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 All Thumbs Book Reviews
Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom
By Christiane Northrup, MD
Review by Sally Fallon
Published in 1994, this book was among the first of many that proposed
complementary or alternative therapies for women's diseases. In particular,
Dr. Northrup promotes a body-mind connection to gynecological dysfunction
and claims that many female problems can be linked to sexual abuse and
trauma. Sympathy for the female sex-misunderstood and manipulated by
male physicians and subtly coerced into stressful dieting patterns in
order to conform to unrealistic standards of female beauty-oozes from
every page. Naturally the reader will want to follow the dietary advice
of a doctor who professes so much understanding of women's problems.
Unfortunately, Dr. Northrup's dietary advice is dangerous in the extreme-namely
a macrobiotic diet based on vegetables, grains and soyfoods. Such a
diet "promotes inward spiritual attunement while eating red meat produces
more aggressive tendencies." Meat and milk are too high in protein "and
the process of protein metabolism creates a slightly acidic condition
in the blood. . . since the average American diet is too high in protein,
all of us, not just menopausal women, are in danger of developing osteoporosis."
Dairy fats are especially taboo. They contribute to everything that
ails us-cancer, heart disease, varicose veins, gallstones, constipation,
osteoporosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, fibroids, weight gain, depression
and PMS-she warns.
And while acknowledging that sugar may be harmful in large amounts,
Dr. Northrup says it's fine to indulge in the sugary foods we crave.
Plant foods will supply all the nutrients we need, she assures her readers,
but a number of supplements are recommended, just in case.
Dr. Northrup had the great good luck to grow up in a family that lived
on a farm. Her father raised organic beef and knew about the work of
Weston Price. But the lessons of Price seem to be lost on Dr. Northrup,
who seems to know nothing about the fat-soluble vitamins. In interviews,
Dr. Northrup mentions the fact that she consumed high amounts of dairy
products during her growing years, including ice cream (rich in butterfat)
every night, a diet that allowed her to grow into a healthy, high-functioning
individual still in possession of her uterus. But her readers are told
that dairy foods are bad news, bad for growing children and bad for
adult women.
In the second edition of Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom, published
in 1998, Dr. Northrup makes no mention of macrobiotics. Although she
still pegs dairy foods as the villain in the American diet, she admits
that women actually do need some animal protein and fat in their diets.
Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom swept Dr. Northrup into nationwide
acclaim. She appeared twice on the Oprah Winfrey show and was the subject
of a special report on National Public Radio. Her influence has been
enormous-and baleful. Many copycat books on women's diseases repeat
her dietary advice, sometimes verbatim. The consensus diet that has
emerged is anything but wise-low in fat, stingy on animal foods and
high in mineral-blocking whole grains and thyroid-depressing soy foods.
This unnatural diet has probably ushered thousands of women onto the
operating table for the hysterectomies they were trying to avoid.
About the Reviewer
 Sally
Fallon is the author of
Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct
Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats (with Mary G. Enig, PhD), a well-researched,
thought-provoking guide to traditional foods with a startling message: Animal
fats and cholesterol are not villains but vital factors in the diet, necessary
for normal growth, proper function of the brain and nervous system, protection
from disease and optimum energy levels. She joined forces with Enig again to
write Eat Fat, Lose Fat, and has authored numerous articles on the
subject of diet and health. The President of the Weston A. Price Foundation
and founder of A Campaign for Real Milk,
Sally is also a journalist, chef, nutrition researcher, homemaker, and community
activist. Her four healthy children were raised on whole foods including butter,
cream, eggs and meat.
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