Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Outstanding Information and Advice Review: I purchased this book for a family member suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. After several weeks of following Dr. Barnard's diet recommendations for arthritis sufferers they are feeling much improved. And they have lost a good deal of weight from following the diet which has also improved their mobility and further reduced arthritis pain.
Rating: ![2 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-2-0.gif) Summary: Food Alert Review: It is helpful to know the bias or preconceived notions of any author before blindly following his/her advice (including the bias of this reviewer). I am glad I noticed that he was a vegan (very strict vegetarian) before resigning myself to a diet of water, rice and a handful of greens. For a migraine sufferer he bans dairy, eggs and all meat (fish as well), without telling the reader to make sure to eat every 5 hours and to stay away from alcohol in general until one finds one's triggers.Also, he doesn't mention that hot, fresh yeast might be a trigger, but that the next day the yeast may be harmless. I will state my biases up front: MSG is one of my triggers. And I am a crusader to have it labeled on food products, including the amount of grams, so that MSG sensitive persons can adjust their intake accordingly. I know that when I am hungry, I will eat what is on hand and it probably won't be cooked, because I don't have a cook and I am in too much pain to even pop things in the microwave. In addition, when I need to take a pain pill, I must eat to avoid further nausea and I shall eat even forbidden or detested foods in order to get pain relief. People on such restricted diets need a safe harbor, like crackers or cookies that can be found almost everywhere (unlike cooked pears and string beans) to abate their hunger, without losing the benefit of the trial diets; i.e. finding one's triggers. Before a migraine patient starts an elimination diet, I implore them to first get a list of suspect foods from the National Headache Foundation, 1.800.843.2256, instead of using the vegan list in the book. I believe one's endeavors will be more fruitful (:-) if one has a variety of safe foods. Also become familiar with ingredients that hide MSG (1.800.232.8674). Free glutamates that appear in food can turn into MONO-SODIUM glutamates when ingested. A list can be found at the www.nomsg.com site. Each one of us can tolerate differing amounts, but we have no way of measuring the amount we get due to the clever way food companies disguise their ever-increasing use of the stuff. The FDA admits that at least 2% of the US population might be sensitive. At their extremely conservative estimate, at least 6 million people are sensitive in this country and only a handful of them know about free glutamates. MSG is not a preservative, but an "excito-toxin" that cons our brain into believing that what we are tasting is just downright delicious. Amazon has books on this subject. Check for books written by Stanley Blayblock and George Schwatz, MD. One food recommended by my own pain doctor is gelatin. However, the process that creates gelatin (description not for delicate stomachs) ensures that it is full of free glutamates. Also look out for malt, barley and hydrolyzed (insert name of protein here). Any soups, stocks or broths are to be regarded with suspicion unless made in your own kitchen until one is adept at reading ingredient labels. Avoid soup and therefore sauces when dining out; it is not worth giving the cooks the third degree, especially if THEIR sources claim to be msg-free. I have found that restaurant staff are quite willing to review their list of ingredients, however, if they know their customer will become quite ill if unaware of the true nature of the food. Dr. Barnard advises avoiding meats merely because it has no fiber or complex carbohydrates. I hope the recipes included will tell the reader how to make a complete protein with the right combination of vegetables. The reason I gave the book 2 stars is that he does tell about international research results that are probably not found elsewhere and mentions herbs and spices that should at least be given a fair trial to help fight migraines. However, it would be tragic for unsuspecting headache patients to waste weeks of using the elimination diet and not find their real triggers. Sometimes it pays to be skeptical.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Everyone should read & heed the advice in this book! Review: It's been only about 10 days since I read this book. I cut dairy and most meat from my diet immediately. I had been eating 2 cups of yogurt a day and often cheese at night. And every joint in my body was aching all the time! By just eliminating mostly dairy, my back pain was better in just 2 days!! I'm still experimenting with the different trigger foods, herbs, and ALA & GLA oils, but I feel SO ENLIGHTENED. Nothing I have ever read before has explained so convincingly why we should all be "vegans." I'm optimistic that my joints will now start to repair themselves. I've been telling EVERYBODY about this miracle. I want everybody to know about it. And it was so easy! I wish I had had this information years ago. It would have spared me a lot of pain. I just can't say enough good things about this book. Thank you, Dr. Barnard; you have changed my life!
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Excellent reader-friendly book! Review: Literally anyone who eats will benefit greatly from reading Foods That Fight Pain. This reader-friendly book persuasively sorts out what foods can cause pain and what ones do not. Author Neal D. Barnard, M.D., has some of the late astronomer Carl Sagan's special gift for explaining complicated and difficult issues in a lucid, lay-accessible manner. While the book recommends a vegan diet (free of animal products) as a good starting place, it documents that even normally terrific vegan foods such as citrus fruits and tomatoes make the "dirty dozen" list of potential "trigger foods" for causing pain in some people. A sample surprise: what you eat can cause back pain, because cholesterol- and fat-laden animal products can clog the arteries around your spine. The book is supplemented by a tasty smorgasbord's worth of recipes and a credibility-boosting wealth of footnoted scientific references in the back. After devouring this book, you will probably want to try going vegan (if you aren't already). If you do, you will have full confidence that it's an abundantly healthy diet and just wish you had made the switch long ago.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: This book changed my mother's life Review: My mother has suffered from arthritis for the past 8 years and has seen every specialist and tried a lot of different medications. I heard about this book on a radio interview and decided to get it for my mom as a gift. She seemed only mildly interested in reading it maybe because I have gotten her so many books and articles over the years about things to try to help her that never panned out. But she had read the book by the time I spoke to her the next day, and said she wanted to try some of the diet recommendations. Today, 4 weeks later, she is a different person! The pain in her legs had been getting so bad she was talking about getting a wheelchair -- but today the pain is so much less than before she went with my father on his walk! You don't know what a huge leap this is for her! She is convinced that by eliminating the trigger foods foods from her diet that she will continue pain-free, and I pray that she is right. Who would have thought that food could play such a role diseases like my mother's. It really makes you think. Thank you Doctor for saving her life with your book. She is planning to reintroduce the trigger foods one at a time to see which one or which ones are giving her the arthritis problems, but she is in no hurry because she is able to sleep through the night again and doesn't want to have any relapse. My father and two brothers have read the book and so did I. So is my mother's rheumatologist who said it's true that food can have big health effects on people. It is an amazing book. My mother has not felt this good in years, and it has transformed my parents' lives. Thank God that you made these discoveries, wrote this book, and that I heard about it so it could help us.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: A great Book Review: The last thing I expected to hear was that my back pain could be related to food. I understand how you can eat bad stuff and it can lead to heart attacks and cancer which you hear on the news alot. But I never heard of food causing back pain until I read Dr. Bernards book. I have had back pain for several years and sometimes take a pain killer to help me sleep. My regular doctor sent me to another doctor who did lots of expensive tests, but the result was no relief in the pain except when I take pills. I decided to give Dr. Bernards plan a try to take out all the trigger foods and then add them back one at a time. You know what I found out? Corn! It was the corn that made my back hurt! The same day I started eating corn again my back went into spazm. I stopped the corn and the pain was gone again in a couple days. Just to be sure I ate corn again and the pain was back! I will tell you that it is a lot easier to make sure I do not eat corn or corn products than it is to have that pain come back. I would have paid a lot of money to get rid of that pain but I did it just by reading a book. Thank you Doctor Bernard. I recommend it to everyone.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: Easy to read, informative, valuable Review: This book contains all of the information you will need to learn about controlling pain through diet, including how brain chemistry influences sensitivities, sleep disorders, and chronic pain conditions. Organized according to illness, solutions are presented in an easy to follow program of eliminating potentially harmful foods. The book is chock full of delicious recipies that even the novice cook can prepare. As a sufferer of fibromyalgia, I followed the diet suggestions to the letter, and am now in full remission three months later. I now wake up pain free for the first time in over a year! The program should be followed to the letter, however, to obtain optimum results. Excellent book, well written and researched, Dr. Barnard should be commended for helping to change and better the lives of many suffering from chronic pain disorders.
Rating: ![1 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-1-0.gif) Summary: Terrible book. Title very misleading. Review: We purchased this book with the expectation that it would suggest a diet that could reduce chronic pain for my mother, who suffers from permanent nerve damage from an injury. After all, the title does say "Foods That Fight Pain". We were extremely disappointed in the book as it contains nothing that would help my mother at all. A more appropriate title would be "A Very Extreme Vegan Diet That Could Help You Avoid Having Certain Painful Conditions That Are Triggered In Some People By Certain Foods". Dr. Barnard's diet may certainly *prevent* certain kinds of pain, but there's nothing in it about *fighting* existing pain. If you have migraines, fibromyalgia, or any of the narrow range of other chronic pain conditions that may be brought on partly or entirely by diet, this book may be of help to you. However, if you have chronic pain due to injury (as my mother does) or disease, this book is useless. I can basically sum up Dr. Barnard's diet right here: cut out all meats, fish, poultry, wheat, corn, milk, citrus fruit, tomatoes, soy products (tofu), nuts, and eggs. He suggests that you eat only certain fruits, vegetables, rice, and beans. His rationale for cutting out all of the forbidden foods above is that none of them were available to our ancient ancestors, and therefore they aren't suited to our digestive systems because they weren't available while our digestive systems were evolving. He doesn't even follow his own logic during his extremely silly explanation of his diet philosophy. For instance, he says on one page that we shouldn't eat meat etc. because apes and other primates don't and they are our closest genetic relatives. He then makes a strong point of the fact that apes don't cook. Then, he goes on to suggest that we refuse to eat these various foods on the grounds that apes don't eat them, but cooking's OK. Huh? Apes don't eat meat=meat bad. Apes don't cook=cooking good. It makes no sense at all. This was by far the nuttiest diet philosoph! y I've ever had the misfortune to read. We feel that this book was a colossal waste of money, at least for us. If you have migraines, fibromyalgia, etc., just ask your doctor if a vegan diet that also eliminates wheat and corn might help you.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: This book is a must read Review: Wow! What a fascinating book for those people who are interested in the very latest advances in nutritional science. Dr. Barnard has written a very informative, well-researched, as well as highly readable book. I got this book recently, and stopped drinking coffee. The first few days I didn't feel so great, but now I feel more energetic than I have in years. Thank you, Dr. Barnard, for writing the book that every doctor in this country should have in their office.
Rating: ![5 stars](http://www.reviewfocus.com/images/stars-5-0.gif) Summary: A boon for menstrual pain and arthritis sufferers Review: Written very easy to read format, you don't have to be a medical person, but the advice is real practical and my father and I both benefited for very different reasons!
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