Book Reviews - Bad Behavior and Illness are Caused by Biochemical Imbalances: Nutrients such as Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids, and Enzymes Give Biochemical Balance - Prevention of Breast Cancer:Hope At Last - Antifungal-Antimycotoxin Diet for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer,Atherosclerosis, and other Degenerative Diseases

Bad Behavior and Illness are Caused by Biochemical Imbalances: Nutrients such as Vitamins, Minerals, Amino Acids, and Enzymes Give Biochemical Balance.

Ronald C. Dishinger, Medici Music Press., Owensboro, KY. 42303 Softcover, 353 pages, 1998.

The back cover contains the following author’s statement “100% of all money paid for this book will go completely toward the reproduction of this book to be given away free of charge to those who wish a copy. Also you can obtain cassettes of the entire book free of charge by contacting me. Website information: www.biochemimbal behavior.com where you can copy the entire book free of charge.” Ronald C. Dishinger (502) 684-9233

Why would anyone want to obtain a book that does not cost anything? The only books or booklets given away free are from someone wanting to sell something, a product usually, and these are suspect since the need to sell carries the perception of bias even if it is not present. I am very careful about accepting the claims of this kind of literature especially those put out by major drug companies since they too are selling a drug and will emphasize the beneficial properties while downplaying the hazards and defects of their compound. Usually books are very expensive. The more scientific or pedantic they are the more they cost because of limited sales.

This book is the most unique book I have ever read. First, it is free. The author is selling a whole new paradigm in human health, both treatment and prevention. He does not gain anything financially but he does hope to persuade the public that there are better and more modern methods of dealing with unusual, strange, antisocial or otherwise unacceptable behavior. It is unusual because it is well balanced. I wrote the introduction where I made this point.

Over the past fifty years psychiatry has swung between two extremes from psychoanalysis which believed that every sort of human behavior was caused by latent intrapsychic conflicts, and the belief that the only correct treatment was psychoanalysis. This was a totally false doctrine. But over the past twenty years modern psychiatry has swung entirely in the other direction where every psychiatric problem can be dealt with by using one or more drugs. This is equally untrue. In this book the author incorporates almost every aspect of human behavior including psychological, social, environmental and nutritional aspects. In short, he has become a powerful proponent of orthomolecular psychiatry and medicine.

I write book reviews only of books that I like and which I think will help many other people improve their lives. I do not waste any time on discussing style, or punctuation or trying to find individual statements with which I disagree. If you do not know what I mean read any book review in any standard medical journal. I try to persuade readers that the books I review are worth reading and studying. I think this is such a book.

The last section alone, Chapter 21, is worth whatever price could have been placed on this book. It is the story of the farmer’s daughter who was very ill and how two years after her father discussed the problems with the author, began to apply the principles of orthomolecular psychiatry. He described how after a few days on vitamin therapy there was a sudden and major improvement in her health. This young woman has indicated a wish to become an orthomolecular physician. I think she has a very good chance of achieving this aim. I was profoundly touched by this herstory, an anecdote but a very good one, especially as a personal award to me for having had something to do with the beginning of this new paradigm in medicine, the use of nutrients in optimum amounts for the prevention and treatment of sick behavior. The bibliography is excellent. It is evident from this listing of good books how much time and effort the author put into writing this book. It is like a personal diary describing his findings and thoughts as he continued his search for answers.

–A. Hoffer M.D., Ph.D., FRCP(C)

Prevention of Breast Cancer:Hope At Last

A.V. Constantini, M.D. Heinrich Wieland, M.D. Lars I. Qvick, M.D.

Johann Friedrich Oberlin Verlag, Freiburg, Germany: 1998. 541 pages, $95

A Trojan horse has secretly been infiltrating our lives, bringing breast cancer to one of every eight women in the United States, and to women around the world. Because no one thus far has unmasked this deceptive Trojan horse, it continues to deliver certain clandestine, pathological agents via our food and lifestyles, bringing breast cancer upon us surreptitiously.

Now Doctors A.V. Constantini, Heinrich Wieland, and Lars I. Qvick from the International Research Centre for Mycotoxins in Human Health (formerly the World Health Organization's Collaborating Center for Mycotoxins in Food (1994-1998) in the School of Medicine at Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany, identify in their newly released book Prevention of Breast Cancer: Hope At Last the source of these cancerous pathogens masquerading in our food and lifestyles as the lethal Trojan horse. Fungi and their mycotoxins hide unseen in foods we eat and inside us. Because fungi have been infrequently recognized for their role in human pathology, and because their poisonous metabolites (mycotoxins) are invisible, little attention has been given to these deadly pathogens in our lives. In fact, few doctors even know that fungi produce mycotoxins.

Primarily, we recognize the beneficial role of fungi's antibiotic properties and Book Reviews

their life-sustaining qualities when we are threatened by infection, need surgery, or seek relief from colds. Conversely, however, few people know the lethal role certain fungi and their mycotoxins play in chronic disease such as cancer, atherosclerosis, AIDS, gout, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, hyperactive syndrome, infertility, psoriasis, cirrhosis, Alzheimer's disease, scleroderma, Raynaud's disease, sarcoidosis, kidney stones, amyloidosis, vasculitis, arthritis, and Cushing's disease. Furthermore, most physicians and researchers are unaware of unpublished pharmaceutical studies showing particular fungi and their mycotoxins to be so deadly they cannot be considered for any medicinal use.

The authors, in their Fungalbionic Series, detail the fungi/mycotoxin etiology of the above-named human diseases. In their recent book, Prevention of Breast Cancer: Hope At Last, they identify the fungi/ mycotoxins that contaminate our foods and produce breast cancer. Thus, having outlined for us which meats, grains, vegetables, fruits, legumes, cheese, dairy, and other foodstuffs are likely to be fungi/mycotoxin contaminated, women with breast cancer and their doctors can begin to identify new ways of eating to reduce the fungi/mycotoxin exposure that results in breast cancer.

The text is easy to read and understand both by medical professionals and the general public. The large type and clear organization makes this "science book" a must for all who are interested in preserving their health, or their patients' health, and preventing breast cancer.

Prevention of Breast Cancer: Hope At Last is divided into five parts. In Part I, Fungalbionics: Fungal Toxins Cause Degenerative and Cancerous Diseases, the authors briefly discuss fungi and their mycotoxins, showing how they can be both friend or foe. Part II, The Trojan Horse: Fungi and Mycotoxins Are in the Food Chain, lists common fungi species and their mycotoxins which contaminate our foods, then relates the danger of these biologically active substances: they are anti-viral, anti-bacterial, anti-protozoan, anti-insect, anti-animal, and of course anti-human. The term “my-cotoxin" is derived from the Greek mykes, meaning "fungus," and toxicum, meaning "toxin" or "poison." Throughout the book, the authors present authentic and highly regarded research, significant medical data, and a clinical perspective on their comprehensive research of the world's fungi/mycotoxin literature of breast cancer. Twenty-four chapters in Part II point out that these carcinogens are variably present in our foods, including aflatoxin, cyclosporin, penicillin, fusarium, ochratoxin, fungal-produced nitrosamines, aspergillus, candida, and edible mushrooms. Fungal colonization in houses, fungi/mycotoxins in tobacco, and mycotoxins in the diet are also discussed as agents of breast cancer. These include dietary fats that enhance fungi/mycotoxin cancer potential; meats and their fungi/ mycotoxin contamination; eggs, cheese, butter, and milk; and many other foodstuffs which of themselves are not carcinogenic but contain fungi/mycotoxins causing them to be carcinogenic.

In Part III, the authors clearly point out that "Fungi-Mycotoxins Are the Cause of Breast Cancer." Pointing to Colditz's (1993) article which reviews the epidemiology of breast cancer (in the context of hormonal, hereditary, histologic, and dietary risk factors), they conclude that their published research data will reverse the current helplessness of women fearing breast cancer by providing a "new level of understanding" regarding the etiology and prevention of breast cancer. Also in Part III, the authors demonstrate that aflatoxin mutates the P53 gene, pointing out that "abnormalities of the p53 gene are reported in more than 50% of malignant tumors" (Livni et al. 1995); these include the lung, breast, and colon.

Chapters 30-48 in Part IV enumerate the foods and drinks which cause breast cancer when contaminated by fungi/ mycotoxins. These include alcohol, wine, beer, bread, cereals, corn, meats, milk, butter, most cheeses, chicken, eggs, fats, margarine, sugar, sweet/fatty desserts, and tobacco. The authors show when these food-stuffs produce breast cancer and when they do not. Part V discusses those vitamins, minerals, and foods that prevent breast cancer: vitamin A, C, D, E, selenium, calcium, zinc, sunlight, fish, vegetables, garlic and onions, lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, potatoes, soy, olive oil, green tea, coffee, chocolate and cocoa, rice, pasta, fruit,fiber, yogurt, and honey.

The book concludes with a list of approximately the 800 studies documenting the significant research and clinical findings presented.

–Tomma Lou Maas

The Garden Of Eden Longevity Diet:

Antifungal-Antimycotoxin Diet for the Prevention and Treatment of Cancer,Atherosclerosis, and other Degenerative Diseases

A.V. Constantini, M.D. Heinrich Wieland, M.D. Lars I. Qvick, M.D.

I Johann Friedrich Oberlin Verlag, Freiburg, Germany: 1998. 505 pages, $95.

The Trojan horse that secretly infiltrates our lives bringing us cancer, atherosclerosis, and other degenerative disease has now been unmasked by the World Health Organization's authors, Drs. A.V. Constantini, H. Wieland, and L. Qvick. The villains, unknown to most of us, are fungi and their fungalmycotoxins, the poisonous metabolites of fungi, which we eat in foods and which live in us and are fed by foods we eat. The pathogenic nature of fungi and their mycotoxins have played immense roles in chronic disease and degenerative illnesses but have until now not been suspect.

In The Garden of Eden Longevity Diet , the authors show us that what we eat and how that food has been processed or stored or prepared is the key to protecting ourselves from the ravages of cancer, atherosclerosis, and specific degenerative diseases.

This is the third book in the authors' Fungalbionic Series illuminating the role of fungi/mycotoxins in human illness and health. All of its recipes carry the unique and far reaching message: "This recipe is antifungal/antimycotoxin. It is anti-cancer, anti-atherosclerosis, anti-degenerative diseases and prohealth." This message is based on the extensive documentation in this and other volumes of the Fungalbionic Series. (The first and second books reveal the fungi/mycotoxin etiology of breast cancer and atherosclerosis.)

Seventeen chapters of recipes offer healthful foods in these categories: salads, dressings, soups, fish, meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, pasta, rice, breads, cookies, cakes, pies, desserts, and dessert drinks. These nine chapters explain how fungi/ mycotoxins cause degenerative and cancerous diseases; how we can shop for food to avoid risk; how to cook to minimize fungi/mycotoxin exposure; as well as other tips on healthful eating. An Appendix, containing seven chapters from Prevention of Breast Cancer: Hope At Last, states the benefits of vitamins A, C, D, E, selenium, calcium, and zinc for their potent anti-fungal, anti-mycotoxin activity.

Not only is this book easy to read and understand, but its organization will help one learn how to shop for food and prepare healthful, simple recipes that can help prevent the development of today's most chronic illnesses: cancer, atherosclerosis, and other degenerative disease, specifically: AIDS, gout, Crohn's disease, multiple sclerosis, hyperactive syndrome, infertility, psoriasis, cirrhosis, Alzheimer's disease, scleroderma, Raynaud's disease, sarcoidosis, kidney stones, amyloidosis, vasculitis, arthritis, and Cushing's disease.

Book Reviews

Additionally, in Chapter 6, facts about fungi in foods, alcohol, beer, wine, and tobacco focus the reader on changes in lifestyle that would remove risk for cancer or atherosclerosis.

The "What You Buy Is What You Will Eat" list aids the shopper in her quest for food. The "First Things to Purchase" versus the "Quickly Pass By" section helps strengthen the resolve of the shopper to stick to “safe” foods for the family, and the "Shopping List for Garden of Eden Recipes" guides the serious shopper to minimum fungi/mycotoxin exposure. The Garden of Eden Longevity Diet sorts through the most contaminated foods and offers recipes that are anti-cancer, anti-atherosclerosis, anti-fungal, and anti-mycotoxin.

The book documents over 440 significant studies and clinical findings for the claims made in The Garden of Eden Longevity Diet. Having linked fungi and their mycotoxins to cancer and other degenerative diseases, the authors present us with a much needed, useful book to help us regain our health in a modern age that can no longer guarantee us which foods are safe to eat.

–Tomma Lou Maas