Part of the Casswiki article series Books
Detoxification and Healing: The Key to Optimal Health is a book by Sidney MacDonald Baker, M.D., published in 1997, which introduces the reader to detoxification and healing, and how detoxification advances wellness by ridding the body of toxics that can lead to a host of health issues ranging from fatigue and depression to cancer and diabetes.
From Laura Knight-Jadczyk’s review on Amazon:
Brings it all Home
If you are searching for answers to chronic health problems and have been reading dozens of books on the topic as I have over the past several years, you’ll really appreciate this book which brings it all home with some theoretical background and excellent speculation on whys and wherefores. This approach is very helpful once you have gone through all the whats and hows.
I noticed that one reviewer didn’t like the “personal take.” Well, that is what I DO like, so different strokes and all that. If a trained physician is not to be allowed to speculate about health problems after practicing for 35 years, then who is?
The discussion about the relationship between the immune system and the CNS is fascinating and the piece of the puzzle that was missing from all the other books. Oh, sure, most of them say “you need to relax, meditate, have a good time now and then,” but none of them say exactly how this is connected to chronic illness. Baker explains it beautifully. His remarks about how invasive life experiences play a key role in chronic illness are very much appreciated. More than that, they are supported by quite a bit of recent research showing that abused individuals are more likely to suffer chronic illness throughout their lives. Baker helped make this connection in my mind and, more than that, the WHY and HOW of it. His attention to these factors is much appreciated.
More than that, Baker emphasizes that every single case is different. The symptoms may be the same, but the cause is different. Two people suffering the same symptoms may discover that the underlying cause of one is due to a thyroid problem, while the other may find that their problem is due to a bacterial infection of the small intestine. Heavy metals, thyroid, bacterial/parasitic infection and hormonal imbalances as well as gut integrity issues can all lead to the cascade of events that occur in a wide variety of chronic illnesses and having that information is also priceless.
I highly recommend this book even if you have read all the others. Nothing takes the place of understanding, not even rote following of one plan or another. No two people are alike and the treatments cannot be identical so it is good to have the theoretical understanding that Dr. Baker provides.