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Stordy & others |
Dietary interventions |
The LCP Solution - a remarkable book focusing on the increasing evidence of abnormalities in essential fatty acid deficiencies as one of the underlying mechanisms for ADHD - and what can be done to intervene. | |||
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optimum diet | Stoll | The Omega 3 Connection - This fascinating book is one I encountered at the 9th Annual Institute of Functional Medicine down in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Dr. Stoll, who did some breakthrough research at McClean University Hospital with fish oil reviews both the literature and his research on the essential fatty acid deficiencies seen in children (and adults!) with ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, and other conditions. A review of the literature off of "Pub Med" thoroughly supports Dr. Stoll's findings, although they are not widely known by conventional medical practitioners. I use this book as the bedrock of educational principles when supplementing my patients with essential fatty acids. | |||
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diet awareness |
Pilzer | The Wellness Connection - by Paul Jane Pilzer. I stumbled across this book in an airport bookstore in Atlanta, Georgia, coming back (fittingly enough) from the Institute of Functional Medicine Conference in early June. While a portion of Pilzer's focus in this book is mainly entrepreneurial, as in, "How can I make money with the coming wellness revolution?" it is nevertheless a remarkable and extremely helpful book for the obvious layperson. Here's why: 1) it reviews the difference between the extremely high psychosocial classes and "beautiful people" and how what they DO in terms of diet and exercise is NOT what they say. Examples of the Hollywood "fit bodies" who sport "milk moustaches" but never touch the stuff and eat primarily vegetarian diets is one area. 2) Pilzer talks about how Americans, as a group, have gotten addicted to high fat, low nourishment fat food, and who "focus groups" are used to sell more of the stuff to those who can least afford it. He reviews the epidemic of obesity and why it's occurring. (Hint: eating a bag of "low fat" potato chips is not going to help you all that much!) He reviews, with merciless intensity and focus, the economics behind the unwitting collaboration of "Big Food" and the established medical politics in this country, where physicians hardly ever counsel about dietary issues or lifestyle issues and then ultimately make money "on the back end" (as my speaker friends would say!) when their patients get sick and diseased because of the miserably decrepit state of their bodies. 3) He descibes how the current state of medical care and insurance practices in this country cannot continue and how it will bankrupt the country if allowed to continue in the current manner (so, believe me, it won't!). 4) Pilzer, an economist, also does an exceptionally creditable job in terms of explaining why we eat what we do, why we crave carbs and fats, and what we should know and do about it. This man has the numbers to back up what he's talking about. All told, this has been one of the most intellectually stimulating books I've read in 2002, and was comfortingly reassuring to me that my assessment of what's going on in medical care and medical care economics has been on track. | |||
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Cooking: Gluten & Sugar Free |
O'Brien | Wheat Free, Sugar Free Gourmet Cooking - by Susan O'Brien - this book addresses the question of "What the heck can I eat now?!" after a recommendation for removing gluten and or sugar from the diet has been made by a physician, dietitian, or functional medicine practitioner (be he or her a chiropractor, naturopathic physician, or whatever. I was personally shocked to find out just how high the amount of gluten sensitivity is in this country, as well as its diverse and very subtle manifestations. The author, who has lived a life with felicitous serendipity - having been both a gourmet cook for twenty years as well as a secretary to Dr. Jeffrey Bland, Ph.D., (the founder of the Institute for Functional Medicine), Sue has combined all that she learned in both careers: how to create tasty and nutritious dishes while, at the same time, not neglecting the taste buds. On a personal level, Sue is a delightful, warm, perky and exceptionally engaging human being. Even though I got to talk to her just a few minutes at a break at the Institute for Functional Medicine conference in Ft. Lauderdale in June of 2002, I walked away with an impression of extreme credibility and just a delightful person. | |||
