Customer Rating: 
Summary: Marvelously written! You will be Inspired, Enthralled, & Intrigued ... One Small step at a Time
Comment: Add my name to the list. I am now a fan of Kathy Freston and enthusiastically endorse Quantum
Wellness: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Health and Happiness ... a definitive, instructive, and
intriguing book on ways each of us on can protect the environment, improve our state of health, and
sense of purpose. Her methodology makes it easy for people like me who have difficulty changing bad
habits. Lao Tzu, Father of Taoism, once said: "The journey of a thousand miles begins with one
step". To me, his philosophy is the essence of this delightful book. The author asks the reader to
take small steps while changing bad habits into good ... and then increase the level of difficulty
while developing confidence and improving skill levels.
She calls it Quantum Wellness.
I call it, a marvelous way to make a difference in the world. She shows the cause and effect we
have with plants, the environment, and especially animals. After researching the severe and harsh
conditions in which animals are housed, fed, and killed ... I am having a difficult time eating my
top sirloin, nowadays. If we are what we eat, I need to eat something else! (The book provides
viable alternatives.)
Readers should note the author focuses not on just one aspect
of improving one's lifestyle; she gives salient advice on taking care of your spirit, mind, and body
(multi-dimensional experience). I have a friend who smokes, drinks alcohol, and is morbidly obese.
I asked why she engaged in destructive behavior. She answered: "Because it makes me feel good at
the time". The problem with her reasoning is she feels good for a few minutes, only to feel badly
for a lifetime. I purchased an extra copy of the book for her. It is a perfect reference source for
anyone with low self esteem. All steps in the book will require some sacrifice. However, if you
are willing to inconvenience yourself for a few minutes (i.e., exercise thirty minutes daily) I
believe you will reap the benefits of Quantum Wellness for a Lifetime. Reviewed by Reginald V.
Johnson, author, How to Be Happy, Successful, and Rich
Customer Rating: 
Summary: The Truly Inconvenient Truth
Comment: I wanted to respond to those reviewrs who have criticized vegan diets and think they are unhealthy.
Here is a recent statement made by Dr. McDougall who has supported a plant based diet for years.
Plants--the Original Sources of Protein and Amino Acids
Proteins are
made from chains of 20 different amino acids that connect together in varying sequences--similar to
how all the words in a dictionary are made from the same 26 letters. Plants (and microorganisms)
can synthesize all of the individual amino acids that are used to build proteins, but animals
cannot. There are 8 amino acids that people cannot make and thus, these must be obtained from our
diets--they are referred to as "essential."
After we eat our foods, stomach acids and
intestinal enzymes digest the proteins into individual amino acids. These components are then
absorbed through the intestinal walls into the bloodstream. After entering the body's cells, these
amino acids are reassembled into proteins. Proteins function as structural materials which build the
scaffoldings that maintain cell shapes, enzymes which catalyze biochemical reactions, and hormones
which signal messages between cells--to name only a few of their vital roles.
Since
plants are made up of structurally sound cells with enzymes and hormones, they are by nature rich
sources of proteins. In fact, so rich are plants that they can meet the protein needs of the
earth's largest animals: elephants, hippopotamuses, giraffes, and cows. You would be correct to
deduce that the protein needs of relatively small humans can easily be met by plants.
/>In regards to buying your meat from farms and ranches that treat animals humanely do so if you
can, but realize that most meat is coming from large operations. The Union of Concerned Scientists
released a report on how "the U.S. livestock industry has been undergoing a drastic change over the
past several decade. Huge CAFO's (confined animal feeding operations) have become the predominant
method of raising livestock, and the crowded conditions in these facilities have increased water and
air pollution and other types of harm to public health and rural communities.
"A
groundbreaking 2006 United Nations report found that raising animals for food generates more
greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined. Luckily, we can help fix this
problem by changing our diet. According to a 2006 study done by researchers at the University of
Chicago, most Americans can reduce more greenhouse gas emissions by becoming a vegan than they can
by switching to a hybrid electric car. They found that eating a vegan diet prevents the equivalent
of 1.5 tons of CO2 emissions every year, more than the 1 ton of CO2 emissions prevented by switching
from a typical large sedan to a Toyota Prius."
If you can stomach to really see how the
meat on your table is handled while it is still living visit this site:
http://www.chooseveg.com/animal-cruelty.asp
How about this fact: Cows have a natural
lifespan of about 25 years and can produce milk for eight or nine years, but the stress caused by
factory farm conditions leads to disease, lameness, and reproductive problems that render cows
worthless to the dairy industry by the time they are four or five years old, at which time they are
sent to the slaughterhouse. Cows would naturally make only enough milk to meet the needs of their
calves (around 16 pounds a day), genetic manipulation, antibiotics, and hormones are used to force
each cow to produce more than 18,000 pounds of milk a year (an average of 50 pounds a day). "
/>
Few consumers realize that veal is a direct by-product of the dairy industry. In order for
dairy cows to produce milk, they must be impregnated. While female calves are slaughtered or added
to the dairy herd, many male calves are taken from their mothers when they are as young as one day
old and chained in tiny stalls to be raised for veal. The confinement is so extreme that they cannot
even turn around or lie down comfortably. As author John Robbins notes, "The veal calf would
actually have more space if, instead of chaining him in such a stall, you stuffed him into the trunk
of a subcompact car and kept him there for his entire life."
Choosing to go vegetarian
wasn't that difficult for me. Choosing to go vegan was a lot harder. It isn't convenient but I do
believe I eat a better and healthier diet than before. These two quotes along with the video I
linked to above really helped push me over the edge in making a change in my diet.
/>?Choosing to go vegetarian is simply a matter of living according to the values so many of us hold
dear, such as being fair and kind to others. Most people would never dream of cramming up to 11
egg-laying hens into a file drawer-sized cage, ripping the testicles out of a screaming baby piglet,
or cutting the throat of a cow as she stares back at you with her big brown eyes. How then, as
compassionate individuals, can we justify paying others to carry out these atrocities on our
behalf?"
"The average vegetarian saves the lives of approximately 95 animals each
year. That adds up to thousands during a lifetime. Every time we eat, we are making a powerful
choice that has profound consequences on the lives of animals. At each meal, we make a decision
between supporting cruelty or living compassionately."
Lastly my husband and I have a
wonderful collection of vegan cookbooks. There are a lot of resources that make such a diet very
practical.
