Chinese Natural Cures: Traditional Methods for Remedies and Preventions

Rating:
Summary: Good Info, bad format
Review: Although this book has a lot of good information, it will take you awhile to find what you need. It is poorly organized and sometimes wordy. While at first the books unique size and silky appearance are alluring, the book is heavy, does not fit well in my bookshelf and the shiny pages can make it difficult to read.

Rating:
Summary: Good Info, bad format
Review: This book by Henry Lu is, by far, the most comprehensive to date. This book included a discussion on Chinese medical theory. For any practicioner of Chinese Medicine, these are wasted pages. For those unfamiliar with Chinese Medicine, this section may be helpful (though I would recommend other sources for a better discussion). I found Henry Lu's numberical weighting of symptoms to diagnose a condition to be confusing and ultimately not helpful. While I liked the section for specific ailments and their dietary recommendations, they are not organized in alphabetical order so that finding what you are looking for is very frustrating. The section on the stories behind the herbs is great and helps them stick in your mind - a nice resource for those who need to memorize the herbs for classes or practice. Overall, this book has a lot of great information that hasn't been presented before, but the poor organization really cuts into it's usefulness when picking it up off the shelf to quickly gather information. Definitely not a "handbook", but pretty good price for the information - if you are willing to pour through it.

Rating:
Summary: Plus and Minus - Content and Organization
Review: This book by Henry Lu is, by far, the most comprehensive to date. This book included a discussion on Chinese medical theory. For any practicioner of Chinese Medicine, these are wasted pages. For those unfamiliar with Chinese Medicine, this section may be helpful (though I would recommend other sources for a better discussion). I found Henry Lu's numberical weighting of symptoms to diagnose a condition to be confusing and ultimately not helpful. While I liked the section for specific ailments and their dietary recommendations, they are not organized in alphabetical order so that finding what you are looking for is very frustrating. The section on the stories behind the herbs is great and helps them stick in your mind - a nice resource for those who need to memorize the herbs for classes or practice. Overall, this book has a lot of great information that hasn't been presented before, but the poor organization really cuts into it's usefulness when picking it up off the shelf to quickly gather information. Definitely not a "handbook", but pretty good price for the information - if you are willing to pour through it.

Rating:
Summary: Comprehensive
Review: This book is fairly thorough and comprehensive. It is very well-researched and definitely not a fluffy introductory "For Dummies" read. I especially enjoyed the folk tales about the major herbs. Out of all the books (that are written English) on Chinese herbal medicine out there in print, I would definitely recommend this one. The only flaw that I would like to point out that the index of this book is very poorly organized. Also, please note that this book is not in any way as comprehensive as the ancient Chinese medical text "Ben Cao Gang Mu".

Rating:
Summary: Well organized format and practical approach
Review: This is a comprehensive collection of healing, preventive cures and long-term health regimen using traditional chinese methods such as herbology, food cures, and chinese acupuncture formula. The chinese healing and energy principles are discussed in the beginning chapter and is a mandatory reading before skipping to the details of the proceeding chapters.

Rating:
Summary: not as good as it looks
Review: This is an incredibly beautiful *looking* book, but its lavish design can be deceptive. Though it *does* have a lot of useful information, the book needed to be proofread again before it was printed on such beautiful glossy stock . . . for one thing, it is hopelessly repetitive--if you look up "garlic" in the index, you will find the exact same paragraphs about garlic in four different places.

Dr. Lu deserves the highest respect for his knowledge of Chinese herbs and food cures, and is to be commended for his willingness to pass this knowledge along. However, the poor organization of this book make it confounding. One section will be about herbs that are named after their smell, another section about herbs that are named after their color, etc. instead of classifying them by what they do. (There are far better books available about Chinese herbs. I would recommend "Chinese Herbal Secrets : The Key to Total Health" by Stefan Chmelik.) If someone had spent more time compiling the index, the book would have been much more useful, but as it is, you often have to thumb through the 500+ pages to find what you're looking for. Dr. Lu's "Chinese System of Food Cures: Prevention & Remedies" has a good index, so I often pick up this instead if I need to look up something about the properties of foods.

Overall, there is no question in my mind that Paul Pitchford's "Healing wih Whole Foods: Oriental Traditions and Modern Nutrition" is a far superior book, although Pitchford's approach is a blend of Chinese and other influences. Then again, Pitchford's suggestions are always reasonable, while Dr. Lu will sometimes recommend cures that are a little wacky. Example: to cure ulcers, eat (drink?) 1/2 cup of steamed honey three times a day for two to three weeks. Maybe this works, but if I tried it, I'd pass out from a sugar overdose. Dr. Lu is at his wackiest when he discusses weight loss. He lost all credibility with one of my patients when she read his tongue-in-cheek suggestion that Western doctors start doing surgery on obese men to implant them with an additional testicle. "I am amazed that our surgeons, so capable of cutting up the body, have not contemplated the possibility of testes transplantaion, which should cure obesity and impotence at the same time and make the medical profession far more respectable." (pg. 307). For suggestions one will actually use, one has to sift through this book with critical faculties fully awake. Depite Dr. Lu's vast knowledge, I always take what he says with, well, a grain of salt.

I wish I could recommend this book more highly, because it has a beautiful layout and, contains a treasure trove of information. Furthermore, Dr. Lu knows more about traditional Chinese food cures than almost anyone. Perhaps what you should do is buy it, and keep it on your coffee table (or should I say herbal tea table). Your guests will find it interesting, and every once in a while you'll go back to it, for it has material you probably won't find anywhere else.