sprague's review against another edition
3.0
I read this after hearing about it in a Sam Harris podcast with the author. I skimmed it, so don’t consider this a complete review.
When I evaluate a health book, I look at a few litmus issues to decide whether to dig deeper. On one of these, GMO safety, the author is too equivocal, stating "There remains no consensus on GMO safety” and repeating the standard anti-GMO argument about pesticides. She didn’t do enough homework here.
My second litmus is about the microbiome, of which she says little other than that it is “bound to be a game-changer”.
Bottom line: although it’s well-written and reasonable, there wasn’t enough originality to put it on my list of best health books.
When I evaluate a health book, I look at a few litmus issues to decide whether to dig deeper. On one of these, GMO safety, the author is too equivocal, stating "There remains no consensus on GMO safety” and repeating the standard anti-GMO argument about pesticides. She didn’t do enough homework here.
My second litmus is about the microbiome, of which she says little other than that it is “bound to be a game-changer”.
Bottom line: although it’s well-written and reasonable, there wasn’t enough originality to put it on my list of best health books.
zhzhang's review against another edition
4.0
If you are in a hurry, or do not want to get into details, you can dive into "HYPE ALERT", which is really nice and useful.
samwescott's review against another edition
4.0
This was a really interesting read. It covered a much wider variety of topics than I expected and the author(s) writing style was very plain spoken and accessible. The book gets into some very well-explained criticism of anti-scientific trends (homeopathy and anti-vaxxers etc), but also gets into some myths about things I hadn't even considered (like water intake and the pros and cons of assorted screenings).
There were also some really useful tips on internet literacy and sussing out your sources in the early chapters. I'll admit that I found that a bit off-putting at the beginning (it seemed a little condescending?) but I have to assume some of the audience for this book maybe didn't grow up on computers and needs a little extra help with information intake.
Ooh, and I really liked the little chapter summaries at the end of each section. It reminded me of my high school textbooks and really drove home the author's main points.
My only real complaint was that I listened to the audiobook and the narration was a little off. I think one of the author's read it and her inflection got a little weird here and there. But that was a minor inconvenience and won't matter if you're reading the physical book.
There were also some really useful tips on internet literacy and sussing out your sources in the early chapters. I'll admit that I found that a bit off-putting at the beginning (it seemed a little condescending?) but I have to assume some of the audience for this book maybe didn't grow up on computers and needs a little extra help with information intake.
Ooh, and I really liked the little chapter summaries at the end of each section. It reminded me of my high school textbooks and really drove home the author's main points.
My only real complaint was that I listened to the audiobook and the narration was a little off. I think one of the author's read it and her inflection got a little weird here and there. But that was a minor inconvenience and won't matter if you're reading the physical book.
tranne30's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed...left me with interesting things to consider.
booknrrd's review against another edition
3.0
This was fine. It had kale on the cover, so I sort of hoped it would have more food advice. I think a lot of what it did have was not news to me, but I liked the tone and presentation.
lizziwa's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious, well-written, solid research... I especially enjoyed her cynicism and optimism as a nurse, myself!
tsmi11's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book interesting and easy to read. I don't think you'll find anything in it too astonishing or life changing but it is definitely useful to shape how you view the medical field.
We all know that health is complicated and that if something seems too simple it probably is. I think if you were not college educated in the sciences than you might learn more from a book like this, but basically she endorses fact-finding, individual approaches to medicine and consulting a good and trustworthy health care professional. The take home is "what works for others may not work for you". Anecdotal evidence is not real evidence and there is no one solution for any given problem.
This message is conveyed using plenty of her own anecdotes from her years as a surgeon and good solid medical research in a light-hearted and relatable voice. She never seems to be condescending.
My final caveat is that I am a Canadian. I really don't think I have much of an understanding of how health care differs in the USA and how that might affect what your visits to the doctor are like. What seems common practice and common knowledge to me might be quite different south of the border and, therefore, this book might be a great deal more useful to Americans.
We all know that health is complicated and that if something seems too simple it probably is. I think if you were not college educated in the sciences than you might learn more from a book like this, but basically she endorses fact-finding, individual approaches to medicine and consulting a good and trustworthy health care professional. The take home is "what works for others may not work for you". Anecdotal evidence is not real evidence and there is no one solution for any given problem.
This message is conveyed using plenty of her own anecdotes from her years as a surgeon and good solid medical research in a light-hearted and relatable voice. She never seems to be condescending.
My final caveat is that I am a Canadian. I really don't think I have much of an understanding of how health care differs in the USA and how that might affect what your visits to the doctor are like. What seems common practice and common knowledge to me might be quite different south of the border and, therefore, this book might be a great deal more useful to Americans.
ashesmann's review against another edition
5.0
When you agree with what a doctor/expert has to say of course you think they're brilliant. The ideals she expresses more or less align with mine. In the forward Dr. Shapiro sounded arrogant and annoyed...but also competent. I like she says that medicine should not be about beliefs, but about facts. Far too often I think people make serious health decisions based on emotion. She even says people trust those with a lot of likes and followers, tug at heart strings, and are high profile rather than dry science. And; 'The unconscious bias related to what you think should be good more often than not overtakes your ability to asses a situation from scratch.'
Points she makes I loved:
-Dr. Shapiro points out terms like 'all natural' are not FDA regulated terms. OMG do you know how many times I've said that same thing?? If she would have thrown in 'vegan' or 'gluten free' I would have died. I get so frustrated when people choose their foods based on those handy little labels. They mean nothing, have no regulation, and are enormously misleading. Especially the fragrance free bit- they often have chemicals added to mask smell. We have to realize too, some chemicals while not natural, are not bad. Some were specifically developed to replace the more harmful, but organic, ones.
-I love that she talks extensively about the difference between causation, connection, and linked. We should NOT be making medical, health, and dietary decisions based on things that are 'linked'. Linked only means there may be a connection but that there's no telling what that connection is or if it is in fact even real. It's the quickest way to get a fad to start. She says "x can cause y in a laboratory setting, but have no significant health impact on humans". An example of this was certain antioxidants. In petri dishes they destroy cancer, in the human body they do nothing. Other antioxidants (such as beta carotene) suddenly can be cancer causers. And yet, food containing them can still be marketed as having cancer fighting antioxidants.
-94% of published studies are garbage. Even if you've read the blogs, and all the fun little info graphs on Pinterest, you still are not an authority. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. If you can't trust your doctor...get a new doctor. You like following someone because you like their recipes? Cool. But unless their name if followed by MD they don't have any medical advise to offer. And just because something was reported, doesn't mean it's true. And if it is true- it doesn't mean it's been peer reviewed, undergone human trials, or enough information with which to influence human behavior.
-This is not a diet book, but as she does touch on diet and nutrition. She doesn't push any diet, or even recommend any. As I've said so many times-every person is different, and any diet that says it works for everyone is garbage. Also any diet that says anything beyond-everything in moderation- is garbage. Since she totally agrees, I'm good haha. She says: "there is no best diet, there is no best exercise." Amen. I also love that she says any diet that has the selling point of 'you can eat all you want of a certain food all day' is wrong and unhealthy. Even if that certain food is normally healthy. Why do we need to eat so much? She also cautions about juicing. Before you never had to really worry about eating too much of certain foods like kale. There was no way to, but now you can eat weeks worth in one brightly colored, Instagram worthy beverage (I do like the occasional smoothie/juice to be honest). Same for detox diets. No studies have shown any benefit, yet detox juices, cleanses, diets, and pills are everywhere. Now, I do think at times you can boost the foods that support your body's natural detox organs, but as I've done no studies I'm not going to recommend that haha.
-DAIRY-"While many are lactose intolerant, few are truly allergic to dairy." If you have too much you may get an upset stomach, but you aren't allergic. And there's no connection to colds and/or ear infections. This made me laugh. I was always told as a kid that dairy led to colds. So if I had a sniffle and really didn't want to go to school I'd drink SO MUCH milk. Of course I'd wake up the next day totally fine.I know, such a rebel. My sister and I used to get itchy noses when we'd have too much milk when I was a kid. So until I was a teenager we everything from Jersey, to goat, to soy to almond milk. We grew out of it. Or maybe our bodies just surrendered. Side note- I think with dairy there is a danger of making broad statements. If studies are done on a population that is famously more sensitive, will the findings hold true for those who aren't of that ethnicity?
-She also discusses vitamins. Full disclosure, I do take vitamins and supplements. HOWEVER. I only take specific ones I've discussed with my doctor to treat a specific medical condition. I very firmly believe if your diet isn't fulfilling your nutritional needs and you need to rely on vitamins IT IS NOT A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. It was interesting to me that she discussed Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize winner and doctor, and how he was so wrong about vitamins. This because a few times lately I've seen little health infographics or headlines that claim the support of certain Nobel prize nominees, as if that means everything they say and do is correct. Did they win/get nominated for the recommendation they are giving? No? Then it's irrelevant.
-Dr. Shapiro talks about how cancer is sneaky, you don't die overnight. So, in one case, you can completely change your diet and lifestyle and look like you've beat cancer with the change, but if you didn't treat it medically it doesn't mean the cancer is gone. A lot of lifestyle changes work well as complements to cancer treatment, not instead of.
-Vaccines. This subject is complicated for me. My family has, over several generations, had very bad reactions to certain vaccines. In fact a few of those reactions are mentioned in this book- asthma, allergies, brain swelling, seizures. In fact, in even very common vaccines we manage to get all the side effects (I had my flu shot this past week and my body is still aching). However, that is my family. Not yours. What I may decide for my family, is not what would work for yours. We are of such a minority as to be negligible. And as an adult, I suck it up. I am around the very old and the very young all the time. I am not about to see someone I love sick because I couldn't handle the pain. We know which shots series causes most of the issues in my family now anyway so we know to be extra careful.
-Love the discussion about whether or not to get tested for certain things. I didn't really learn anything new, but it's nice to read the science to reinforce my beliefs. I had researched a lot of the same stuff last year. I have a tumor that up until a few years ago would have been considered cancerous and major surgery performed. But tests get better all the time and now we know unless the tumor grows too large, surgery isn't necessary.
-I didn't have many thoughts on the hormones/anti aging chapter. We're all aging. Deal with it. I do think more people need to hear that there is no way to stop or slow down the aging process. Live as healthfully as you can, there's not much more to be done.
Random thoughts and facts I want to remember:
-It's recommended Children under five don't eat nuts-I wonder if this was misunderstood in years past as an allergy, but really it's because they're a choking hazard?
-Hearing loss is the most common congenital anomaly (1 in 300 babies).
-11 times as much money is spent trying to lose weight than on cancer research. Really people? We care that much? Shame on you.
-Celiac's disease is tied to type 1 diabetes, but the unnecessary gluten free diet is tied to type 2 diabetes because of the rise in simple carbs and sugars, unless the dieter goes low/no carb.
-Studies have shown "higher maternal intake of peanuts, milk, and what products during pregnancy has been associated with a lower incidence of nut allergies, asthma, and allergy related skin conditions respectively." She also talks about how some ill effects of our diets may never be experience by us, but by our child when they reach adulthood. So it makes me wonder- how much of the severe allergy problems we see in the very young are because their mother went on a diet. In my own family-my grandmother doesn't like milk and my mother has severe asthma. Hmmm.
-Adults make about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions a day. Young children make about 3,000.
-Amish experience less cancer. They eat predominantly meat, potatoes, butter, bread, eggs, and milk.
-The point that it doesn't matter if chickens were given hormones (they're not) because the hormones wouldn't survive digestion. I do like that she says it's not great to eat eggs from vegetarian chickens since they're natural omnivores. I do think none of this really applies to me as my egg source it different. So pretty much all the 'dangers' from eggs are moot. For me.
Basically, this whole book summed up: Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes we get sick, and we're all dying. We can't get so desperate to protect ourselves that we harm ourselves. Take preventative measures, eat what you want in moderation, exercise in moderation. Pay attention to medical research, but unless it's been proven conclusively (by scientific peer review, not testimonials) don't stress too much about it. And absolutely....TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. And live your life.
Points she makes I loved:
-Dr. Shapiro points out terms like 'all natural' are not FDA regulated terms. OMG do you know how many times I've said that same thing?? If she would have thrown in 'vegan' or 'gluten free' I would have died. I get so frustrated when people choose their foods based on those handy little labels. They mean nothing, have no regulation, and are enormously misleading. Especially the fragrance free bit- they often have chemicals added to mask smell. We have to realize too, some chemicals while not natural, are not bad. Some were specifically developed to replace the more harmful, but organic, ones.
-I love that she talks extensively about the difference between causation, connection, and linked. We should NOT be making medical, health, and dietary decisions based on things that are 'linked'. Linked only means there may be a connection but that there's no telling what that connection is or if it is in fact even real. It's the quickest way to get a fad to start. She says "x can cause y in a laboratory setting, but have no significant health impact on humans". An example of this was certain antioxidants. In petri dishes they destroy cancer, in the human body they do nothing. Other antioxidants (such as beta carotene) suddenly can be cancer causers. And yet, food containing them can still be marketed as having cancer fighting antioxidants.
-94% of published studies are garbage. Even if you've read the blogs, and all the fun little info graphs on Pinterest, you still are not an authority. TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. If you can't trust your doctor...get a new doctor. You like following someone because you like their recipes? Cool. But unless their name if followed by MD they don't have any medical advise to offer. And just because something was reported, doesn't mean it's true. And if it is true- it doesn't mean it's been peer reviewed, undergone human trials, or enough information with which to influence human behavior.
-This is not a diet book, but as she does touch on diet and nutrition. She doesn't push any diet, or even recommend any. As I've said so many times-every person is different, and any diet that says it works for everyone is garbage. Also any diet that says anything beyond-everything in moderation- is garbage. Since she totally agrees, I'm good haha. She says: "there is no best diet, there is no best exercise." Amen. I also love that she says any diet that has the selling point of 'you can eat all you want of a certain food all day' is wrong and unhealthy. Even if that certain food is normally healthy. Why do we need to eat so much? She also cautions about juicing. Before you never had to really worry about eating too much of certain foods like kale. There was no way to, but now you can eat weeks worth in one brightly colored, Instagram worthy beverage (I do like the occasional smoothie/juice to be honest). Same for detox diets. No studies have shown any benefit, yet detox juices, cleanses, diets, and pills are everywhere. Now, I do think at times you can boost the foods that support your body's natural detox organs, but as I've done no studies I'm not going to recommend that haha.
-DAIRY-"While many are lactose intolerant, few are truly allergic to dairy." If you have too much you may get an upset stomach, but you aren't allergic. And there's no connection to colds and/or ear infections. This made me laugh. I was always told as a kid that dairy led to colds. So if I had a sniffle and really didn't want to go to school I'd drink SO MUCH milk. Of course I'd wake up the next day totally fine.I know, such a rebel. My sister and I used to get itchy noses when we'd have too much milk when I was a kid. So until I was a teenager we everything from Jersey, to goat, to soy to almond milk. We grew out of it. Or maybe our bodies just surrendered. Side note- I think with dairy there is a danger of making broad statements. If studies are done on a population that is famously more sensitive, will the findings hold true for those who aren't of that ethnicity?
-She also discusses vitamins. Full disclosure, I do take vitamins and supplements. HOWEVER. I only take specific ones I've discussed with my doctor to treat a specific medical condition. I very firmly believe if your diet isn't fulfilling your nutritional needs and you need to rely on vitamins IT IS NOT A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE. It was interesting to me that she discussed Linus Pauling, Nobel Prize winner and doctor, and how he was so wrong about vitamins. This because a few times lately I've seen little health infographics or headlines that claim the support of certain Nobel prize nominees, as if that means everything they say and do is correct. Did they win/get nominated for the recommendation they are giving? No? Then it's irrelevant.
-Dr. Shapiro talks about how cancer is sneaky, you don't die overnight. So, in one case, you can completely change your diet and lifestyle and look like you've beat cancer with the change, but if you didn't treat it medically it doesn't mean the cancer is gone. A lot of lifestyle changes work well as complements to cancer treatment, not instead of.
-Vaccines. This subject is complicated for me. My family has, over several generations, had very bad reactions to certain vaccines. In fact a few of those reactions are mentioned in this book- asthma, allergies, brain swelling, seizures. In fact, in even very common vaccines we manage to get all the side effects (I had my flu shot this past week and my body is still aching). However, that is my family. Not yours. What I may decide for my family, is not what would work for yours. We are of such a minority as to be negligible. And as an adult, I suck it up. I am around the very old and the very young all the time. I am not about to see someone I love sick because I couldn't handle the pain. We know which shots series causes most of the issues in my family now anyway so we know to be extra careful.
-Love the discussion about whether or not to get tested for certain things. I didn't really learn anything new, but it's nice to read the science to reinforce my beliefs. I had researched a lot of the same stuff last year. I have a tumor that up until a few years ago would have been considered cancerous and major surgery performed. But tests get better all the time and now we know unless the tumor grows too large, surgery isn't necessary.
-I didn't have many thoughts on the hormones/anti aging chapter. We're all aging. Deal with it. I do think more people need to hear that there is no way to stop or slow down the aging process. Live as healthfully as you can, there's not much more to be done.
Random thoughts and facts I want to remember:
-It's recommended Children under five don't eat nuts-I wonder if this was misunderstood in years past as an allergy, but really it's because they're a choking hazard?
-Hearing loss is the most common congenital anomaly (1 in 300 babies).
-11 times as much money is spent trying to lose weight than on cancer research. Really people? We care that much? Shame on you.
-Celiac's disease is tied to type 1 diabetes, but the unnecessary gluten free diet is tied to type 2 diabetes because of the rise in simple carbs and sugars, unless the dieter goes low/no carb.
-Studies have shown "higher maternal intake of peanuts, milk, and what products during pregnancy has been associated with a lower incidence of nut allergies, asthma, and allergy related skin conditions respectively." She also talks about how some ill effects of our diets may never be experience by us, but by our child when they reach adulthood. So it makes me wonder- how much of the severe allergy problems we see in the very young are because their mother went on a diet. In my own family-my grandmother doesn't like milk and my mother has severe asthma. Hmmm.
-Adults make about 35,000 remotely conscious decisions a day. Young children make about 3,000.
-Amish experience less cancer. They eat predominantly meat, potatoes, butter, bread, eggs, and milk.
-The point that it doesn't matter if chickens were given hormones (they're not) because the hormones wouldn't survive digestion. I do like that she says it's not great to eat eggs from vegetarian chickens since they're natural omnivores. I do think none of this really applies to me as my egg source it different. So pretty much all the 'dangers' from eggs are moot. For me.
Basically, this whole book summed up: Sometimes bad things happen. Sometimes we get sick, and we're all dying. We can't get so desperate to protect ourselves that we harm ourselves. Take preventative measures, eat what you want in moderation, exercise in moderation. Pay attention to medical research, but unless it's been proven conclusively (by scientific peer review, not testimonials) don't stress too much about it. And absolutely....TALK TO YOUR DOCTOR. And live your life.
clairelorraine's review against another edition
4.0
Funny, kind of mean. Like a cross between Dr. Quinn and Lewis Black - I really like the tone of this book.
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