Rating: 
Summary: The Search Stops Here
Review: If you are wanting to explore macrobiotics without giving your life over to cooking, this is the BEST book for you! I fell upon this book about six or seven years ago in our local health food store, and it started me on a beautiful journey of exploring macrobiotics.
This cookbook GENTLY explains the use and function of ingredients which might at first seem "strange", but which grow to be comforting "cookfellows" after the author introduces you to their healing powers and how to tastefully unlock them.
The recipes are simple and GOOD. For those with a sweet tooth who are looking to "tame" it, the dessert recipes offer a gentle transition to healthier sweetness. And always, throughout, the emphasis on BALANCE and on WHOLE FOODS easily couples with the wonderful explanations of macrobiotic thought and philosophy.The other book which I would highly recommend (for a bit more advanced study) is AVELINE KUSHI'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO MACROBIOTIC COOKING. There is no better or more complete explanation of macrobiotic philosophy and of macrobiotic cooking methods (traditional ones) than those in this book. If I could have only two cookbooks, THE SELF-HEALING COOKBOOK and AVELINE KUSHI'S COMPLETE GUIDE TO MACROBIOTIC COOKING would be the two books which I would cling to for dear life.
Rating:
Summary: Great primer on Japanese nutritional therapy
Review: In traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese medicine, herbal theory extends to daily diet; the theory sees every food as an herb. Dietary therapy is a gentle and powerful therapy, but the beginner may be confused where to start. The different traditions disagree somewhat about the actions of different foods, so what the beginner needs is one simple, coherent system they can follow to diagnose and treat themselves. Turner's book is well-written, coherent, and simple to understand. It demystifies macrobiotic menus: you understand why you eat certain foods in certain times of the year. And it gives guidance as to when you should deviate from the standard menus of the season, i.e., what to eat when your mood or body show signs of imbalance, depending on what those signs are. The book is empowering, and it can change your life. This should be the first book anyone gets when they decide to go macrobiotic.
Rating:
Summary: Great primer on Japanese nutritional therapy
Review: In traditional Chinese, Korean, and Japanese medicine, herbal theory extends to daily diet; the theory sees every food as an herb. Dietary therapy is a gentle and powerful therapy, but the beginner may be confused where to start. The different traditions disagree somewhat about the actions of different foods, so what the beginner needs is one simple, coherent system they can follow to diagnose and treat themselves. Turner's book is well-written, coherent, and simple to understand. It demystifies macrobiotic menus: you understand why you eat certain foods in certain times of the year. And it gives guidance as to when you should deviate from the standard menus of the season, i.e., what to eat when your mood or body show signs of imbalance, depending on what those signs are. The book is empowering, and it can change your life. This should be the first book anyone gets when they decide to go macrobiotic.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent transitional book
Review: Start here if you are seriously considering macrobiotics. With a good balance of philosophy and recipes, author Christina Turner explains why we feel the way we do when we eat certain foods. Her explainations of yin and yang foods corresponding to yin and yang moods and conditions are the best I've seen. Other topics include: eating in season; losing weight; gaining weight; using sea vegetables; using certain foods to alleviate specific symptoms; time saving ideas; salt, fat, and dairy; suggested shopping list; dietary guidelines.
I give it four stars because I think the title is misleading: her own husband died of cancer. Because of this, the book is best suited as a transitional book into the macrobiotic lifestyle; it's not a stopping point, but a starting point.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent transitional book
Review: Start here if you are seriously considering macrobiotics. With a good balance of philosophy and recipes, author Christina Turner explains why we feel the way we do when we eat certain foods. Her explainations of yin and yang foods corresponding to yin and yang moods and conditions are the best I've seen. Other topics include: eating in season; losing weight; gaining weight; using sea vegetables; using certain foods to alleviate specific symptoms; time saving ideas; salt, fat, and dairy; suggested shopping list; dietary guidelines.
I give it four stars because I think the title is misleading: her own husband died of cancer. Because of this, the book is best suited as a transitional book into the macrobiotic lifestyle; it's not a stopping point, but a starting point.
Rating:
Summary: Learn about helping yourself and family through macrobiotics
Review: The first macrobiotic cook book I read was by Kushi, and I find Kristina Turner's book far more approachable and accessible, than any thing by Kushi. She uses many recipes whose ingredients can be found any where, even out in the country far from thriving organic communites. I heard of her from Jessica Porter's "Hip Chick's Guide to Macrobiotics."
She organizes information about food and its relationship to moods and physical ailments in neat, easy to remember and easy to read tables. Her introduction to sea weed, is very helpful, as some cook books assume every person understands the difference between wakame, nori, and kombu, among others - so many macro-ccokbooks start throwing ingredients at you that are unfamiliar and you have no idea how to identify them or even why to try them. I liek the fact too that she gives many varieties for miso soup. She also includes a chapter on deserts, so people don't feel deprived, and that there are goodies for the kids.
There are many exercises introduced in the cook book (in fact this is more of a work book than a typical cook book) that are deisigned to help you realize the connection between food and your body, and to help you learn how to choose what is best for you, based on learning how what feels right and why. These exercises can be done with children, if you are switching a family's diet or, as Turner recommends, the book can be done with a friend to make it more fun. Not partner is require though.
Learning macrobiotics should be as much as learning about you as learning about food. Macrobiotics is the art of balancing, and to a degree every one is an individual, and diets should not be a carbon copy of each other because individuals differ too. Turner recognizes this.
Drawbacks for the books were its unprofessional style. It looks like it was done on a typewriter. I also thought that the recipes introduced by Christina Pirello were more family-friendly (meaning easier to cook and less foreign looking) and offered a greater variety than Turner's selections.
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Summary: essential resource for sane, healthy eating.
Review: This book is by far the most useful diet/cookbook that I have come across after reading many others. Its approach is totally sensible, linking moods, minor symptoms, and uncomfortable feelings to consumption of certain foods -- i.e., excess sugars, fats, dairy, etc. What I especially like is that its general approach is one of considering one's entire life circumstances, not limited to food consumption, when making dietary changes, and its advocacy of awareness and slow progress rather than "one size fits all, do this or die" dietary advice. This book is a must for all people considering dietary changes and/or who are unhappy with their bodies and moods.
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Summary: If I could only keep 3 books, this would be one of them.
Review: This book was suggested to me by an herbalist and acupuncturist several years ago, when charting new eating habits. I have refered often to it & recommend frequently to friends who are new to non-Western approaches to health &/or have wondered if any non-trendy, serious books exist that introduce one to the larger picture of healthy eating and patterns, in a fun & easy to understand manner. A wonderful resource!
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Summary: If you want to heal yourself naturally, READ THIS BOOK!
Review: This is an incredible book for those who wish to understand their health and how what we eat determines how we feel. It is based in macrobiotic philosophy, but makes it very simple and easy to understand. It has a little bit of everything in it: philosophy, health, recipes, humor, and inspiring stories and ideas. It is perfect for a beginner who wants to know how to prepare easy, balanced and health-promoting meals for the whole family. Enlightening! I strongly recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Patch Adams was a good forecaster about this book!
Review: When Patch Adams, M.D. (director of Gesundheit Institute) reviewed Kristina's cookbook, he said: "Fun self-help books like yours can change societies!" This playful, user-friendly guide to macrobiotics has become a well-loved classic (over 165,000 copies sold). A favorite repeat seller in natural food stores and alternative health care clinics, it has also been used a textbook for college classes in Holistic Health, and distributed for out-patient education at Kaiser-Permanente Hospital in California. We're delighted that's it's now available on the web through amazon.com. Much more than recipes, The Self-Healing Cookbook gives fresh, heartwarming support to anyone aiming to prevent or recover from diet-related moods and health symptoms. A starter shopping list, food-mood charts, self-healer's workbook, and healing foods glossary are included. Along with a wealth of wisdom on how to eat locally, think globally, cook with the seasons, lose weight naturally and nourish growing kids. Word-of-mouth has carried this book to Great Britian, Canada, Singapore, Israel, Australia and Brazil. Over 21,000 copies have sold in the Japanese edition. We'd love to hear from international readers where else it has found a home in your kitchens.
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