Encyclopedia of Healing Foods Paperback – September 20, 2005

"Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food." I heard Dr. David Perlmutter quote that on PBS. I've been flipping through it and found this Encyclopedia to be very helpful for that goal. I will be looking for a new edition to send a relative as a gift. The book is flawed: the Index is incomplete.1. The books is about "Foods", right? I looked up Persimmons because in my mind they mysteriously helped me feel better, I even slept better - they are available only in November -- Nothing in the Index.2. I looked up "Digestion" in the INDEX and found Nothing. (Again, this is a book about Food.) However, as I flipped through the book I did find a nice section on Digestion.3. I found Amazing insights on Green Teas (which I had thought was a fad, I don't enjoy it), and Gluten. I found fascinating information on certain essential oils, and how to store certain greens and fruits and herbs.4. I looked up "Endives" -- is it a lettuce, a stalk-like veggie, a tuber? You won't see a drawing or photo of this veggie, but you WILL see outstanding nutritional information, and guidelines you need for eating it.5. Is it true, as some doctor had said, that Broccoli and Cauliflower are not foods of Nature, but hybrids? NO it's not. Broccoli's been talked about for 2,000 years.6. I was wondering, WHY does he have Herpes in here? There is a definite "Food Prescription" for Herpes Simplex.7. AND FINALLY an explanation of "acidity/alkalinity" [CRITICAL to Health)!! As in, Why aren't Lemons High on the Acidity index??8. I didn't see Hemp Oil.9. Iron is fairly difficult to get. Selenium is VERY important (Two words: Brazil nuts). Fresh Oysters contain an astounding amount of Zinc.10. Who knew this? "Cow's milk consumption was determined to be the cause of constipation in 2/3 of children (who had it) according to the prestigious NEJM." He leads you to prestigious studies, like Tufts, on Blueberries (fascinating). (Layer yogurt and blueberries in a wine glass he says.)11. Wonderful section on EYES. Nothing on Eyebright tea, which works like magic. Cooks Country said the Frozen version of Yogurt kills, what, 95% of the 'biotics', so, what ABOUT Frozen foods and nutrients?12. That crap underneath certain mushrooms - people eat that, or is it Rot?? What’s the deal about not washing Mushrooms? Otherwise, a fantastic section on Mushrooms. The info on Maitake Mushrooms was Astounding!13. Info on "Sea Vegetables" - loved it. They date back to Japan -- 8,000 BCE!!14. What about “baby” veggies? Chef Pepin doesn’t really recommend these. They "tend to be bitter and obviously not biologically mature".15. Who knew that some foods are poison, like the pits of fruits? I actually found this out by watching a PBS show about a garden of death, so-to-speak in honor of Agatha Christie.16. Two more words: ASIAN GREENS! Nothing (that I've found) in the book about these amazing Greens available at many Farmer's Markets and Asian Markets.17. Interesting how he has a section on herbs that's begging to be laminated and kept on the refrigerator -- however he left out the homely Bay Leaf which seems to be very versatile ("Gripe Water")If you, like me, believe that Food is Your Best Medicine, this is a book worth its weight in Gold.Addendum: So now we have, as reported by NBC, a "Culinary Medicine Program" at Tulane University where Doctors learn Cooking. And this program is being copied by 19 other universities.If they update this book, I would say leave out impractical information and perhaps include caveats for too much of a good thing. Example: “3.5-ozs (100 grams) of Garlic has 6.4 grams of protein” ect. Seriously? That’s 2 or 3 Bulbs according to the wildly contradictory information online. The caveat would be the possibility that too much garlic may cause liver toxicity.

I have loved this book for a decade and a half. I turn to this book over and over, and read it for enjoyment as well. I highly recommend it.I'm writing this review to let people know how fabulous this source is, but I also want to implore the authors to put out an updated version. There have been many advances in nutrition and I'd love for them to put it all together in the same format. I would probably buy several copies myself and give a few as gifts.

I find this a wonderful asset to my reference books. I see foods as medicine and this is helpful to help find answers to those questions looking to meet specific needs, along side my "RX for Nutritional Healing"Rx prescription for cooking and dietary wellness. I also appreciate the other notes added for history and such, I would encourage this for anyone's library that wants to find nutritional references (Nutritional Highlights and Health benefits sections) to meet specific needs. Also tells you how to select, store and prepare, tips for preparing and safety. A large selection of fruits and vegetables and information I have not found in other sources. Plus some herbs and spices and even meats. Some health issues are also addressed. The beginning of the book also expounds on various nutrients and specific foods known to have them, so if you see you need B-1 (Thiamine) you will find a good size list of specific foods with that particular nutrient. If I were to teach a health and nutrition class, I would recommend this book for continual references, or anyone interested in using food as their medicine. Author also has good notes on his own references, so if you want to research something further you could have a good spring board to build from.My personal desire for this book was for the extensive information on the fruits and vegetables, that stood above other references (or complimented) I have.The Encyclopedia of Healing Foods

Great book as a general reference. I understand not every recommendation in it is perfect. I eat a plant based diet and just because it talks about meat and dairy I’m not going to reject the book. The knowledge shared of food, nutrition, vitamins, supplements, vegetable and fruit origins I feel is very valuable, interesting and well presented. its not perfect but what book of this sort is. Please stop giving low ratings because of a shipping issue as it has nothing to do with the book. The authors spent years researching this book and deserve better.

I LOVE this book! So useful. The information in it is great, it’s well written, and organized in a way to easily get the info your looking for. I love the in-depth info on all the foods and the section on health and healing with foods is great! I just had surgery and have learned a lot on how to help myself heal with the foods I eat. Great book! Definitely recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their diet, health, or just want to have a great reference book to search through when they have spare time.