These books were instrumental in my journey. They provided the information I needed to understand what was happening to my body and how to heal myself. From Dietary Changes to Beliefs, this knowledge transformed the way we approached my disease.
Why Stomach Acid is Good for You – Jonathan Wright, M.D.
This book started our journey. I had chronic heartburn for decades, and as a result I took many kinds of acid-blocking medications. Did you know that stomach acid is actually needed for the proper digestion of food, and without it, your body cannot properly process and absorb the nutrients you’re eating? Do this long enough and you literally starve your body of what it needs to be healthy. Over time, the results and related symptoms can look like, you guessed it: Lupus.
Eat to Live – Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
This is the book we read in 2013 that changed our lives. Eat to Live preaches a Whole Food Plant Based (WFPB) diet to prevent and even eliminate most chronic diseases. Dr. Fuhrman uses the equation H=N/C. This means you achieve optimal Health (H) when you fill your body with foods that have the most Nutrients (N) per Calorie (C), otherwise known as “nutrient-dense” foods. The typical Western diet (lots of sugars, fats, meat and processed food) literally starves us of the macro and micro-nutrients our bodies need to thrive, and instead fills them with toxic substances that hurt us and ultimately cause chronic disease. When we read this book we were desperate and ready to try anything, so we took the six-week challenge it recommended. Literally, by the end of this period, I was cured. I lost 35 pounds. I had perfect vitals, I came off all of my medications but one, and I haven’t had a lupus flare since. I know this sounds like an advertisement, but it’s not. We view it to this day as a miracle.
The China Study – T. Colin Campbell, PhD
The previous book on this list, Eat to Live, is partially based on this one. This book documents the China Study, which claims to be the most comprehensive study ever undertaken on the relationship between diet and chronic disease. It is a compelling, informative book that shows a clear connection between animal protein consumption and chronic diseases, and the benefits of a whole food, plant-based diet with regards to chronic disease prevention and reversal, and general good health. A good read and highly recommended.
You Are the Placebo – Dr. Joe Dispenza
This was a fascinating, and yet very challenging book (in a good way). The premise is based on the “placebo effect”, and what it means regarding our ability to use our thoughts and beliefs to facilitate healing. A great example of the placebo effect occurs during pharmaceutical drug testing. These tests typically use a test group (who get the drug), and a control group (who get a placebo, or inert substance, but are told it’s the drug). In most tests, there are people in the control group that improve, sometimes dramatically so, even though they never received the drug. These are measurable, physical improvements, and sometimes the percentage of people in the control group who achieve these improvements is as high as the test group. Why? The theory is that some of the people in the control group actually believed the substance they took would help them, and their bodies responded with healing. It’s also possible that the people who took the actual drug who improved did so for the same reasons. This has amazing implications. Can our bodies actually heal themselves if we believe they can? Our bodies have a tremendous capacity for self-healing, if we would only unleash it with belief. How much of my healing occurred because I actually believed these diet changes would work? Would my healing have been sabotaged if I didn’t believe it was possible? It’s important to note that, according to the book, “wanting” or “hoping” for something, no matter how badly, will not produce this effect. You have to believe in the desired outcome. Your subconscious will react accordingly, telling your body to unleash the myriad of healing chemicals and processes it possesses. Like I said, fascinating stuff.
The Disease Delusion – Dr. Jeffrey S. Bland
One of the problems with healthcare today is the propensity to treat symptoms rather than identifying and treating the root-cause of disease. The first approach often leads to a lifetime of chronic illness and dependency on medications to “manage” it. The second approach can often lead to actual healing. How can you possibly heal or fix something if you don’t know the actual cause? This book discusses a somewhat new approach called “Functional Medicine”. Functional Medicine looks at the health of the whole body, not just one symptom, and focuses on finding the actual cause of an illness and addressing it with natural solutions, rather than prescribing powerful (and dangerous) medications to manage the symptoms. This is the approach we took to finally heal me from decades of disease and damage from my medications.
Overdosed America – John Abramson, M.D.
The most common way lupus is treated is with medications. In fact, over the course of 30+ years, this was the ONLY way I was treated for my lupus. Lifestyle changes like a healthy diet, regular exercise and stress-management were never mentioned. I was prescribed dozens of different drugs, many at the same time, most with powerful, negative side-effects. After a while it was difficult to tell where the disease ended and the drug effects started. It wasn’t until after we had reversed my lupus with the aforementioned lifestyle changes and got me off of most of my drugs did my health return. Later, we discovered that my rheumatologist was getting paid millions of dollars from pharmaceutical companies. This book does a great job of explaining how the pharmaceutical industry really works and how that can be detrimental to your health.