Customer Reviews

Sick and Tired?: Reclaim Your Inner Terrain

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

My perspective of this book is related to cancer. I am the webmaster of "cancertutor" and I was not going to write a comment about this book on Amazon, but when I saw several people give this book one star, I had to write something.

"Sick and Tired?" is a **SUPERB** book. I have studied more than 200 alternative cancer treatments and have pondered dozens of different theories about what causes cancer. This book provides the best foundation for understanding and linking together many of these diverse theories. It literally describes the common thread that passes through all of the best cancer theories.

Understand also that there is an intense, brutal war between orthodox medicine and alternative medicine. And yes, there really is a conspiracy that is funded with billions of dollars from Big Pharma!! If you don't understand the sophisticated tactics used by Big Pharma in this war then you need to read my article: "Introduction to Alternative Cancer Treatments". This article will open your eyes as to what is really going on.

Those who gave this book one star have absolutely no clue what has been going on in alternative medicine over the past 100 years. Their articles remind me of the articles on the quackwatch, ACS, WebMD, NCI, B.C. Cancer Agency, etc. websites. The goal of these websites is to destroy alternative medicine. They pretend to be experts and pretend to be "open-minded," but in fact they are distracting your attention from the important issues, such as what *really* causes most cases of cancer. The answer starts with the acidic soil, then to food processing, then to an acidic diet, then to the pleomorphic parasites, etc.

While there are many excellent books on the theory of cancer (e.g. "Choose Life or Death," "The Body Electric," etc.) and while there are many excellent books that discuss large chunks of the same things Dr. Young talks about (e.g. "The Cancer Microbe," "Cancer - Cause, Cure and Cover-up," "The Germ that Causes Cancer," etc.), "Sick and Tired?" is the best book on the theory of what truly causes cancer and a host of other diseases - because of its completeness and accuracy. It is the best theoretical biology book on the planet with regards to disease!! To deny this is to deny the brilliant research of Royal Rife, Hulda Clark, Gaston Naessens, Claude Bernard, and others.

The major weakness of this book (from a cancer perspective) is that its discussion on supplements (Chapter 6) and his proposed treatment plan (Appendix A) are slightly too generic for *some* cancer patients (his book is not specific to cancer, but it is still the best cancer book there is!). His discussions on cancer theory (the whole book) and cancer diet (Chapter 7), however, are superb for any cancer patient.

But as a generic book on what causes most of the major diseases, no book can match this book for its accuracy and completeness of biological theory. However, if you are looking for a treatment book, specific to cancer, incorporate the Hulda Clark cancer books with this book.

The book does have some extra junk you might want to skip past. The pH Miracle is a better and easier read. I will say this, I started drinking Dr. Young's Supergreens and Prime pH in August of 2004. I did it after feeling cruddy after 2 miscarriages. I did start to feel immediate energy. I did not follow the diet though. 4 months later, I had some testing done only to find out that my cholesterol went from 233 to 176. I could not believe it. I ordered supergreens for friends and family. Now 40 of us are taking them. My MD and cardiologist confirmed that the product was clearly good and clearly making a difference. And then my mom's cholesterol went down substantially. Her MD had been bugging her to get on statin drugs. When she got back mom's test results, she said "oh, I see you finally filled the statin drug prescription I gave you." Mom said no, I am drinking supergreens." The Dr. said, "well, do what you must." We laughed.

Now to the diet part. It is hard to follow initially but, the times that we eat mostly green (we do eat animal protein on the diet, but in smaller amounts. White blood cells will get that bad old bacteria and frankly I like protein. but, smaller amounts made my constipation issues go away.) We try to follow the pH Miracle philosphy of 80/20 (80 good foods 20, not so great) but we keep taking our supergreens as well. We do feel really great when following that plan. My husband is a runner and was mad at me because he thought he would never get "good" food again. After 3 weeks on the 80/20 with our supergreens still in full swing, he admitted that he never felt better.

A friend said this: if you don't feel great, your body is telling you something. Most people have the "I eat all the crap I want disease." This is true. The supergreens in Dr. Young's program are equal to getting 1.5 - 3 pounds of fresh organic, green vegetables and grasses each day. Plus when you drink them in water, they force you to hydrate. Where- in the days of our fast paced american diet will we get either of those.

So I made the choice: spend $40 a month on my Supergreens and eat right most of the time (and have a little fun on the side) or be on Lipitor and have my health and life insurance rates so high I cannot afford to live in my house or ever get a new car again. We are all responsible for what we put in our mouths and consquently the results we get. I am not sure that eating alkalarian will prevent or cure cancer, but eating the crap that is passed off as food in the perimeters of the grocery store surely is not the answer to living long (just read all the ingredients on the label and see if you recognize anything from nature). Look at Jack Lalane, I think he is about 312 years old and lives by the mantra: if God did not make it, don't eat it. No crazy science there, just good sensible eating. I think that is what Dr. Young ultimately leads to. If we just accepted perhaps 60-80% of his philosophy and drank our our supergreens (unless you eat gobs of green organic veggies and wheat/barley/kamut grass daily and drink 4 quarts of good water daily), I have to believe we would all be better off. The food pyramid (even the new one) is just silly, confusing and has input from a bunch of people that might not have our best interest at heart. Read the book, use your common sense, adopt the "get back to basics" rule, know that thin does not mean healthy, and make your own judgement.
And, try Innerlight's Supergreens. They are worth the money (no algae, no probiotics, not crazy herbs, just plain old great nutrition). Stick with them for 4 months and you will see some great results.

To the naysayers, my bloodwork did not lie and my MD and cardiologist support my program. I am not 100% alkaline and certainly eat some of the wrong food and drink too much wine for Dr. Young but when I am on the wagon eating my 80/20, I feel great, poop great, lose extra pounds and flab and my skin looks great. Try it and then you be the judge. What have you got to lose in trying something new for a few weeks.

You surely cannot die from eating more veggies, ditching fungus foods (mushrooms and vinegar) and eating lots of avacados. Let's see: prescription drugs that require me to get my liver tested and my muscles get so sore that I have to take something else to make them feel better, kill my insurability....or a lots of great vegetables on my plate and in my water. Gee, such a hard choice. Or, live with adult onset diabetes and be on drugs for life (on a limited income) or change my eating habits and trade my cake and ice cream budget for some quality Supergreens.

As for fruit, it is ripening fruit that has more moldy toxins. So if you don't buy into the "fruit is bad" arguement, pick fresh, seasonal fruit and eat it before it starts to age and ferment. Eat it between meals. Eat lots of fresh berries instead of that peice of cake.

Oh, and one more thing. Yeast is an issue. Lots of people poo-poo the yeast theory but my MD has confirmed it. I have seen it in my blood and am clearly symptomatic. When I eat my 80/20 and stay away from sugar and wine, my yeast symptoms go away. Yeast issues are underrated in my mind.

There you have it. If you want me to tell you about his supergreens, please email me and I will be happy to tell you about them and how they changed my health. And, about the 40 people that I now have drinking/taking them. I have tried other green products (Spirulina, Juice Plus, Perfect Food to name a few), gobs of vitamins and NOTHING made a difference in my bloodwork. Even some friends who claim they take the best vitamins in the world (and pay alot for them) cannot show any improvement in their bloodwork.

I can even share a transitional plan with you (a reasonable one) and some fun and fresh recipes. Summer is here and lots of great veggies to go with it, enjoy them. And for your kids, sprinkle some supergreens on their food or in their water and let them in on the action as well. You can get the Innerlight greens at a discount also, so don't go pay retail. I can tell you how to get at least 15% off of them if you like. I will continue to collect blood work results on all of my friends and family who are taking them so I can share their great stories. And yes to you skeptics, I now distribute Supergreens because they made a difference in mine and my families health. I have nothing to hide. I am not in it for the money (I have not made much), but am truly passionate about what they have done. I think they are worth a 4 month try for anyone who wants to try and improve their health. When I fall off the wagon, I know my Supergreens are working to help balance my occasional bad choices.

Read the book, it costs all of $10 and you might actually pick up something valuable in it. Keep an open mind and good sense. Try the Supergreens and just see if they help you. Many have had awesome results when they stick with them. This is my story so I cannot and will not guarantee miracles but I will say that you have the power to feel great or feel crappy and it is often as simple as putting premium in your gas tank instead of sludgy junk that your body cannot process or filling up on gobs of vitamins that your body likely is not absorbing. Drink that water too, alkalize it with pH drops if you like or add lots of fresh lemon (1/2 lemon to 1 quart of water).

Read up on gut dysbiosis, read about how the colon is the most important organ in your body and often the most overlooked (Oprah had a couple of Dr.'s on this week showing a healthy and non healthy colon. it was very eye opening). Make one healthy new choice each day. Try the supergreens, try a new alkalizing recipe each week. What have you got to lose?

Some VERY GOOD !! (and some not so good....)

This book was for me, a lesson in patience. The main dietary ideas put forth I have found to be insightful and of real benefit to me physically. However, I found some of the philosophy and appendix material a bit discrediting at times (of course we all have our own opinions about what's credible).

Some Very Good: Central to Dr. Young's approach to health is the philosophy that your inner terrain (i.e. the health of your cells) determines to the quality of your overall health. So, if you examine your blood and have acidic and parasitic constituents present, it is likely that you have a breeding ground for disease. I think this is an enlightened view, considering the cause of problems rather than just treating the symptoms of an already developed disease condition.

His green-based alkalizing diet, and his justification for it, seem rational and well considered to me. I have lost weight, gained overall stamina and resisted colds and flu DRAMATICALLY, compared to my past history, and to my family (who are not on the plan)... and I am what anyone would call "a skeptic". The explanation of the pH balance of my blood and its effect on my body were compelling, and the tables and recipes made the application of the theory fairly easy.

Some Not So Good: Just a few points about the book that at times, taxed my patience. I think that Dr. Young has solid scientific evidence indicating the effectiveness of his recommended diet plan, however he alludes to, at times, spiritual connections which I find distracting. Everyone has unique spiritual perspectives, so when Dr. Young alludes to his own in conjunction with the scientific material, I find it unnecessary and inappropriate. In an interview, Dr. Young indicated thoughts and music (acid rock) can be acid producing. I certainly think emotional stress contributes to disease, but music ? Music and emotion are linked by association, if Mozart were playing when some tragedy occurred in your life then it's more likely that it will be more of an emotional contributor to stress than Born to Be Wild... the type of music is irrelevant, and while this seems obvious to me, it puzzles me why so obvious a fact seemed to escape Dr. Young. The Case Studies are really patient testimonials, I would rather have prefered a larger number of cases with more scientific data.

In the appendix material of the book, some of the "resource" material presented was of doubtful value in my opinion: Biomagnetics, Geopathic Stress (and professional dowsers of all things !), etc.

OVERALL - I think the book is extremely valuable. If I had a family member with a serious illness I would be sure to put them on this diet, the material is that compelling. Of course Dr. Young's whole point is that if you live according to the plan, it will be comparatively unlikely that you will contract serious illness...he really makes a very compelling case. I would also add that Dr. Young comes across to me as a deeply caring and committed researcher, and not someone who 's primary interest is to sell me something for their own profit. I would be very interested in buying a follow on book by Dr. Young detailing (not in patient's testimonials, but scientifically), case studies.. with some successes (and even some failures). I recommend this book highly.

Sick and Tired? is important because it describes a "lost chapter" in the history of biomedicine, whose missing information has severely impacted health, especially in the West; but the book is sullied by areas of careless exposition, inconsistencies, and false claims of discovery.

I give it five stars for subject matter, but two for presentation. Much of what is presented as revolutionary is merely relatively obscure; what is touted as "Empowering New Biology" turns out to be old, ignored biology.

A seemingly original aspect is the clotted-blood diagnostic, the Mycotoxic/Oxidative Stress Test. There is a good, but occasionally confused, technical essay about it. If valid, the test, along with "live blood analysis," could be valuable. Another new aspect is Dr. Young's hypothesis that viruses are not pathogens, but "repair proteins" that appear because the body needs them. A fascinating idea, but supported only by conjecture. It is plausibly suggested that much of what is thought to be free radical damage is actually done by toxins of yeast, fungus and mold, and, importantly, that these toxins also underlie most degenerative symptoms.

The book opens by discussing some scientists ignored by the mainstream, among them nineteenth century genius, Antoine Béchamp. His important discoveries were effectively lost when the French Academy of Science adopted Louis Pasteur's superficial germ theory, and when biology and medicine became based upon that dangerous partial truth. Pasteur plagiarized Béchamp and trumped him because germ theory seemed easily demonstrable and because Pasteur was politically connected. Essentially it seems that vested interests preferred the financial potential of germ theory to Béchamp's view, which precluded vaccines and other drugs while emphasizing individual responsibility and one's internal terrain (ecology). Young has adopted Béchamp's view that disease "causes" germs (it certainly precedes their proliferation in us). This apparently paradoxical view helps to explain certain observations, such as why one person gets sick while the next does not, apart from immune function.

Microzyma is Béchamp's term for an imperishable microscopic anatomical element whose existence he inferred from exhaustive experimentation. According to Béchamp: preceding genetic material, it is the "builder and destroyer of cells." It participates in illness and death, making astounding changes in form and function: it can evolve into germs when our terrain is unbalanced (diseased), and can revert to its original form; this theory is called pleomorphism.

Béchamp's microscope couldn't show the microzyma in detail, though he claimed to have seen "swarms" of them. No one since has scientifically demonstrated its existence. Young writes as though he has, yet he has not. Not with any proof presented or referenced here. Whether or not the microzyma exists, Béchamp's great contribution was the emphasis on inner ecology, as opposed to the germ, in infectious illness. The book emphasizes 1) that we have within us all conditions and elements necessary for the internal evolution of microorganisms, no "invasion" needed (microzymian theory); and 2) the toxins of these "morbidly evolved" (Béchamp's term) forms, especially yeast and fungus (Young's emphasis), lead to the symptoms we usually call the disease, especially degenerative ones).

Though credit is given to some key pioneers in the lost chapter, Young can't seem to resist gilding his scientific lily with false claims. His "New Biology" is outlined on p. 22. It says, "From my research, I have discovered the following:" (a list follows). Apparently, he doesn't grasp the difference in science between "discover," "confirm," "observe" or even "believe." A reader familiar with the lost chapter will know the first item is not Young's discovery, but Béchamp's theory, that degeneration and regeneration originate from the same basic anatomical element (the microzyma). The second item is also not his discovery, as Young himself implies in a later chapter. Such misappropriation could discredit him.

Two potentially momentous "discoveries" are left dangling: he claims that human cells can become microorganisms (bacteria), but offers no substantiation. He repeats this later and vaguely promises, "More in Appendix E" (four sections, and about 82 pages-I couldn't find the "more"). The same neglect applies to the claim that red blood cells can become any cell needed by the body, such as bone, muscle or skin. I have to give him an "A" for audacity! He also boldly asserts that cancer is mold. Hold on there, Doc!

Another list item: "Cellular disturbance can be caused by physical, emotional, and/or spiritual stress." This is a discovery? A Holistic truism, perhaps. It's unfortunate that a work which could be an emissary for Béchamp's important science threatens to do it harm with such irresponsible, even childish, presentation. It's almost like there's a lack of scientific discipline and quality training, but the bio doesn't reveal this background.

Many of the book's photomicrographs aren't clear. Some need explanation and/or comparison, especially for lay readers, and some are so poor they were better left out. One pair is in reverse to the caption. Such unprofessionalism is regrettable. Perhaps lack of clarity is planned, since his major tenet is that the blood of sick people, even otherwise asymptomatic ones, is chronically inhabited by microorganisms, including yeast and fungus. He claims to have videos, but one wonders what he's looking at, since he doesn't mention culturing blood samples to prove this. There are known blood infections, such as septicemia, but they're accompanied by intense, acute symptoms, including sudden death.

For those to whom a wellness protocol is most important, the book could have its greatest value. I didn't read in full detail, but scanned enough to see that, despite some inconsistencies, it addresses the fundamentals of getting, and staying, well-cleansing, pH balancing, nutrifying, and balancing the enclaves of microflora in the digestive tract. However, I've done some checking, and if you want to use Young's proprietary health products, you either need to be wealthy or prepared to engage the multilevel marketing plan. "Expensive" puts it mildly, and you must "sign up" to buy them. But, typical of the book's inconsistencies is the failure to provide a resource for "discovering" this information!

I am an M.D. and the author of a textbook on acid-base balance (pH balance). I have also published several technical pieces in medical journals on the pH consequences of diet, and the relationship between dietary ash-acidity/alkalinity and bone disease. A friend who had just spent $400 getting a kit from Dr. Young's organization asked me to give her an opinion. I should also add that I am open-minded and have a special interest in nutrition and holistic medicine; I personally spend close to a thousand dollars a year on nutrients; I have studied chi kung and yoga; and I have much skepticism about aspects of modern medicine. I say all this to make clear that I am not opposed to nutritional or holistic approaches to health.

I focused my attention on the parts of this book that pertain directly to pH balance, which is the center of Dr. Young's theory. I read with special care the part of the book that purports to explain the fundamentals of pH to the non-scientist. This section contains basic errors that suggest to me that Dr. Young is not very knowledgable about this area; his understanding of basic chemistry seems limited. His definitions of fundamental terms such as "hydrogen ion" are poor, and his explantion of what table salt (NaCl) is and how it dissociates in water is incorrect. He gives the same pH values for blood that comes from arteries and veins; in reality, venous blood is more acidic than arterial blood.

The manner in which Dr. Young writes suggests a religious fervor that has nothing to do with science. I saw no footnotes that support his extreme views; in fact, judging by the titles of the journal articles he cites, I saw no citations in either this or another book by him that pertain specifically to the effect of pH on disease. Further, Dr. Young does not describe any of his own experiments that might lead one to think he has a valid scientific basis for his ideas. He makes many extreme statements without any supporting evidence.

From what I can see, Dr. Young does not have any interest in actually *testing* whether his ideas are correct. For example, the simple way to test his assertions about the effects of pH on disease would be to give sick people a couple of teaspoons of baking soda per day mixed with water. Baking soda (NaHCO3) is a base and will alkalinize the person's blood at least as well as any of the dietary manipulations Dr. Young suggests. But he appears not to have done this, or even to have studied the medical literature to see if other's have.

I also listened to Dr. Young on a marketing-oriented group phone call, which one of the distributors of his diet plans invinted me to listen in on. Dr. Young repeats the phrase "alkalinize and energize" like a mantra, many times; yet he provides no evidence that I can see that "alkalinizing" the blood through dietary or any other means actually increases energy. I have nothing against an ash-alkaline diet; in fact, I personally believe such a diet might have a positive impact on bone strength. But if someone is to make broad assertions about the benefits of an ash-alkaline diet, they should have persuasive evidence; but I didn't see any evidence for his claims.

As Dr. Young correctly points out in his book, there is a long history of science and medicine making errors and going down the wrong paths; and sometimes these wrong turns are not identified for decades or perhaps even centuries (some surely have yet to be identified). However, what he seems to fail to recognize is that there is also a long (really, much longer) history of non-scientific healing going down the wrong paths. Both scientific and non-scientific healers have made mistakes, and these mistakes have sometimes gone uncorrected for long periods. The only way to catch these mistakes is to test one's ideas, to see if they actually work; this applies to both conventional medicine and holistic medicine. Dr. Young seems to have an almost paranoid skepticism about many aspects of accepted medical practice, yet he is entirely credulous about much that falls outside of the mainstream. He seems to be entirely credulous about his own ideas.

I accepted my friend's request to check out Dr. Young's ideas thinking that he might have something interesting to say. I didn't expect perfection, but I did at least expect enough evidence that one might think he has framed a plausible hypothesis, an idea that is interesting and worth exploring further. But I did not find even that. Instead I found an almost religious fervor, an inadequate grasp of the fundamentals of the very field that is central to his ideas (pH balance), and no evidence that he has any real interest in testing his ideas to see if they actually work.

To say this, however, is not to rule out the possibility that some of the particular dietary or nutritional interventions he recommends might be beneficial. For instance, he seems to recommend a low-carbohydrate diet (a la Atkins), various nutrients (which are supported by some valid studies), and the like. Some of these things might actually be good for a person. Perhaps doing many of them together will be even better for a person. But the point is this: Dr. Young believes and claims that these things all work through a common pathway: that they work *because* they alkalinize the body. For example, the low-refined carbohydrate diet is not effective, Dr. Young seems to believe, because it prevents rapid release of insulin, etc.; he believes the diet is effective because it (allegedly) alkalinizes the body. This emphasis on pH and alkalinization as the supposed common pathway behind a seemingly unrelated group of nutritional strategies lies at the core of Dr. Young's ideas. It is this emphasis that differentiates his approach from the approaches of many others who focus on nutrition. Yet it is precisely this aspect of his theory that appears to be almost entirely unsupported by evidence.

Reviewer: a grateful, healthier reader July 14, 2000

WHAT AN EYE OPENER! Sick and Tired?--Reclaim Your Inner Terrain is fascinating and if you are into scientifically proven information about the healthiest diet and lifestyle I've ever learned about and experienced, this book is certainly for you!

It begins with a short history about 19th and 20th century scientists and their scientific findings that were ignored then and are continuing to be ignored today by most health professionals and unfortunately by most of us. This ignorance has led us to the "take a pill or cut it out mentality" for almost every symptom ever since and we just keep getting sick and tired and sicker and more tired until we eventually come down with major diseases. Have you ever asked yourself why? Dr. Robert O. Young has.

Dr. Young gives us answers based on his years and years of research and clinical work as a microbiologist and biochemist. In scientific and simple terms he explains the biochemistry of the blood. We learn the vital importance of why the pH balance of the blood must be kept in a 7.3 pH range and not in lower acidic ranges if we want to experience long term balanced health and vitality. We learn the red blood cells literally change their forms and functions when the pH continuously and over the years stays more in the acidic range. This is knowledge most of us know little about and so we continue our cycle of harmful habits. His term for this is The Cycle of Imbalance.

As the red blood cells continue to live and flow in fluid with an acid pH range, they get biochemical signals to begin disorganizing/changing their functions and forms into that of bacteria and yeast, then fungus and mold! Yes they do change. There are pictures to show this and lots of information to show why and how all this happens! They then start circulating in our bodies as these new forms and excrete wastes, which are also acidic, into our blood stream. All this flows in our blood and lymph and so it goes into our tissues and organs and begins the process of breaking down/rotting/decomposing our tissues and vital organs, slowly or rapidly, depending on the weakened areas in our bodies.

This book goes beyond other health books to explain and show where the imbalance and overgrowth of yeast keeps coming from and why and what we can do to bring our body back into balance and health naturally, through proper hydration, diet and other choices, without adding even more acids to our blood system from medications which supposedly "kill" the germs and/or "cure" the disorder, but in biochemical reality only cause even more acid imbalance and toxicity and the quicker decline of the health of our tissues, organs and us!

The great news is that thanks to Dr. Young and and his wife, Shelley, it doesn't have to be this way! They give us health guidelines to take us to a whole new level of health and vitality if we choose to use them! Dr. Young calls this The Cycle of Balance and they both go into great detail on just how we can rebalance our pH, blood system and bodies. They include dietary suggestions, cleanses, foods to eat and foods to begin eliminating from our diets, and some recipes too, although there are many more in the companion book Shelley Young wrote, Back To The House of Health.

Even more scientific and practical information follows in the case studies, essays, biochemical flow charts and tables as part of this book.

Dr. Young is one of many scientists throughout the world who knows the vital value pH balanced blood is to our health, energy, clear thinking and well-being. Throughout his years of research and clinical work, he and Shelley kept asking themselves, "How can we help people balance their pH more quickly than with diet alone? What do we need to teach them? How can we show them how tasty and nutritious this new, healthier lifestyle is? I applaud their commitment and courage to step up and speak out in this age of chemical profusion, confusion and delusion! As we read Sick and Tired?, we begin to realize chemicals aren't the answer for everything at all. WE must take control and responsibility to maintain and improve our health and that of our families. I'm so grateful for this book and for what it continues to teach me. I enjoy a greater quality of health thanks to using what they teach in it. I've kept off 38 extra pounds, lifelong respiratory problems are gone, and my liver recovered after being so toxic from so many years of pills and/or shots to kill all those "germs" from the outside coming into me when all along it was the acid imbalance inside that was causing the symptoms, diseases and disorders. I know this to be true because as I become more and more alkaline and balanced, I am less and less sickly and have more energy and ambition! Now I have 2 questions for you. Did you nourish your red blood cells today? Do you even know how? When you nourish them, they will nourish you and your tissues and organs and give you the health and vitality you desire and deserve!

Dr. and Shelley Young share fantastic knowledge to improve the quality of life we all experience. After following the dietary guidelines in this book, I now have boundless energy, sleep two hours less per night and lost 20 pounds with incredible ease.

Dr. Young provides the scientific background materials to support his principles with plenty of photos to demonstrate the concepts. Shelley Young shows us how to implement these new ways of eating and living with a whole section devoted to recipes and meal strategies. If you are not living life to its fullest or want to step your life up to a new level, buy this book and implement their strategies.

Dr. and Shelley Young have emphasized how to eat and drink correctly to normalize your body chemistry and be healthy. Two years ago I contracted cancer, the normal medical proceedures did not seem to be working. Looking for alternative methods to combat cancer, I found Dr. Youngs program made a lot of sense. Detoxify your body systems, get rid of the acids and alkalize by eating the correct vegetables. I have followed this program for almost two years, I am now cancer free. During this period I have learned how to properly care for my body through Dr. Young's program of correct nutrition. Want to Save Your Life? Read this Book.

First of all the book is excellant. The concept of acid/alkaline in the body and its central role has been around for a long time, however he has perhaps uniquely extended the concept as unifying theory of the health/disease continuum.

Yet I have to say nice try, but the best unified theory of disease (or the disease/health continuum) resides with Dr.J.H. Tilden's concept of enervation/toxemia which predates you by 100 years or more. Acid/alkaline is not only controlled by specific foods but by (in general terms) all excesses of normally wholesome things (like sunlight, rest, food, exercise etc) and all insufficiencies of same and by emotions and toxin habits. Toxin habits would include some obvious ones like cigarette smoking, alcohol, drugs, etc plus indigestible food combinations.
Where Dr. Young emphacises the acids produced from foods and some of the stresses mentioned above, Dr.Tilden points out that as the body loses vitality through various bad habits of living and becomes enervated (exhausted) at least two large categories of body functions specifically excretions and secretions become impaired. The individual cell normally excretes CO2, ammonia, and other toxins which along with toxins produced from bacterial decay of food (due to impaired secretion) in the stomach do not get efficiently removed in an exhausted body. Thus impaired elimination through the lungs, kidneys, skin, and gastrointestinal tract result in acid waste buildup ie toxemia along with acid producing foods etc. that constitute Dr. Youngs acidity. Enervation ie lowered vitality and functioning power in a body would not only affect the physiological status of the body as a whole but the functioning power of the individual parts or organs, thus the increased acidity due to checked ellimination and retained waste.

What makes Tildens theory the "grand classic unified theory of disease" is that it works with Dr. Youngs concepts as well as Hans Selya, Bechamp, Naesans, Issac Jennings, Russel Trall, Herbert Shelton and many others. You can explain the simplest diseases to mass epidemics without resorting to the pathetically failed germ theory of Pasteur. What are epidemics? Epidemics are result of mass enervating occurrances. For example mass poor sanitation(contaminated water and/or little or no waste removal), cold spells, drought, failure of food distribution, insufficient food, mass overeating and drinking (as in U.S.holidays), mass decay of food, mass emotional stress (due to war, famine, displacement), mass drugging (as in vaccination, fluoridation etc) or mass polluting etc,etc. Often times the above list occurs in groups of negative occurrances as in periods of war (example: after WWI and the great flu epidemic). Also
the interpretation that as Dr.Shelton stated "disease itself is the remedial process and not something that should be cured, killed, subdued, suppressed, or thwarted but is something that sould be allowed to complete its purification work" preferrably in wholesome conditions like complete rest, clean water, quite, warmth, and no food is "simplicity itself". Also obviously to correct mass sickness from continuing the mass causes have to be addressed. These concepts have been around but largely unrecognized since the 19th century when it was originally called the Hygienic System which today is known as Natural Hygiene. Some of the older authors such as Tilden, Trall, Jennings, Bechamp, Shelton et al can be obtained from various sites on the internet under Natural Hygiene or at www.healthresearchbooks.com.

I read this book because: I've been into vegetarianism and raw foods for the past four years, and I've heard about it from Tony Robbins. At first I must say I was quite impressed. Dr. Young offers us a new Biology and new way to look at health and disease. According to him, diseases come from imbalances inside of us, not from outside ennemies in the form of germs and viruses. He has been observing people's blood for years and came up with the following theory: terrain (as he calls it) imbalances arise from the acidification of the body. This leads to the DEGENERATION of the cells which MUTATE into fungus, bacteria, and, later on, mold. He calls it polyphorphism and, apparently, it can be observed when one studies live blood. These fungus produce their own acids, which further acidifies the body, leading to a vicious circle of imbalances. Diseases are manifestations of this imbalance. The diet recommended by the author to come out of disease and stay health is a totally vegan, vegetable-based diet. It looks like a anti-candida diet but stricter. Vegetables, raw and fresh, are the basis of it. He says that fruit is actually acid-forming because of its sugar content, which is absolutely wrong in my opinion. I tried his diet for a few weeks and it made me feel... sick and tired! However it would be a major improvement for most people. But I pefer my hygienic diet of fruits and vegetables with little oil and no condiments. My overall feel is that a lot of information in this book makes sense, except for the diet recommendations. Also, the importance of living foods, although emphasized in the book, is in my opinion of greater significance. Overall a great book full of controversial information.