Here are a collection of reviews, from practitioners, students, patients and regular folk. If you would like to submit a review, please send it along to info@foodasmedicine.ca
***
I’ve now read most of your Food as Medicine book and wish to thank you for writing it. I understand a lot more about how food has been affecting me and my family, and I so appreciate your myth- and trend-busting and the science behind principles, along with the honesty about what is done based on millennia of experience. You are one of the rare authors in the field of herbs and food as medicine in which my scientist husband has developed much confidence. Consider this high praise. His questioning of assertions made by some other authors has also trained me to be more critical in evaluating the material given. So, although I may not understand the chemistry involved, I follow the logic of it and my husband finds it very informative.
Jacqueline Pagani
***
Food as Medicine finds a meeting ground between contemporary nutrition and traditional Ayurvedic medicine. It is a useful book for herbalists and their patients to help navigate between some of the more controversial and oftentimes seeming contradictory approaches to food therapy that abound.
Michael Tierra, O.M.D
***
Todd Caldecott’s book Food as Medicine is a must have for people who want to have a conscious relationship with the nature of our food and eating. After reading, and now very often referencing this book I have a much stronger relationship with food preparation and eating, and particularly eating meat. I have learned so much on why it is important to eat meat (pasture fed, organic) for my constitution. I have since experienced great changes in my health and approach to life. After following a paleolithic diet I have been able to turn around long standing health concerns and balance my moods. This book has excellent information in it about daily eating practises to correct and balance health troubles. I reference it on a regular basis. Thank you Todd! Highly recommended!
Jennifer Clarke Arora BA ERYT
Dancer Choreographer Yoga Teacher
jenniferclarkeprojects.com
***
I encourage everyone to pick up a copy of the new book “Food as Medicine,” where herbalist Todd Caldecott offers a straightforward exploration of “…the inextricable bond between food, life and each other.” Todd takes a balanced and common-sense approach to explaning the properties of foods, the Ayurvedic constitutions (doshas), the flavors and seasons, and how all of this can be applied to real-life dietary decisions. The book includes both vegetarian and “paleo” diet recommendations for each of the doshas, as well as some wonderful little secrets to eating your way to better health. For example, did you know that legumes (beans) help to reduce inflammation and remove toxins from the body, but that people with impaired digestion (many of us!) should favor split legumes? The book includes great recipes, fermentation and preparation suggestions, best uses for the healing culinary spices, and the roles of fats and sweeteners in healing. The book is very nicely indexed and includes great reference tables for various food groups. Todd also offers a heartfelt plea to “…open our kitchens to each other, and like a plant sink our roots deep into the earth to realize that we all arise from this same dark soil.” I will be highly recommending this book to my clients who are seeking an honest and uncomplicated guide to better nutrition and healing through food.
Susan Marynowski
Environmental Consultant, Writer/Editor, Herbalist, Farmer
October 28, 2011
***
I have known Todd Caldecott over professional forums for several years and he uniformly has excellent insights, combining research findings with traditional practices. His experience spans traditional Ayurveda to tribal practices of the Pacific Northwest and he has a knack for drawing conclusions based on science and tradition. This book is no exception.
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to get your hands and eyes on Todd Caldecott’s book, I HIGHLY recommend it. Traditional Foods are what our bodies need to maintain health, or for most of us unfortunately, to regain health. Every-Body is different, but the consumption of ready to eat, quick “foods” is a spiral to deterioration. Many wholesome, quality foods, also quick and ready to eat are available. Choose wisely. And read Todd’s Book for valuable pointers.
Karen Vaughn
Herbalist, Acupuncturist
October 13, 2011
***
If you haven’t yet had the opportunity to get your hands and eyes on Todd Caldecott’s book, I HIGHLY recommend it. Traditional Foods are what our bodies need to maintain health, or for most of us unfortunately, to regain health. Every-Body is different, but the consumption of ready to eat, quick “foods” is a spiral to deterioration. Many wholesome, quality foods, also quick and ready to eat are available. Choose wisely. And read Todd’s Book for valuable pointers.
Barbara Meza
Owner, Conscious Vita
September 28, 2011
***
Todd Caldecott’s great new book, “Food as Medicine” is a significant contribution to the field of medical nutrition. In the clinical practice of herbal medicine, the importance of dietary habits is frequently overlooked. This is unfortunate, as many conditions are either caused by or exacerbated by the person’s diet. In my clinical practice, I have seen many cases where dietary changes were at least as important as the herbal prescriptions. In some cases, dietary adjustments were all that were needed to achieve healing. My first teacher, Bernard Jensen, used only foods as his materia medica. This makes perfect sense, since foods have energetics just like herbs, and we consume foods at least three times per day.
Todd’s book clearly describes the Ayurvedic energetics of foods, principles of food selection and combination, and the importance and timing of water consumption. Some of the ideas may seem simple, and some may disagree with other nutritional systems, but they have great clinical power. I will not hesitate to recommend this book to my patients and colleagues.
Bill Schoenbart, L.Ac., D.A.O.M.
Professor, Five Branches University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine
Researcher and Author
September 21, 2011
***
Beyond food-fads, this valuable resource causes us to think for ourselves and reintroduces food as traditional art and medicine. Exploring what there is to eat, when and how to eat it and preparation tools, the guidance in this book helps us to bring about health and wholeness. Also a scholarly feast of information, it’s an excellent addition for the libraries of physicians, naturopaths, nutritionists, herbalists and students of these disciplines. As a former natural foods chef, I am happy to have this comprehensive book on nutrition, diet and consumables that I can refer my clients to as well.
Heather Nic an Fhleisdeir, Clinical Herbalist
August 25, 2011
www.celticherbs.com
***
This is the most comprehensive and sane book about diet that I have come across so far, synthesizing a great deal of information from a global spectrum of healing traditions. I am grateful to have it in my library, and I am certain that it will be of service to many health conscious people who are confused about how to eat properly.
Lesley Ambika Gibbs
August 21, 2011
***
Food as Medicine is a wonderfully complete and easy to read primer on learning to look at one’s diet as more than merely caloric fuel. Packed with information on traditional diets (as in, the way people really ate before the industrial “food” system was created) and referenced with scientific references to back up their wisdom, this book should make its way onto every average eater’s reading list and would make a great addition to teacher training programs from Yoga to Health Educator to Dietician and Physician.
Sandra Nicht, E-RYT500, Kripalu Certified Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist and Lifestyle Consultant
August 18, 2011
http://www.thewell-seasonedwoman.com
***
Food as Medicine is an excellent guide that weaves real food principles with Ayurvedic traditional medicine, addressing a variety of topics thoroughly and yet keeping it simple. And with plenty of recipes and helpful instructions for treating specific conditions, it’s a well-rounded book as well. You can learn a lot from this one.
Elizabeth Walling
August 16, 2011
http://www.livingthenourishedlife.com
***
Food As Medicine” is an overdue antidote to food fads and popular diets. Each section contains useful details that flow into an interesting, integrated volume, including enticing recipes. Moderate and sensible, Todd delivers a well researched book that deserves a place in the library of everyone who cares about dietary medicine.
Deborah Brandt, RN, RH(AHG)
July 12, 2011
***
If I could only give one book on the subject of health to a loved one, Todd Caldecott’s ‘Food As Medicine’ would be it. What makes this book unique is that the author was able to synthesize the various traditional systems of health and lifestyle along with findings from modern medicine and other scientific disciplines in a highly accessible manner. This kind of synthesis has been attempted before, but I’ve never encountered an author who has pulled it off as successfully and accurately as Todd Caldecott has.
With an emphasis on the system of health and lifestyle from India called Ayurveda this book explains subtleties and nuances to food that affect us massively yet we are mostly unaware of. Examples of subtleties discussed include the constitution of the body and how that effects the need for food, how the different tastes of food effect health and digestion, what order food should be eaten in and how it should be combined, the various qualities and natures of different foods and food types, the merits and history of different kinds of diets, what kind of cookware to use, detoxification, how to prepare food, how to spice food, and so forth. These topics have been covered before elsewhere, but never by someone as eminently qualified and multidisciplinary as Todd Caldecott.
This book concludes with a very useful section of medicinal recipes and therapeutic diets followed by a list of 277 references. As I cannot emphasize enough, the quality of the information and recipes in this book in unparalleled as it’s rare we have someone this familiar with Ayurveda, Traditional Chinese Medicine, palaeolithic diets, clinical herbology, medical research, etc. writing an accessible book on food and health. Highest recommendations.
Matthew Capowski
August 15, 2011
