Customer Reviews

Chakra Foods for Optimum Health: A Guide to the Foods That Can Improve Your Energy, Inspire Creative Changes, Open Your Heart, and Heal Body, Mind, and Spirit

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

"Chakra Foods For Optimum Health" integrates modern, Western nutrition science with ancient Eastern yogic knowledge and wisdom. It provides the best introduction to the chakras that I have read (and I've read a lot of them), and an explanation of how to eat for the chakras that is very easy to digest and internalize. The author presents this material in a very well-written and intuitive package. I recommend this book very highly for anyone who wants to add dimension to their understanding of the chakras, or who wants to expand their awareness of how foods affect them."

This book provides an interesting new perspective on the connection between nutritional science and spirituality. Essentially, it synthesizes eastern and western thought in a very understandable, concise way. Readers will learn how the body's energy centers, or chakras, contribute to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well being of each person. And, how the food you eat can diminish, maintain, or improve the resonance of the chakras. The book also provides plenty of dietary guidelines and tasty recipes that help readers make real changes. I highly recommend it.

Until I read this book, I never thought about the HOW of eating, only the WHAT. Deanna points to the equal importance and the studies behind who we're eating with and how the meal takes place. For example, she cites a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine from Drs. Christakis and Fowler. They demonstrated that patterns of body weight gain were directly connected to our social networks. What does that mean? The greater the connection an individual has with obese friends and family (even if miles apart), the larger the influence on he or she developing obesity. If you're emotionally close with overweight people, there is also a higher chance of you becoming obese. As a mom, this makes me thing about being in great shape for my kid's healthy future and my own too! This is only one of many amazing insights and studies presented in Chakra Foods. It will have you thinking about food in a whole new way, an empowering way.

Upon first discovering Chakra Foods, it shifted how I interact with (and think about) food in a big way. If you take nothing else from this book, one of the simplest, most helpful pieces of advice is the need to S L O W D O W N while eating and really attempt to connect with the food instead of just plowing through the experience. This means turning off the music/tv/etc and getting into a quiet space where it's just you and the food in the present moment. Easier said than done of course, but I've remained conscious of making this part of my routine and now it's second nature.

I had a fair understanding of the chakra system and associated concepts of energy, etc., but the way the author weaves it all together is great and it took my understandings that much further. Felt like I was rediscovering lost knowledge, and gave me that "spiritual buzz" of knowing what I was reading was full of wisdom. And even for those who don't "get" the chakras, the book still has a lot to offer.

On my "journey of healing"--which has been quite the maze to navigate--I keep finding myself coming back to Chakra Foods at key times, most recently in battling some nasty adrenal fatigue coupled with candida overgrowth. The experience has taught me many things about myself and my perceptions of the mind/body connection as well as how spirit/consciousness plays into all of it. In realizing the need to take better care of my body and nurture myself, I found myself becoming grounded more in the physical (a realm I liked to ignore!), using nutrition, vitamins and supplements to nudge my body in healing directions, and now I'm coming into balancing that with my work on an energetic level...which brought me back to the book and how I could use food to help along the process.

In working on my adrenal issues--which have definitely taken center stage--I came to realize the connection to an out-of-whack solar plexus. I found this section of the book to be extremely helpful in guiding me to the right foods, which I've been consciously eating with their nourishing/balancing of my solar plexus in mind. In particular I found it interesting the way the author broke down the various grains and their "energetic resonance" on the solar plexus. For example, Spelt is "Creative, quick efficient" at moderated intake, but has the effect of "Letharic, paralyzed" at excessive consumption. Rice has the effect of "Balance, simplicity", while in excess becomes "Chaotic, frenetic, complex". I definitely experienced these two sides as I was eating rice as my only grain for quite some time. The chart of grains has really helped me be more conscious of how I'm taking in this type of food, and I've been able to feel the connection.

The book covers so much other ground that I wont go into in this (already long-winded) review, but overall, it's just an amazing book. Highly recommended!

Deanna takes a wealth of knowledge and weaves it into an everything book. It is both educational and inspiring. Like the vibrational colors of the rainbow, she leads you on a journey to a pot of gold. You will become aware of new aspects and attributes of food that will empower your soul, energize your body and bring joy into living. The information is presented in easy to understand topics which lead directly to practical guides for applying these ideas into your life (including awesome recipes!) You will learn to look at food in a holistically new way!

I loved this book. It gives a good perspecitive on our relationships with food. How to listen to our body and recognize emotional eating.

Dr. Minich's amazing book, Chakra Foods for Optimum Health, has really made it easier for me to understand the relationship between food and the body, mind and spirit. Her vast knowledge has helped me embrace a healthier lifestyle by making me more aware of what I eat.

I appreciated this book's different perspective on food. It is about how food provides so much more than physical sustenance - like emotional and spiritual well being. Also, I like the interactive format of the book and the recipes are delicious! Thank you.

I think that if you already have a good sense of chakras, this book might come off as a bit redundant.
One thing that most books like this (I dislike putting things into categories but I will go ahead and say it anyway--'new agey') disappoint me in is that by their very intention of putting such information into factual little boxes they contradict the true nature of such information, which is fluidity and self-discovery. I guess, in other words, by trying to look directly at the star it fades from sight

for example, phrases like "work with yourself to develop playfulness"

maybe it's just me, but i experience these types of sayings as contraindications. Nevertheless, a book that tries to say what can't be said (which 99.99 percent of self-help books do) will by their nature be full of paradoxes. So is it fair to judge this book only against other books, or against what I would wish to read?

That said, I suppose it will depend on the reader

--So, I had originally given this book a 3 star rating, but upon reflection this seems a bit unfair, because in the category of books that it falls into it should probably be a 4 to a 5. I think I have just been expecting something that is unlikely to come along, which is probably a book written by someone like-minded. Anyway, looking at it as something written for people who are just getting introduced to these ideas, it is actually a fabulous book, because she is a very sensitive writer who is good with clarity. Her passion and wisdom on the subject shine through, and she is neither imposing nor boring on anything. I had originally thought it deserved a lower rating because every now and then one of the ideas she presents has flawed or incomplete reasoning behind it, but hey, what book doesn't nowadays? I guess it's just up to the reader to do proper research.

I LOVE this book! Deanna takes a deep look at how what we eat affects our whole being. I love the mind, body, spirit approach and appreciate the thoughtful tone with which she encourages the reader to raise their consciousness around foods. I also love that there is a questionnaire that helps the reader to determine the imbalances of their chakras. This book has encouraged me and makes me feel like I have been to a spiritual retreat!

Anni Daulter, author of Organically Raised; conscious cooking for babies & toddlers