Customer Reviews

Eating Wisely for Hormonal Balance: The Woman's Guide to Good Health, High Energy, and Ideal Weight

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I was searching for a way to balance my life. I work hard and have two kids, but I always found that my swings and shifts of moods and body made me crazy. I suffered from PMS, bloating and moodiness. I couldn't bear another diet!
This book changed my entire life focus on eating and living. I don't follow every little detail within this book, but I do heartily endorse the lifestyle it advocates.
Drink tea, eat small meals, treat your body well. Listen to the ancient wisdom of other women. Why are many other women around the world in better physical condition that we are in North America. We must look at history for some of the solutions, instead of just popping pills for quick fixes. It has taken me a year to get to where I am - but I am soooo much healthier, happier and more balanced. This review is my way of saying Thank you to Dr. Sonia. As a woman you must read this book!

This 212-page book is attractively designed and easy to read. The recipes using tasty spices look delicious. And I cannot contest one reviewer's account that she lost undesired weight due to advice she read in this book. But there aren't many more favorable things to commend this book.

Basically, the author emphasizes eating whole, unadulterated foods. Chew your food, eat a variety of vegetables, eat fruits and veggies high in antioxidants. So far, so good. Who wouldn't be healthier -- and lose unwanted weight--avoiding chips, cookies, soda, candy and other junk food?

The problem is, that's all the good advice there is. Ms. Gaemi's entire premise is based on eating foods (this is for women) that contain phytoestrogens. Phytoestrogens are plant-based estrogens that latch onto the estrogen receptor sites in the human body. "When diets are high in foods with isoflavones . . . the risk of all types of cancer seems to be lower." (p. 27) Not always true; and it depends on which studies you read, and what foods and extracts are used in the studies--but we don't want to get too technical and confuse people or make them think too hard, because this is a popular book written for a mass audience, so let us simply continue. Here are the foods that contain plant estrogens (p. 28), which may have induced you to purchase this book: "Foods that contain high levels of phytohormones and fiber are soy, garbanzos, black currants, beets, flaxseeds, prunes, raisins, lentils, berries, grapes, rose hips, orange blossoms, tofu [a highly processed soy product], grapes, plums, walnuts, cherries, sage, pears, beets [the copy editor missed this repetition], culinary herbs, black beans, buckwheat, peaches, red bell peppers, quinces, kale, spinach, dandelions and other leafy greens, ginseng, red currants, cabbage, tomatoes, and figs." There. You have it all.

Soy, which Gaemi heavily promotes, is famous for the quantity of phytoestrogens it contains. For women who are estrogen-deficient, eating soy can be helpful. Unfortunately, soy inhibits thyroid function and may even cause thyroid cancer. Soy contains high levels of phytic acid, which reduces assimilation of calcium, magnesium, and other minerals. (The phytic acid is not neutralized by soaking, sprouting or slow cooking.) Soy can interfere with protein digestion. Soy phytoestrogens may cause infertility, and even promote breast cancer in adult women. Soy also contains the DNA-damaging and chromosome-damaging natural chemicals genistein and daidzein. In short, soy is hardly a food. Favorably medicinal under strict supervision? Yes. But hardly something to snack on, as Gaemi heavily promotes! If you don't know what you're doing, eating soy and other estrogen-rich foods might in fact make you worse. More responsible sources of information on soy can be found in The Whole Soy Story by Kaayla T. Daniel, [...]. and the Weston A. Price Foundation website.

So much of the material in this book is incomplete, I can offer only a few examples here. Take salt. In mentioning the dangers of too high a sodium intake, Ms. Gaemi writes: "Sea salt is a natural salt and is recommended for the recipes in this book." But there are many kinds of salt labeled "sea" salt. The refined white crystalline stuff you buy in bulk at the health food store is almost pure sodium. The only difference between that and what you get in the supermarket is the lack of anti-caking ingredients. Real salt, like Himalayan or Celtic (I prefer the Celtic), contains all the other minerals that balance out the sodium. Nowhere does the author address this.

One of the worst infractions is her presumably "new" food pyramid. Inverting the typical US Department of Agriculture food pyramid so it balances on its tip doesn't make it new. She still advocates 6 to 11 servings of grain per day--not a good idea for most people wanting to lose weight! People who are overweight are often hormonally imbalanced, have insulin resistance, and/or gluten intolerance (or even an autoimmune response to gluten). Therefore, most types of grain are the last foods they should be eating. Gaemi gives cursory mention to the problems of those with intolerance to grain or dairy, and fails to distinguish between milk and milk products that are raw, and those that are adulterated (homogenized and pasteurized). She recommends "scarce" amounts of oils. And many of her recipes include just egg whites instead of whole eggs. Why omit the nutritious and essential yolks? See Dr. Mercola's website for more information on eggs.

One word about thyroid function. Gaemi appears to understand that foods such as cabbage, broccoli, radishes, and cauliflower "can induce goiter formation and can interfere with thyroid function, but in general are needed to support your hormones." (p. 145) Her only advice is to see a physician if you think you have problems with your thyroid. What she doesn't tell you (perhaps she doesn't know) is that cooking these vegetables neutralizes their thyroid-inhibiting function.

This is a very rudimentary book for those who know absolutely nothing about eating well. The advice is so basic, it's almost infantile. Eat whole foods and raw fruit and vegetable smoothies, and stretch in the morning. Who could go wrong with advice like that? But--is it really worth buying this book to learn these tidbits? (In this review, you're getting them for free.) No wonder, at the time of this writing, there are over fifty-one used copies of this book for sale for under four dollars!

If you really want a good book on food and healing, buy Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon. Page for page, this gives you thirty times the information--and groundbreaking, accurate info--than you'll ever get in Gaemi's little volume.

Nenah Sylver, PhD
author, The Rife Handbook of Frequency Therapy with a Holistic Health Primer
The Rife Handbook of Frequency Therapy, with a Holistic Health Primer

this book was easy to read--i loved the layout and presentation of information. great nutritional information and ideas. it made me think out of the typical american box and consider how people in other countries eat and no doubt are healthier because of it. as a young post-menopausal mother i would love more information on how to maintain this healthy lifestyle with a busy family and kids who are picky eaters. highly recommend the book.

I am 39, and this book is excatly what I was looking for. Very informative. No matter how many books you've read on nutrition and health, you will learn something new here.

This is probably one of the most useful books I have read. By practicing some of her suggestions I have eliminated a whole host of complaints I had due to that "time of life". I feel incredible now.