Pottenger's Prophecy: How Food Resets Genes for Wellness or Illness

by Gray Graham, Deborah Kesten, Larry Scherwitz

It's been called a "new paradigm" and "the medicine of the future." At the same time, it is so profoundly changing our understanding of health and healing, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has poured $190 million into it. What's the brouhaha about? The emerging new science of epigenetics, which reveals the foods you eat switch genes on or off that can lead either to wellness or illness. But this "medicine of the future" does even more, for it provides a crystal ball not only into your potential health, but also that of your children, even unborn generations. Be assured: the age of nutritional epigenetics has arrived. Pottenger's Prophecy: How Food Resets Genes for Wellness or Illness reveals the foods that launch your genes on a path toward illness, as well as the diet that can activate "health" genes-often instantly-that promote a longer, healthier life. Regardless of your current health status, Pottenger's Prophecy is the source for anyone who wants to eat to reset genes-NOW-for health, healing, and longevity. Read it and discover the food and nutrition secrets you and your offspring need to live up to your epigenetic health potential...for life. More than 425 references.

Genres: Nonfiction, Food

290 pages, Paperback

First published October 28, 2010

Reviews

[Sher Free · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 -Good info on epigenetics with supporting evidence, basically how we are not at the mercy of our genes, our genes are at the mercy of us. In other words lifestyle and diet have the ability to turn genes on or off either positively or negatively and those epigenetic changes are actually passed on to our children and grandchildren.
Frustrating in that there is a fair amount of conflicting information on diet. The authors seem to me to be somewhat ambivalent about the foods that we evolved from and can't seem to quite let go of some of the ingrained false messaging that has occurred over the last 50-60 years, despite all the evidence they present on what the early human diet consisted of. They offer opinions on what our ancestors ate and also advise changes that we should make today in order to better that diet. You can't present paleolithic people as healthier but admonish the reader not to eat as much protein as they did because it's hard on the kidney's. Too much protein is only hard on kidneys if not enough fat is eaten with it, and, according to their own tables, saturated fat was eaten in fair amounts despite their insistence that lean meat low in saturated fats was primarily consumed. Early humans ate a range of lean meat to extremely fatty meat and their diets were high in both fat and protein.
Anyway, for those who don't know about epigenetics, that part is fascinating and incredibly crucial for everyone to understand. The health and nutrition guidelines can be helpful for people needing a place to start.

[Erin Stuhlsatz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had high hopes, and this book came highly recommended by some foodies I know, but I was a little disappointed. There were lots of interesting scientific studies, and it was MUCH better than the other epigenetics book I read (Deep Nutrition), but it was not very well written and VERY poorly organized. His ideas were repetitive instead of being compelling, and his suggestions for how you can live better were pretty unoriginal: eat organic, don't consume trans fats, etc. For the good: he also focused on how social factors could also influence your genes. He found that exercise, social support, and stress could also turn genes off and on and cited a study in which men with prostate cancer were able to slow or reverse the development of cancer through diet, exercise, social support, and stress management

[Christy Peterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointd in this book, I'm not sure where to begin.

There was lots of good info on epigenitics in the beginning.

I only noticed one small paragraph each for fermented foods and encocuraging raw milk.

Much of the discussion on fat was just annoying. With this book being dedicated to Weston A Price and Frances M Pottenger, I would expect more accuracy. Saturated fat was labeled as bad and the people Price studied that were healthiest ate wild and therefore lean meat. Um, wrong. Meat was hunted in the fall with the puropse of the animal being the fattest. The fat was prized. Yes, it doesn't compare to the fat from confined animals, but that can easily be clarified.

When discussing diet, the paleo diet was heavily emphasized. If you believe in that, great, you will like this info. I am a creationist, so I don't. The book should have been dedicated to the paleo man instead of Weston A Price, as his research didn't seem to be appreciated very much.

Between this book and Deep Nutrition, I think I recommend Deep Nutrition, even though that book as serious problems too. Read my review on it here: http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...

I'm still waiting for a great book on epigenitics.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an eye-opening book to read. Some of the ideas and statements are repeated several times, but I suppose it needs repeating. A great book to read and share.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Had potential, the topic is interesting but I could not stand the style of the writing. Way too many ! Made it feel like a sales pitch. But overall, worth the read.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pros- love to read about break throughs in understanding the human body that are written for the un-scientist. Love it even more when old paradigms get thrown out. We are not controlled by our genes, they are controlled by us. Next time you feed your child remember that you are making choices for grandchild!

Cons- though I don't think there's any debate about Epigenetics the specific examples they used were not the most well supported I've ever read. Several unsupported conclusions and lots of repetition. It could have been a much smaller book.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

The subject of food and what you put in your mouth is certainly a hot topic! This book gives healthy guidelines to eating right and what can happen down the line genetically if you aren't 'food-conscious'. I'd recommend this book to anyone and everyone. There is some repetition in the book, but I've overlooked it due to the value it brings to the reader. Sometimes repeating yourself more than once is a positive thing. Very well written.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

If your interest is specifically epigenetics, read Nessa Carey's book; if your interest is in eating healthy, there are many selections in the "real food" movement. This book is not the best selection for either niche. As other reviewers have pointed out, the writing is repetitive and speculative, short on actual science and long on questions.

[Claudia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the best book I've read to date that chronicles the development of nutrigenomics or the impact of what we eat on our health and wellness. I love the style of writing and enjoyed the sense of wonder as I wandered through the discoveries of the Agouti mouse, the Ornish work on reversing prostate cancer and more. This should be required reading in the first year of medical school...

[Trisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting for the part on epigenetics. This explains how your family background can be completely changed by food and environment.
You can reverse your risk of cancer, diabetes, etc if you choose to live your live better.
A little technical in parts and seemed to repeat alot.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gives you a lot to think about. Great information. Need to get my own copy!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

epigenetics, some of the most current studies are discussed.