Food As Medicine: How to Use Diet, Vitamins, Juices, and Herbs for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life [Paperback]

Dharma Singh M.D. Khalsa (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

Did you know that blueberries can increase brain longevity? That kiwi fruit can be an excellent weapon for battling cancer and heart disease? That pears can help prevent fibroid tumors?

From Dr. Dharma Singh Khalsa, the bestselling author of Meditation as Medicine, comes a remarkable book that helps you achieve maximum health by eating well. Grounded in science, Food as Medicine is a pragmatic and accessible reference that sets readers on the right nutritional path. Dr. Khalsa then explains how to use natural organic juices and foods as medicine, and how food can help reverse the progress or diminish the symptoms of certain diseases, such as Alzheimer's and Hepatitis C.

Drawing on patient case histories, Food as Medicine outlines the seven principles of "The Khalsa Plan" for healthy eating, details ailment-specific nutritional plans, and lays out dozens of delicious recipes that promote overall well-being. After all, food is not only the original medicine -- it's the best medicine.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author, a physician and a yogi, follows up on his Meditation as Medicine with this guide to nutritional therapy. Together with drinking recommended juices and taking vitamins and herbs, this diet, according to Khalsa, will lead to a healthier, disease-free life. He bases his program on the seven principles of yoga nutritional therapy: body detoxification; the use of organic products; elimination of genetically engineered foods; eating only clean protein (e.g., fish, soy, beans, legumes); fresh juices and supplements; cooking consciously and eating mindfully; and a complete transition to a yoga nutrition therapy diet. Fans of Andrew Weil (Eating Well for Optimum Health) and Deepak Chopra (How to Know God) will appreciate the author's combination of spirituality and diet. Khalsa offers a low-fat diet that is rich in grains, organic fruits and vegetables and non-meat protein. A variety of useful recipes with these components are included here as well as suggestions for maintaining peaceful meal times and a spiritually balanced life. Although this particular nutritional program should improve physical well-being, he also maintains that his nutritional plan can reverse many serious diseases. Interestingly enough, Khalsa is not opposed to hormone replacement therapy for specific conditions and uses it in his practice.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Deepak Chopra Coauthor of The Chopra Center Cookbook A natural resource for healing, rich in knowledge and practical application.

Victor S. Sierpina, M.D. Associate professor, University of Texas, Galveston Dr. Khalsa blends the joy of eating with solid advice about health. A must read for those who believe, as I do, that good health starts in the kitchen.

Stephen Sinatra Author of Lower Your Blood Pressure in 8 weeks Food as Medicine is absolutely fantastic. I loved it! Read it and add years to your life.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Atria Books (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743442288
• ISBN-13: 978-0743442282
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #458,347 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

45 of 46 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Motivation to eat healthy!, May 25, 2004

By 

Soaring Heart - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food As Medicine: How to Use Diet, Vitamins, Juices, and Herbs for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life (Hardcover)

"Your body has the ability to heal itself if you just give it a chance. Using food as medicine gives [you] the greatest chance of all to heal....What you eat can either prevent cancer and other chronic illnesses or help cause them....My number one recommendation is to eat a rainbow of fresh fruits and vegetables every day." Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D.

FOOD AS MEDICINE is a must-read for all, particularly those who dislike fruits and/or vegetables but want to be healthy and prevent diseases because the doctor explains clearly and succinctly what each food can do for your body. He also has a chapter about each common illness and what he recommends eating to overcome the illness. He reminds us that by cutting down on total calories consumed while eating nutritionally dense food, we can increase our life span by as much as thirty percent.
Dr. Khalsa writes a chapter about each of his seven principles of yoga nutritional therapy to help you restore balance to your body, mind and soul. They are:
1 Detoxify your body. (If fasting isn't for you, you can take two 450 mg aloe vera tablets at night or go on a monodiet.)
2 Go organic. ("The switch to organic food is vital if we are to save our environment.")
3 Limit or eliminate genetically engineered foods. (Examples include: aspartame, canola, corn, cotton, crook-necked yellow squash, dairy products, papaya, potatoes, soybeans, and tomatoes.)
4 Eat clean protein. (Buffalo, rabbit, ostrich, and venison are some non-traditional sources. I personally enjoy the latter very much. Choose chicken and fish--preferably wild salmon or other oily fish. Shark, swordfish and tuna also have potential problems with contamination--mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium and arsenic. Also soy protein and definitely beans and legumes are great--they have almost no fat and are rich in fiber and good carbohydrates.)
5 Discover juicing and supplements. (I don't do this one because there is more fiber in the fruit than the juice and that is good if you want to avoid getting type 2 diabetes down the road.)
6 Cook consciously and eat mindfully. (Chew slowly, savor your food, sit down and relax and "remember that everything we eat comes from God, as do our health and healing.")
7 Make the transition to the yoga nutritional therapy diet. ("By following a plant-based diet, you will find that you have improved focus and higher productivity in your daily life.")

My favorite part is the valuable information about each food (chapter 5) as well as the anti-aging in chapter 18. I've eaten blueberries every day since I've read this book because "blueberrries contain the highest antioxidant capability...comes from a class of flavonoids called anthocyanins...blueberries protect against brain aging, heart disease and cancer. The most astounding aspect of research on blueberries has been in the area of brain longevity."

Soar into healthy eating! Just adding one fruit or vegetable a day is a good habit to start. Do it!

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Intelligent and helpful, January 18, 2003

By 

Alison Miller (Tucson, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Food As Medicine: How to Use Diet, Vitamins, Juices, and Herbs for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life (Hardcover)

Food as Medicine is a great book that will teach you the many healing properties of food, juices, vitamins and herbs. Its food logs, information on the dangers of genetically modified foods, recipes, and the entertaining and friendly writing style of Dr. Khalsa, makes this book a must not only in your library, but also in your kitchen. I love it. It is a very educational book. Did you know that if you buy conventional, non-organic, genetically modified foods, you are eating 8 pounds of pesticides each year?

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My new nutritional bible, January 20, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Food As Medicine: How to Use Diet, Vitamins, Juices, and Herbs for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life (Hardcover)

This is a tremendously helpful book. The author is a physician who's also a believer in the spiritual aspects of health and nutrition. As a result, the book is as practical and grounded in science as you'd expect from an M.D., while providing an enlightened underpinning for what he teaches. Best of all, you can just look up what ails you, or what part of your physiological being could be improved, and find exactly which foods to eat to treat yourself well. Even if you don't buy the spiritual stuff, the nutritional advice is flawless and easy to use. This book goes on the shelf right next to Dr. Andrew Weil. I recommend it that highly.