Review by ShySusan:

I don’t review books here very often, because I usually feel that other people have already said it better than I could, but as I read the reviews of this book, I got the feeling that the author called up everybody he knew and asked them to write a review for him here. But I’m not a friend of his, just a real person, so I thought I’d tell you what I think of his book. I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes about 2 weeks ago. I’ve known it was coming for many years because there’s a lot of it in my family. So anyway, I immediately went to my local bookstore and started looking for books to inform me about diabetes, and as I was browsing, I ran across this book. I bought it and read it, and I believe what he says. Since I read his book I’ve been thinking, “If only I’d had his book 15 years ago, or ten years ago, or even one year ago.” The book says that it can help prevent or reverse(among others):
heart disease – my brother is taking drugs for high cholesterol.
arthritis – I’ve got that. I had to start walking with crutches in the past year.
Diabetes – I’ve got that.
Allergies – everybody in my family has plenty of these, including food allergies of various types.
Crohn’s disease – my other brother and niece have that.
Gastritis and ulcers – my mother, myself, and my son all have problems with this.
Inflammatory bowel syndrome – yep, I’ve got that too and so does my son.
Obesity – I weigh 365 pounds in spite of (??because of??) 30 years of dieting. And both my brothers are pretty big too. So it was interesting to find out that there is a single underlying cause to all these seemingly disparate problems. He explains (and backs up his explanations with plenty of scientific studies) that our modern diet is so extremely different from what our ancestors were eating even 100 years ago, that we are in effect poisoning ourselves. The answer is to eat differently – more like our ancestors ate. This means cutting out the doughnuts and the french fries. His diet plan probably isn’t going to be easy in the long run. I’ve only been doing it for about a week, and I’m okay with it so far. But I know from experience that in a few weeks someone is going to offer me a brownie or a doughnut and I’m going to want it a lot. However, I really don’t want to spend the rest of my life as physically miserable as I am right now, and I certainly don’t want to go blind and lose my legs like some of my relatives have done, so I’m determined to follow his advice. Everything he says in his book makes sense to me. I’ve read plenty of reviews of diet books of one flavor or another where some person writes in and says “!!!This book has changed my life. I’ve been on it 3 days and I know this is the diet I’ll be one for the rest of my life!!!” Well, I find that a little ridiculous. But I can say that once I got past the withdrawal symptoms from not eating sugar, I’ve felt much better. The last 2 days I’ve even been able to walk short distances without my crutch for the first time in 9 months. I’m going to give his plan the old college try! More than that, I’m sending copies of his book to both my brothers. If you’ve got health problems of the type described above or a family history of such problems, I think you should read this book.

Review by Kate McMurry:

Jack Challem writes articles on health for both the general public and scientific publications. He is also co-author of the book Syndrome X.The Inflammation Syndrome is divided into four parts: an explanation of the connection between inflammation and disease, including causes of inflammation; a 15-step diet plan to prevent and heal inflammation; supplements recommended to combat inflammation; and inflammation and specific diseases. There are multiple quizzes throughout the book on different causes of inflammation to allow you to see all the various ways your lifestyle may be currently promoting, or preventing, inflammation in your body. The book is written in a lively, easy-to-understand style, and the author helpfully provides a detailed table of contents, an index, extensive references, and appendices listing medical tests for inflammation and sources for anti-inflammatory products.I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about inflammation. Its straightforward, practical suggestions are not horrendously difficult to implement, and the author includes menu plans and recipes to get you started on his eating plan. I find his quizzes especially useful as a kind of lifestyle self-diagnosis. If you’d like to do additional reading on this subject, another excellent book is The Inflammation Cure: How to Combat the Hidden Factor Behind Heart Disease, Arthritis, Asthma, Diabetes, & Other Diseases, by William Joel Meggs. An outstanding related work is The Body Restoration Plan: Eliminate Chemical Calories and Restore Your Body’s Natural Slimming System, by Dr. Paula Baillie-Hamilton. Dr. Baillie-Hamilton doesn’t specifically write about inflammation, but provides very valuable insights on the damage done by environmental toxins to the body, which both Meggs and Challem indicate are strongly implicated in causing inflammation.

Review by Dan Kassell:

Dr. Louis J. Ignarro, a Nobel Laureate in Medicine, has compiled the history of a discovery that continues to be proven to “Prevent-Even Reverse-Heart Disease and Strokes” and specifically describes “A Proven Program for Boosting Production of the Body’s Own Wonder Drug” in “NO MORE HEART DISEASE”, St. Martin’s Press 2005, 248 pages.

Dr. Ignarro’s preliminary research explained that there was a naturally occurring substance that C-Laureate Dr. Robert Furchgott called “endothelium-derived relaxing factor” (EDRF). Dr “I” identified Nitric Oxide (NO) between 1978 and by 1986 proved that “nitric oxide’s role in the body was definitely a signal molecule, which performed crucial cardiovascular functions.” Arterial plaque he illustrated, “if you think of the living healthy wall cells as being slick like Teflon, while an unhealthy cell is sticky like Velcro, causing plaque to attach” then you’ve got his idea. His program titled, “Say Yes to NO” recognizes that “red meat fish, olive oil, nuts and pomegranate juice enhance the body’s ability to produce NO. Unfortunately he cautions, you would have to eat one hefty steak all three meals a day to maintain a beneficial level of NO. Therefore he recommends a NO boosting blend of amino acid supplements: L-Arginine, L-Citrulline plus Alpha Lipoic Acid, C, E, and Folic Acid and adds, “the acceleration of blood that occurs during exercise can stimulate the production of the enzyme NO synthase, which is important to the body’s production of NO.” That means it works better if you exercise!

Although this 2005 book publicizes NO’s effect it doesn’t include John P. Cooke MD Ph.D, the head of Stanford’s Medical Research team as the first to include L’Arginine in a candy bar to tempt the American public to get NO every day and only mentions co-Laureate Ferid Murad, the Houston pharmacologist who conducted the earliest studies on nitric oxide.

Some will try to get enough L-arginine and L-Citrulline from foods but the short list only includes: almonds, dark chocolate, garbanzo beans, melons, peanuts, red meat, salmon, soy and walnuts. The good news for choco-holics, a prodigious Penn State U study concluded, “that the cocoa/dark chocolate diet interfered with the oxidation of LDL cholesterol.” So, Dr. I suggests consuming in moderation – “divide it in small pieces and eat them throughout the afternoon and evening, one bite at a time.” Therefore, next time you’re asked to go for coffee, choose cocoa (hot chocolate) because the poly phenols Harvard Med School and Brigham Woman’s Hospital showed that the “antioxidants in cocoa support NO synthesis.” Or, drink a glass or two of red wine because it’s rich in polyphenols that “markedly stimulate NO production.” Purple grape or pomegranate juice may even be better than wine, and don’t forget to eat some blueberries because they contain pectin, which is best known for its cholesterol lowering fiber.

To get all the best results, when should you boost your body’s production of NO?

“Once a day before bedtime or twice a day – in the morning and before bedtime,” and when combined with a minimum dose of 200 mg L-Citrulline, “a synergistic effect occurs,” Dr. I prescribes. For those who may be concerned, he assures “no side effects have been reported in the medical literature.”

The most important news Dr. I has for a diabetic is that NO can, “halt the development and progression of diabetic complications . . . reduce the risk of diabetic retinopathy. NO can make a difference in your quality of life.” The same is true for Cancer – NO can inhibit the growth of cancer cells.”

Sensible people with any of these maladies would be well advised to go online to discover that Argenix in an easy to take liquid with both arginine and citrulline. Or wait until a white coat Doctor does a double blind study.

© 2006 Dan Kassell

All Rights Reserved

Review by Don Shapiro:

This statement is about Be Careful’s review and not the book as a whole. There is no question that increasing Nitric Oxide is beneficial to the body. Besides the heart, it can have a dramatic effect on brain related issues such as headaches and migranes because of what it does to blood vessels. Be Careful’s review focuses on taking the supplement L’arginine to promote the production of Nitric Oxide. In fact, directly taking this amino acid may not be the best way to do this and there is a potential of other effects especially with the dosage level the author recommends. My wife takes a product called Oxegen AKG which eliminates the problems of directly taking L’arginine and is proven to increase Nitric Oxide levels in the body. This product has made a huge difference for my wife who does suffer from headaches and a “foggy brain” feeling that occurs from constricted blood flow. She has been taking the product for several years without any side effects and can feel the difference when she doesn’t take it. On the website for the maker of Oxegen AKG, they explain the problems of taking L’Arginine directly. Hope this helps.

Review by Kenneth W. Clifford:

Early heart disease runs in my family, and last year I got a calcium score done and scored rather high for my age. I instantly became one of the “worried well” as Dr. Whitaker puts it. In any case, it became my mission not to end up dying of heart disease at a young age, so I started to buy and read every book I could find on the subject. The most compelling and accessable program to date was that created by Dr. Dean Ornish. With his help I lost 65 pounds and got my lipid profile and blood pressure under control; however, I was still hungry for more information about how this disease progresses and how I can prevent it, along with how I can reverse what has already started. Dr. Whitaker’s book was ideal in that regard. I found Dr. Whitaker’s book to be easy to read, easy to understand, and filled with data and advice I could implement into my life. I really enjoyed the section wherein he discussed the various diagnostic tests and their respective predictibility. This information was somewhat different than that which had been communicated to me by the various Cardiologists I have seen; however, Dr. Whitaker’s information just “sounded right.” Rather than using scare tactics like some of the other books I have read, Dr. Whitaker takes an objective approach. When comparing Whitaker’s book to Ornish’s, the major difference I see is that Ornish has you limit fat intake to 10% a day, whereas Whitaker recommends 20%. Unfortunately, and this is only one of a few issues I have with the book, Dr. Whitaker does not back up his case for fat intake to the extent that Ornish does. So, I came away somewhat torn about how much fat I should be consuming. Overall, this is a fantastic book that I would recommend to anyone who already has heart disease or to those who are at risk for heart disease. I have already bought copies for my three brothers.

Review by MZ5891YORBALIND@WEBTV.NET:

Dr. Whitaker has done an excellent job of explaining how and why we can live longer and healthier lives by taking care of our circulatory system. His frank and sincere approach comes across wonderfully and he includes many and delicious, healthy recipes that will assist you in reversing many of the symptoms of old age. Everyone who wants to live to have their grandchildren (and maybe great-grandchildren) on their laps someday should read this.

Review by :

This is a fantastic book written in a very informative manner. The recipes are good too. What I thought was most interesting is how the author explains how heart disease develops… the typical American diet starts building plaque on the artery walls as early as the teen years! You will be surprised when you read this book and then you will understand why heart disease is such a big problem in America. The diet in this book is the best diet I have come accross, not being able to easily loose weight myself. But this diet does it without hunger. I can’t say enough about this advice. It has changed my life and the way I look at my health. I no longer feel like I am a ticking time bomb that will eventually need a coronary bypass operation … an operation that has become very routine in America.

Review by JJ Minute:

Forget the miracle pills and diets and live longer!! Dr. Neal Pinckney’s book makes it easy to understand why many of us are overweight and have health problems. There are no secrets here, just the truth about living well.