The Diet Selector By Judith Rodriguez

This is a nifty book. I picked it up at Smiths (Kroger). I feel it was well worth the money.

The purpose of this book to to review the diets out there. Nearly every diet is in this from "3 Apple-a-Day " to "You, On A Diet".

So in the beginning the author, Dr. Rodriguez talks about diet myths and about dieting today and how portions sizes have double and even tripled. Sound advice that pertains to any diet is given.

The bulk of this book an overview of diets which includes:

• The origin/history


• Diet claims and how it works


• At a glance ratings which include long term plan, flexibility, being family friendly, cost, strength of science.


• A sample menu to provide some ideas of what following the diet means in terms of everyday eating.


• Useful resources for further info


• Lists "treats" and "forbidden foods"


• My favorite: the Pro's and Con's

There is also a section on diets for disease management such as DASH, GI, Gluten Free, Mayo etc.

A very good book to have as a reference.

Braggs Healthy Lifestyle By Paul C. and Patricia Bragg

I think this book is one of the first to start the raw diet movement. While I learned several new things, I don't agree with the Braggs philosophy on all subjects.

It did inspire me to do a 66 hour fast of raw apple juice and raw apple cider vinegar only. (At 66 hours I had 1/2 of an avocado, but went on to 72 hours). I have been trying to detox forever and just decided to bite the bullet; Since fasting is one of the fastest ways to detox.

One piece of advice if doing a fast: Raw apple cider vinegar (not the stuff you get at Walmart, like Heinz. Raw organic, like Braggs) really helps with the hunger pains and over all sense of well being. The recipe is all over the bottle. but is 1tsp. RAW honey, 2 t. ACV and a cup of water. Can be taken three times a day. This cocktail is good for a variety of ills. My sister in law suggested it and I have been drinking it for three weeks now. Apparently it was the original Gatorade, I can believe it.

I made Patricia's popcorn recipe: air popped of course. with olive oil, brewer's yeast and Braggs sprinkle seasoning and it was really good. Matter of fact my kids ate it all and I plan on making more today.

My favorite part of the book was the "Chinese tongue Chart". The tongue is the magic mirror of the stomach and entire mucus membrane system, so if it's coated in a particular area, that's where the toxins are.

My review of this book is questionable. I learned from it, but the tone of the book is arrogant-calling people who eat unhealthily "living dead" and "walking piles of manure".The information rendered becomes redundant. The book could easily be less than 50 pages instead of 132.

If you are considering the raw food or vegan diet, you will like it, but I'm not to that point. I like my cheese and meat to much.

Paul Bragg has a slew of accomplishments such as opening the first health food store in America and was the first to introduce juicing. Even Jack LaLanne is one of his students (we hear about that every few pages).

Mother Warriors By Jenny McCarthy- Autism's False Prophet's By Paul A. Offitt

This book is about how celebrity Jenny McCarthy is handling getting her message out about Autism and stories of other mothers who have had success treating their children's Autism with alternative methods.
She states that by diet you can cure Autism.
I am also reading "Autism's False Prophets" along side of it. They are totally different approaches. While Jenny's book is a more in the trenches and an emotional approach. Offitt's book is purely scientific studies. So you have to go where your belief style is.
On this subject, I am more inclined to take Jenny's side. Why? Because I have seen alternative medicine fix things that traditional medicine told me there was nothing to do.
I have never seen or heard Jenny McCarthy on any of the talk shows, so I went into this being blind. But I had heard, many years ago,that through diet you can help this condition. If you have an autistic child, it would be worth the $13.00. What is it going to hurt to get your child B vitamins and no dairy to see if they improve.

My pediatrician suggested I read "Autism's False Prophets" to help convince me of the safety of the MMR shot through studies not linking MMR vaccinations to autism. Although all of the evidence or studies are there, But of course, anyone can do studies to the be convincing of the result they intend I still do not have the peaceful feeling about inoculating my children with this shot. I think it's called "Mother's intuition".
Autism's False Prophets is written by a doctor who worked to help concoct the rotovirus vaccination. Which leads me to the question "Why is an expert on infectious diseases writing a book on treatments for a non-infectious disease?" Actually, all he is doing is trying to dispel all non traditional methods of treating autism. He says he is not apart of the "big Pharma" but really? Honestly, his attitude is a downer. It's like he's slamming the studies in your face and saying "It's not our fault, ain't nothing you can do about it, don't let the door hit you in the butt on your way out."

Both of these books are generated more to parents who have an autistic child, which I do not. I read this book to see if I could ease my fear, to get the MMR shot, it did not work. I still feel the same. This is a personal decision we all have to make.

By The Way: For two of my pregnancies I was not immune to Rubella. My second and my fifth children. They are 13 years apart. My point: the efficacy (how long it lasts) and that shot REALLY stings and hurts even for a tough broad like me!

The Liver Cleansing Diet By Sandra Cabot

So before I review this book I need to preface this and say:

I have been to the doctor and had blood tests done. I do not have high cholesterol or triglycerides; on the contrary I have low cholesterol (if that's possible, and it is) and low triglycerides. Ironically, the symptoms are quite similar.

So after my doctor informed me that I have a congested liver and I would never loose weight until it was functioning more efficiently- I decided it was time to clean that baby up and went online to find out how. The liverdoctor.com caught my eye. Dr. Cabot told me everything my doctor already had and even more.

The Liver Cleansing Diet by Dr. Sandra Cabot

The liver is the biggest organ in the body and is often overlooked. Dr. Cabot does an excellent job of explaining the functions of the liver and how important the liver is for the over all well being of the body. She also gives you the symptoms of a "fatty" or congested liver.

Keep in mind, if you see a traditional doctor for tests your levels may be in healthy perimeters according to that doctor. If you go to a nature path or alternative health provider you will get better help with this problem. Alternative health Providers are not quacks. They like to fix the problems rather than treat the symptoms.

I can not tell you how much I learned about the process of the liver in this book and found it so interesting. Did you know that the liver regulates carbohydrate metabolism, stores certain vitamins such as B12,regulates protein metabolism, detoxifies many toxic substance sand chemicals,and is an internal cleanser:

If the liver filter and/or detoxification pathways become overloaded. this will cause toxins, dead cells, cancer cells, fat globules and microorganisms to build up to undesirably high levels in the blood stream. This increases the workload of the immune system. The immune system becomes overloaded and irritated causing it to produce excessive inflammatory chemicals....This leads to symptoms of allergies, chronic fatigue, recurrent inflections, or auto immune diseases. page 52

Some other symptoms of a fatty liver are coated tongue, foggy brain, circles under eyes, bloated abdomen and bad breath. Itching skin and brown spots or skin rashes. Sugar cravings, inability to loose weight, sluggish metabolism, poor digestion, headaches, high cholesterol.

I looked at this as a liver-cleansing diet, not a diet to loose weight. However; it makes total sense that anyone following this diet would loose weight. Dr. Cabot suggests you eat food that do not burden the liver any more than it already is for 8 weeks. So no refined foods such as white flour or sugar, dairy or red meat. Basically lots of fresh vegetables/fruits and chicken or seafood. With the summer gardens and harvest time approaching I thought this would be a perfect time for me to try it.

The book is a quick read for the second half is full of recipes. I read it in one evening.

Dr. Cabot writes in an easy to read style that is very thorough and uplifting (there is hope to be thin again!). Before another diet is tried, a person should really think about this, since it is genetic and very common. Not to mention it is very easy to get your liver in this condition by not eating good healthy foods.

Although I purchased this book (which I feel was worth the price of $10). This and several of her other books I found at the county library in my area. Her website is great and a lot of the material is covered there.

Super Baby Food - Ruth Yaron

I received a flyer for this book in something or another after having Derci. It looked interesting, but anything that claims to be everything usually isn't. So when I was in Orem, I stopped by Barnes and Noble to see it for myself.

Its 558 pages of info. Yes, some is repeated. She writes/compiles it that way, so that you can start reading anywhere in the book and not be lost. This is the description:

Absolutely everything you should know about feeding your baby and toddler; from starting solid foods to age three. Includes more than 350 quick, easy, delicious and nutritious recipes and thousands of money saving and time saving child care and kitchen tips.

Highly recommended by new moms and dads.

On the back cover:

• How and when to start your baby on solid foods, with detailed information on the safest high chairs, spoons, and other feeding equipment.
• Which foods to introduce to your baby to eat and drink each month of his first year , with details on proper food consistency, amount and temperature.
• How much you can expect your baby to eat and drink during the months of her first year with information on her digestive system at each age.
• The Super Baby Food Diet for your baby or toddler with feeding schedules and worksheets, which make it easy to feed your baby a healthy balanced diet.
• Your baby;s physical, emotional, and psychological development as it applies to self feeding and mealtimes.
• When you can expect your baby to start finger feeding, drinking from a cup, and self feeding with a spoon and fork.
• This book will give you the knowledge and confidence to make your own healthy and safe homemade baby vegetables, fruits, cereals, and other Super Baby Foods.
• Food allergies and important food warnings and safety precautions.
• Hundreds of money saving and time saving child care and kitchen tips.
• Make meals fun! food decorating, toddler part snacks and favors
• Recipes for homemade play dough, finger paints, bubbles, and other children's crafts.
• All about nutrition and your baby, including nutrient tables of all major vitamins and minerals with convenient baby-sized portions.
• How to save money by making homemade yogurt, fruit leather, and how to grow sprouts, fruit plants and herbs in your kitchen.
• Easy economical recipes for homemade baby accessories, such has baby wipes, diaper cream, and more.
• Baby safe and environment-friendly recipes for household cleaning products such has furniture polish and window cleaners.

Not only does it have all that. It had ideas for making cakes. Yeah, cakes like giraffe's, wagon's. footballs, firetrucks all from round or rectangular pans.

It has safety info, not just the normal stuff, but information about radon, I had not even heard of radon till a year ago.

Definitely what it says. The only book a mom needs.