Book Review: Quantum Wellness by Kathy Freston

(Photo source: Amazon.com)

Book Review from my friend in the Pacific Northwest:

I heard about Quantum Wellness on Dooce, about how amazing and life-altering it might be, and then Anu sent me the link to Oprah's blog about her vegan cleanse. I was intrigued, so I ordered the book from Amazon and immediately started reading it. And, 160 pages later, I threw down the book in a rage. The end.

Oh, ok, there's a little more. I actually really enjoyed the book at first, because most of what she was saying were philosophies I already believed in--meditation, visualization, reducing clutter, reaching for goals that are beyond your current realms in life--these were all wonderful tenets Freston claimed she would discuss, and I was excited to see how I could improve my life with these techniques. Now, to be clear, I enjoy my life greatly, but have everyday frustrations, like always having too much to do, being tired much of the day, and have some nagging small health issues, like chronic ear infections, so while I wasn't clamoring for "the answer" to all my problems, I was hoping for some new ideas on how to tackle these issues.

The problem was that, well, she discussed almost none of this. Almost the entire book is devoted to why you should convert to veganism. Which, fine, ok. But that's not a whole health plan on wellness. I don't even know that it's Freston's fault, but her book is marketed incorrectly. I don't want to be vegan, and I have no intention of being vegan. I was open to her ideas until her research (or perhaps her researcher's research) started nagging at me too much to continue reading.

She claimed one of the big reasons to be a vegetarian or a vegan is because animal protein has arachidonic acid in it, and this spurs cancer cells on and feeds them, causing all sorts of issues, and that human beings shouldn't be eating meat because of this poison. One issue is that arachidonic acid, or as many mothers might know it, ARA (or AA), is added to infant formulas to make it healthier for babies. That's right, human infants need ARA to grow. It's naturally present in breast milk, and most mammals need it to survive their entire lives. Some mammals can convert plant linoleic acid into ARA, but some mammals cannot. We straddle between the two, but there is no question that infants need direct ARA from breast milk (or formula). She never mentions the need for infants and small children to consume ARA, which means, to me at least, that she had poor research, or she wanted to present a biased, uninformed view of veganism. She was evangelizing, which I hate. So very, very much.

Even so, I saw her point on vegetarianism, which was this: if you want to be kinder to the environment, don't eat meat. If you believe the killing of animals for meat and leather is wrong, don't do it; it won't settle with you spiritually, and your life and/or health will be unbalanced. She could have said so much more simply, more kindly, with less bias, and won me over. I used to be a vegetarian and I've decided to only eat meat locally, bought from farmer's markets, and perhaps to stop eating meat altogether again, some day. But I don't believe I will ever be vegan.

I saw flaws in so much of what she said after that. She has a whole chapter on doing a "cleanse" that is caffeine, alcohol, gluten free and also vegan. Now, I don't believe in cleanses; I don't believe they do anything but throw your body into a tailspin. Perhaps I'm wrong for some. I don't think there's anything wrong with cutting out any one (or two) of those items from your diet permanently and focuses on less processed, whole foods. I do believe that's a key to happiness. BUT, a cleanse? No, unhealthy, perhaps even dangerous. You can read about what a doctor told Dooce, if you like.

She had some interesting points on focusing on four R's in more equal balance: regular (chores, daily job, etc), rejuvenate, reach and relate (to people), and that there has to be a balance. Unfortunately, I think those are more intertwined than she puts them out there, as four separate quadrants of life. Her examples from her life also seem a little far-fetched for some of us--I'd love to rejuvenate by taking a daily hike each morning for a few hours, but geez, my toddler and baby might be angry at me for not feeding them and abandoning them each day till noon.

I'll stop here, because I could write more (and I didn't even finish the book!) but you get the idea--great thoughts in theory, poor execution. I'm searching for something else more interesting, more in tune with what will help me, so I've decided to read a Mark Bittman cookbook instead! I'm sure some sesame noodles will give me clarity and help me with my overburdened schedule far more than Freston was able to.
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After reading my friend's review I've abandoned reading Freston's book. I've been feeling pulled to read Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth and Martha Beck's Finding Your Own North Star so I'm going to do that instead!