Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul: Essentials of Eating for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being [Paperback]

Deborah Kesten (Author), Herbert Benson (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1997

Nutritional educator Deborah Kesten demonstrates that by cultivating the sacred aspect of food we can nourish both body and soul. Each chapter includes step-by-step guidelines to help readers create, access, and impart this new approach to food in daily life. Includes insights from more than 45 scientists and spiritual teachers.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

It's not what you eat, but how you eat, according to nutritionist Deborah Kesten. By exploring the food rituals of numerous cultures, Kesten reveals how food feeds the spirit as well as the flesh. We learn that in order to make soul food, one must learn the art of cooking from feel. Like creating great jazz, African American soul food comes from the depths of wisdom as well as the ability to playfully improvise. The Buddhist monks model the mechanics of mindful eating. And sacred fasting is best illustrated by the Native American vision quest. In the second half of the book, Kesten delves into useful advice on eating disorders, food-mood connections, and specific how-tos of enlightened eating. --Gail Hudson

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Conari Press (October 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573240680
• ISBN-13: 978-1573240680
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,201,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars History, culture and a new approach to food, March 6, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul: Essentials of Eating for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being (Paperback)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I read it one rainy day and it really got me thinking. The first part reviews food based spiritual practices in various cultures, and the second explores ways that we can use the food we eat to enrich our own spirits and our lives. Fascinating ideas. It seems so many of us have lost our connection with food and don't really consider it. This book helped me renew my understanding of what it means to be human, so integral is food to all of our lives.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FEEDING THE BODY, NOURISHING THE SOUL, June 15, 2001

By 

Jan Cortland (New York City, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul: Essentials of Eating for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being (Paperback)

Over the years, I've read a lot about the influence that thoughts and feelings have on health and well-being. FEEDING THE BODY, NOURISHING THE SOUL is especially unique in that it explores new nutrition territory: the link between thoughts, feelings, and food. Because the book isn't a quick fix, not only did I find myself slowing down in order to "get" what the author was writing about, over time, I also realized that I was seeing and appreciating food in a new way. For me, this book has been an extraordinary journey.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spiritual Nourishment, August 28, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Feeding the Body, Nourishing the Soul: Essentials of Eating for Physical, Emotional, and Spiritual Well-Being (Paperback)

From FEEDING THE BODY, NOURISHING THE SOUL emerges a description of nutrition as a spiritual art. I found it to be a thought-provoking challenge of our current notions about health and nutrition. This is because it explores the crossroads of spirituality and food...a path to true nourishment. Drawing on sources as seemingly diverse as yogic nutrition, food and mood, Christian communion, and ancient Jewish and Native American dietary practices, as well as on her own extensive observation and research, the author restores our rightful relationship to food. This book has forever changed the way I eat and think about food.