The Knotty Truth: Managing Tightly Coiled Hair at Home: DIY Survival Guide

The Knotty Truth: Managing Tightly Coiled Hair at Home: DIY Survival GuideIf you are looking for natural hair care solutions this is the book for you. The book makes you realize that many so called "must have" products are really "must not have" products, at least if you are trying revitalize your hair in an environmentally and biologically friendly manner.

I loved this book! I actually ordered it several months ago and read it in one day. I could NOT put the book down. It is packed with so much information related to how to do just about everything with you own natural hair. I wish I had this book when I first became natural, it would not have taken me so long to embrace my own natural hair and appreciate it. She has definitely gotten to the root of natural hair and this book will give you an appreciation for your hair and how to handle it. Great and fast read!!

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I truly enjoyed reading this book. The author wrote the book in a way that makes it easy to read and follow. This book is packed with great information and resources. I also appreciate the fact that she begins the book with her own transition, because newly transitioners may relate to her experience.

I will be sharing this book at my upcoming natural hair affair in DC called Nappturally Beautiful, especially the "Knotty Notes".

I appreciate this book and the author.

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The Knotty Truth is the TRUTH ! This book is a phenomenal read. It is very mentally stimulating and makes you think about the deeper issues that manifest themselves through our hair. The book gives you many hair care products, styles and techniques. I recommend it to EVERYONE who is interested in starting their journey with natural hair !

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This is a must have for transitioning to Natural hair, Iam finding this book to be very helpful in my transition. It gives great tips on how to do your hair and products and ingredients that help keep the hair moisturized so that it won't suffer from breakage. If you are contemplating going natural or if you have already begun your transition get this book it really will help.

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The Gerson Therapy: The Proven Nutritional Program for Cancer and Other Illnesses

The Gerson Therapy: The Proven Nutritional Program for Cancer and Other IllnessesA Highly Recommended First Book On The Use And Application Of Alternative Medicine/Natural Healing for Chronic Conditions.

This is the book that I would first recommend for anyone wanting to understand the use of alternative medicine for the healing of any chronic condition including cancer I would also highly recommend this book to anyone contemplating the use of conventional medicine as well because of the excellent material on the disease process and the potential for using this or some other alternative therapy in a complimentary or combination process of natural and conventional healing. The issue in addressing healing of chronic diseases is for the person with the disease and their family to be sufficiently unformed of the causes and all possible treatment possibilities so that they can make informed and responsible decisions about their total treatment. Other therapies and approaches could be evaluated as to how well they addressed all of the healing concepts detailed in this book.

"The Gerson Therapy" is a welcome and highly recommended addition to the multitude of books that address healing of chronic conditions including cancer by using natural or alternative means. The specific approach is healing by a combination of high quality nutrition and total body detoxification. The Therapy is a total program and does require significant life style changes at least for the detailed therapy. Actually, lifetime lifestyle changes will be required to remain healthy, but these are easily done once one has gone through the detailed therapy.

This book accomplishes several needed functions. The Gerson Therapy is brought up to date, (the therapy is over 60 years old), with the latest information including program modifications for people who have had chemotherapy, for people who are in an extremely weakened state, and a modified program for non cancer chronic conditions. The information is provided in a highly readable and understandable format. The book details the background, theory, and enough specific cases to establish credibility without being overbearing. In fact most of the case studies are used to detail understanding of the therapy. The book does not sugar coat the difficulty of healing using natural therapy and states that the Gerson Therapy may be the most difficult to follow of the many that are available. All of the information required to do the therapy either on one's own or in conjunction with a qualified clinic or practitioner is provided in easily accessible section. (There is some redundancy in some of the specific sections but this redundancy eliminates the need to search for needed information for people who are following the therapy). The number of recipes is expanded from previous books, and this is a welcome addition for anyone who has followed the therapy. The mental aspects of natural healing are now addressed and are given a separate section in the book. Finally, many tricks and techniques needed to make the therapy more workable are included. The bottom line is that the book is both informative and is useable as a day to day guide for anyone deciding to do the therapy.

I feel qualified to make these statements about this book because three years ago I was diagnosed with cancer and after much research and discussions with conventional and alternative practitioners, I chose to first start with the Gerson Therapy. The results have been wonderful with the cancer having gone in remission after about 18 months and numerous other problems have responded to the therapy as well. I have not had to revert to my back up plan of conventional medicine. Yes the therapy can be difficult to follow particularly because it is highly restrictive on food, requires time to make fresh vegetable juices several times every day, and requires time to do the detoxification procedures. And yes, the diet has different taste due to the salt and fat restrictions, but one quickly get use to the different tasee However, to be healed without permanent side effects is well worth the effort and the required life style changes. While I had excellent support materials available, this book is still a significant improvement to the available literature. I found nothing in this book that I had a problem with and with the improvements that have been made, the book deserves the five star rating

The process of natural healing is not easy, requires attention to detail, and continued study to avoid setbacks through the process. This new book on the Gerson Therapy will provide information that can assist the decision process and will provide up to date information on the therapy's application.

The Gerson Therapy saved my life.

I was diagnosed with SLE ( Lupus), and there was nothing that the M.D.'s could offer me, except Prednisone...which was urged upon me.

Through the fortunate advice of a friend, I read the Gerson book...and to make a very long story short, I decided to do the program.

Let me just say here, in rebuttal to the first reviewer of this book, that NOWHERE in this book does it suggest that on should JUST do coffe enemas. Quite the contrary. If one is doing coffee enemas, it is essential that one ALSO be drinking the juices.

In fact, if one is serious about getting well, it is absolutely essential that one do the program to the letternot just some elements.

I stayed on the Gerson program for two and one half years. Hard? Yes.

But I came out of it healed.

I went into the program so very sick, hair falling out, skin sores, terrible joint pain, failing kidneys.

That was more than fifteen years ago , now, with no recurrance. And I neved did take the Prednisone.

I did the Therapy at home, with the Gerson book as my guide. ( The Gerson staff, in terms of support and more information, were my telephone angels.)

So, while my experience was not with cancer, I most certainly will recommend this book to those who suffer from auto-immune disorders, and also to those those who simply are interested in knowing how bertter to preserve and restore health.

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Much like the previous poster, I also suffered a degenerative disease. I did the research for a cure while healing from some conventional radiation therapy. I began the Gerson Therapy (GT)as indicated in this book in part, started feeling stronger and got into it full tilt. I must admit, Dr. Max Gerson MD, the author's father, hit the nail on the head in terms of a curative therapy. His is some heirloom information and techniques that have survived because they work.

If you need to buy a book on how to get well from degenerative disease, this is the first choice. Get started now. Begin now. Disease as simple as arthritis, and as tough as cancer respond to this therapy. I know from personal experience also. The program is nutritional and detoxification with minimum supplements. The book informs as to what and why and when to use what. They do not sell vitamins, or expensive publications, just straight forward truth.

I also, particularily for Multiple Myeloma or Plasmacytoma patients, but cancer patients generally, highly recommend the book, 'Living Proof', by Michael Gearin-Tosh, published 2002. It is a wonderful narrative of how to approach cancer treatment written by a man diagnosed MM but who did Gerson Therapy and lives.

Do it, get well, and write your own review ! I'll be checking back from time to time. God Bless.

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An indispensable aid for those wishing to use the highest cure rate therapy for cancer yet devised. The incredible cures for many degenerative diseases wrought by slight variations of this program are also described in this book. With the recent opening of a Gerson Therapy center in Hawaii, and with the Baja Nutri Care facility in Las Playas de Tijuana, Mexico, what's not to love about this amazing chance to survive the deadly big "C"? With a cure rate under 10% in America, why not go with the Gerson Therapy, with almost ten times the cure rate? This book is logical, orderly, and well thought out. It is not "easy reading," but it is certainly essential reading for our day. The present rate for cancer is five of every twelve alive today. Doctors are already predicting that the rate will increase yet again. Be prepared. Know how to prevent cancer, not just cure it.

Update 12-15-2006. My wife began the Gerson Therapy for stage 4A Malignant Melanoma in October 2005. She is quite healthy today and her cancer markers are perfectly normal according to her monthly blood work. She has at least 10 months remaining to stay on the full Gerson Therapy. She has already out-survived 7 out of 10 patients with her diagnosis from the same start date who were or are undergoing "conventional" medical treatment. Conventional treatment odds for her five year survival are 1 in 200. Gerson Therapy gives her 80 chances out of the same 200. Yes, there are other therapies out there, but it is a minefield that can kill you if you land on the wrong therapy. The Gerson Therapy has about a 75 year history of great overall success. It is definitely not 100% though. Check the history of whatever others you are looking at. But whatever you do, remember that your health decisions are in your hands alone and that your life is a precious thing. Don't let anyone scare you into wasting it.

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Were I so unfortunate as to find myself with a cancer, this is the only program I would follow. Forty years ago my prognosis was a life expectancy of maybe 3 months -if I was lucky. Arteriosclerosis was then considered by medical doctors as irreversible, yet here I am, 40 years later, because someone pointed me in a different direction, one very similar to Gerson's. I bought several copies since you run into the incurable all the time. We live in a sick society -in more ways than one.

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Herbs for Natural Beauty (Rosemary Gladstar's Herbal Remedies)

Herbs for Natural BeautyFirst off: I love this author's books-after buying this one, I purchased her herbal book for women. This is an awesome book for those like myself who prefer shopping at natural food stores and if you like the idea of making your own beauty products. Rosemary has a warm and friendly style in this well written, easy to read book. I really like how she has enriched the book with personal beauty stories and tips not just recipes. It is a fun little book making use of herbs quite a bit with a lot of great info and recipes packed inside. Would make a great intro book to making your own products but is also a good resource for those with experience. Oh, and there is a good section defining the needed ingredients like cocoa butter,rosewater etc-she tells you what is is/what it does/and availability of the item-very helpful. Thanks to her I know that Borax makes the skin cleaner & softer-it is a great ingredient mined from the earth-not a scary manufactured chemical like I thought! I am happy to have this book as part of my natural beauty library. (I also enjoy using Janice Cox's natural beauty books.)

Having read a lot about Rosemary Gladstar, I purchased two of her books, this one and the Family Herbal. Wonderful, both of them. This Herbs for Natural Beauty has lots of wonderful recipes to 'make your own' cleansers, toners and other products. Don't be afraid of the ingredient lists: some of the things that don't sound familiar will be found in herb shops, health food stores--even some GNC's. When/if that fails, shop online! It's all very affordable.

These recipes are good for spa days, teenage sleepovers (girls would LOVE to make their own facial masks!) or just sisters wanting to relax on a Friday night. I also like to make things that I know are all natural and don't have lots of the extra stuff, and haven't been tested on animals. These are also great for people with sensitive skin (like me) or allergies to different chemicals.

The recipe I use the most is the grains cleanser with almonds and green clay and essential oils. My skin LOVES it, even better than some of the expensive stuff I've tried.

Rosemary Gladstar is a wonder, and you get this beautiful sense of her in the book. She has a website, as well.

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The only thing wrong with it is that it was TOO short! This book contains wonderfully easy and beautfully effective herbal concotions that offer you a variety of ways to spoil yourself. (-_-)

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I really do. The only thing i didnt like is that with all books I love,it was simply not long enough for my taste! (Hence the 4 *'s instead of 5)The natural beauty recipes are not only easy but work wonderfully. This lady really seems to beleive in what she writes,too. I like that! She comes across as so open ,intelligent,gentle and kind. A very down to earth book by a very down to earth woman,in my opinion. I plan on purchasing more books not only by her but from Storey publishing.

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Maybe my expectations were just too high, based on the many reviews. There are a few good tips, but most of the material is easy to find on the internet, or in other books that you will have to purchase or have already purchased. I did not find the book to be very useful at all. I would have returned it, but it wasn't worth the shipping cost to return the book. If you can purchase this at half the price offered here on Amazon, I believe it would be worth the purchase. LOL

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Complete Tubefeeding: Everything you need to know about tubefeeding, tube nutrition, and blended die

Complete Tubefeeding: Everything you need to know about tubefeeding, tube nutrition, and blended dietsHow I wish I had had this book when my son first got his tube! Instead we were sent home with order to pump him full of formula and work with our therapists on oral skills. Easier said than done. Only after dumping formula altogether and switching to a blended diet has our son really taken off and stopped puking! Thanks to the author for bringing this to market and I hope that every GI/ pediatrician and dietitian reads this.

This book is a must have for any tube fed person or caregiver of a tube fed person. All you need to know. I cannot begin to explain how lovely this will be for new families for years to come. I am so happy to have it in my hands.

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This book is a must-have, complete guide for those who are dealing with tube feedings. When my son received his g-tube a year ago, I searched for a book like this to answer all of my questions and concerns...and unfortunately found that it didn't exist at the time. I'm so happy that it is here now to give support and answer questions that we all have regarding types of tubes, types of feedings styles, troubleshooting, blended diets, formula, dietary restrictions, and most of all....it shows you that you aren't alone.

In the future, I hope to see physicians and dietitians recommending this book to their patients. Kudos to the author, did an amazing job!

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My daughter is a tubie and I was lucky enough to be friends with Eric. His humor and his wit and wisdom make this book a must-have. From the history of tube feeding which is quite humorous all the way through to blended diet including recipes, This book should be on your shelf!

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This is indeed a complete guide to tube feedings. The author is a tubie himself and I have had the pleasure of conversing with him and having a better understanding of what my son feels and goes through being tube fed. I highly recommend this book and will be showing it to our GI doc and my son's dietician. I feel that every medical professional, cargiver and parent that is involved with tube feedings should own this book.

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The Miracle of Apple Cider Vinegar: Practical Tips for Health, Home, & Beauty

The Miracle of Apple Cider Vinegar: Practical Tips for Health, Home, & BeautyWhat I liked about this book was that the author didn't claim that ACV cures every disease there is and does everything but the dishes. That was quite refreshing. The health claims made by the author were quite measured, as is appropriate.

The book starts off by explaining the compounds which make up apples and ACV and how each of them is beneficial to health.

The books then discusses and explains that the mouth should always be rinsed with water after taking ACV, so the acid doesn't affect your teeth, how ACV can improve protein digestion and can be used to make detox baths and to rinse the hair with to make it shiny...and lots of other uses for ACV.

I wish that the comment about 'CFS' (or even worse, 'CFS/ME') in this book (and almost every book on diet and health, it must be said!) could have been omitted, as every diagnosis of 'CFS' is a misdiagnosis and talking about 'CFS' as if it has a distinct cause and reaction to treatment is unhelpful and potentially harmful to patients who need instead to be given correct diagnoses and treatments appropriate to whichever of any number of hundreds of different diseases they actually have. 'CFS' and M.E. are NOT the same! M.E. is a distinct and testable neurological disease similar to M.S., while 'CFS' is a wastebasket diagnosis based on the presence of fatigue. We all need our correct diagnoses. See Dr Hyde's book Missed Diagnoses Myalgic Encephalomyelitis & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Second Edition for more information on this issue.

Some of the recipes in the book were good and I appreciated that they used real food ingredients. This book gives a reasonable overview of some of the benefits of adding ACV to your diet. If you want to learn more about ACV you may want to see if your library has a copy of this book.

ACV is good stuff! It aids my digestion of fat and protein significantly. Make sure you buy a brand that has 'the mother' in it and isn't overly processed.

Jodi Basssett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E.

If you've heard that apple cider vinegar is good for cleaning, and we all know the "apple a day keeps the dr. away" phrase, and that's all you know? Then you don't know diddly about ACV! This book is full of information all about this humble little fruit and ACV. If you're going for a more natural and healthy lifestyle, this book is for you! (BTW: I've lost about 10 lbs, over a few months, just from following one tip in this book!)

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I had no idea you could use vinegar for so many things. I am amazed and really recommend this book to everyone.

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There are some good tips and ideas in this book, but it isn't quite what I expected when I ordered it. I will keep it for the things that are relative, but I wish I would have had more information before buying it.

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Natural First Aid: Herbal Treatments for Ailments & Injuries/Emergency Preparedness/Wilderness Safet

Natural First Aid: Herbal Treatments for Ailments & Injuries/Emergency Preparedness/Wilderness SafetyNatural First Aid will help you to care for others with the natural remedies you have on hand. The key is to stay calm, move quickly, and know what to do. If you need to arm yourself with information for both emergency and non-emergency situations this is the book. After reading it I have come to the conclusion that it is one of those indispensable reference books everyone should have. It's definitely a book to have in the First Aid kit when camping. Brigitte Mars also tells us the most important items to stock in a natural first-aid kit for your car, backpack, and yes ladies even in your handbag.

Do you know that cayenne pepper can stop bleeding? Or that garlic can alleviate a toothache? Or that honey can soothe a burn?

I was impressed with NATURAL FIRST AID. It's easy to read and understand and there is nothing extreme about the natural remedies. I highly recommend it to everyone.

The idea behind this book was good, and there was certainly plenty of good information in it for someone new to natural/homeopathic first aid. Unfortunately, I didn't find the format particularly constructive and I felt there were too many missing pieces for this to really be much help.

First of all, this book is set up only to supplement modern medical care. Each topic starts with criteria for seeking medical attention; that's fine, but not really in keeping with the wilderness safety or preparedness themes listed on the cover. Both those themes suggest a lack of available medical attention, which would be the primary motivation to look at natural alternatives in the first place.

More problematically, the book either takes for granted certain knowledge or assumes that you will do more explanatory supplemental research elsewhere. No form is given for many of the suggested herbal remedies, leaving one to wonder as to whether we're supposed to have stocked up on that at the health food store ahead of time or should know what it looks like in the wild and how to prepare it.

All things considered, there is some worthwhile information in here about how to respond to common health issues like overheating, bruises, sprains, poison ivy, etc., but I wouldn't consider it much of a functional on-hand reference.

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This informative book is written in such a way that it is easy to read and extremely informative with a perfect amount of photography. An excellent addition to any library.

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I am very into natural first aid so this book was such a great starter for me. I think many will enjoy it.

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The Joseph H. Pilates Method at Home: A Balance, Shape, Strength, and Fitness Program

The Joseph H. Pilates Method at Home: A Balance, Shape, Strength, and Fitness ProgramAbsolutely delighted with the clear, concise way this book has been put together for teaching the Pilates method. Excellent photographs to show all positions. A book well suited to the older person especially those wanting to take control of their lazy tummy muscles again. (Tip: I use a child's soccer ball instead of the cushion or bolster which is suggested.) Congratulations to the instructor, author and publisher. A very delighted reader and practitioner at home who did not want to join a class.

Death by Pedicure: the dirty secrets of nail salons

Death by Pedicure: the dirty secrets of nail salonsI am a nail tech with many concerns about the lack of sanitation and safety in the nail industry. This book was my text book in the Advanced Nail Tech course offered by Medinails Learning Center, and taught by the author Dr. Spalding. The book is clear and concise, not heady. It is easy to understand, informative and thorough. The title has apparently changed to The Science of Pedicures. I like the first title better, catchy and gets to the point about health and safety. Every nail tech should read this book.

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Husband-Coached Childbirth (Fifth Edition): The Bradley Method of Natural Childbirth

Husband-Coached Childbirth: The Bradley Method of Natural ChildbirthI read about the Bradley Method of Natural childbirth during my early months of pregnancy, was intrigued, and bought this book. I really found it helpful-I got my husband to read it too. While the book's complete lack of pictures tended to be frustrating at times, especially in the exercise section, I found that having to read the actual description made me pay more attention and helped me remember what to do. After I read and understood the description, I wasn't dependent on the picture to do it right. The breathing description Dr. Bradley gives is the best thing I did during my labor - before going into labor I found it also helps with headaches :) -and they did not teach it in my Bradley class. After finishing Husband Coached Childbirth, I ended up wanting a book with pictures, and bought Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way as well. Between these two books I had a very pleasant birth experience with no pain medications. And after reading them, the Bradley classes themselves were overkill.

I did like Husband Coached Childbirth quite a bit and got a lot of information from it, however, I do not think you need to own it. After reading it through once, I never felt compelled to go back and read it again. I would suggest checking this one out from your local library, reading it through, especially the breathing description, and purchasing Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way instead.

...who said that it's like taking your lower lip, stretching it over your head, and stapling it to the back of your neck, then you're thinking, like most women,

"Why on EARTH would I want a natural childbirth?"

Well, I've done it both ways now. After years of hearing horror stories from friends & Hollywood, but stubbornly deciding that since women had been doing it for eons, I could, too, I tried birth naturally with my first child, scared to death about it ... and failed miserably. I didn't know any alternative laboring positions, or to relax, or anything I just braced for each contraction for 36 hours until I hurt so much I asked my husband to kill me. The inevitable epidural left me hurting for a week.

Well, wasn't that fun?

Then I took a Bradley class. Instead of teaching fancy breathing techniques and how to be a convenient patient for the OB, they taught relaxation "You CAN do this; and fear only creates tension, which increases pain" and what a difference. Without me fighting the contractions (which tensed up the very muscle the contractions were trying to relax), the pain went from unbearable to manageable. Sure, it hurts to have a lineman stand on your foot, but who's going to take an epidural for it?

Bradley taught me that if you're thoroughly relaxed and labor feels excruciating, something needs to change position, environment, something. If it's still agonizing, something is dreadfully wrong but if I were under an epidural, I wouldn't know that. Bradley taught that if you've been doing everything great for hours and suddenly you feel you can't take it anymore that you're in transition and will soon be pushing and have a baby! (How true that has been!) The relaxation techniques I learned helped with the early labor (remember, you can't get an epidural before 4cm or after 10cm), the excruciating afterpains of a subsequent birth, and the discomfort of sitting on a sore bum, not to mention all of life's inevitable pains ever since.

Natural childbirth left me with so much more energy afterward that my 60-something in-laws are converts, too! They can't believe that the totally drained, beaten woman they saw after Birth #1 (who was afraid to use the bathroom and couldn't sit for a week) is the same who walked from the delivery room and immediately dressed and left at 24 hours for Births #2 and #3 (and suffered very little postpartum pain after the uterine-shrinking contractions ended).

Lastly, Bradley taught me better breathing (my trumpet-playing is vastly improved!), sitting, posture, and lifting techniques for the rest of my life. And gave me a few good laughs while he was at it. Love him!

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I had a drug-free childbirth, thanks in part to the Bradley Method. To prepare, I took Bradley classes and read both "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way" by Susan McCutcheon and this book. The thing that disturbed me most about this book is that Dr. Bradley insinuates repeatedly that childbirth doesn't really hurt as long as you follow his instructions. Believe me, it hurts. I think Dr. Bradley has since passed away, but if he were alive, I'd really like to ask him how many times HE gave birth. I prefer to get my information from a more reliable source -a woman who has given birth herself. If you're only going to read one book, read "Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way." If you're an information junkie like myself, read this one too. There's certainly a lot of info and it makes for interesting reading.

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Being the dutiful book-worm that I am, I thought I should go to the "source" to understand the Bradley method. I would say that only 10-20% of this book was useful. It is hopelessly outdated, despite being a "revised edition"; Bradley spends the majority of the time railing/advocating against "standard" birth practices (heavy use of anaesthesia, no dads in the delivery room, etc.) that may have been the norm when he first began developing his method, but are no longer. In short, he's preaching to the choir. I read the whole thing and promised I would pick out the salient parts for my husband...those parts would comprise maybe 10 pages. So, my advice is: skip this and get McCutcheon's book instead, which is more up to date and more practical.

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My husband and I are now big believers in natural childbirth the Bradley way. My son is 8 months old, delivered completely naturally, and I am 4 weeks pregnant with our next child, who we also plan to deliver without drugs.

This book gave us confidence in our decision to deliver without drugs when all our friends were telling us, "You must be crazy!" Resting assured that for thousands of years, millions of women had gone before me and done the same thing, Dr. Bradley puts natural childbirth into perspective. Seriously, it does not take a super-woman to give birth without an epidural. If I can do it, any other woman can as well.

This book discusses WHY and SOME of the hows to giving birth naturally. YOU WILL NEED TO TAKE THE BRADLEY CLASSES ALONG WITH READING THIS BOOK. I did not know we would need to take a 13-week course on birth before I read it. "Husband-Coached Childbirth" is NOT a complete directive on how to give birth without drugs, it simply motivates you to do it. The class is designed to instruct you; the book is designed to motivate you. It really does have helpful information in it.

We encourage all our friends to read it and consider natural childbirth. It really did give us a "push" in the right direction. :)

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A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal Performance

A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal PerformanceTraditional Work: How you work is probably how you worked.

When I looked at that line in my notebook (after reading Daniel Markowitz's book, A Factory of One) I thought about the busy-ness that many people talk about as they relate to their workday. As you consider what you get done in a typical 8 or 10 or 15-hour shift, do you stop to consider HOW you get that work done?

Over the 145 pages of this well-written and well-documented book Dan shows very specific methods you can use to apply "Lean Principles" (traditionally reserved for manufacturing and production lines to remove wasted movements thereby increasing overall productivity) to the "Knowledge Work" that keeps so many of us busy and focused on working overtime.

I was pleased to see Dan write about Parkinson's Law of work: Namely, that the work you have will generally fill the time you have available to do that work. If something is due in a week, it'll take about a week. If it's due later today, well you get the point.

The point of applying Lean Principles to improve personal performance is two-fold:

1. Create a flow of working: so that once you get there, you stay there and produce something (a thought, a product, etc) of value

2. Reduce the stress of wasted movements to focus on more meaningful activity

If you're thinking of getting this book, here's just one of the themes you can expect to explore while you're reading:

Dan asks you to define your "value;" the value of your service or product to the market. Once you've identified that value, then you can work on making things as efficient as possible in order to make that value available to those that matter: clients, community, organization, family, friends, etc. Oh, it might be helpful to know how Dan defines value. I'm walking away with three indicators:

What does the customer pay for?

What are you doing to transform the product or the service?

What activity seems to be done "correctly?"

Of course, you'll walk away from reading this with your own ideas of what "value" means to you, your business, your work. I loved this prompt, though, as it made me think a bit longer about all those "extra to-dos" that have piled up around my own work station lately:

"Should you do better what doesn't deserve doing in the first place?"

Consider what you do, as an entrepreneur, manager, associate of the business you're in. What are the specific activities that you "do" that provide value? The ideas that Dan gives you on (a) how to think about those activities and (b) what to do to make those activities as efficient as possible may be exactly what you need to take not just what you do but HOW you do it to the next level. Imagine being MORE productive without having to buy new technology, hire more staff or change (radically) your business or product.

What WILL you have to change? Your approach to work. To get you think about what that might look, sound and feel like, identify very specifically WHERE your time goes:

fixing

delegating

waiting

over-doing

reviewing

re-doing

explaining

etc

Once you identify WHERE your time, energy and focus is "spent" during the day, then it's time to apply Lean Principles to YOUR work. I hope you enjoy reading (and thinking about) this book as much as I did!

These concepts will be very familiar to people familiar with continuous improvement and more specifically Lean and Six Sigma. However, you do not have to be a practitioner to understand or read the book. When trade terms are used they are explained in simple everyday language without losing a beat. The author demonstrates an in depth knowledge of the Lean Principles. There may be others with his depth of knowledge but I have seen few transfer it into such simple, practical and useable terms. I found myself reading a "how to" book like a novel, reminding myself more than once to bend a corner or mark a page for future reference.

My favorite part of the book was the part on living in your calendar versus your inbox. Quick look at your screen and see what is open! That comment in itself added more than a few minutes to my day of productivity. Another example is his description of a personal A3 for problem solving was absolutely flawless in its description and the use of it.

Are you going to get 2 hours a day of time saving tips from the book? I doubt it. What you will get is more productivity and feeling better about what and how you accomplished it. It was my New Year's Day read and I have picked it up every day since then. Not saying you won't be able to put it down but at this point it looks that way for me.

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I read Factory of One when it first came out and I was intrigued and impressed by it. I decided to try it out. And it works most of it. I was already accustomed to 5S in the office; maybe not that good at it, but accustomed. The "Spotting the Waste" chapter gave me some useful tips. I started creating an index to the handwritten notebook I use everyday. I moved the current customers and current prospect folders on my PC to the top of my hard drive directory. I subsequently moved them to the cloud so I can access them on iPads and phones. Both these little things have saved me a few minute each day ..... and it all adds up.

Chapter 3 about Flow. I have worked on the 4D (when work comes it, either Do, Delegate, Designate, or Discard). I have not mastered this yet , but it has improved the way I work. Especially with emails. I have now set times each day for emails and do not constantly review them. It was quite freeing to realize that emails are not urgent. I have had success (when I am in the office) with setting aside chunks of time for particular tasks and sticking with it (mostly). I have set up checklists for routine yet troublesome tasks. The most successful for me a constant traveller has been a checklist of packing for a trip. Another has been my weekly review of billings.

Visual management has been the most useful thing I learned from the book. I have used visual management for many years in one form or another, and I have worked with many manufacturers helping them to introduce visual management. But I had never thought about applying this to my own work. Typical consultant, some people a saying!! When I was in the office I posted my work visually, but when I am on the road or working with customers I had the old fashioned MS Outlook todo list.

It took me a while to figure it out and I went through several steps to get there. I started with mimicking the board on page 106, but using an 11x17 sheet and small post-it's. I then developed an elaborate mindmap on the iPad. Then I moved to a slim, pocket sized note book with even smaller post-it's. All these worked well because I use the principles; visualize the backlog, limit the WIP, designate times. I expect that I will keep refining this, but I am very happy with the way it works.

I recommend this book highly, because the methods and ideas work and have helped to make me more productive and more importantly a little less frantic. Go buy this book.

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"A Factory of One: Applying Lean Principles to Banish Waste and Improve Your Personal Performance" by Daniel Markovitz is an interesting and new look at an old topic, productivity improvement. I'm not sure there was much "new" here, but rather some solid concepts presented in a different manner. I liked the book, and feel is deserves a place among the productivity and business books that line the shelves.

It's just under 150 pages long, which makes it a quick read. It's well organized and flows from topic to topic, providing solid advice on improving personal performance and productivity through the use of Lean principles originally designed to help Toyota factories outperform their competition. Thus, the title, "A Factory of One."

Using this Lean Thinking model, Markovitz addresses the topics of What's Your Job; Spotting Value, Spotting Waste; Flow; Visual Management; and From Bad to Good, and From Good to Great. All of these are important.

I liked the concept of gemba, in the chapter on defining what your job is. I think it is very important to determine what you should be doing that creates value vs. the incidentals and wasteful things that sometimes occupy our time. This chapter does a good job of getting you to look at that. The chapter on spotting value and waste introduces a 5S model which is okay for looking at how you are doing things. There are many of these kinds of models and this is no better or worse than the others. The key is to actually use a system and prevent your office from looking like the picture of Al Gore's office used in the book for illustrative purposes.

The author uses 4Ds to help process work and make it flow. Again, this will work if you actually use it. I did like the part about multitasking, but again, this is not really new. A number of books these last few years have looked at how inefficient multitasking is, but the other's take on the topic is good and I hope people listen. The chapter on visual management provided some good ideas for making one's tasks easier, more streamlined. This is probably something I had not thought to use outside of places such as the garage, but I see now how the concept and idea can be expanded to other areas.

And of course there is a bit on kaizen, the Japanese term for continuous improvement. Much has been written about this, but the section in this book is well done with some of the basics.

Bottom line, "A Factory of One" is a short, direct, and good book on increasing your personal productivity through the use of Lean principles. If you need a little boost in this area, give it a read and try out the principles. You're bound to increase your personal performance.

Reviewed by Alain Burrese, J.D., author of the "Tough Guy Wisdom" series and others.

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Most personal productivity books will tell you to stop checking email so frequently, or not to multitask. Dan Markovitz's book goes beyond the platitudes and explains a comprehensive theory of how to become more effective as a business professional. Drawing on his thorough knowledge of Lean principles popularized by Toyota and embraced by factories Markovitz shows how asking similar questions can help individual executives determine their priorities and eliminate annoyances, hassles and waste from their everyday activities. His book tells you both the "how" and "why" of productivity and in the process, will make you a better business leader.

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The Mold Survival Guide: For Your Home and for Your Health

The Mold Survival Guide: For Your Home and for Your HealthThis book written by long time professional home inspector Jeff May and his writer spouse Connie is a good introduction to mold problems in buildings, particularly homes. It combines an excellent narrative writing style, and unusual for a book that should appeal to many lay readers, a strong scientific understanding of mold, its growth requirements, its effects on human health, its detection in indoor spaces and ultimately its control. Jeff who I have known for over 20 years brings to this book many years (and of course many investigated buildings) of real-world experience with the scientific understanding to match. That is a rare combination. The book is a good read for the lay individual concerned about mold, the parent with a child with asthma, chronic sinusitis, or chronic non-seasonal allergy. It is also a good read for mold professionals of limited experience and those planning to enter the profession.

Thad Godish, Ph.D., C.I.H., Professor of Natural Resources/Environmental Management, Ball State University, Muncie, In. 47304 http://www.bsu.edu/IEN

Despite the name "survival guide" I found this a calm and informative guide to environmental mold issues. It explained in an understandable way the scientific issues around mold such as what mold is, how it can be a health hazard, and more importantly how mold is not some sort of invisible killer, but something that requires certain conditions to become a problem.

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Mold growth is a wide-ranging problem only recently receiving recognition in the process: turn to the The Mold Survival Guide For Your Home And For Your Health for significantly more depth and advice than any ordinary newspaper article could offer. Indoor air quality professional teams join a writing specialist to describe different types of molds and how to eradicate them while maintaining health. Tips on prevention are particularly well done.

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I am a Certified Microbial Consultant (mold inspector) and a board member of the American Indoor Air Quality Council. I have this book in my library as a reference. It's quite comprehensive.

Jeffrey has done a god job. It's written for the lay person but also contains a lot of technical information (and technically correct information). The publisher is John Hopkins University. So it's a good read for the academics.

A good, comprehensive book for those who need to know about mold.

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This book provides clear and practical information to help you protect your health and your property from being damaged or destroyed by mold.

Mold is not just stinky and ugly. It has adversely affected the health of many people, especially those who are allergic to mold. Mold spores irritate the respiratory system and weaken the immune system's ability to remove particles from the lungs and to kill cancer cells.

Mold has made some buildings uninhabitable and uninsurable. Mortgage lenders avoid loaning money for the purchase of any building with significant mold infestations. Some families have already lost their home, including all of their equity, due to mold.

Jeffrey and Connie May have succeeded in providing practical wisdom gained from actually solving serious problems in homes and other buildings. I recommend this book to anyone who wishes to solve and/or avoid mold problems.

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Home Care Guide for Cancer (American College of Physicians Homecare)

Home Care Guide for CancerDuring my husband's two year battle with colon cancer, I constantly used this book as a resource. Now my sister's husband has cancer and I am ordering a copy for her. I highly recommend this book to any caregiver, it would even apply to any severe illness where there is caregiving. It was given to us by our social worker who is one of the best in the nation as far as were were concerned. It was invaluable. In addition to telling you what to do for many things, it tells you how to tell your doctor what is the problem. Communication is very important in getting to the bottom of many situations in taking care of an ill person.

Easy Hikes Close to Home: San Diego

Easy Hikes Close to Home: San DiegoSan Diego should, perhaps, be located further north in California. It has the heavy development found among the other southern California metropolitan areas but it also offers an ambiance that is in some ways more typical of the central California coast. Outdoor recreation is highly valued in San Diego. More preserves are being set aside on a regular basis and the county boasts some of the finest year round hiking in the state. If you would like to escape from the urban congestion and bustle of the greater San Diego region for an afternoon and explore a few of these preserves, then veteran outdoor author Sheri McGregor has the book for you. Part of the new "Easy Hikes" series from Menasha Ridge Press, this guide to the wilder part of San Diego will have you out of the car and on relatively easy and very scenic trails in short order.

As with other "easy" hiking guides, this book is not for those seeking all day strenuous excursions. Some of the routes described here are only 1/2 mile in length; short enough for anyone to do. The longest route is a 6.7 mile trek, at sea level, through one of southern California's few remaining undeveloped coastal wetlands, the San Elijo lagoon. With minimal elevation gain and cool coastal temperatures, even those who find this length daunting will be able to appreciate the walk. But San Diego offers more than just a beautiful coastline. McGregor also includes several mountain trips, including one of my favorite trails in the Laguna Mountains and an even dozen walks among the inland mesa and canyon regions found throughout the county betweeen the mountains and seaside. In all, some 22 walks are offered to beginning hikers and those who want to experience nature without extensive effort (or long drives.)

I've been exploring San Diego county for the better part of two decades. It is one of my favorite off season hiking areas in the state. I've personally walked about half of the hikes in this guide and am looking forward to exploring some of the other trails found in this volume. With decent sketch maps, a nice regional map on the inside cover, and detailed route descriptions, this is a book San Diego hikers can revisit on a regular basis. Those seeking longer and more challenging routes will find it relatively easy to combine several of these hikes. Or they can just get some of McGregor's other books. But this title is a winner for those who enjoy year round day hiking. It is simply hard to beat what San Diego county has to offer.

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The Everything Parent's Guide To Children With Juvenile Diabetes: Reassuring Advice for Managing Sym

The Everything Parent's Guide To Children With Juvenile Diabetes: Reassuring Advice for Managing Symptoms and Raising a Happy, Healthy Child)I received this book several days ago. I have already read it completely and think it is the most comprehensive book to date about raising a child with diabetes. The topics covered are helpful for the parent of a newly diagnosed child as well as seasoned parents of a child living with diabetes who are moving into a new realm of growing up with a chronic disease.

A must for all parents of kids with diabetes and a nice way to get your feet under you after dx. This book includes tools and information about technology to help manage the disease but also ways to get through emotional toll disease can take on the entire family.

I'm glad to see a portion of proceeds goes to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, but noticed that the book mentions many resources for finding information, not just JDRF.

This is an excellent book for any parent who is faced with raising a child with diabetes. I purchased this book five years into my daughters diagnosis and learned many new things. This book is very well written for the layperson and easy to pick up for reference. I would strongly recommend it!

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This is a very good book for parents (and children as well) It explains

everything in layman's terms and is easy to understand. I raised a diabetic child and would have loved to have had this book availble.Moire is a wonderful advocate for finding a cure fot the disease.

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We care for our 2 years old great granddaughter and she just recently was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This book has helped me understand more about the challenges with her condition. I am more comfortable caring for her daily.

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I purchased this book and two others on the topic as my first buys for my new kindle. I am happy to say this book was WELL WORTH my time and money. It's not new and that worried me, but it still seems to be "new" when you read it. I loved the detailed and honest advice about things like family dynamics and how to handle every day situations. I think it must make a big difference to have had a medical person as a contributor. The balance of the writer's "mom knowhow" and the doctor's expertise is just right. This reads like the writer is sitting there talking to you about it -and in a calm and nice way. I'll keep this on my kindle to refer to and to share with friends and family. Yes, there could be more about CGM's and I hope the writer adds to the book with some new info, but overall, this is THE book every family dealing with diabetes should have on hand. Hurrah!

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Planting the Future: Saving Our Medicinal Herbs

Planting the Future: Saving Our Medicinal HerbsPlanting the Future provides both motivation and instruction for saving medicinal plants. The public's growing realization of the healing potential of plants is positive, but over-harvesting has led to a decline in native stands of many plants. Rosemary Gladstar has gathered a stellar team of writers to address the issue. The index reads like a who's-who of the herbal world. More than 30 plants are addressed in individual articles written by herbalists who know and love them. A grower of any size can use the information, the backyard up to a large sanctuary. A gardener can find the plants best suited their area, as well as how to propagate and care for them. Once grown, there is information about the preparation and use of the plants. My own tiny urban medicinal garden is part of the effort to save valuable plants thanks to guidance from these leaders. Herbalists, native plant enthusiasts and conservationists will all find value in this book.

Planting The Future provides a different focus on the botanical market, featuring works by the herbalists of United plant Savers and discussing strategies to save and preserve medicinal herbs. Chapters provide an A-Z listing of herbs and their history, uses and propagation.

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This book is a compilation of chapters by many different authors with plant conservation as the main theme. Each author gives excellent information, with many great suggestions and resources for further study. It thoroughly examines the subject of excessive wild-harvesting to the point of endangerment of many species that were once quite common. This book gives thoughtful and interesting advice on how to be good stewards of the Earth and to help these plants prosper.

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This was one of the books I had to read for my herbal studies... beautifully written... really great topics covered... lots of top notch info... I will definately re-read this book a few times... I learned so much and felt so connected to the writers/herbalists and the herbs. Learned some cool stuff about some of the herbs that I never knew either... great for the book collection of every herbalist.

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This is a MUST HAVE book not only for Herbalists but for all People of this Turtle Isand. As ypou read this book it will not oly scare you but it will also wake you up. It is not up to a few people to save the plants, IT IS UP TO ALL OF US!

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The Essential Oils Book: Creating Personal Blends for Mind & Body

The Essential Oils Book: Creating Personal Blends for Mind & BodyI own many books on this subject, but I find myself pulling this one off the shelf time and again. It offers a lot of basic information in an easy to use format. There are more complete lists of oils and their propertiesout there, but I like this book because it also includes recipes and advice, and inspires me to create my own blends. I recommend this to anyone looking for a basic reference or informational book on essential oils.

I got this book as a Christmas present and today's the 27th but I've read most of it already. GREAT book -it's like a cook book. Given my undergrad work in biochem, it's just the right positioning for me. Tells how the chemical work together(carriers, bases, high notes...) and has a good variety of recipes for toiletries to make yourself: bath soaks, facial oil, and best of all, YOUR OWN PERFUME! Seeing as I'm working on distilling all those rose petals, scented geranium leaves, lavender, ginger and jasmine from my garden, I can become an amateur perfumer --!... It's great fun.

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I purchased this book for the purpose of getting advice on creating my own blends using essential oils. The recipes included in this book are versatile and provide enough background info to enable the reader to achieve this goal. The author transmits friendly excitement about integrating essential oils into our daily routines. Her writings act as a guide to the beginner and encourage him/her to look for new uses of aromatherapy.

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I was looking for a straightforward book with recipes to get me started with aromatherapy and this one was a good place for me to start. It has an intro section on precautions of using essential oils (they're intense :) And then goes into descriptions and uses of all sorts of oils which will be useful to me once I get better at this. For now I enjoy the recipes that are in the last half of the book especially the baths. There are also recipes for dryer scenting, floor cleaning solutions and other applications that I haven't tried yet but sound neat especially the dryer scents!

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I had the pleasure of attending an aromatherapy class by Colleen Dodt and found it very interesting and inspiring. The book is even more inspiring! Many wonderful "recipes" for making your own personal cologne, scenting your home naturally and using aromatherapy for personal beauty routines. Wonderful to read, entertaining and so much fun to learn about and try out the ideas in the book! Go out and buy it!

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O2xygen Therapies: A New Way of Approaching Disease

O2xygen Therapies: A New Way of Approaching DiseaseI finally reminded him and he claimed to have lost it. But, 2 weeks later he found it and I promised to find him one on the Internet (Charlie don't surf).

What I like about this book:

1The inclusion of studies from around the world. People in the US somehow act like the only valid medical and scientific studies ever done are in the US. We are either too lazy or to Amero-centric (to coin a really ugly phrase) to consider that other countries have scientists and facilities that do good work.

2It allows me to manage my own health, because damn, it's obvious nobody else has any interest unless they can be absolute vultures and profit from my sickness and injury (yes, I'm talking to you insurance companies, corporate shareholders and lilly-livered doctors grow a pair why don't 'cha?)

Buy it, read it, believe it or don't. I don't care. It works for me and mine.

I have bought every book I could find on Oxygen Therapy. This was the least helpful. Ed McCabe's Flood Your Body with Oxygen was much better and so was The One-Minute Cure.

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I liked the way it was printed.It was an old typed book with awesome information. My sister really liked this it was very informative and nice reading.

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I recieved this book in great condition, and quickly.

I would definately work with this seller again, and I have! :-)

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Good book, but I'd rather just buy that house Mr. McCabe and I hope you'll be open to offers in a few months when I can make one.

The Jungle Effect: Healthiest Diets from Around the World--Why They Work and How to Make Them Work f

The Jungle Effect: Healthiest Diets from Around the World--Why They Work and How to Make Them Work for YouIt's a travelogue, a nutrition advice book (complete with case studies), and a cookbook, too. Writing in the first person, Daphne Miller brings these three books together into one fun read. She's adventurous and curious, which makes a book about preventing diabetes, cancer and depression into a delight. Who'd have thought!

Several ideas come together here: "Cold spots" are places in which chronic Western diseases are noticeably absent. Miller explores what and how people eat in the cold spots. Then she cites the research showing why a particular indigenous diet provides protection against a particular condition. She was led to the cold spots in her efforts to help individual patients who were struggling with health issues--and whose ethnic heritage is tied to the cold spot. That's another piece of the puzzle: in this fast-food world, it's not easy to maintain the ideal diet as usually presented: fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, and varying advice on carbs. " But a Mexican "cold spot" diet might be easier for a Chicana patient to stick with. The foods might appeal to cultural memory, or even an individual's memories of grandmother's cooking. Sure enough, it turns out that way, as Miller returns from cold spots with traditional recipes to share with her patients. For example, a Scandinavian patient, who turns up her nose at ubiquitous California salads, turns out to love the Icelandic diet with plenty of berries, fish, and waxy potatoes. And eating the Icelandic way helps her out of a serious depression. Miller explains how it works.

The book invites us to eat our way around the world and learn the principles of each indigenous diet. We can sample from Camaroon, Crete, Okinawa and more. The recipes look good--I haven't tried them yet-and are written to incorporate ingredients easily available in most US towns. Miller finds out about the recipes by peeking into kitchens and cooking with locals, who are colorfully portrayed. I found inspiration for healthy eating in this book, and learned a lot about the mechanisms behind the adage "we are what we eat."

I should tell you that Dr Miller is our family doctor. She's just as devoted to her patients as it seems in the book. And her constant scan of medical and nutrition research has helped our whole family. While I haven't made any of the recipes yet, I recognize changes we have already made based on her advice.

`The Jungle Effect` is what Dr. Miller noticed when her San Francisco practice patients went on a "native diet". Unlike typical Western diets, which caused her patients health problems, when they switched to native diets traditional foods from native cultures their health improved, often dramatically. To learn more about native diets, Dr. Miller visited places such as Iceland, Nigeria, Crete, the Amazon, Okinawa to discover what they are doing right. Thousands of years of human trial and error, according to Dr. Miller, have selected for the best diets for human health and longevity.

Dr. Miller is not new in this approach. Dr. Weston A. Price in the 1930s observed the same heath giving benefits of traditional foods and today there is a large and active community of native nutritionists surrounding Price and his legacy (see Sally Fallon's classic Nourishing Traditions). However Miller's book does offer some new and interesting perspectives. She actually traveled to native regions and sampled the foods and diets, and this makes for fascinating reading in an up to date journalistic human-interest story style. She dispels the notion that genetics plays a significant role, suggesting that anyone of an ethnic background can adopt any native diet (eg. a European can benefit from an Okinawa diet). Finally, she suggests food is more than its parts, each dish is symbiotic, so it is important to eat the entire food way, not just its elements. For example olive oil is good, but best in combination with the entire Mediterranean diet. Oddly enough, she also recommends mixing and matching various native diets (she personally cooks from different regions each night).

Dr. Miller's book is an excellent primer for anyone not already familiar with native nutrition. Her research supports and adds to the work done by the Weston A. Price Foundation, with a slightly different approach. Her field-trips make for excellent reading and reveal specific regional food-ways. `The Jungle Effect` is a valuable contribution to the growing literature, and an easy and fun to read introduction to native nutrition.

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The old cliche is true Dr. Miller has been my personal doctor for years and proved it to me. Her approach helped my health and well-being tremendously and is so logical and common sense it's a shame that more doctors don't use nutrition as the first line of defense and offense for good health.

I expected it to be an interesting resource with some good recipes but it is a highly readable and inspiring book. Worth owning and living by!!

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From: www.BasilAndSpice.com

Author & Book Views On A Healthy Life!

The Jungle Effect: A Doctor Discovers the Healthiest Diets from Around the World--Why They Work and How to Bring Them Home (Collins Living, 2008) by Daphne Miller, M.D.

Daphne Miller, M.D. author of The Jungle Effect, writes that indigenous foods, or native plants, vegetables, and fruits, are the natural prescription solution and even prevention for type 2 diabetes. Past studies of Pacific Islanders and Australian Aborigines have shown that when these peoples eliminated their own native diets, for the Western high carb diet, they quickly developed pre-diabetes or full-blown diabetes. Indigenous diets include nuts, roots, and seeds like cheeky yam, black bean seed, and bush onion. Others you may be more familiar with: quinoa, barley kernels, cracked wheat (bulgur), steel-cut oats, and millet.

Further testing of the indigenous foods showed that they were difficult to break apart and digest. Blood sugar and insulin levels rose more slowly after eating these foods, whereas Western carbs --refined flour, sugar, pasta, mass-produced corn, white rice--digest quickly, rapidly raising blood sugar and insulin, leading to diabetes.

In The Jungle Effect: A Doctor Discovers the Healthiest Diets from Around the World--Why They Work and How to Bring Them Home, Dr. Miller gives five reasons why slow release indigenous foods are antidiabetic:

* Slow-release foods are slowly digested--keeping blood sugar and insulin levels lower.

* Slow-release foods are fiber-rich--extending satiety, decreasing the desire for fast-release snacks (donuts, candy, etc..)

* Slow-release foods are nutrient-rich--unrefined grains have not lost their vitamin and mineral properties from the refining process. For example, white flour retains only 15% of its magnesium content after the refining. Dr. Miller writes that "Low-blood magnesium levels are linked to insulin resistance, poor blood sugar control, and diabetic complications."

* Slow-release foods are free of bad fats--saturated, partially hydrogenated, omega 6. Instead they contain stanols and sterols, healthy plant fats, which lower triglycerides.

* Slow-release foods have unique antidiabetic capabilities. Some specific indigenous foods cause sensitivity to insulin--some herbs, spices, and the prickly pear cactus.

A wonderful example of a slow-release meal is the corn tortilla, filled with beans, accompanied by squash, jicama, herbs, spices (cinnamon, pepper, cumin, coriander), and nopales (prickly pear cactus).

First, purchase or make tortillas that have 3 grams minimum of fiber each, have been treated with lime, are organic (if possible), and are free from hydrogenated fat and preservatives.

If you have a choice, cook your own beans. They are usually fresher, cheaper, tastier, less salty, and digest more slowly than the canned varieties.

Squashes, both the hard winter types and summer varieties, have been eaten in the Americas for several thousand years, says Dr. Miller. They are chock full of vitamins, minerals, and fiber.

Jicama, easily peeled and eaten raw, can be sliced into small slices and dressed in lime juice and chili powder.

Look for the prickly pear in Latino/Hispanic/Middle Eastern markets. Stick to small, tender, and bright green ones.

BackStory: "In the past 70 years, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the United States has increased over 700 percent, and the disease is slowly affecting younger and younger populations. While this is the case with people of all ethnicities, the most dramatic rise has been experienced by Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and African Americans. Furthermore, recent statistics have shown that diabetes is now taking center stage as one of the greatest health issues worldwide."--Dr. Daphne Miller

Daphne Miller, M.D. traveled around the world investigating the diets of many native peoples. She is a board certified family physician in private practice in San Francisco and an associate professor at the University of California, where she teaches nutrition and integrative medicine.

The Jungle Effect--I highly encourage you to read this book for better insight on your diet and health.--Kelly Jad'on

5 Stars

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I just loved this book, too, and probably will never read another diet book again. "The Jungle Effect" is really not a diet book it's the Occam's razor of human dietary habits, the way our ancestors have always eaten for survival. Working only a block away from Dr. Miller's office, I've been tempted to walk down there to get the book autographed and buy ten more for my family and friends. I probably won't do that, but I definitely will do my best to promote it to people I know. I've already started making changes in my husband's and my diet and it's been a joyous, life-enhancing and elegant experience.

By comparing the sort of meals that Americans are used to eating to, say, an African meal, Dr. Miller conveys an eye-opening epiphany. It should come as no surprise that the fiber content in African meals actually prevents the development of colon cancer. It's not a big mystery, but we're always looking for complicated schemes and sophisticated medical breakthroughs for answers, when the solution is pretty darn obvious and really pretty simple.

I think that readers will also enjoy the travel diary experience as Dr. Miller wends her way not only through remote highlands in Mexico, but the wilds of Walmart in the Central Valley. She really wants to help everyone find a solution, regardless of their status or income and to be able to do it with any and all available resources. What a wonderful book. What great medicine.

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Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar, 1867-1898 (Dover Fashion and Costumes)

Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar, 1867-1898Extensive and detailed illustrations, with good captions (including dates), divided into four style periods (1867-1874, 1875-1882, 1883-1890, 1891-1898). Narrative introduction to each period gives the general style trends. Very useful: includes hairstyles, shoes, parasols, aprons, decorative details, children's clothing, etc.

What would romance writers do without Dover and their marvelous historical books? These books and even era paper dolls are inexpensive, and yet, thorough works that really can put you into the period. This book is stunning.

Victorian Fashion from Harper's Bazaar 1867-1898 is definitive book on Victorian fashions, however, while is stunning work, you should buy Full-Color Victorian Fashions from Dover Publishing as well. Together they are everything you need. This book goes in rich detail, just not the dresses but down to hair and accessories. It's broken down into four sections: 1) Bustles and Puff (1867-1874) 2) Natural Forma and Cuirass Body (1875-1882) 3) Return of the Bustle (1883-1890) and 4) Hourglass Figure (1891-1898). The drawings are detailed and cover every aspect of fashion of this era.

An absolute must for romance writers of this period. High recommended.

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Victorian Fashions and Costumes is eye candy for anyone interested in fashion history.

The arrangement of the book in chronological order by year makes it very easy to find historically correct garments, accessories, and hair styles. A brief overview of characteristics specific to the era is included in each section. Most pictures have captions that identify the type of garment and often the fabrics and colors used in a garment.

I used information in this book to create a bodice and bustle representative of the period for a skirt Mary Todd Lincoln wore in 1872 in England.

With all the historical patterns available in the major pattern books, the costumer or reenactor can find a basic pattern and add the correct construction details and embellishments. I enjoy browsing the book and wondering what life was like for the women who wore these clothes. If you are looking for information about the clothing worn by the common woman, you won't find it here. After all, this is from Harper's Bazar, the Vogue of the 19th Century.

Becky

Read Best Reviews of Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar, 1867-1898 (Dover Fashion and Costumes) Here

The book was filled with page after page of clothing and accessories, from swim suits to formal wear. The detail of how women adorned themselves and their outfits was very informative. I know that it catered to the upper-class, but it would have been nice to see more for women of a lower class. Also, there was barely anything for men of any class.

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If you're like me and can't afford to purchase thirty one years worth of original Harpers Bazaar publications, this will fill the void. I actually own two, one to cut up and photocopy, so I can play with coloring a dress before I make it. It covers all the minutia of Haute Couture. Gowns for different occasions, times of day, traveling, dressing gowns, nightwear and undergarments. It also has plates for accessories, shoes, jewelry, gloves, stockings, hats. There are hair combs, ornaments, extensions, and a couple styling techniques. Children's clothing is also included. The major fashion plates have fairly detailed descriptions of the garment features.

There is also a good glossary of terms and colors in the back of the book. Which is a great help for some of the more obscure descriptions.

Too bad there's no color plates.....leaves more for the imagination to fill in I suppose. And BOY will this book keep you dreaming!

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