So there was a little bit of controversy with this first printing of the book. theasiandiet.com The book is, and should be, titled "The Asian Diet: Simple secrets for eating right, losing weight, and being well." A long time ago, the publisher and I were coming together on the subtitle and someone suggested "how the ancient principles of moderation and balance will help you eat right, lose weight, and live longer". Well, that's the cover that made it to the printer for the first run. They only printed 2000 at first, so it was not too bad, but if you get one of them, they will be the collectors' edition and I promise that I will autograph it for you.
Another thing I have been working on is creating a radio show on blogtalkradio. I have not yet decided on the time, length, or frequency, but I may start hosting a call-in show for questions about health, acupuncture, and the Asian Diet. I will keep people posted.
Today was a great example of how people are misinformed about food. I have a friend who has been slowly putting on weight. We got to talking and she revealed that she eats very healthy. She has yogurt, cereal, microwave diet meals, fat-free and sugar-free baked goods, and cottage cheese. The Asian Diet will tell you that none of these things are healthy. For one thing, diary is designed to make things grow. Overweight people do not want to grow. Secondly, they are cold. Cold food steals your energy in order to heat it. This slows your metabolism. Diet microwave meals have a lot of preservatives and chemical additives. Keep it simple and eat simple foods. Just because it says "lean" or "fat-free" or "sugar-free" does not mean it's good. I've got some great Arsenic that is low-calorie, no saturated fat, caffeine free, lactose-free, etc. That doesn't mean it's good for you.
Somehow we have been convinced that foods are nothing more than the sum of their parts. This is how medicine used to see the body, but now they recognize the interactions between the different systems. The same is true for foods. They are immensely complex, and so are our bodies. To simplify an orange to equaling vitamin c is like saying that people have value because of their livers and for all that their livers can do. There is a lot more to us than our livers, and there's a lot more to an orange than vitamin C. We did not evolve by seeking out and eating sources of vitamin C. We evolved by eating food. Plain and simple. As Michael Pollan wrote in his book "In defense of food: an eater's manifesto" we should "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants". It's a good book and I suggest everyone read it. And if you would like to read more about chinese medicine check out acfom.com
They tell me that I should keep these posts short, so