Book Reviews - June 2007

The Secret Life of Water

Masaru Emoto

Atria Books, New York; 2005

When The Secret Life of Water first arrived in Vitality’s office, I wasn’t going to review it because I had already reviewed two of Masaru Emoto’s books. I felt other authors needed attention. However, I picked it up for my own recreational reading and found I couldn’t put it down. Emoto’s work, absorbing and innovative as it is, has evolved and expanded beyond his earlier efforts.

Given the esoteric nature of water crystal research, the author apporaches his field as scientifically as possible. Water carries the imprint of the landscapes through which it passes and the thoughts and images with which it comes in contact. Emoto’s goal is to use the story it tells to heal the planet and people.

The author brings a positive outlook and old-fashioned wisdom as he moves deeper into his studies. He feels that water can teach us how to live, forgive, and believe. Nor does he limit his contemplation to water – our contemporary materialism, the environment, and natural renewable alternatives to oil also engage him. However, he senses that water pollution reflects soul pollution. Unless we change our consciousness, we will never be able to restore water to its original pristine form.

The Secret Life of Water is surprising and mind expanding. The work cannot be tied down to the black and white standards of statistical analysis. This is a unique celebration of water.

Much of the book’s magic lies in its superb photographs of crystals formed by water which has been been “shown” flowers, the names of various religions, and scenes of nature. Environment, timing, thoughts, and the photographer’s personality can also affect the final image. If the observer is appreciative or angry, that emotion will be expressed by the crystal. The instant captured on film will vary, depending upon exactly when the camera’s shutter was activated in the two minute life of the crystal.

Recently the author has focused on plant life, inspired by Dr. Edward Bach’s work on flower remedies. It is not the components of the physical flower that get transferred to water, only its unique vibration. Chemical analysis of the resultant flower essence would only detect water. The flower’s frequency aligns with and heals a patient’s problem which requires that specific frequency and no other.

The connecting link for this process is Hado, invisible universal energy, which manifests as vibration, resonance, and similarity. Crystalizing water is a way of capturing that energy in a split second in time.

As a certified alternative health practitioner, Masaru Emoto measures his patients’ Hado and recommends treatments, even if they are bedridden and at a distance. A “witness” such as the patient’s photograph or name written on paper is attached to a neutral water sample which then “absorbs” the imprint, ready to be crystalized and interpreted.

This is riveting stuff and underlines once again that we haven’t even begun to map the parameters of consciousness and the universe. A beautifully transformative book.

Review by Gerry Shepherd

It’s Easy Being Green

By Chrissy Trask

Gibbs Smith, Utah; 2006

If you’re seeking an easily digestible, smart, and handy guide to making your life more eco-friendly, then It’s Easy Being Green will do the trick. The book is split into different categories which offer commonsense tips and information to aid in personal greening.

In addition to being a good guide for those looking to hop on the green bandwagon, it’s perfect for giving to the friend or relative who rresists the idea of being environmentally friendly. It could easily be called Green Living For Dummies. Author Chrissy Trask offers a list of common excuses and the myths that people use when justifying their lack of environmental action, then deftly refutes them with well thought out and researched rebuttals.

Under the heading “It will be too difficult and disruptive to change my habits”, she describes how people need not be resistant to changing their habits, especially when it comes to driving. She asks “Do we love asphalt landscapes, traffic jams, road rage, brown skylines and filling our tanks at the pump?”, and goes on to say that most driving is done out of habit, not convenience nor pleasure. As Toronto heads into another summer sure to be marked by a record number of smog alert days, it’s hard to not see the logic here. Trask says that it isn’t a hardship to give up driving a couple of days a week, “it’s just an adjustment.” And she’s right. 

She also takes on those who claim that the economy will suffer if consumers go green. For companies to stay relevant and in business, they need to adjust to what consumers want. If more consumers demand ‘green’ products, then smart companies who cater to this demand will flourish, and those who refuse will be left behind. If IBM and Hewlett Packard had resisted the growing demand for home computers and instead stuck to the production of electric typewriters, is there any question as to whether they’d still be around?

The second chapter, called “Making a Difference”, outlines the cause and effect relationship of our actions and how we can modify them. She isn’t advocating that people make radical changes in how they live but rather “making small, incremental efforts to green their lives.” These include replacing both plastic and paper at the grocery store with re-usable carriers, cutting down on water usage through faucet aerators, reducing meat consumption because of the “colossal waste and inefficiencies” in its production, changing spending habits, and more.

She discusses a “New Purchasing Paradigm” which challenges the notion of rampant consumerism. She recommends buying less and supporting companies that show concern for the environment. Consumers should also take the time to consider not only whether they need the product but what impact its purchase has on the environment at large.

In chapter three, “Eco-tips for living greener”, Trask describes the book’s intent to provide “practical tips modern busy people can use”. She then adds, with tongue firmly in cheek, “Although limiting bathing to once a week and eating a diet of raw vegan food would certainly reduce your ecological footprint, suggestions are limited to those that have a higher probability of being adopted for the long term.”

She provides over 50 pages of things you can do to make your life more environmentally friendly. Beside each tip are three boxes the reader can check off in their quest for green living. One box is for “tips you want to target”, the second is for those you’re working on, and the last for rating your success between one and five.

The tip categories cover pretty well everything you could think of, including using the double-sided feature on the printer and copier at work, turning off the water while shaving or brushing your teeth in the bathroom, using oxygen or hydrogen bleaches instead of chlorine bleach, buying holiday gifts at an antique shop to support re-use, buying in bulk, using recyclable batteries and -more. The more tips you read, the more you realize that, aside from being simple to integrate into your life, many of them will save you money, and a lot of it. That’s hard for anyone to argue with.

The fourth chapter covers the ins and outs of green buying. According to the author, consumer choices are the cause of some of the “biggest problems facing this planet.” She sums up green buying as “buy not, buy less, buy green”. Buying not is when a practical need for purchasing a product can’t be justified; buying less is, obviously, not buying as much when possible, and buying green is just that. Trask explains that a green company is one that tries to preserve natural resources and habitats, protects water, air and soil quality, protects animal welfare and aims to produce less waste. The chapter contains the many things to consider when purchasing green products such as whether it contains recycled materials, whether the item itself can be recycled, how long it will last, and so on.

Trask then spends several pages dissecting product labels, which is a great way for consumers to find out more about product claims made by manufacturers. And even though this section covers U.S. labeling and its regulations, Canadian readers can still get a good idea of what is helpful and what to be wary of.

The last three chapters feature extensive internet resources for buying, getting involved, and a general “Resources to Help the Earth” section covering many aspects of the green movement.

Again, there is a U.S.-centric element to some of these sites, but the information contained therein is still useful beyond their borders. One site mentioned more than once and readily available to people in the GTA, and in several cities across Canada, is craigslist.org. If you’re looking to find something used or get rid of something you no longer need, this free online classifieds site should be your first stop.

There are many other great resources listed covering everything from natural pet products to organic gardening even to building your own bat conservation house to help get rid of pests.

It’s Easy Being Green lives up to its claim. And unless you’re a hardcore eco-warrior, it’s more than likely you’ll find some good information in this book that you didn’t already know. And even if you are one, you probably have a conservative parent / uncle / sibling / friend who could use something a bit more subtle to get the point across to them that we all live here and it’s everyone’s responsibility to take care of the Earth.

Review by Rob Ferraz

RECENTLY RELEASED 

The Palm Oil miracle
by Dr. Bruce Fife
Piccadilly Books; 2007

As we know, trans fats are out, but a controversy now rages. With new laws that require all food labels to disclose the amount of trans fatty acids, people are becoming concerned about hydrogenated fats in their foods.
This past December, New York City’s Board of Health approved an amendment to the Health Code to phase out artificial trans fat in all of the city’s restaurants and food service establishments. This is the first such ban on trans fats in North America. Other cities are considering similar bans.
Since the landmark announcement in 2003 by the U.S. Institute of Medicine which stated that “no level of trans fats are safe,” food manufactures have been scrambling to find alternatives to hydrogenated vegetable oils. Hydrogenated vegetable oils, including margarine and shortening, are found in most every packaged food item on the grocery shelves and used extensively in the food service industry. Making a change is an enormous undertaking that affects everyone, everywhere.
Finding a suitable replacement hasn’t been easy. Before we had hydrogenated oils, food processors and restaurants used animal fats and tropical oils. Most food processors hesitate to return to animal fats fearing negative customer reaction to the addition of saturated fat and cholesterol. Liquid vegetable oils are not suitable for most applications in the food processing industry. So, they are not even an option. The only reasonable alternatives are tropical oils. Palm oil, derived from the coconut that grows on palm trees, has become the most frequently used alternative to hydrogenated fats.
Palm oil possesses excellent cooking and baking properties, making it ideal for the food processing industry. So even bakeries are now turning to palm oil.
Some people have questioned the use of palm oil because it is highly saturated. Anti-saturated fat consumer education groups have come out vocally, even taken out full page ads in the New York Times to combat the use of palm oil. Consequently, a controversy is currently raging. Some say palm oil, being high in saturated fat, is not much better than the hydrogenated oils it is replacing. Others say that palm oil is a healthy, cholesterol-free oil and despite its high saturated fat content, it does not promote heart disease. With both sides expressing opposing views, the public is confused. When they see food prepared with palm oil they don’t know what effect, if any, it has on their health.
The new book The Palm Oil Miracle by Dr. Bruce Fife presents the facts and clears up the confusion. Palm oil, as it turns out, is a very healthy fat and an excellent replacement for hydrogenated oils. Over the past two decades there have been literally hundreds of studies on the health aspects of palm oil. The consensus among researchers is that palm oil does not promote heart disease. In fact, studies show it lowers cholesterol. Palm oil provides the highest natural source of health-promoting antioxidants such as vitamin E and beta-carotene. In addition, it contains CoQ10, tocotrienols, alpha-carotene, lycopene, and other important nutrients. These nutrients are known to protect against cancer, heart disease, and other health problems. Researchers have stated that palm oil is the most potent natural anticancer food known to man. Food supplement manufacturers are even encapsulating it and marketing it as a dietary supplement.
The author, Dr. Bruce Fife, is a certified nutritionist and naturopathic physician. He is recognized worldwide as an expert on tropical oils and nutrition and lectures internationally on fats and oils. He is currently serving as the Director of the US based Coconut Research Center. He has authored 20 books including The Coconut Oil Miracle (Penguin/Avery, 2004) and Coconut Cures (Piccadilly Books, 2005).