Customer Reviews

Perfect Health for Kids: Ten Ayurvedic Health Secrets Every Parent Must Know

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

 

 

Dr. Douillard's writing style makes this easy to read and understand even if you know nothing about Ayurveda. His depth of research supports the theory and practical solutions presented. Although directed to children's health, the book contains information that can be applied to all ages. This is a must have for parents who are experiencing the increase in childhood disorders from ADD/ADHD to asthma to obesity. These common sense concepts will surprise you with their profound simplicity and practical application.

Parents, grandparents, parents-to-be, and caregivers would do well to make this book a part of their resource library.

I really loved parts of this book and am re-reading them to get a better idea about how to start implementing the ideas in my family. Having recently read several books on Ayurveda, I was a bit leery of the "10 secrets" thing, which seemed like a bit too much hype. Luckily, the author did not constrain himself to fitting things neatly into 10 secrets and instead put a lot of substantial information in there.

The chapter on seasonal eating really pulled a lot together for me. We've been eating vegetables in season for a while now, and I've been working on cooking according to my family members' doshas, but this chapter helped me see how the two practices could be integrated. Another thing about the book that I especially appreciated is that fact that the author is clearly a father. His descriptions of how he got his kids to take herbs were fun to read.

I do wish that the book had more to say in some sections. The section about moods and the sugar roller coaster resonated at first, but then the action plan described seemed targeted to kids who needed to lose weight. I had the same feeling of "what do I do for my kid?" after reading a section about dark circles under the eyes. At a certain point, many of us will probably need to find an Ayurvedic practitioner (or set up a consultation with the author via his website) to develop an appropriate plan of action. That being said, this book provides a great blueprint for maintaining health and getting kids started with healthy habits for their constitutional type.

I learned a LOT about how disease and being unhealthy happens from this book...now when anything unhealthy happens to someone in my family it no longer seems "so random"... I can usually immediately see where it may have come from.

One big ah-ha was that I learned how our digestive system is at the center of most health issues - it's the place where we absorb "good stuff" and eliminate "bad stuff" - so if this isn't working right, ALL kinds of problems can be created in the body - due to "not enough good stuff being absorbed" or having to store "bad stuff" in various parts of the body that were not really meant for storage...So the better care you can take of your digestive system the better overall health you will have.

I've applied many of his specific home remedies to myself and family, and it's been incredibly useful. We cleared up my niece's constipation issues with this herbal mix called Triphala. My son and I haven't had a cold ALL winter long (it's March now) and I credit turmeric + raw honey for that as well as by "eating seasonally." Basically all of the things he's recommended have actually worked for me when I've tried them. I even cleared up a skin rash I had last summer by using the knowledge I gained from this book. I tell EVERYONE, especially parents, about this book, it's been so useful - and I love that it's natural health remedies geared towards children specifically. So often you wonder "would this be OK to give to my 3 year old?" so it's nice that he's coming from that perspective.

The only downside of this book is that I felt it could have been organized a little better - eg- have cleaner "call out boxes" for home remedies instead of having them interspersed with text/prose at times. I've found it somewhat hard to quickly look things up... But it's not horrible either - just could be better. That's the only reason I give him 4 stars instead of 5.

John Douillard's approach to ear infections is worth the price of the book. Parents, please give these methods a try. Your kids will be healthier and you will spend less money on doctors and antibiotics.

I grew up with ayurvedic form of medicine - which is more about preventing than treating. But when it came time raise my three year old it was challenging to work off the advice of remotely located ayurvedic practioners.
The book is simple to follow - took a while to implement completely.
But it has put my mind at easy as far as taking charge of my childs health.

This book is amazing, please do yourself a favor and use it!! It is a constant reference point in our house. Not only for children, this book is written so well you can easily adapt the information for adults. We are the healthiest we have ever been. Certain issues we had been dealing with for years have just gone away - I am sure because of the advice from Douillard. This is the book that I keep giving as gifts to other parents - the ayurvedic path is the way we all should be living, how do you argue with a five thousand year old practice derived from nature?

I found this book to repeat information over and over while some sections were weak and missed important details. Once I read it I realized that it could have been narrowed down to about 75 pages of valuable information. Also, it has been more difficult to put the author's suggestions into practice, especially since there are no recommendations about where to buy good quality ayervedic herbs. The author also has a section about vitamins and suggests that the readers e-mail him and ask questions about the absorption rates of the vitamins they give their children. I sent him an e-mail a few months ago, and unfortunately, did not get a response. There are other books on this topic that are more comprehensive.