Never Be Sick Again: Health is a Choice, Learn How to Choose It

Rating:
Summary: Intelligent, Useful, Inspiring!
Review: As a nutritionist, I've read quite a few self-help books on health, and this one is different. It goes to the root of the problem, asking the questions "what is disease?" "how do we become sick?" and "how do we prevent or recover from disease?" An MIT-educated scientist, the author brushes aside medical mumbo-jumbo to get down to the essentials. Inspired by people like the Hunzas, who often lived their entire lives without a single disease, he begins with the premise that it is humanly possible to "never be sick." What a revolutionary concept! He goes on to show how, despite the challenges of living in our modern world, we can create in our own lives the basic human preconditions for health.

Although written for the layperson, this author is obviously a very intelligent man and a scientist who thinks problems through in an independent and clear-minded way. The well-researched information he supplies and the model he presents for making choices on a day-to-day basis are extemely useful and empowering. He has a good sense of humor and an engaging writing style, and his stories about his own recovery and the recoveries of the people he's worked with using this model are truly inspiring.

I am recommending this book to my friends and colleagues and am giving a copy to each of my clients as I want them to have this important information.

Rating:
Summary: A Godsend
Review: Decades ago, Rachel Carson's book Silent Spring permanently changed the way I thought about the environment. Never Be Sick Again has just permanently changed the way I think about health. This book obsoletes most of our existing approach to medicine. An enjoyable, informative, and must-read book. Truly paradigm shifting and highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Health In One Lesson
Review: Highly recommended! Never Be Sick Again is the closest thing to health in one lesson I have ever read. This book takes highly complex, cutting-edge biochemistry and reduces it to clear, simple language that anyone can understand and use to improve their health.

Entertaining, easy to read, and life changing, Never Be Sick Again breaks new ground in explaining why there is only one disease and only two causes of disease. The author literally hands the reader the keys to good health. Another eye opener is how the author explains why conventionally-trained medical doctors can't cure disease and why they are obsolete and even dangerous. This is one very powerful book.


Rating:
Summary: A Book On Health that Makes Sense
Review: I have read many books on health, which usually focus on only one aspect of health. This book encapsulates all the information you need to know to achieve optimal health. The author presents a wealth of material, which is fully supported and backed by years of research and documented studies. He exposes why modern medicine "amounts to little more than 20th century voodoo." Raymond Francis teaches us a practical new system for choosing health based on the "one disease" theory, with two causes and six pathways. This new way to see health and disease is so simple it empowers the individual to take charge of their own lives and bodies. For me, this is the most important book in my library. I highly recommend it. It will not only teach you how to extend your life without disease, but to extend the quality of your life through feeling great and vibrant and productive for the rest of your life. I'm giving this book to my family and friends for Christmas.
-Joan Carole

Rating:
Summary: misleading and unscientific
Review: I picked this book from the shelf because the author's theory of health appealed to me. I am a doctor and agree that modern medicine is not successful in many areas, especially in prevention of diseases. However, this book left me disappointed.

The book is biased. Facts are not selected objectively, but at author's convinience.

Of course, traditional chapter on "doctor-bashing", totally distorted and presented one-sidedly.

Many discussions are unscientific. Are patients with rheumatoid arthritis that are taking non-steroidal drugs do worse because of these drugs, or are they put on these drugs because their disease is more severe? Yes, aspirin can cause bleeding, but what about it reducing risk of heart attack, benefit that outweighs the risk, so that more lives are saved than lost? Yes, unnecessary prescription of antibiotics is very bad, but on the other hand many lives are being saved daily by giving these drugs to people.

I have a feeling that most anti-allopathic references were taken from medical dissidents, similar to those who claim that AIDS is not caused by the virus. By the way, are there really more people employed by AIDS industry than AIDS sufferers? Source?

Claims from Nobel laureate Linus Pauling about miracles of vitamin C were disproven in many scientificly conducted objective studies. Present opinion (based on science) claims that there are little benefits from taking high doses of this substance, and its preventative properties are at best marginal. Still, the author conveniently skips these facts in order to support his case, and recommends this drug for prevention of colds.

By the way, the placebo effect, ascribed to medical treatments in the book, is well recognized and accepted in allopathic medicine. Every clinical trial measures effects of new treatments against placebo. Yes, many drugs help on the basis of placebo effect. But so are numerous supplements from "natural" medicine. In "natural" medicine, in fact, there are very few objectively conducted scientific studies on efficacy of health products, and most "natural" drugs are given on the basis of anecdotal evidence, i.e. vitamin C helped that guy to get rid of colds, and vitamin E cured that woman of cancer etc. My favourite is the editorial reference on the back cover, where woman treated by Ray Francis "returned to work, making a six-figure income". Does he have treatment for seven-figure salary?

While thre are valid points in the book on health education and necessary emphasis on disease prevention, in general, it is biased, opinionated and, I agree with one of the previous reviewer, the title is arrogant. Health and disease is very complex subject. There is place and time for all modalities of prevention and treatment, including naturopathic medicine. However, claims and opinions must be substantiated by scientific methods and not preferences and opinions.




Rating:
Summary: Buy this book!
Review: I read in my newspaper that the publishing industry had selected Never Be Sick Again as one of the six best health books of 2002. Based on this recommendation, the intriguing title, and my interest in health, I bought a copy. I was not disappointed. I couldn't put it down. It's what I call a page turner. I read the whole book in one day staying up past 2 am. This is the best health book I have ever read. It has permanently changed the way I think about health. Never Be Sick Again is revolutionary, comprehenhive, and easy to read. In my opinion it is not only one of the six best of 2002, but one of the six best health books ever published. I am recommending it to everyone I know, and this is the first book that has ever prompted me to do that.

Rating:
Summary: A lot of common sense advice and some more ...
Review: The "revolutionary" theory presented is that disease is cause primarily by deficiency (of vital nutrients) and toxicity (of foreign or internally-produced elements). In the context of this book, Raymond Francis defines disease at the core as malfunctioning cells.

The best thing about this book is the paradigm change of how to view human disease (in general) and it's two main causes. The author makes sure he drills this in your head in the first four chapters. The rest of the chapters each focus on one of six "pathways" to eliminate (or minimize) disease. This is where the practical advice is found. The content of these practical chapters seemed to be scattered and subsections were not connected very well. Sometimes the information seemed to be even conflicting (on the surface) like one paragraph informing us that breastfeeding is the best way to feed babies, and then the next one telling us that even breast feeding is bad for the babies because of possible toxins passed on from mother's body. The Genetic Pathway chapter was a bit of disappointment (very short) and I feel like there were more research studies and ideas that he could have included in the Psychological Pathway chapter.

In general a lot of the advice in the book is plain & simple common sense: to live a healthy life and have a healthy body
* eat well (wholesome foods, preferably organic and not very processed),
* sleep well,
* have a positive/optimistic outlook on life,
* exercise regularly (which also helps reduce stress),
* and be an informed consumer about products one uses and consumes around the house (e.g. listed ingredients, cleaning agents and toxin sources).

The second best thing about this book is the variety of resources (books listed in the Reference section) that the author has digested and distilled on his own time and then disseminated across this book.

Reason why this book does not deserve five starts (IMHO):

1) The information in the book is presented and discussed as being Gospel and with a very heavy evangelical undertone (and no, this is not a religious book). Also this feeling is echoed by the title and subtitle ("NEVER be sick again, Health IS a CHOICE, learn how to CHOOSE IT").

2) Examples of people benefiting from suggested changes seem almost allegorical since they are only presented by a first name with no extra specifics for verification. The same goes for the medical research articles quoted (with the exception of one study where the month, title, and author are listed along with the journal name).

3) As a strict vegetarian I was disappointed to read that Raymond does not recommend the vegetarian or vegan diet without elaborating on his opinion (even though studies have shown both the benefits and pitfalls of a plant-based diet).

Overall: Check this book at your local library, take everything presented with a grain of salt (balanced approach, with moderation), and if you like it, then buy it.

Rating:
Summary: A Godsend
Review: This is the best book I have ever read. For the last six years I have suffered from a serious inflammatory lung disease. I have been on many drugs and have seen many specialists, yet each year my problem grew worse. When a friend gave me this book, I had no idea how it would change my life. Only six months after putting its suggestions to work, I am now off of all drugs and feeling better than I have in six years. This book has been a godsend to me, it gave me back my life. Even if you have never bought a book in your life, buy this one. It could save your life.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the 5+ button?
Review: This is the best book I have read in a very long time. It is profound, easy to read, entertaining, and filled with practical information. It presents a systematic approach to health that is easy to understand and implement. Most importantly, it has been life changing. Never Be Sick Again has permanently altered the way I think about health. In just six weeks I lost 12 unwanted pounds just by implementing a few of its suggestions (and this is not a diet book). In addition, I feel more alert and have more energy. I can't think of another book that has had such an impact on my life, and I doubt if my doctor knows ten percent of what's in this book. Highly recommended!