Food Over Medicine: The Conversation That Could Save Your Life - Softcover

"Very few people, and even very few doctors, really understand how powerful nutrition can be in preventing and in treating most of the illness that afflicts us today. Food Over Medicine is an outstanding resource for anyone wanting to maximize their health and minimize their dependence on western medicine." --John Robbins, author of No Happy Cows and Diet for a New America "Food Over Medicine explains nutrition in an original, highly compelling way. A totally digestible, accessible approach to learning how to maintain or regain your health." --Rory Freedman, author of Skinny Bitch "A unique, fresh approach that makes the book a fun and enjoyable read." --VegNews Magazine "Reading Food Over Medicine is like having nutrition explained to you in a no-nonsense way by a dear friend. This is not some dry textbook; it's a jargon-free conversation--one that will change your life!" --Lindsay S. Nixon, author of the bestselling Happy Herbivore cookbook series "Food Over Medicine is brimming with useful information that is both detailed and yet easy to understand. The question-and-answer format is very effective with excellent points. It's the sort of book that everyone who cares about their health should read." --Lee Fulkerson, director of Forks Over Knives "Food Over Medicine is a must for anyone remotely concerned about health. It is incredibly funny, totally engaging, and promotes a diet that just happens to be the best for the planet." --Ed Begley Jr., actor and environmental activist "Reading Food Over Medicine could be the best health insurance you ever had. This no-nonsense approach to solid health information may save your life!" --Howard F. Lyman, author of Mad Cowboy and No More Bull! "Food Over Medicine is an excellent book that reveals the truth that health is more about dietary choices and plant-based nutrition than about doctors, diagnostic tests, surgeries, procedures, and medications. The book is easy-to-read, entertaining, and humorous. But, above all else, it is incredibly informative, enlightening, inspiring, and self-empowering. It will open your eyes. It will encourage you to take charge of your life." --Walter E. Jacobson, M.D., author of Forgive to Win! "Food Over Medicine cuts through every nutrition-related controversy to give you the information you need for a lifetime of health and trim weight." --Janice Stanger, Ph.D., author of The Perfect Formula Diet "Wellness Forum executive director and naturopath Popper and co-author Merzer (coauthor, Mad Cowboy) sit readers down for a long talk about "eating [one's] way out of disease" in this no-nonsense dialogue." --Publishers Weekly

Nearly half of Americans take at least one prescription medicine, with almost a quarter taking three or more, as diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and dementia grow more prevalent than ever. The problem with medicating common ailments, such as high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol, is that drugs treat symptoms--and may even improve test results--without addressing the cause: diet. Overmedicated, overfed, and malnourished, most Americans fail to realize the answer to lower disease rates doesn't lie in more pills but in the foods we eat. With so much misleading nutritional information regarded as common knowledge, from "everything in moderation" to "avoid carbs," the average American is ill-equipped to recognize the deadly force of abundant, cheap, unhealthy food options that not only offer no nutritional benefits but actually bring on disease. In Food Over Medicine, Pamela A. Popper, PhD, ND, and Glen Merzer invite the reader into a conversation about the dire state of American health--the result of poor nutrition choices stemming from food politics and medical misinformation. But, more important, they share the key to getting and staying healthy for life. Backed by numerous scientific studies, Food Over Medicine details how dietary choices either build health or destroy it. Including recipes from Chef Del Sroufe, author of the bestselling Forks Over Knives--The Cookbook and Better Than Vegan, Food Over Medicine reveals the power and practice of optimal nutrition in an accessible way.