Mimi Guarneri

Finally, the doctors are finding that natural healing is preferable to invasive surgeries and harmful pharmaceuticals. This was a good beginner’s book for learning about this topic. Towards the end, she comes to some illogical conclusions that ruined this book for me, even though I appreciate her contributions that will hopefully push medicine in a better direction.

She illogically concludes that agriculture is bad for the Earth so don’t eat meat. Yes, industrial agriculture is bad for both us and the earth, but there are other meat alternatives that she doesn’t discuss, such as wild game and getting meat from responsible small farms. Instead, she concludes that agriculture is bad for the planet, so be a vegan. All that soy she wants us to eat is destroying more ecosystems than animals, although it is true that the entire agriculture industry needs to be abolished. Small farms and gardens seem the more logical answer. Does she not realize that animal manure is a crucial part of growing all those vegetables and soy that she recommends? Much of her lectures were great, but she needs to educate herself about modern agriculture before making such conclusions. Many animals can be good for the planet, especially those who eat plants such as grasses that grow naturally in many ecosystems. Soy agriculture, on the other hand, is turning the world’s rainforests, which are crucial to planetary health, into death zones.

My second complaint about this book is her recommendation for a low-fat diet. Maybe most of her readers are sedentary people, and a low-fat diet might be necessary for that lifestyle, but I for one labor for a living and can’t consume enough vegetables, fruit, and carbs to fuel my body. I need healthy animal protein to get through a hard-working day. She never explains her reason for recommending low fat foods. I can guess that she thinks that eating animal fats make us fat, but from experience this simply isn’t true. When I eat healthy animal fats, I eat less food, feel more satisfied from the foods I do eat, and am able to work and think longer.

For a better researched view of agriculture, I recommend Against the Grain by Richard Manning.… (meer)