Page 73 - Fall2013

All Thumbs Book Reviews

Benbella Books, the publisher of Whole and The China Study is a organization. At this point certain “influential”
“publishing boutique” that publishes thirty or forty books a year that seem members attempted to have him expelled, the
to cater to the vegan crowd, not a publisher of serious nutrition work. Re- first time in the existence of the organization.
cent publications include Jazzy Vegetarian Classics, Food over Medicine TCC avers that the American Cancer As-
(by Pamela Popper, with a distinctly vegan slant) and The China Study sociation (ACS) is “one of the big obstacles to
Cookbook. reducing cancer rates in the country,” and “the
Pamela Popper, ND, is part of Campbell’s teaching team at Cornell, world’s wealthiest non-profit,” to which the junk
where he offers a certification course on plant-based nutrition. Popper also food companies, the pharmaceutical industry
appears in the film, Forks over Knives, and appears to be the one woman and health insurance companies are generous
in the midst of the “cabal of old men” espousing veganism. contributors. He feels that the National Multiple
TCC spends three out of eighteen chapters talking about nutrition and Sclerosis Society (MS Society) is in the same
his “heretical path.” In the remaining chapters of the book he rails against boat and that neither the ACS nor the MS Society
reductionism and government, research for profit, nutritional organizations “say much about nutrition in preventing disease.”
and the media. However, surprisingly, in the midst of repetitive tedium, These examples appear in Chapter 28, “Blinded
there are a few good insights into the healthcare system and supplement by the Light-Bringers” which could be considered
industry, reductionism in nutritional research, the influence of industry on a clever title, when compared to other sections of
research, research emphasis on genetics versus nutrition, and other topics. the book.
Some of his most interesting observations in the book take the form of Some of the comments found in reviews
lambasting the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, the former American on the website goodreads.com about TCC’s
Dietetic Association. He says that “we can’t rely on this ‘so-called’ profes- book include this by one perceptive reviewer:
sional society” after they have been “putting out so much junk informa- “Campbell hypocritically condemns ‘science’
tion” . . . “they window dress their information to make it look reasonably for being single-minded and intolerant when his
correct sometimes,” and have Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola, Big Pharma, Soy book is clearly biased, and uses oversimplified
Joy and others on the payroll. Here he is “speaking out for dietitians” and metaphors to convince the layman that he holds
against those who control them, which he considers a “conspiracy.” scientific authority over scientists who subscribe
TCC also trashes the American Society for Nutrition (ASN) where to traditional Western medicine.” It appears
“the influence of industrial profit is so pervasive within that no attempts that there has been no “rethinking” involved in
to self-regulate can be effective.” TCC was actually a member of this Whole. With that we give this book an emphatic
society for many years and even became involved in the leadership of the thumbs down.
Review by Sylvia Onusic, PhD, CNS, LDN

LET MAGIC HAPPEN
By Larry Burk, MD, CEHP
Let Magic Happen recounts the journey of a radiologist from conventional to holistic medicine. His journey includes
discovery of the Weston A. Price Foundation and a diet of nutrient-dense food. But Burk's main interest is in energy heal-
ing, and he was instrumental in organizing several conferences on this subject at Duke University. He describes the syn-
chronistic events that led him down this path, and speculates on the science and physics of intuitive and energy medicine,
based on his background in magnetic resonance imaging. He addresses such questions as the survival of consciousness
after death and concludes by offering a series of exercises to help readers cultivate their own intuitive and healing powers.
The medicine of the future will combine the best of science, especially in the field of nutrition, with a more metaphysical
approach to diagnosis and healing. The book provides a blueprint for that future and will make fascinating reading for
those interested in the more esoteric aspects of health. Thumbs Up. Review by Sally Fallon Morell

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