Customer Reviews

The Body Restoration Plan

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Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton is a British medical doctor who also has a doctorate in human metabolism from the University of Oxford. As a Visiting Fellow in Occupational and Environmental Health at Stirling University and an adviser to the Soil Association in England, she is an acknowledged expert on the information covered by this book.

Dr Baillie-Hamilton's research has revealed that our bodies' natural weight-regulation system can be severely damaged by toxic chemicals we encounter in our everyday lives in our food, water, air, cosmetics, household products and the packaging of consumer items. These toxins interfere with our metabolic and appetite-regulating systems and make us fat by causing us to store more fat than we would if our bodies weren't invaded by toxins.

Since fat is the major place where toxins are stored in our bodies, the doctor offers an eating plan that will take off weight slowly through mild calorie reduction to avoid flooding the bloodstream with poisons that were stored in fat, which can sometimes lead to "detoxifying" symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea and headaches. In addition, the doctor's eating plan consists of three main factors: (1) Try to eat only organic foods, but if you can't, use the food lists the doctor provides which rate foods by how compromised by pesticides they are and/or prepare your food in a way that removes as many toxic chemicals as possible; (2) drink filtered water; (3) avoid using toxic chemicals in your home (e.g., pesticides, chemical cleaning products, strong perfumes and dyes, smoking), and air out your house to avoid toxic air buildup.

One of my favorite parts of the book is an extremely well-done section on common environmental toxins and how they get into our food supply, including: (1) the class of chemicals called organophosphates were initially developed for biochemical warfare and are now used as one of the most common pesticides on fruit and vegetables as well as routinely fed to livestock to fatten them up; (2) carbamates are used as fungicides and pesticides on fruits and vegetables and are also used to fatten up livestock; (3) anti-thyroid drugs are banned in England (she makes no mention of banning in the US) for direct use in livestock to suppress the function of the thyroid so they will get fatter, but similar compounds are still commonly used in the UK and US as pesticides on fruits and vegetables--which people and livestock eat; (4) steroids fatten up livestock by causing water retention and creating a ravenous appetite for carbohydrates--recently banned in Europe, they are still widely used in the US; (5) antibiotics aren't merely given to livestock to wipe out disease, they are also purposely routinely given in minute dosages in order to destroy weight-control hormones and greatly lower metabolism, both of which cause livestock to store excessive fat; (6) organochlorines are extremely toxic pesticides whose most deadly forms (DDT, lindane, PCBs) have been banned in Europe and the US, but they are still almost universally present in animals and humans in North America and Europe for two main reasons: they have not been banned in many countries from which produce is imported into the US and Europe, and animal and human bodies find it almost impossible to throw them off, causing them to persist in fat tissue for decades.

This book is clearly written, flows logically from topic to topic, and provides a detailed table of contents, an index, an appendix of toxic chemicals, a glossary, a comprehensive list of references, and a list of referral websites, including the author's. I especially applaud this book's "hook," that being environmentally poisoned can make you fat. Hopefully this approach will catch the attention of a large number of the millions of dieters in this country who currently are only wanting to lose weight for vanity's sake, rather than for health reasons. Fortunately for them, if they follow this book's recommendations, they can kill two birds with one stone, satisfy their mirror and stave off future health problems, too.

For those people who aren't just overweight but have health problems as well, particularly an inflammation-based disorder (a tip-off you have this is that your doctor is prescribing anti-inflammatory medication), I highly recommend reading in addition to this book the following: The Inflammation Cure : How to Combat the Hidden Factor Behind Heart Disease, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes, & Other Diseases, by William Joel Meggs, et al., and The Inflammation Syndrome, by Jack Challem. They cover a vital issue regarding environmental toxins which Dr. Baillie-Hamilton does not: toxins in food, water, air, etc. not only make you fat, they also create an inflammatory process in the body which can lead to many serious diseases. In addition, obesity itself can become an inflammatory condition--very likely because bodily fat, as Dr. Baillie-Hamilton points out, it is a storehouse for toxic chemicals.

Finally, there is one toxic chemical found in our air, water and food (it is yet another fattening agent given to livestock) which neither Baillie-Hamilton, Meggs nor Challem directly discuss: the estrogen-like compounds called xenoestrogens. These toxins also store in body fat and wreak havoc on both female and male endocrine systems--they are linked in females to onset of puberty as early as age nine and breast cancer later in life, shrinking sexual organs and loss of potency in males, and sterility in both sexes. Fortunately, the recommendations of this book will also defend you from xenoestrogens, but if you want further information, and even more protection, I highly recommend any of the several books by Dr. John Lee who has written extensively about using natural progesterone to counteract the damage of xenoestrogens to the body. His books are directed at women, but mention is made in them that men can use natural progesterone, too, to combat xenoestrogens. Dr. Lee's work will also make clear why some women find that when they lose weight they experience distressingly heavy menstrual flow--this can sometimes result due to a too-rapid release into the bloodstream of xenoestrogens previously stored in fat.

Dr. Baillie Hamilton's theory of Chemical Calories is truly groundbreaking. The results achieved by the reduction of chemical calories in my diet has enabled me to achieve weight loss when nothing else worked. Doesn't it make sense that the same chemicals used to slow down the metabolism of the animals we use for our food sources can slow down our metabolism as well?
She gives us alternatives to the chemical laden food we are used to consuming on traditional "diets" and offers a life-long alternative...reduce chemical calories and enjoy food once again. Along with proper supplementation, you can be healthy and slimmer, restoring your metabolism to its normal rate.

Dr Paula Baillie-Hamilton has thoroughly researched the ever-hot topic of what she defines as "Chemical Calories." In other words, the pesticides and hormones and other chemicals passed onto our bodies through food and our environments. In this book, the Dr. details easy ways to choose foods low in chemical calories, make simple changes in your home or environments, and supplements that aid in reducing chemical calories. Why would you want to reduce your chemical calories? By doing so, you naturally help your body to repair its "Slimming System" which aids in helping you to lose weight and change your body shape without going on severe food restriction diets.

Overall it is an informative read and Paula has the research to back it up. If you even follow 2 or 3 of the 30 tips summarized at the end of the book, you will be on your way to better health and helping your body naturally stay at its slimmest.

Like so many people I have often tried out the latest fads and diets which have always proved unappetising and sometimes even
downright dangerous to my health.
Now Dr.Baillie-Hamilton has discovered that by largely eliminating food grown by chemically contaminated means it is perfectly easy to enjoy the taste of good,wholesome food again and still manage to lose weight.
Since starting this largely organic way of eating I have felt very energetic with a new zest for life.
This is certainly the way forward for me and my family.I definitely advise others to do the same.

I bought this book over 5 years ago. I was living in a toxic environment and knew there had to be reasons I wasn't feeling well. My eyes were opened by this book and the many others I bought on the subject of greening my life. Finally, we built a green home, I was eating the right foods and really felt wonderful. I noticed the first year in the new house I had lost 10 lbs. without dieting, the same thing the next year! I told my husband, "I hope I don't have cancer!" Then a friend called about a reaction she had in her new home and I went to my many books to look for answers. I found in my boxes of precious books The Body Restoration Plan. It helped me give my friend good advice and I also saw that the reason I had lost weight was because I was living in a healthy environment and my liver didn't have to work so hard to deal with it's main purpose and deal with toxins. I was feeling great and losing weight in my healthy environment. I pull this book out often and read through it because it is filled with excellent advice and information that is invaluable to all of us living in a toxic world. I can't recommend this book enough!!

Excellent book about pesticide and hormone additives in animals and vegetables & fruits and household products which are ruining the American public. Answers the question of why there seems to be an epidemic of obesity. Some don't believe it is true but this makes a great case for it.

I followed most of the guidelines for eating organic, healthier foods, and using non-chemical household products and lost 20 lbs.

Highly recommended for those serious about learning about our health!!

Lose Weight, Rejuvenate, and Detoxify
Rid your diet and enviroment of chemical calories

Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton, an expert on human metabolism, shares her revolutionary discovery that enviromental toxins present in food, water, air, packaging, cosmetics, and household products enter our bodies as Chemical Calories that can inhibit weight loss and actually make us fatter. Chemical Calories damage the metabolic and appetite-regulating systems that compose the body's Slimming System, a vast network of important functions that maintain and control proper weight.

The Body Restoration Plan reveals the many potential health benefits of a diet that reduces the consumption of chemicals, processed foods, and additives, and presents a practical program to boost energy, restore health, and overcome persistent weight problems.
--- excerpts from books back cover

I found this book to be a mixed bag with some stellar writing on how pesticides cause weight gain, the pesticide content of foods and useful supplements for detoxification. Things I didn't like were:

*A glaring contradiction that in the beginning of the book Dr. Braille-Hamilton notes that calorie reduction diets don't work because they slow metabolism yet the bulk of her eating plan is a calorie reduction diet.

*Recommendations for expensive Shaklee vitamins and supplements. This included a dubious homeopathic supplement.

*Recommendations for unnecessary amino acids to help detoxification.

So in the final analysis it is a great book about pesticides and recommendations on how to get them out of your food. On the other hand I doubt that this is a very effective weight loss plan.

Despues de leer todo el libro, que es bastante largo, no encontre una manera practica de aplicarlo. Son mejores los de Jillian Michaels en mi opinion.

When a mom sets her mind on something, stand back and get out of the way! Dr. Baillie-Hamilton simply wanted to know why she couldn't lose weight gained during her pregnancy so she did a little research and uncovered a plethora of information about chemicals and additives that are tainting our food and poisoning our bodies. Our bodies can pretty much regulate themselves but when we ingest chemicals that mess with our hormones and confuse our immune systems, we can't maintain healthy weights and we run the risk of developing health problems and possibly even intellectual and emotional disabilities.
Dr. Baillie-Hamilton's message is simple and yet oh so powerful: mess with Mother Nature and negative consequences can occur. Eat organically and use organic products as much as possible to keep your body healthy. It's all very simple. But then, mothers' advice usually is.

It's not just in our best interest to heed Dr Baillie-Hamilton's research as well as the laws of Mother Nature, it's quite literally become a matter of life and death.