Natural health expert talks food, energy and truth

ocal author Beth Harrison, a natural health expert, calls herself a health food advocate and nonfiction junkie. Ever since she published Shedding Light on Genetically Engineered Food (iUniverse Inc., $15.95), she’s been spreading the word publicly, even on the radio, that we all need to take a closer look at the food we eat. “Genetically engineered food has been in the food supply since 1994,” she says. “The more I read about GMOs—genetically modified organisms—the more appalled I am. Genetically engineered food has never been proven safe for human consumption. So few tests have been done on how they impact our health and the environment. And most of those tests have been industry- sponsored.” When genetically engineered food was introduced in the U.S., it was promoted as a solution to some of the world’s food problems. “My book examines why these crops do not benefit consumers, do not feed the world, do not help the environment and are not rigorously regulated.” Harrison says her book also brings good news. “The last two chapters give the reader hope. There are many organizations and people working to build awareness in ways the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not. You don’t have to unknowingly eat genetically engineered food. People can make conscious food choices. I’m not telling you not to eat GMOs. Just learn about them and decide for yourself.” Harrison’s book recommendations focus on food, energy healing and the search for truth.

    Harrison praises Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia (Penguin, $15) for its intelligence, insight and humor. “There aren’t many books that make me laugh out loud and this one did. I love the idea of going new places. And Gilbert really knows how to turn a phrase.” Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone after an agonizing divorce to search for happiness across three continents. “There’s just something about a woman searching for the truth about life. I think we’re all searching. I was bummed when I finished this book—I wanted more.”

    She calls Gary E. Schwartz’s The Energy Healing Experiments: Science Reveals Our Natural Power to Heal (Atria, $25) a door-opener. “Energy plays a major role in health and healing. This book documents Schwartz’s ten years of lab work, examining energy healing versus chemical healing.” Schwartz—a professor of psychology, surgery, medicine, neurology and psychiatry at the University of Arizona—has demonstrated scientifically that our bodies are masses of biochemical energy, that this energy connects us to plants and other animals, and that it can be harnessed for healing. “Conventional medicine doesn’t embrace energy healing but there have always been scientists who have been bucked for their beliefs. Anyone who believes in the healing touch will find this book supports that belief.”

    Harrison touts Marion Nestle’s Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (University of California Press, $16.95) because of Nestle’s food-insider status. “She’s worked with government regulatory agencies for decades.” When it comes to food, today’s strategic decisions are driven by economics, not science or public health. Nestle documents how food industry lobbying and marketing practices endanger our health with epidemic obesity, increased vulnerability to heart and lung disease, cancer and stroke. “Nestle explains that when the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) started in the mid-1800s, it encouraged people to eat more food to reduce nutritional deficiencies and disease while promoting agriculture and helping farmers. Now that food has become industrialized, encouraging us to overeat is at odds with consumer health. This book makes you ask, ‘Who are the USDA and FDA really serving?’”

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