Recommended Reading
Listed below are some of our favorite books. These pages contain books about general subjects such as healing protocols, herbs, and unusual volumes. Recommendations for books about specific conditions or substances are found on their pages here at this web site.
You can also jump to our favorite links
Alternative Medicine by the Burton Goldberg Group. Perhaps the definitive guide to alternative medicine. 380 leading edge physicians explain their treatments. If you want to know the basics or anything about everything from Ayurveda to Homeopathy, this is the book to consult.
Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine by Michael Murray N.D. and Joseph Pizzorno, N.D..
How would a naturopathic doctor treat your disease? Nearly every health condition is listed here together with treatments, supplements and recommendations...an indispensable reference and the one we use the most. It forms the backbone of our information from which we embellish with other sources. Interestingly, after buying the textbooks from Bastyr University for several hundred dollars, we found this one which has much the same information and is even from the same authors! You'd think they would have told us that...
The Life Extension Disease Prevention and Treatment Protocols by Life Extension Foundation. This is another book we use to research a more conservative approach to natural medicine. The Life Extension Foundation has the advantage of eschewing mad scientists and odd reports for rigid, peer reviewed research based upon the world's scientifically published literature. It's rock solid and extremely useful.
Prescription for Nutritional Healing by James and Phyllis Balch. This book takes a more general nutritional approach for restoring health. It is perhaps more accessible for the lay person than the books above, and it is easier to reference. Each disease has a nice chart with recommendations and dosages. Plus it describes many nutritional supplements and tells what they are useful for.
The Natural Pharmacy by Skye Lininger (Ed.) This book does sort of the same thing as this web site used to do. It cross references substances with disease states. It is simpler and references only well-known nutrients so it is perhaps a good starting point for a beginning researcher.
Total Wellness by Joseph Pizzorno, N.D. This unique, valuable and highly interesting book also takes sort of the same approach as this web site. The difference is that it attributes illness to certain categories of malfunction, e.g. malfunctions in the immune or rejuvenation functions of the body. It tells you how to "diagnose" these malfunctions. Then it tells you how to restore them.
The Antioxidant Miracle by Lester Packer, PhD. This is THE expert's explanation about the value of antioxidants. It is easy to read and full of interesting facts you probably didn't know. For example, did you know that antioxidants regulate gene expression? They do a lot more than fight free radicals.
The Nutraceutical Revolution by Richard Firshein, D.O. This holistically oriented physician discusses 20 of the natural substances he uses most in his healing practice. Most interesting are his case histories that contain the usual files of people left frustrated or sicker by conventional medicine who responded wonderfully to these nutraceuticals.
Smart Medicine for Healther Living. by Janet Zand LAc, OMD, Allan N. Spreen MD,CNC, and James B LaValle, RPh, ND. Like it says, a practical A-to-Z reference to natural and conventional treatments for adults. Nothing cutting edge here but the combined advice of an MD, ND and OMD has about every option covered.
The Brain Wellness Plan. by Dr. J. Lombard and Carl Germano. Covering conditions ranging from ALS and MS, Parkinsonism, ADD and Depression, this book explores the causes of each, what conditions they can be confused with, what natural remedies have been effective, and it even gives a suggested protocol for treating them.
Dr. Atkins Health Revolution by Robert C. Atkins, M.D. If you could only read one book about the difference between conventional medicine and its alternative, this would be it. Amusing, informative and insightful, it contrasts his complementary (alternative) approach and the usually ineffectual efforts of the medical establishment in numerous disease states. It is full of practical advice and interesting case histories of people who got well despite conventional medicine. I also enjoyed his little digs at his adversaries and the "compassionate" FDA.
Power Healing by Leo Galland, M.D. Every once in awhile I run across a book that kinds of says it all for me. This is such a book. Dr. Galland is a sort of medical detective. People come to him with problems their own doctors couldn't solve. Although he doesn't eschew conventional medicine entirely, in the case histories in the book, it is often a natural solution that does the trick. Out of this he offers what he calls the "four pillars of healing "(the former title of the book,) and it is a must read.
Racketeering in Medicine by James P. Carter. It's all here; how the medical cartel squashes rivals. According to Carter (and he makes a compelling, well documented case) it is not the efficacy of a therapy that matters but whether it threatens the economic interest of organized medicine. The book is full of case histories and statistics that prove his point beyond all doubt.
Reclaiming Our Health by John Robbins. Robbins asks why, in this excellent book, people can't afford conventional medicine and why they usually aren't helped by it. He critiques various conventional treatments and finds that natural way more effective as well as cheaper. He also critiques the medical monopoly that places health in the hands of experts who know a lot about disease but not much about health.
GHB. The Natural Mood Enhancer. by Ward Dean, et al. According to the cover, this is the book that the FDA and DEA don't want you to read. GHB is probably the best substance for inducing sleep, the quickest and best anti-depressant and anti-anxiety agent, the best therapy for narcolepsy, highly useful in alcohol or drug withdrawal, a possible aphrodisiac, a powerful growth hormone inducer, and it facilitates communication and social interaction. Moreover, it is essentially non-toxic and by far the safest substance for these conditions. Incredibly, it has been deliberately misrepresented, demonized and illegally outlawed! Although this book is about an extraordinary and very useful natural substance, it is also about the seamy, irresponsible and corrupt side of the law-making and journalism partnership. It is also about how the drug industry protects its profits. Our hope is that you will read this book and become so outraged that these kind of machinations could occur in America that you will protest to your legal representatives and help restore the rule of law and justice in this country.
Toxic Psychiatry. by Peter R. Breggin M.D. Here's a psychiatrist who is horrified by what psychiatric drugs do to people. It sort of reminds me of my own pharmacist's attitude about drugs in general. The cover says "Why therapy, empathy and love, must replace the drugs, electroshock and biochemical theories of the 'New Psychiatry' ". If you are taking psychotropic drugs you should read this. If you are a psychiatrist who writes prescriptions for them you must read this.
Freedom In Chains by James Bovard. I have a couple of book cases with books on political philosophy, but this book is the best. This is another book I wish I had written. It is not a dry philosophical tome but one which catalogs the many abuses by the "friendly fascists" (To use economist Murray Rothbard's term) who run this country to illustrate the simple truth that liberty works best and most humanely. If you don't get upset and outraged with each page then move to North Korea, Cuba, or Iraq where you belong. Although the book discusses medical freedom, its importance is placing the issue within the larger context of human rights.
Bitter Pills. by Stephen Fried. This book reads like a history of the drug industry and it isn't a very uplifting story. After his wife nearly died and suffered permanent brain and vision damage from taking a drug for a simple urinary tract infection, he investigated the hows and whys of the drug approval process. If you want to know why doctors are the third leading cause of death in the United States or why legal drugs kill 20 times as many people as illegal drugs, you must read this book. Fried is not a friend of alternative medicine. He refers, for example, to Dr. Breggin's book Talking Back to Prozac as "neo-luddite." He really wants to reform the drug approval process. Whether it can be done or not is open to question. Any time synthetic chemical compounds not found in nature are introduced into the body, it is a crap shoot and biochemical individuality guarantee that tragedies will occur. Plus, some of the pharmacology has a few errors. Still in all, a great book and a muckraker to match the best.
Over Dose by Jay S. Cohen, M.D. Also not particularly a friend of natural medicine, Dr. Cohen never-the-less exposes the fact that most people take their medicines in doses which are far too high. Often, studies show that lower doses do just as well but the drug companies recommend a single dose that causes serious adverse reactions in many people. How and why they do it as well as how they manipulate, squash and misrepresent studies and facts, and why the FDA does nothing about it makes for an illuminating and fascinating read.
FIND A HEALER
Holistic Yellow Pages
American Association for Health Freedom
ON-LINE CONSULTATIONS
The Analyst
HYPNOSIS
The PATH Foundation
BRAIN MACHINES AND ELECTROMEDICINE
A Consciousness, Brain, Technology World: Tools For Exploration
Innovations in Pain Mgmt. Electromedicine
Bioelectromagnetism
MAGAZINES WITH ARTICLES
Alternative Medicine Digest
Alternative Medicine Review
About Explore Publications
Nutrition Science News
Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients
Find Article
SOUND THERAPY
Sound Health Resources
Tomatis Home Page
Sound and Healing Sites
CANCER
Burzynski Research Institute home page
Center for Alternative Medicine Research in Cancer - Research
C.O.S.E. inc.
CSCT: Cell Specific Cancer Therapy
Ralph Moss Home Page
The Gerson Institute
Fred Walter's Homepage
Cancer Control Society
Immune Institute
Annie Appleseed Project
North Carolina Institute of Technology
LIFE EXTENSION
The New Life Extension Foundation Site
TRADITIONAL HEALING SYSTEMS
ACUPUNCTURE.COM
Homeopathy Page
Health Education Library for People
GENERAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION
Alternative Medicine Connection
Alternative Therapies Home Page
Holistic Healing
Ask Dr. Weil | Home
VRP's Nutritional News Index
Immunet - Treatment Info for AIDS/HIV Caregivers
Medicinal Food News
American Nutraceutical Association - A Bridge To The Future
Alternative Health E-Mall: Complementary Medicine, Alternative Health
MedWeb Alternative medicine
Yahoo! HealthDiseases and Conditions
Ray Sahelian M.D.
Nutrition Library - Solgar Vitamin and Herb Company
Supplement Watch
URINE THERAPY
Chinese Association of Urine Therapy
URINE THERAPY
AIDS
HIV & AIDS - Rethinking AIDS WebSite - Homepage
Infectious AIDS Have We Been Misled
PHYSICAL THERAPY
The Alexander Technique
CONVENTIONAL HEALTH CARE
Free MEDLINE
HealthWorld Online
Doctor's Guide to the Internet
Merck Manual On-line
AUTISM
Autism Coach
POLITICS
Monica Miller's Health Lobby
Medical Freedom and Human Rights
International Advocates for Health Freedom
American Association for Health Freedom
