Live in the Balance: The Ground-Breaking East-West Nutrition Program

by Linda Prout

Book Overview

Learn how to balance who you are with what you eat--and how to maintain your ideal state of balance even as your body ages and your dietary needs change

For over three thousand years, practitioners of Chinese medicine have known that food is health-giving. Now path-breaking nutritionist Linda Prout synthesizes the basic principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) with the science of western nutrition. With a clear focus to help...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1569246157
• ISBN13: 9781569246153
• Release Date: October 2000
• Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 1.02 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.7" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

Almost didn't buy this book but so glad I did.

I have never written a review before, but I feel compelled to comment on this book. I read the reviews of Live in the Balance but was still hesitant to buy. I have a strong background in nutrition, eating for health, alternative medicine, etc...and was unconvinced Prout would have anything new to say. I am so thankful I made the purchase anyway. Highly readable, incredibly well researched with all studies and facts documented, this book is changing my life and the life of my family. Plagued with terrible allergies, eczema, and low energy, I feel better after following some of Prout's suggestion, IN ONE WEEK. I feel like a new person. Some of the information is also helping alleviate a family member's struggle with worsening depression. I am introducing some of the principle to make food choices for my two small children and already it seems to be helping boost their immune systems--an ongoing battle in our house. I have learned so much from this book. It is much more readable and well formatted than Food and Healing by Ammemarie Colbin (another excellent and informative book on food and healing). Buy this book.

Interesting read, invaluable handbook

I came across Linda's book after months of looking for a resource that integrated Eastern wellness and nutrition principles into the Western lifestyle realities. Linda's book was a blessing! One month after taking some of the suggestions in the book, I was finally able to get rid of a respiratory condition that my Western-trained physicians had simply labeled hayfever and prescribed an allergy pill. The usefulness of Linda's book didn't end there, though. I find myself regularly consulting it as seasons change from damp to dry, hot to cold, etc. It's an excellent resource for anyone who likes to be aware of how their food and lifestyle choices affect moods and wellness. Highly recommended!

Dropped Cholesterol 50 Points

On the urging of my doctor to get my blood pressure and cholesterol down or face a lifetime of taking drugs, I went on Linda's program with amazing success. In 6 weeks of eating by her prescription in the book my BP went from 144/94 to 130/80 and my Cholesterol from 264 to 208. And my appetite is completely under control for the first time in my 44 years. I have lost weight, inches and my skin is clear and glowing. And I have escaped getting the colds that have plagued everyone around me at work. I find it easy to eat her way with a bit of planning. My doctor is amazed at the change in my health. I highly recommend this book to anyone who has struggled with overall health and weight problems. It's the first thing that has worked for me.

An Unbelievable Gift of Life!

Everyone in their life encounters various obstacles that block the way to health, happiness and contentment. Every so often we find the right vehicle and the right timing to actually do something about them. Enter Linda Prout and Live in the Balance. Five short months ago I was more unhealthy than I could have realized. I was gaining weight while trying to starve it off, my energy level was at the lowest it could possibly be for a former athlete in his mid-forties. Worst of all, I did not even recognize the person looking back at me in the mirror each morning, even more alarming was the realization that I did not even LIKE him. It was at this point that I had the opportunity to hear Ms Prout speak. I had the presence of mind to take minimal notes, and then went to purchase the book---Needless to say, it was a life changing decision!!! With minimal effort, I changed my eating habits, took a different view of Life in general, stayed on a plan and within 3 months I had lost over 20 pounds, gained lean muscle mass and and incredible energy!! And yes, I can truly say that I now like the person in the mirror!! Obviously there is more work to do, but at this point I can FACTUALLY say that not only did Ms Prout change my life, she quite possibly SAVED it!. The book is a MUST read for anyone searching for guidance and meaning!!!!!

Life changing experience

This book is a fascinating and practical guide to choosing the right foods and lifestyle for your own body. It starts with simple questionnaires to help you understand your body from an "energetic" or Eastern perspective. Prout describes symptoms of excess "heat," "cold," "dampness," "dryness," and "wind" -- all Chinese diagnostic terms. The book then goes on to give the foods and lifestyle strategies to best remedy these imbalances. Someone who is overweight should avoid "damp" foods, for instance, as opposed to counting calories, the Western approach that has obviously been failing us so far. Imbalances are easy to spot and I enjoyed figuring out my pattern. I really like the fact that moods (a temper, irritability, depression) fit in with body patterns. This is a customized approach to eating right and is based on thosands of years of observation rather than hundreds of years of "science" which only seem to correspond with increasing disease and obesity rates.