All Natural*: *A Skeptic's Quest to Discover If the Natural Approach to Diet, Childbirth, Healing, and the Environment Really Keeps Us Healthier and Happier

by Nathanael Johnson

In this age of climate change, killer germs, and obesity, it's easy to feel as if we've fallen out of synch with the global ecosystem. This ecological anxiety has polarized a new generation of Americans: many are drawn to natural solutions and organic lifestyles, while others rally around high-tech development and industrial efficiencies. Award-winning journalist Nathanael Johnson argues that both views, when taken to extremes, can be harmful, even deadly.

Johnson, raised in the crunchy-granola epicenter of Nevada City, California, lovingly and rigorously scrutinizes his family's all-natural mindset, a quest that brings him into the worlds of an outlaw midwife, radical doctors, renegade farmers and one hermit forester. Along the way, he uncovers paradoxes at the heart of our ecological condition: Why, even as medicine improves, are we becoming less healthy? Why are more American women dying in childbirth? Why do we grow fatter the more we diet? Why have so many attempts to save the environment backfired?

In this sparklingly intelligent, wry, and scrupulously reported narrative, Johnson teases fact from faith and offers a rousing and original vision for a middle ground between natural and technological solutions that will assuage frustrated environmentalists, perplexed parents, and confused consumers alike.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Science, Food, Medicine, Environment, Nature

354 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 29, 2013

About the author

http://www.nathanaeljohnson.org

Reviews

[else fine · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the cover, I somehow didn't expect this book to be as substantial as it turned out to be. It's full of fascinating, clearly presented information - I especially enjoyed the chapter on plant toxins - presented in a gently humorous tone. Striking the correct balance between shrilly smug skepticism (peruse any atheism forum online for an example of the tone) and wide-eyed hippified tree-hugging compassion is tricky, and I believe Johnson has pulled it off flawlessly.

If you can hear a 'but' coming, it's true. I am tired of finding so many typos in finished books. I know the publishers are broke, and it seems like they're trying to replace live editors with spell check - but, as any college student would tell you, spell check is no substitute for actual human attention. It's especially jarring and intrusive in a book which emphasizes the human touch.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book. I'm a skeptic, and I'm a hippie of sorts. I can get exasperated at what some of my friends are willing to believe, without credible evidence--and apparently without much understanding of how to judge credibility. This does not at all apply just to hippies, but that's the author's background, so it's what he's looking at, and it sounds like an interesting premise. But I don't think the execution lives up to the potential.

The book is about his inquiry into "all natural" versus...whatever it's versus. Sometimes science, sometimes big business, sometimes politics. However, it's not a coherent whole that builds its points to a conclusion. It tries to be that, but much of it was previously published as essays, and even with editing (which could have been better), it is lacking in continuity.

Worse, he's far too arbitrary to be considered impartial. If you're going to refute unscientific beliefs, you shouldn't make jumps of logic. He does. When it comes to conclusions, he seems to go on intuition. Plus, at times, he is just plain annoying. One thing I found disturbing was his story about being at an anti-nuclear-waste-dumping event in the Southern California desert, and having an epiphany about the people being flaky and the demonstration being useless. He seemed to think that the desert seemed like a drab dead place, not much worth "saving." I've been to those demonstrations and, while I'm not sure how much they help, I've found that the desert is a beautiful place with an ecosystem much more alive and varied than he noticed. Plus, while belittling the demonstrators, he ignored the actual hazards that would come with the waste.

When trying to be evenhanded means considering organizations with major financial motivations on one side, and well-intentioned but possibly misguided people on the other...I don't think there's a scale that can weigh that.

The part I found most interesting was about managing the forests, where he looks at all the approaches to solving the problems. He gives several approaches, figures out why they won't work, and finally comes up with some hopeful precedents that could work, including the "commons" approach.

Overall, the author seems like a likable person, and he's an investigative reporter who gets into interesting subject matter. I would definitely read more by him.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was excited to read this book, but found myself bored by many of the topics Johnson lingers on and had to force myself to finish it. For example, first fifth of the book was about natural/midwife births versus hospital births. I thought the book was going to be more about natural food and consumer products versus their mainstream counterparts - which it wasn't. When Johnson shared personal stories, especially about his hippy upbringing, the book was interesting.

[Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

Award-winning journalist Nathanael Johnson was raised by two radical hippie parents who insisted on homebirth and outlawed refined sugar in their house throughout his childhood. As he grew up, Johnson found himself skeptical of the superiority claims of his parents' organic lifestyle while retaining that lingering fondness and sense of comfort/wholesomeness associated with it. It is with this disposition towards "all natural" products and practices yet strong desire for irrefutable scientific proof that Johnson delves into the opposing approaches to such topics as diet, childbirth, germs, and healing.

Judging by its subtitle, All Natural, at first appears to be an attack on organic food, herbal remedies, wildlife conservation efforts, and every other current counter-culture movement; but Johnson's research is actually very well balanced, if not virtually unbiased. He spends adequate time not just on each topic, but also on each viewpoint - raw milk v. pastuerization, natural birth v. Caesarean, grass-fed cattle v. grain-fed, etc.

Using historical examples and reasonable conclusions drawn from up-to-date and reputable studies, Johnson presents the pros and cons of each subject, as well as demystifying any lingering myths on either side (e.g. "studies fail to show that sugar makes kids hyper, or that it weakens the immune system," and "in just the last decade, the Caesarean rate had increased from 22 percent to 32 percent… yet… experts said that there had been no corresponding improvement in the health of mothers or babies.")

Not surprisingly, then, is Johnson's conclusion that too much of either extreme is bad, and in some instances even harmful (although he does appear to lean slightly towards his upbringing with the comment, “It’s not so terrible when the all-natural, right-brained reflex guides us toward phony alternative medical practitioners, or overpriced groceries... [but] I'm more concerned with the problems that arise when the technological, left-brained gaze fixes tenaciously on a perceived problem while ignoring any larger, systematic problems that may exist.") His persistent middle-of-the-road inconclusiveness can feel too safe or evasive at times, as it rarely offers any workable suggestions (an exception to this is his proposed "real" legislation for agriculture, although even this is an unfortunately unrealistic expectation), but the logic behind this ambiguity is both sound and welcome. Besides, Johnson readily admits that his intentions "in trying to unravel the confusion surrounding technology and nature is not to convince, but to wonder."

Although filled with facts and very suggestive test results, the only enlightenment that Johnson offers is in exposing just how unenlightened we really are in matters of nutrition, biology, and the environment. Both total reliance on/unwavering trust in, or stubborn dismissal of, either argument is missing part of the picture, Johnson deduces, and should instead be weighed on an individual basis instead of a one-size-fits-all philosophy. This might seem like a cop-out, but it just might also be the most rational approach out there.

[Orion · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is entertaining and well researched. If the cover appeals to you, so will the entire book.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the take this author has on natural vs. technological issues. He was raised by hippies, and is drawn to natural approaches--but also understands science and wants to take the best of that into account. His agonizing and searching also coincided with his beginning a family, and so issues of birth, nutrition and immunizations were very timely for him. I am overjoyed to see a book by an author that doesn't reject either approach out of hand but that also takes science and reality into account. My only disappointment was the nutrition section---I guess I wanted to have a decision-eat this way! LOL I found the info on the individualization of breast milk very, very interesting but it doesn't really help me decide what to have for dinner. :-) I am SO glad the author said right up front---immunizations do NOT cause autism. Modern medicine has some good things going for it. BUT . . . maybe we have gone too far with c-sections. Maybe we need to combine modern medicine with some consideration for the whole person. Maybe we can find a way to live with our environment. Maybe people who are very suspicious of modern medicine need to be a bit less credulous just because something says "natural" in it. Maybe . . . I think one thing this book points out is that we don't have all the answers yet. Maybe we never will. But we have to wade in and find some way to make our way in the world while still respecting it. Very valuable and thought-provoking.

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up. This books is made up of previously written essays that were put together and elaborated on to form a book. Each chapter represents a new idea and is connected with the underlying theme of technological vs all-natural. Don't read this book looking for answers, be prepared to think for yourself. Johnson does a good job of providing information from both sides of the argument without the usual condescension or one sided-ness you typically find with this type of book. Although, I am like him in that I lean toward all natural but like it backed up with science, so someone who is all technologically thinking might not view it this way. It's well researched and informational.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More philosophical than practical and a bit disjointed in organization, but interesting enough to hold my attention.

[Sher❤ The Fabulous BookLover · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of useful information, but it was too "wordy". The author scrambled off topic way too many times and I just couldn't hold my focus with this one.

[Eric Plunkett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book resonated with me. I, like most people, want to lead a healthy and happy life in the modern world. But the question is how. I'm constantly inundated with the latest scientific research, ancient wisdom, contradictory information, the latest fads, hearsay, and my own innate, but inarticulate sense of what's "right" for me. Johnson captures the anxiety of trying to parse out good from bad, healthy from unhealthy, and natural from toxic in a well-written narrative. He dutifully mixes anecdotal evidence, scientific study, and personal recollections to form a coherent, humorous, and insightful guide to living.

As with most things, the answer lies somewhere in the middle. Modern science has vastly increased lifespans and standard of living, but swung the pendulum too far towards technology and away from the natural world. His conclusion....be sensible. Eat real food; trust medicine, but appreciate ancient remedies that recognize the complexity and interconnectedness of the mind and body; be careful of removing all the good to avoid a little of the bad; don't rely on technology until it's needed, etc.

I don't expect I'll remember many of his specific conclusions about milk, vaccines, or natural childbirth. But I do think I'll approach questions of how to live well with an appropriate skepticism of both extremes and a belief (hope?) that I'll be able to find what works for me.

[Natanya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up with a firmly “natural” based point of view and did not expect to be swayed by anything Johnson would have to say from the skeptic camp. But I wondered what his arguments might bring to light and so I read it with mild curiosity. I enjoyed his reporter’s eye and personal reflection but I felt like he stretched the skepticism where there really wasn’t anything significant to argue. It was as if the editor said, you’ve got to present two sides, come up with something! But there was a lot of history and other trivia I found fascinating and for that I would recommend it if you didn’t have anything else to read.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book interesting and well-balanced with stories and data from both sides of the conversation (all natural vs conventional). Some topics were more intriguing than others, and I found myself wanting more of a "final" answer. I enjoyed reading about perspectives I hadn't yet considered (ie instead of blaming farmers for their harmful practices, how about consider that the consumer is demanding cheaper food and requiring the farmer to follow the money?). Good overall but would only recommend to folks already interested in this topic.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vastly entertaining book looking at the benefits of nature v. technology in various fields: birth, food, vaccines, the environment. A natural fence straddler having been raised by hippies and then having embraced technology, Johnson deftly explains why a person would rely on one rather than the other in life philosophy and then discusses the pros and cons of birth. Packed full of information and never boring, All Natural is a fascinating read.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mistitled - this man is a no skeptic

He’s a wide-eyed hippy who only barely condones vaccinations and condemns pasteurization. This is a personal musing of one man’s attempt to reconcile himself to the harmful idiocy his hippy parents raised him with disguised as a work of investigative non-fiction. No fact is sourced and anecdote is always taken as evidence.

Avoid this book - I sincerely fear for the health, sanity and safety of Jose who read it uncritically.

[Jenny 'Senden' Score · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF. I just can’t with this author.
He spent time researching childbirth, spent time at birth farms. Learned that women who feel emotionally taken care of fair better in labor. Interviews doulas with his wife. They can’t agree so they don’t hire one. You had one job… to emotionally take care of your wife.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

The chapters were hit and miss. I learned a lot about "natural" childbirth and raw milk. Two topics that I never bothered to learn about they're not relevant to me. Others were OK. Some were incoherent. The conclusion was totally unrelated to the rest. Just messy and not worthwhile.

[Samantha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Essentially this book is confirmation bias for those who think the natural health world is full of quackery. This guy should be paid by the fda, insurance companies, and pharmaceutical companies.

[Rebekah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating and personal, a rare author who resists binary answers or easy conclusions. Well worth the read

[Patricia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, lighthearted, and very breakthroughvian.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, impelled by his wife's pregnancy, decides to see if the 'natural approach' to life is better than that offered by science and technology. He investigates childbirth practices, the immune system, nutrition, toxins in food and vaccines, environment, agriculture, and healthcare. Raised by parents with a decidly natural bent, he shares many personal experiences related to these topics. (Not a word about education, though. Not even a passing reference to it!)

My worldview affected the way I read his findings, however. Whenever he talked about how something had come about as a result of evolution, I longed to ask if he'd ever considered the possibility that there was a Creator who'd overseen all of this. His marveling over the wonders of breast milk--delivered as a liquid, then morphing into a solid in the baby's stomach--seemed like he was really missing the hand of God in all of this. And when he wondered why evolution hadn't corrected, or why it continued to allow, various problems, I wanted to tell him about the Fall and how this world is under sins's curse at this time.

But he did see the brokenness, even without understanding the backstory or the future ending. He talked about how nice it would be if we could only fit together the natural and scientific, the left and right brain, the desire to control out of fear and the ability to appreciate and adapt. His longing for a better world was poignant, and the ending about how his parents divorced despite their 'shared ideological vision' was further evidence of the emptiness of our lives without God. "It happened, for the usual reasons that people fall in and out of love." What about commitment? How can we assess rightly, how can we live rightly, when we are so fallen and foolish on our own? Not all of the natural practices in the world will help us when our very nature is fallen.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sigh. I need to get back to writing my responses during the reading or immediately after I finish a book. But I had some impressions while reading All-Natural that I want to get down:

Johnson writes whopping, cue-the-orchestra conclusions to each chapter - so many writers can't do that. He shows off this skill by writing 5-6-7 of these conclusions (for each chapter).

Even if the reader doesn't give a damn about the dilemma of being drawn to the "natural" while holding a skeptical, science-based worldview, one has to admire the fine writing and ingenious structure. It would have been hard to sell a memoir without a hook - and as a Michael Pollan protegé Johnson probably was more interested in larger topics than his own life (and didn't want to write a memoir). But here we have a more-or-less linear and fairly interesting story of his own developmental benchmarks/rites of passage (and odd parents) tied in to topical, trendy subjects some of us are very interested in (e.g., nutrition, agriculture, medical intervention in "natural" physiological events, etc). I'd buy it (the book proposal; the book.)

That said, I couldn't truly tell if Johnson was being facetious in claiming that the skeptical vs. "hippie" new age all-natural lifestyle consumed him with anxiety (or whether it was a conceit exaggerated or drummed up for the book), but I did feel kind of schizo trying to hold the opposing POVs in my own head while reading..

And his (and my) dilemma here, in a nutshell:

Frustratingly, none of this [skepticism] changed my tendency to turn toward nature whenever I entered a grocery store...the more I learned about [nutrition], the less meaningful those numbers became. ...I still tended to trust those products with a certain natural aura emanating from the jar.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book really frustrated me. I thought I would love it - no one loves a debate bout "natural" vs. man-made/chemical/processed more than me. But it didn't feel cohesive - which makes sense now that I find out that each chapter had been written and published elsewhere separately - and I felt like it didn't provide a convincing argument either way. I was especially interested in the chapter on vaccines and I felt that one was particularly disappointing, although I did learn that the use of vaccines apparently dates back to 8th century India! Some interesting points were made in the final chapter about western medicine, including the fact that the American medical system punishes doctors who attempt to prevent illness in their patients and rewards those who can find lots of things wrong with people and can force lots of tests and drugs on them. So basically, a doctor who tries to keep his patients healthy will go bankrupt, but a doctor who has a lot of sick patients will become rich. I've known this on some level for a long time, but seeing it spelled out so clearly makes me trust medicine and doctors even less (but please do rush me to the hospital if I have appendicitis!). I also liked how in the conclusion the author makes the argument that our tendency toward natural or man-made/chemical/processed is a function of right brain vs. left, which I think can also explain lots of differences such as whether someone is a republican or a democrat. For example, if you see things at separate and fragmented, believe all of existence can be divided up into classes, about which you can make predictions and assumptions (left-brained approach) you will vote for the every-man-for-himself republicans, and if you believe that all things are connected (right-brained approach) you vote democrat.

[Chris Laskey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Third time trying to review this... My main problem with this work is that there is some science behind the discussions within, but very little and certainly not a whit about any studies when the value of nature is questioned. So there exists a half hearted attempt to set one value against the other and his bias runs through all of his questions. This is not to disagree with the idea of nature or natural processes being better - Let's face it who doesn't want to be more natural - but I do want some solid background on his discussions and I don't find him very convincing because of this problem. Moreover he lumps quite often Technology and actual science together when there is really a clear line of distinction. He certainly pretends to be a skeptic about the natural approach but really he isn't and that bias affects any deep research into his topics. Additionally his interests aren't really thought provoking either. We all want to live a better, healthful life but how do we do this en masse? This is not the topic he wants - and what gets me with so many "nature" based processes. If you are to tend to the billions of people on this planet and not do harm you have to have a bigger idea and discussion than what this book plans. Most Natural concepts are ego driven and individualistic supporting at best a small group of people. Can this be adopted to better larger groups- or even civilizations? That would be an interesting book about health and environmentally involved resources on huge scales. How do you cope with a country like India where peace, love of the animal is contrasted with unbelievable area of poverty, filth and sheer disregard for Human dignity. No this book is about how the author can co-exist in a world he wishes were more like him. Like that awful Jewel song - why can't you be more like me? Oh Well.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, but I wish that Johnson had a stricter editor. His ideas and arguments are thoughtful and important, but so wordy and rambling I am afraid that many people I would like to read this book will not get through it. Maybe a Cliff notes version would help?
Johnson comes from a personal perspective of having been raised by the crunchiest of granola parents (think home childbirth, his brother cutting the umbilical cord, being raised free of diapers and sugar and television and other potential evils, etc.), and now looking hard at many different aspects of life with the question: is natural or technological (man-made) better? It added impact that Johnson and his wife were having their first child during some of the writing of this book, so questions about the best way to do childbirth, or medical care, or nutrition were very personal and pertinent.
Ultimately, Johnson raises many questions that he doesn't answer - but he makes a great case for saying that they are not answerable, and that it is our job as humans living on the planet in this time to make decisions without all the information we would like to have. He also provides numerous interesting and valuable insights that I appreciated, related to food, vaccines, healthcare, and the environment.
Worth reading, if you are patient enough to slog through wordy paragraphs referencing everyone from Aristotle to Michael Pollan.

[Wendy Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the words of the author, my dad and husband both "flinch" towards medical science while my mom and grandma both "flinch" towards alternative medicine, so I enjoyed the author's ability to relate to both views as he examined the different subjects. I used to flinch towards medical science until I got pregnant. Then my own HMO-funded doctors prescribed herbal supplements, acupuncture, and "hope" to deal with my frequent, debilitating migraines. Although I still have the tendency to prefer the medical science approach, I have found myself forced to face its limitations and explore alternatives.

I especially enjoyed the chapters on raw milk, vegetables, and vaccines. I am a strong believer in the hygiene theory - I would rather have people wash their hands than not - but living in too clean a world has its own unpredictable and possibly detrimental consequences to health. I am looking at vaccinating my child and I feel better knowing that I will be giving him the exposure to bugs that he would have had a hundred years ago just by drinking the water (without the risk of dysentery.)

[Losososdiane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please let Nathanael Johnson be just one of many of his generation to strive to take the best of what technological advancements and the kind, loving and responsible side of humanity (aka the right and left hemispheres of our brains) and come up with ways we can all participate in making this world a better place. I found the sections on cooperative forest management, industrial pig farming and medical care the most fascinating but the whole book is worth reading. Johnson has a gentle but carefully documented way of debunking a lot of alternative health assertions and treatments while noting the need to add back humane attention and patient involvement in medical care. His discussion of the placebo effect shows that there is much to learn about how our minds can work with our bodies to supplement and even do better than medicines and technology to heal us. If Johnson's views represent the future, then I feel somewhat optimistic.

[Nikki · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a book I would normally pick up. I read it as part of college stuff. I'm not all that into non-fiction books about the 'organic/natural' way and all of that.

That said, however, this book surprised me. It's well written. It stays on relatively neutral grounds. I read it rather quickly and enjoyed the read.

At times it felt like it sort of veered away from the 'nature vs. technology' debate, but it stayed interesting. At times it sort of made me cringe (the childbirth section and the pig masturbation section specifically) but I realize that was the point.

There were a fair share of grammatical errors in the book (an editor not doing their job properly, I guess).

So overall, it was a surprise. I did like it. I feel bad only giving it 3 stars, but I didn't 'really like it'. It was a pleasant surprise and a decent read. Just not my cup of tea, is all.

[Alex Templeton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnson grew up in a completely crunchy-granola family; as an adult and new father, he uses this book to delve into whether or not his parents' kind of decisions made good sense. A book like this is why non-fiction was (or should have been) invented: to allow intelligent people to explore complex issues in ways that provoke the reader's mind to start a-whirling. As a currently pregnant lady, I was definitely interested in the chapter on all-natural (unassisted?) birth, but also found the other chapters fascinating. The chapter on vaccines/immunity/microbes engages the raw milk debate; the chapter on animal agriculture tells you more than you perhaps ever wanted to know about assisted reproduction in cattle. Highly recommended if you are interested in getting beyond the surface-level noise of the organic/artificial debate.

[Chris Jennings · Rating 3 out of 5]

The chapter about birth and pregnancy should be required reading for all men. My mind was blown. Other sections didn't capture my attention as much, but overall I really enjoyed this book. You can tell that Johnson has worked closely with Michael Pollan, this book follows the tried and true Pollan format. I admire the ambition to cover all of these topics in one book but maybe this would have been better suited as separate examinations of each subject. Just as I got hooked on the story of artificial insemination with pigs, the story jumped to deforestation. Right when you want to learn more about Cesarean Sections the topic veers to the legitimacy of immunizations. After reading this you'll have a well-rounded appreciation for all things natural, but be prepared to want to dive down a few of these rabbit holes with follow-up books.