Paula Bartimeus is well placed to write this volume on Healing Foods. She is a trained nutritionalist and was editor of Optimum Nutrition Magazine for eight years. Paula has also written Eating with the Seasons.
Hippocrates said “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food.” That’s probably a positive approach to healthy living. We eat, if we are lucky, three times each day and that food has an impact on our well-being. Some of us might have a genetic tendency towards a particular illness but we can, at least, give ourselves a better chance of combating disease if we eat appropriate foods.
One of the most important elements to The Top 100 Healing Foods is the Key to Symbols table on the contents page. This gives you, at a glance, the healing or preventative properties of the aforementioned 100 foods. The book is divided by food type and has the obvious fruit and vegetable chapters, and also a section entitled Others which lists such things as honey and dark chocolate. Each page is devoted to a single ingredient (a few foods have two pages), where it lists nutrients and there is a recipe and description of the health benefits.
Let’s look at Cranberry, for example. There is a recipe for Cranberry and Banana Smoothie, Paula advises that you should choose cranberry juice sweetened with apple juice rather than sugar. Cranberries are said to be good for urinary tract infections and they promote anti-cancer activity and can prevent kidney stones. The symbols suggest that cranberries are good for almost everything.
If you are unfortunate enough to be already suffering from a nasty complaint then take a look at the Ailments Directory. There are a host of illnesses here ranging from the serious to the mundane. I wouldn’t recommend that you treat yourself with only these 100 recommended foods for critical illness, but I am sure they all help and might even be all you need to find relief from minor problems.
Paula has written a book that is full of information presented in an easily understood format. The Top 100 Healing Foods is sure to be popular with anyone who takes an interest in nutrition and a holistic approach to health. Great value for money.
The Top 100 Healing Foods
Author: Paula Bartimeus
Published by: Duncan Baird
Price: £4.99
ISBN 978-1-84483-758-8
Cookbook review by Chrissie Walker © 2018