Dr. Lindsey Berkson has written a wonderful book that is packed full of much-needed useful information. I am moved to even call it a fantastic book. Digestive Freedom: Eat Your Way To Intestinal Wellness is a one-of-a-kind priceless guide to gut and total health healing. This book describes, in easy-to-read format, why so many people are suffering from health issues and gives solutions that are safe and effective.
We are facing a crisis in medicine today. More and more people are suffering from chronic illness. Physicians treat too many patients with ineffective medications that do not address the underlying cause of their illness. In fact, most prescription drugs work by treating the symptoms of the illness, not the underlying cause.
Digestive disorders affect far too many people. Local drugstores are packed with over-the-counter medications, such as antacids that may provide symptom relief but do not provide life-long positive changes patients are hungry for. Digestive Freedom provides the information you need to not only overcome illness but also to achieve your optimal health.
Dr. Berkson describes the inner workings of the gastrointestinal system and why things can go awry. She covers many common issues that are causing so many people to be ill, including celiac disease, reflux esophagitis, constipation, diarrhea, and gall bladder disease.
This book makes it clear that we are not suffering all these illnesses due to a lack of prescription drugs. What is causing all these problems?
Many different issues can cause gastrointestinal problems such as food allergies, lack of digestive enzymes, and eating a poor diet. Dr. Berkson provides the reader with the information they need to first understand why they are ill and then explains what they need to do to begin healing. She makes it clear that it is vitally important to eat a healthy diet. This cannot be emphasized enough. Simple recommendations, such as eating fermented foods and correcting nutrient deficiencies, are just two ways to improve one’s health.
Patients are often unaware that many commonly prescribed medications can cause gastroesophageal reflux disease. This book provides the information about which drugs may be the culprit and what you can do about it.
Perhaps the most interesting part of the book (at least for me) was the chapter about how the sex hormones—testosterone and estrogen—affect the gut. Dr. Berkson describes the microgenderome and how the gut can be feminized and masculinized. I have been using bioidentical natural hormones for over 20 years. I can assure you that a healthy hormonal system has beneficial effects on the gut. And vice versa, a healthy gut has positive effects on the hormonal system. Dr. Berkson describes these relationships so that everyone can understand how connected the human body is and why it is important to look at all the systems of the body.
Estrogen is reviewed in detail. Dr. Berkson dispels many myths about naturally occurring estrogens, including the myth that bioidentical natural estrogens promote breast cancer. Estrogen is an incredibly powerful and needed hormone for both men and women.
Similarly, testosterone is also important for not only hormonal balance, but gut health as well. Testosterone therapy can help heal gut inflammation and treat inflammatory bowel disorders. DHEA, another androgen hormone is also reviewed here.
I have been practicing holistic medicine for over 20 years. Over these years, I have seen countless patients with digestive problems. Digestive Freedom is a wonderful tool that provides clear reasoning on why digestive disorders develop and provides simple, safe, and effective natural therapies to not only reverse illness but also to promote health. As a society, we cannot continue down the same path of taking more and more ineffective and dangerous medications that do not treat the underlying cause of illness. Digestive Freedom provides you with a pathway to health.
I will recommend this book to all my patients and I hope this book becomes standard reading for all medical students in all medical schools.
David Brownstein, M.D.
Author of 12 books including Iodine: Why You Need It, Why You Can’t Live Without It and Dr.Brownstein’s Natural Way to Health Newsletter