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How and When to Be Your Own Doctor
The book has no illustrations or index. Purchasers are entitled to a free trial membership in the General Books Club where they can select from more than a million books without charge. Subjects: Hygiene; Diet; Therapeutics, Physiological; Medical / General; Health
242 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 29, 2012
I liked this book and found it interesting, but had to read it with a few grains of salt. Because of some of the disclaimers in the forward, I was not sure how much to believe as fact. It portends to be a scientific / medical book, and yet it read more like an autobiography, full of subjective statements. I still found it interesting, reading the story of one of the early pioneers in alternative medicine.
August 21, 2023
This is an interesting book, biased but now almost quaint 30 years after publication. She predicts the rise of gluten free eating, but the Hygienists' emphasis on fighting toxins by having a "clean colon" seems outdated. With the rise of appreciation for the microbiome, people nowadays are more likely to take probiotics or even consider a fecal transplant. However, the concern over how to digest food continues, and the author's acceptance of a range of different diets for different people is still refreshing.
Note: the hygienist's view of why people get sick: the sequence of causation goes: enervation, toxemia, alternative elimination, then disease. All caused by a failure to digest proper nutrients from food.
Some quotes:
One food at a meal is the ideal. An example of this approach would be eating fruits for breakfast, a plain cereal grain for lunch, and vegetables for supper.
If you are unable to change your own emotional tone or that of others around you, then it is important to eat very lightly, eat only easily digested foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, raw juices, steamed vegetables, and small servings of whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Those having a little experience with natural medicine make teas of echinacea, fenugreek seeds and red clover and quit eating. Eating as little as possible can mean only water and herb teas, only vegetable broth, only vegetable juice or non-sweet fruit juice, even only cleansing raw foods. If you eat more than this you have not relieved your system of enough digestive effort.
Red clover is another blood cleanser, perhaps a little less effective but it has a pleasant, sweet taste and may be better accepted by the squeamish. If there is lymphatic congestion I always include fenugreek seed tea brewed at the strength of approximately one tablespoon of seeds to a quart of water. Expect the tea to be brown, thick and mucilaginous, with a reasonably pleasant taste reminiscent of maple syrup.
Note: the hygienist's view of why people get sick: the sequence of causation goes: enervation, toxemia, alternative elimination, then disease. All caused by a failure to digest proper nutrients from food.
Some quotes:
One food at a meal is the ideal. An example of this approach would be eating fruits for breakfast, a plain cereal grain for lunch, and vegetables for supper.
If you are unable to change your own emotional tone or that of others around you, then it is important to eat very lightly, eat only easily digested foods such as raw fruits and vegetables, raw juices, steamed vegetables, and small servings of whole grains, nuts and seeds.
Those having a little experience with natural medicine make teas of echinacea, fenugreek seeds and red clover and quit eating. Eating as little as possible can mean only water and herb teas, only vegetable broth, only vegetable juice or non-sweet fruit juice, even only cleansing raw foods. If you eat more than this you have not relieved your system of enough digestive effort.
Red clover is another blood cleanser, perhaps a little less effective but it has a pleasant, sweet taste and may be better accepted by the squeamish. If there is lymphatic congestion I always include fenugreek seed tea brewed at the strength of approximately one tablespoon of seeds to a quart of water. Expect the tea to be brown, thick and mucilaginous, with a reasonably pleasant taste reminiscent of maple syrup.
December 9, 2023
How quickly do we forget what we've put in our mouths but the aftereffect linger for days, weeks or years. Moser explains biology and some common sense on what our bodies are capable of. She does not shirk from mentioning the discomfort you will go through when getting back to a proper healthy, nutritional balance.
March 16, 2019
An eye opener!
Very good issues are "touched" in this book. I am impressed by the opinion expressed about a free approached to health problems in spite of AMA. I wished the author wouldn't have died so young.
Very good issues are "touched" in this book. I am impressed by the opinion expressed about a free approached to health problems in spite of AMA. I wished the author wouldn't have died so young.
August 24, 2021
Good
Even though I didn't agree with everything, I still see this book as helpful. The chapter on fasting gave the book much value. It got a 5 star rating because I had no real complaints or concerns.
Even though I didn't agree with everything, I still see this book as helpful. The chapter on fasting gave the book much value. It got a 5 star rating because I had no real complaints or concerns.
July 31, 2024
Fascinating life and times of a homegrown natural hygienist. Personally, I take these anecdotes as truly hope-giving and wish others could take them more seriously.
May 26, 2012
Absolute garbage filled with terrible advice. I read this book over the course of two days (it is a very slim volume) and was practically on the verge of laughter throughout its entirety; anyone who seriously believe that the human body's natural method of healing is to be completely bedridden and on a diet of water and colonics is positively insane.
I wouldn't be upset if this book was written as a how-to guide on a particular holistic practice, with no ill-will towards others. However, when the author goes on and on about how evil modern medicine is, there is a slight problem. "Curse them!" Mrs. Isabelle shouts, "what with their scientific tests and proven treatments! Why do they get all the credit for healing people with their elitist 'medicine,' while looking at me funny for charging people $80 to force 50 gallons of water through their systems?"
But I digress. Basically, this book is filled to the brim with inane theories and altogether quackery. Colonics and enemas are about as natural as spandex, and, as such, should be reserved for a select few. Mother nature isn't stupid; if humans had evolved to heal best when lying still for a month, we would have been eaten by tigers long ago. For the love of God, Mrs. Isabelle's "miracle cure" is wheat grass juice, which can only be made by pushing the grass through what is described as an industrial-strength grinder! Her theories on nutrition are potentially insightful, but even that is ruined when she begins touting vegetarianism as the be-all, end-all of health. But not just vegetarianism. You can only eat raw food. And only certain foods, because you're probably allergic to the rest. And it's these allergies which are causing your cancer! Or schizophrenia, or depression, or arthritis, etc. If she cures you with her cartoonishly mad-scientist approach to medicine, then you're another example of the benefits of her practice. But if, for some reason you die after being deprived of food for 6 weeks, then nothing in the world could have helped you. Bag em' and tag em', she tried her best. At least you died with the zen-like peace of the starving.
The final nail in the (quite literal) coffin of this book is that the author tragically died of cancer several years before its release, after over 20 years of refusing treatments that could have saved her life. I do not say this as though she deserved it, but as to warn others that would potentially try to live the life that she did.
I wouldn't be upset if this book was written as a how-to guide on a particular holistic practice, with no ill-will towards others. However, when the author goes on and on about how evil modern medicine is, there is a slight problem. "Curse them!" Mrs. Isabelle shouts, "what with their scientific tests and proven treatments! Why do they get all the credit for healing people with their elitist 'medicine,' while looking at me funny for charging people $80 to force 50 gallons of water through their systems?"
But I digress. Basically, this book is filled to the brim with inane theories and altogether quackery. Colonics and enemas are about as natural as spandex, and, as such, should be reserved for a select few. Mother nature isn't stupid; if humans had evolved to heal best when lying still for a month, we would have been eaten by tigers long ago. For the love of God, Mrs. Isabelle's "miracle cure" is wheat grass juice, which can only be made by pushing the grass through what is described as an industrial-strength grinder! Her theories on nutrition are potentially insightful, but even that is ruined when she begins touting vegetarianism as the be-all, end-all of health. But not just vegetarianism. You can only eat raw food. And only certain foods, because you're probably allergic to the rest. And it's these allergies which are causing your cancer! Or schizophrenia, or depression, or arthritis, etc. If she cures you with her cartoonishly mad-scientist approach to medicine, then you're another example of the benefits of her practice. But if, for some reason you die after being deprived of food for 6 weeks, then nothing in the world could have helped you. Bag em' and tag em', she tried her best. At least you died with the zen-like peace of the starving.
The final nail in the (quite literal) coffin of this book is that the author tragically died of cancer several years before its release, after over 20 years of refusing treatments that could have saved her life. I do not say this as though she deserved it, but as to warn others that would potentially try to live the life that she did.
January 8, 2013
Short book promoting diet cleansing. Most statements are not substantiated.
March 5, 2013
great book, it have a nice advises of fasting and health eating habits to maintain good health
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews