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Eating and Healing: Traditional Food As Medicine
Edited by Andrea Pieroni and Lisa Leimer Price Haworth Press, Binghamton, New York. Softcover, 406 pages.
Reviewed by Gil C. Allen, MA, MS, PhD, DC
Eating and Healing:Traditional Food As Medicine is a compilation of articles written by various agricultural researchers who have descended on little known human cultural groups in different parts of the world to determine their indigenous knowledge of foods, plants and herbs used for sustenance and medicinal purposes. The book included charts of plants by botanical name and their uses in society, some black and white pictures of plants, and maps of areas investigated by the researchers.
There are thousands of wild plant species used by traditional peoples globally. Even weeds, used for fodder, are needed to sustain people and animals, as is demonstrated when herbicides destroy them. These diverse cultural groups have long recognized the balance that must be sustained in nature to preserve the foods needed for life and health. Traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom embedded in these societies and their culture have enabled them to survive and flourish. One example is the use of seaweed, which accounts for up to 10% of the diet in some societies.
These same societies, in all parts of the world, use wild edible plants and herbs for medicine, besides food. Researchers describe how knowledge passed down over the centuries, is responsible for the successful implementation of the unique processes involved in the cultivation, harvesting and curing of these plants and herbs. They have become an integral part of the health care system for many subsistence societies.
Those in modern civilized societies, including the lay public, can learn a lot from the medicinal foods, plants and herbs used by these societies and described in detail in this book. This information needs to be preserved and included in our pharmacopoeias and utilized in the ever-expanding field of phytotherapy.
Gil C. Allen, MA, MS, PhD, DC, is a Licensed Doctor of Chiropractic and Licensed Dietitian/Nutritionist with a private practice in Flushing, New York.
United Spinal Authors
(New Books by Our Members)
The Ten Year Date: Sex, Secrets, and Lies, by Sherrance Henderson. (Imperious Publishing, Baltimore.) Paperback, 292 pages.
Readers were introduced to the ambitious, glamorous, and sexy Channa Renée Jones in Sunshine Has Rain, part one of a projected trilogy. In that book, Channa is humbled by an accident that renders her an incomplete paraplegic. In this sequel, Channa comes to terms with some unpleasant truths about her love life, particularly as it relates to a man who has kept Channa coming back for 10 years for just one thing: a date. The subject may seem light-hearted at first, but as with Sunshine, this novel delves into serious issues without flinching.
Brooklyn-born Sherrance Henderson, like her protagonist, is an incomplete paraplegic who, as Henderson describes her character, “has a physical disability but leads a full and rewarding life . . .She just walks a little slower.” In addition to writing novels, speaking with reader’s groups and producing and hosting a radio program, Henderson is part owner and publisher of the cooperative publishing company that puts out her books. Both Sunshine and The Ten Year Date are available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, Borders, and also directly from www.imperiouspublishing.com.
ASCENT: How One Quadriplegic Fought for a Full Life AND Soared, by Bruce McGhie. (Ruder Finn Press, New York.) Hardcover, 220 pages.
In this autobiography, Bruce McGhie writes of his life, love and accomplishments as a man dealing with quadriplegia in a pre-handicap accessible world. After a tragic Air Force training accident at the age of 22 left him critically injured and completely dependent on others, McGhie struggled through painful and frustrating rehab with little prospect of ever leading a “normal” life.
During the agonizing recuperation and relearning process inherent to spinal cord injuries, McGhie faced a variety of challenges, from basics such as getting dressed, driving with hand controls, and gaining full physical independence to necessary real-world skills like getting up curbs with no cuts and using inaccessible bathrooms and public telephones. McGhie not only overcame these obstacles and achieved the “impossible”-a virtually normal life-but also dared to strive for the extraordinary, succeeding in such endeavors as building up a successful business consultancy and becoming the first spinal cord-injured person in the world to be licensed as a glider pilot, using hand controls he helped develop.
As one follows McGhie through the years, his disability quickly blends into the background as his accomplishments mount. The book helps to defuse the fear and awkwardness others feel in the presence of the disabled while simultaneously inspiring every person to make the most out of his or her life. A compelling story, the book strives to illuminate the amazing accomplishments of one man and his highly supportive wife while also providing an example of the inherent power people have to transcend handicaps-physical or otherwise-and live full and meaningful lives.
For more information, visit www.rfpress.com/ ruder-finnpress/ ascent.html.
Are you a United Spinal author with a book you’d like us to review or publicize in Action? Please contact us by e-mail (action@unitedspinal.org) or call 800-404-2898, ext. 279.
