Customer Reviews

Prescription for Nutritional Healing (Prescription for Nutritional Healing: A Practical A-To-Z Reference to Drug-Free Remedies)

5 star:		(265)
4 star:		(40)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

This is an excellent book in that it contains, in one place, an enormous amount of information about supplements and their use in treating various medical conditions. It also goes through all of the vitamins and minerals, amino acids, digestive enzymes, herbs, etc., explaining their function.

But do your own homework after consulting this book. Under AIDS, St. John's Wort is noted as containing "two substances, hypericin and pseudohypericin, that inhibit retroviral infections and could be useful in the treatment of AIDS." This is bad advice, because one of the most widely known herbal/drug interactions--and widely known since about 1997--is that St. John's Wort and protease inhibitors don't mix. This might actually be THE most widely known and infamous interaction. If you're a person living with HIV/AIDS, and you're taking a protease inhibitor, you should not take St. John's Wort UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES. It is proven fact that St. John's Wort decreases the levels of the PIs in your blood, making them less effective. Meaning that if you have AIDS, are taking a protease inhibitor and St. John's Wort, you could very well be shortening your life expectancy. This is serious stuff, and not to be taken lightly.

Glutathione is also mentioned throughout this book. When introduced, the book does say that "the effectiveness of oral formulas [of glutathione] is questionable. To raise glutathione levels, it is better to supply the body with the raw materials it uses to make this compound: cysteine, glutamic acid...glycine...and N-acetylcysteine". But when this is recommended for use in "The Disorders" section of the book, little mention is made of the ineffectiveness of oral glutathione, and indeed recommends specific amounts of glutathione one should take.

Let me be clearer than this book has been: oral glutathione is worthless. If you're using it, you're not getting any benefit, and the companies that sell oral glutathione know this well. It's frustrating to see reputable companies produce a product just to make money when they know *for a fact* that it has zero benefit. If they really wanted to make money, they should instead put sugar pills in the glutathione bottles. That would be cost-effective! Interestingly enough, my partner is in pharmacy school and they just had a lecture on glutathione yesterday. I won't try to translate the medical techy stuff, but the gist of it is this: it won't be absorbed by the cells.

So why does this book recommend glutathione (by itself, with no disclaimer) throughout? That's a good question, and I'd love to know the answer.

Still, the book has its uses. As I noted, nowhere else will you find such a wealth of information in one place, and so easily accessible and understood. Just be prepared to do your homework.

In 1989, I was working Medical Intensive Care, U.C.I. Hospital. I was a widowed mother with three children in college & high school. My health was great, I loved my career and the security it gave us and my life revolved around my career and children. I worked circles around younger nurses, when I SUDDENLY became so exhausted that I couldn't push myself out of a chair. My doctor & friend, ran tests that revealed Acute Hepatitis B. Long story short, after 3 months - I remained bed ridden and my liver specialist gave me 1 to 2 month life expectancy. My life and my childrens lives had turned upside down. Out of desparation, (the medical field could not help me as the acute hepatitis became chronic), my oldest daughter bought this book. She bought all the vit., mineral, dietary supplements, etc. listed under "esential" and "very important" and started force feeding me. I felt like I was being tortured these last days of my life as I already battled nausea/vomiting/diarrhea and a type of exhaustion beyond explaination. It took all my concentration to force an eyelid open or to ask my tongue to move in order to speak. I knew she and the book were nuts but I saw the desparation in her eyes as she would beg me to swallow the beet juice, alevea juice or some capsule. Never-the-less, she continued to insist, three weeks later - I was out of the bed. Three months later I was able to work one night a week and soon a full week. 13 years later - the good news - I am health, happy, active and alive. The bad news - the Acute Hepatitis B became chronic, (which happens in a low % of cases and though I FELT like I overcame the disease, my doctor says the liver is still being destroyed. I truely believe this book saved my life. I have 30 years in the health field as a nurse, and a teacher but this is the book I most frequently use for information. It lists diseases and disorders from "Acme" to serious diseases like "Cancer". They are listed in alphebetical order, making them fast to find. First a very accurate describtion of the disease is given. Then a simple and consice list of things to use. I have bought copies for friends and families and lent my copies to many. Happy ending: Shortly after my close to death experience, I changed jobs, for fewer hours, leaving time for more activities: hiking, biking, swiming, working out, learned ballroom dancing, and I continued the recommended changes in nutritional eating. I met a wonderful man, we married, and I kept cutting back my work hours till I reluctantly retired from my wonderful position at the hospital last year because our travels, projects, hobbies and activities just didn't leave me time to work. We share an absultely fantastic lifestyle. My health is very dependent on how I eat and drink - even now. I have learned to really "listen" to my body and I can enjoy perfect health if I avoid the foods and drinks that do not leave me feeling well. Pepsi, fats in moderation and sugars are my challenge. I gave out my last copy of this book and am buying another because I fractured my ankle while hiking near our home in Southern Baja, Mexico, last week. Again, I will do EVERYTHING Dr. Balch and Phyllis Balch reccommends and heal rapidly.

I am amazed at the information available in this book. I have given copies to anyone interested in learning how to improve their overall health and well-being. This is my "Go to" book. I highly recommend this book to anyone truely interested in making positive changes in their life.

"Prescription For Nutritional Healing" is perhaps the most condensed dictionary of practical alternative medicine available. The book contains so much information that it actually boggles the mind it can fit into one book. The book starts out with a large section entitled "Elements of Health." In this section, the Balch team discusses vitamins, amino acids, enzymes, herbs, natural food supplements and their history and uses. There is a helpful herb chart that lists the herb, the effective parts of the herb, most of its phytonutrients, its uses, and comments such as toxicity. This section is a primer for those who want to know a little bit about the nutrients they will be taking.

The next section, which makes up the bulk of the book, is the "Disorders" section. It goes from Abscesses to Yeast Infections, covering a host of common and rare disorders in between. For each disorder, a treatment plan is outlined by name and dose, and nutrients are grouped according to how helpful they are in treating each disorder. For instance, with regard to the common cold, Zinc lozenges are listed as "essential," while Olive Leaf extract is only listed as "helpful" (mind you, I disagree with their evaluation of olive leaf). Then they list effective herbs, followed by "recommendations." These recommendations are often common sense suggestions and additional useful information written in an easy to understand manner. Finally, there is a "consideration" section for each disease. Here the authors report on recent research and possible other helpful ideas. Many charts and tables are dispersed throughout the disease section, such as poison control center numbers, STD symptoms, pregnancy tests, and nutrient robbing chemicals and foods.

The book ends with a brief description of therapies, a glossary of terms, and a list of supplement manufacturers. Overall this is an extremely useful book, which lists virtually every alternative therapy that has been found effective in clinical and controlled studies. Some of the recommendations are based on shaky evidence, and sometimes the authors confuse certain facts (for instance they suggest cancer patients eat almonds because of their laetrile content, but sweet almonds contain no laetrile; only bitter almonds do) but nonetheless, most of their claims are backed by competent studies.

The third edition came out very soon after the second edition. This demonstrates how fast research into alternative therapies is moving. Also, the third edition integrates a lot of mainstream medicine into its pages, making it extremely helpful and useful to those who might only dabble with alternative medicine on occasion. I bought the first edition in the early 1990s, and whenever I have a basic question or get sick, I usually go to this book first. I am not a doctor, and obviously nobody should forsake his or her doctor and simply follow the suggestions in this book! Kudos to the Balch team for setting the standard and keeping up with recent research!

Look at all the "5 Star" reviews... that says it all. I have looked, for years, for a book like this, and this one is THE BEST. For nutritional approaches to a huge array of major/minor medical problems, this is it. Written by a MD and his wife (a certified nutritional consultant) it is well researched, has suppliers of products listed,covers tons of material...my skin, bone joint problems and allergy conditions improved 200% in 4 weeks; with the books Atkins Vita-Nutrient Solution and The Way Up From Down, my 15 year depressions began to disappear in a few days, and were totally gone in 5 weeks.

I do like this book and follow a lot of what it has said. It has proven to be of great help to me in some cases, others, not as much. So, let it be known that I do value this book, I do appreciate the work put into collecting this data and making it available to the general public, and the idea of empowering people to make smart choices about their health. I have utilized some of the information in this book myself.

But I do have criticisms. I will focus more heavily on those than on the positives because the positives are mostly covered in others reviews, but remember, I am giving this 4 stars, not 2.

Someone pointed out that my criticisms were more geared toward the earlier edition, but I looked over the newest one and still found examples of what I was talking about.

Some of the upper limits (ULs) for supplements are highly questionable, or whether such high doses or necessary or provide any benefit at all. For example, in some conditions the book calls for 3 doses of Vitamin B-50 a day. 3 doses? I would not do that. You take 3 doses of B-50 a day and you're overdosing on B-6, you're probably overdosing on Folic Acid, and you're getting more B-3 (niacin) than I'm comfortable with. Moreover, riboflavin is reported to have no benefit at doses over 20 mg and doses over that may contribute to cataracts. Excessive riboflavin causes your urine to turn a neon green - that's wasted riboflavin passing through your urine. It's not doing you any good. Now, I'm a huge fan of pantothenic acid, B-12, and biotin, but 150 mg of the rest of the vitamins (or 1200 of Folic Acid) is too much. Every doctor I've talked to agrees. It's simply a wasted mega dose for most people. There's probably cases where it isn't, but I'll allow for that. I can't think of any case possible where you'd need 150 mg of B-6. It's kind of crazy.

The worst case of all is the author's love affair with doses of Retinol (Vitamin A) that make me cringe. I've seen him advocate some frighteningly high doses. Go talk to your doctor, and ask him if you need 10,000 IU or more of Retinol a day. He's going to say no. That much Retinol is asking for serious liver problems. It's almost scary he didn't put some kind of larger disclaimer in there, I wouldn't take that much even in this "emulsion" form he's so quick to tout. 5,000 IU of Retinol a day should be plenty. It's like if you've got 1st degree burns all over your body 5,000 IU of Retinol is going to leave you a mess and 10,000 IU won't. Some of this is oversimplified.

Some of the recommended doses of Vitamin C are preposterous. 10,000 mg of Vitamin C a day? I believe for some conditions he advocates even more. Many studies show your body can't use more than 500 mg of Vitamin C at a time. So the authors could do a better job explaining what they mean by divided doses. I could see, for some conditions, taking 500 mg of buffered Vitamin C with some food every 2 waking hours or so for maximum Vitamin C supplementation. But even that is too high for some doctors, one doctor says that anything over 2000 mg of Vitamin C a day produces a kind of toxin that attacks your system. I currently don't have the report handy that states the name of the toxin. 1500-3000 mg of Vitamin C seems to be the recommended amount for maximum Vitamin C supplementation, according to the experts and doctors. 10,000 mg (10 grams!) a day to me seems mind-boggling.

Some of the brand names he uses can be substituted, and this is not made clear. Kyolic Garlic is not the only quality garlic formula - the Imperial 6500 sold by Vitamin World and Puritan's Pride is a good value, which may be a nice alternative for people not willing to plunk down (...)for Kyolic's 30 day supply.

Lastly, some poor interactions might be better pointed out - the inadvisable situation of combining inorganic iron and Vitamin E, for example.

Some of the lists of vitamins and supplements to take are incredibly long - many doctors have expressed concern over the strain on your organs such as kidneys in processing 50 or more supplemental tablets, capsules, etc. a day.

My biggest criticism is the sometimes outrageous upper limits on vitamins, as I have stated above. DO OTHER RESEARCH. A LOT OF OTHER RESEARCH. CONSULT YOUR DOCTOR. Don't just just quaffing down 150 mg of B-6 just because the book says so. And be sure you're aware of other supplements you might be taking without knowing it, like fortified cereals or breads. This is why I stop well short of ULs.

Just be safe and know what you are doing.

I've been referencing the PFNH book for so long, I can't remember when I purchased my original one (2nd Edition). This book is so informative, and I guarantee there's more to it than you think. Touted as a "self-help approach to good health", the PFNH guide offers natural remedies for fever, headaches, common pregnancy woes and more, from "abcess" to "yeast infection". PFNH also discusses serious diseases, such as AIDS, cancer, diabetes, heart and kidney disease, and gives advice on remedies and diets that can help aid a person who may be suffering from one of these. But wait- there's more! Includes a table of herbs, their origin, and the maladies they can help relieve, an entire section on color therapy (a fave of mine), chelation therapy, fasting, sitz baths and pain control. The back of the book holds an impressive glossary (to help define ailments that you heard about and never truly understood) and a list of manufacturers and distributors, health and medical hotlines and organizations, and even a list of suggested reading to continue your natural medicine education. No home should be without this book. I buy each new edition that comes out, because we get more than our money's worth.

A new update of the "Bible" for feeling better. I have had a copy of the second edition for years and refer to it regularly on many subjects. What I really appreciate about this book is:

1. It is comprehensive and lists many different drug-free remedies for various disorders and health conditions including vitamins, minerals, herbs, food supplements, exercise and meditation.

2. It is realistic about the role of herbs in healing. Unlike other materials and books it does not advocate the exclusive usage of herbs for healing or view herbs as a "cure-all." It is also quite honest and very straightforward about the dangers of some herb usage (for example, the regular use of licorice root, which has been determined to cause a sudden and unexpected rise in the blood pressure of some individuals.)

3. The book lists diseases, illnesses and disorders in alphabetical order (along with recommended treatment) for quick reference. There are other chapters which specifically explore vitamins, minerals, herbs, the role of food supplements, nutrition and good water.

A copy of "Prescription for Nutritional Healing", now in its third edition, is highly recommended for every household.

This book is the first one I turn to when I am dealing with any illness or problem with my, or my family's health. I am a mother, with two small children, and I love being able to take control of my own and my children's health needs, rather than being dependant on a doctor to tell me what I should do (especially when I don't always agree!).

This book is packed with over 600 pages of information, listing various disorders alphabetically for easy reference. It provides information for treating various illnesses with nutrition, vitamins, and herbs. It has a separate section detailing various suppliments and their effects on the system. It explains the various disorders, and offers alternatives to conventional "allopathic" medical treatments for same (that being said, please be sure to check with your doctor before enbarking on any suppliment or herbal treatment).

As with any exhaustive reference of this size, there are a few inaccuracies here and there, but most of those are minor and have been corrected from previous editions. All in all this is an invaluable book for anyone who wishes to take control of their own health, and to use vitamins and herbs wisely and with substantial positive results. Don't hesitate, buy it!

This is a practical and easy-to-read reference guide that provides natural remedies for common health problems. Each health problem is listed in alphabetical order so it is easy to locate throughout the book. I use it on a regular basis in addition to seeing my family medical doctor.

You will find listings on topics such as Allergies, Anemia, Depression, Hypoglycemia, Insomnia and Irritable Bowel Syndrome just to name a few.

Examples:
For Anemia, did you know that Blackstrap molasses is high in
iron and essential B vitamins? For Insomnia, did you know that foods such as turkey, bananas, figs, dates, yogurt, tuna or grapefruit help to promote sleep? Did you know that Chamomile is one of the herbs effective in the treatment of Irritable Bowel Syndrome?

You will find information like this and more......