbiota is facing a “mass extinction event,” which is causing our bodies to go haywire, and may be behind the mysterious spike in some of our most troubling modern afflictions, from food allergies to autism, cancer to depression. It doesn’t have to be this way.The Good Gut offers a new plan for health that focuses on how to nourish your microbiota, including recipes and a menu plan. In this groundbreaking work, the Sonnenburgs show how we can keep our microbiota off the endangered species list and how we can strengthen the community that inhabits our gut and thereby improve our own health. The answer is unique for each of us, and it changes as you age. In this important and timely investigation, the Sonnenburgs look at safe alternatives to antibiotics; dietary and lifestyle choices to encourage microbial health; the management of the aging microbiota; and the nourishment of your own individual microbiome. Caring for our gut microbes may be the most important health choice we can make.

Clean Gut: The Breakthrough Plan for Eliminating the Root Cause of Disease and Revolutionizing Your Health


Alejandro Junger - 2013
    Inside these pages, Junger offers a groundbreaking new program that attacks the root causes of illness and helps us to restore our own amazing healing capabilities.With a few simple steps, you can repair and restore your gut health, and watch symptoms both minor and major disappear. This groundbreaking new protocol grew out of Dr. Junger's experience helping many people jump-start their way back to wellness. Dr. Junger also presents a set of guiding principles to keep you healthy for the long term. True health is about more than just what you put into your mouth: it's also about community and the people and things you surround yourself with; it's about how to know what your body loves, craves, and needs versus what assaults it. In Clean Gut, Dr. Junger gives us everything we need to discover what it means to be truly healthy.