Alkalize or Die: Superior Health Through Proper Alkaline-Acid Balance
by Theodore A. Baroody
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Book Reviews of Alkalize or Die: Superior Health Through Proper Alkaline-Acid Balance
Book Review: Edgar Cayce reincarnated
Summary: 3 Stars
I am reviewing the ninth edition (2006) of Dr. Baroody's book, Alkalize or Die. Dr. Baroody's book has helped me understand the relationship between acid-forming foods and alkaline-forming foods, yet I must say it required some level of discernment to sift the wheat from the chaff.
One of the positive features to Dr. Baroody's approach to healthful living is his recognition of each person's unique biochemistry. Throughout this book he continues to remind his readers that each person is an individual and therefore might experience variant results when compared to other people.
It is important to understand that Dr. Baroody's theories and principals are based as largely on his personal alternative health experiences (trial and error) as they are on any demonstrable medical science. It is also important to know that Dr. Baroody gives much credence to the metaphysical teachings of eastern spiritualism, which may be a detractor to some readers. In the book's introduction, Dr. Baroody writes, "My viewpoint is founded on ancient Hindu, Chinese, Tibetan, and Greco-European healing philosophies and on several great modern men in the field of health." One of these "great modern men" is Edgar Cayce, who is referenced as an authority many times throughout the book.
So long as the reader is a proponent of New Age and/or Eastern spiritualism, this book should be quite acceptable. For those of us who are more Western in their worldview, the book requires discernment to pick and choose what you care to take from it.
An example of how Dr. Baroody's metaphysical beliefs influence his dietary advice can be seen in his counsel for reducing the consumption of red meat: "The destructive emotion of slaughter is assimilated by the person who eats flesh." (pg. 63). For many, this statement might resonate well with their worldview, but for others this statement will likely be challenged as to it's applicability to the subject of acidity/alkalinity.
Dr. Baroody's experience in the alternative health field appears to be quite extensive. No doubt he has learned a lot from published medical research and other practitioners, yet much of what he proposes in this book is admittedly derived from his own experience; some of which he still doesn't fully understand himself (for example, read chapter 4 on the "Vagus Nerve"). Those readers who are looking for a book filled with footnotes and documented scientific research will be disappointed with this work.
What I found most helpful in the book is Dr. Baroody's exhaustive list of foods with a corresponding rating as to their alkaline-forming or acid-forming properties. Dr. Baroody abandons the conventional 0-7-14 pH scale in favor of a scale he developed to measure alkaline-forming and acid-forming foods. Dr. Baroody's scale (pg. 38) ranges from 0.5 to 7.5. All foods below 4.0 are acid-forming and all foods above 4.0 are alkaline-forming.
The chart I refer to above is alone worth the price of the book. Depending on the readers religious and scientific convictions, the rest of the book may or may not be appreciated.
Book Review: Don't read THIS book !
Summary: 1 Stars
I should have know right from the title, which is a plain exageration, that this book would be terribly bad. I have read a number of books on the subject because I wanted to get the more information possible, and try to make myself an opinion about this topic. This books is the most terrible I have read. It is badly written, badly organized, with gross overstatements, imprecisions, and even pure lies. Is this guy trying to make an impression by talking about people that lived until 200 years old (if this was true don't you think we would know about it), or by stating that he "met an Indian guy that looked 70 but was really 140" (same thing - the oldest a man is know to have lived is 115 years old - 122 for a woman) ? What kind of a scientist says things like (and I quote) : "As a practitioner, I *feel* that chances of being too alkaline are around one in every thousand" ? Oh really, can we "feel" statistics now ? There's even a chapter (and by chapter I mean 2 pages, which is the length of each chapter) on the vagus nerve. What does this have to do with alkaline/acid balance ?
What's more, unlike other books on the subject, this one is written by using the "I" everywhere, as if the author had been the only one working on this topic ; and as a matter of facts he presents things as being his discoveries. He is also constantly referring to God and "being aligned with God", which really did not help the reading as far as I'm concerned.
I stay under the impression that the author has been reading litterature on the subject, and then hastily put a book together with bits and pieces from here and there in order to make easy money. This is very unfortunate, because I think this is a very important matter that people should know about, but this author is really working against the interest of the cause with this poorly written book.
Books that I found much more useful on the subject are :
- the Ph miracle, by Robert Young, if you want to understand how the body is working and why you should alkalize (but not for his diet - except maybe if you are severely sick - or his food guidance, that based on all the other books I read, are I think partly mistaken);
- the acid alkaline food guide, by Susan Brown and Larry Trivieri, for a quick understanding (if you don't want the in-depth analysis of Young), and for the very complete food guide (knowing that you should always try and determine what's a food doing for you, if you have a doubt on one in particular);
- The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health by Christopher Vasey, to understand better how metabolism can lead to different results depending on who is eating the food, for a guidance on how to flush acids (you don't need to go 100% alkaline as suggested by Young), and how to test for effect that food has on you.
Book Review: White Sugar Is A Poison
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great book. It talks about the chemistry in foods but it sometimes ties this in with homeopathic ideas.
For example when you eat meat you may be affected by the fear that the animal experienced when it was killed. I eat meat but yet there probably is some truth to this.
This book makes a bold statement: white sugar is a poison.
But I think this is true. I used to eat tons of cupcakes and other things and really my stomach had never really been healthy for many years.
I think other sweeteners such as high fructose corn syrup are also poisonous.
These sweeteners are very pervasive in the American diet.
Interestingly you can find natural candy and soft drink in health food stores. These are made with RAW sugar and other natural ingredients.
Something you have to watch out for is a product will say 'all natural' or 'organic sugar' on it but it still contains processed sugar. Organic sugar can still be processed I think.
Also beware of so called 'sugar free' candy and things like this. These contain the sugar alcohols which are very bad.
Some things that are sold as food in modern society are really more like chemicals. Those artificial lunches that they want kids to bring to school come to mind. This stuff doesn't even have to even be refridgerated.
Another book which is a great follow on to Alkalize Or Die is:
The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health: Restore Your Health by Creating Balance in Your Diet (Paperback)
by N.D., Christopher Vasey
I originally heard about these books in one of the ARE's catalogs.
The ARE is Edgar Cayce's organization (Association For Research And Enlightenment).
Baroody mentions Edgar Cayce's statement that anyone who eat a few almonds every day and doesn't forget "need never fear cancer". Cayce also said that doing this will prevent skin blemishes.
I just wanted to mention also that when I removed white sugar from my diet I no longer tested positive for being allergic to grasses, trees, molds, and ragweed. I know because I was tested for allergies before and after I stopped eating white sugar. It attacks and weakens the immune system and causes allergies and colds.
Jeff Marzano
Sugar in the Raw Raw Sugar, 24-Ounce Bags (Pack of 12)
McCann's Steel Cut Oatmeal, Traditional, 28-Ounce Tins (Pack of 4)
The Acid-Alkaline Diet for Optimum Health: Restore Your Health by Creating Balance in Your Diet
Book Review: Take it or leave it, at your peril.
Summary: 5 Stars
This book is a no-nonsense breakdown of the diet and lifestyle we all need to follow if we ever hope to maintain the same energy and vitality in our adult lives that most people (in America at least) only experience when they are children. This stuff is not rocket science, but with the level of misinformation, corporate food propaganda and misplaced skepticism we are unfortunately bombarded with every single day, you would think it is.
The message I took away from this excellent little book, which I already suspected was true based on my own personal experience, is this: 95%+ of fruits and vegetables have an alkalizing (i.e., healing) effect on your body. 100% of meats, dairy products and ESPECIALLY man-made so-called "food products" have an acidifying (i.e., draining) effect on your body. Combine that with the fact that many external factors, such as emotional stress and physical exertion, also have an acidifying effect on your body as well, and you are looking at the reality that we must consume far more fruits and vegetables than animal proteins in order to maintain optimal health. And it goes without saying that man-made chemical garbage--e.g., aspartame--has no place in our diets whatsoever.
Anyone who has an issue with these undeniable facts can take it up with our evolutionary ancestors--their eating habits are what determined, as homo sapiens, what our ideal diet is today. I was especially surprised by the ignorance of one so-called "debunking" website, run by someone who claims to have a degree in chemistry, that claimed that our body regulates its pH completely on its own through "exhaling carbon dioxide." I personally don't need any 'scientific' proof for this theory because I have lived it, as a guinea pig, from unwittingly consuming nothing but acidifying foods and feeling 30 years older than my actual age with frequent bizarre health problems without having any clue what the heck was wrong with me, to consuming mostly alkalizing foods and feeling like a kid again, both mentally and physically, within a matter of weeks. Just giving up coffee alone (extremely acidifying) I noticed my vitality skyrocket. I recommend that you get this book and start today.
Book Review: Cured my acid refulx
Summary: 5 Stars
I bought this book with the narrow goal of getting relief from persistent acid reflux. After going on a crash-course conversion to 80% alkaline-forming foods, it took only about a month or so before I saw 100% relief from the chest pains that accompanied my reflux condition. Less than two months later, I am seeing other benefits such as more restful sleep and less "panickiness" at certain times.
I believe that there may well be other tangible benefits to this diet that I have simply not yet identified, but that over time I may realize. In any case the diet really resonates with my personality and belief system; but it may not feel "right" to everyone that reads it. I admit to feeling a little uncomfortable at his frequent mention of God, but I still accepted the body of work as-is considering the author's background and beliefs.
The bottom line is that the diet worked for me and that I like the foods I am eating now more than the ones I was eating before. The book is not "fun" or entertaining to read, and I can attest to other viewers' complaints that there are no footnotes or bibliographies referring to other bodies of work.
I get the impression that if you come to this book from a strictly scientific point of view, it may be disappointing because it does not cite other literature to support its suppositions. If you come to the book needing help with a particular problem that diet may be able to assist, than by all means try it. The diet is all about getting back to basics: more plant-based food and less processed food.
I am thankful that I had the fortune to come across this book to help not only in curing myself of reflux, but also to completely change my perception of the role of diet in my overall health. I am giving it five stars not because it is the greatest book I have ever read, but because it helped to completely cure my condition. Please consider my rating of the book in that context.