Dr. Luise Light

As Reviewed on Amazon.com
A book of monumental importance , January 15, 2006

                            Reviewer:

Mary Sparrowdancer "Author, investigator, writer. (Tallahassee, FL USA) - 

I first met Luise Light several years ago after I wrote a paper criticizing the USDA's Food Pyramid. Perhaps it was to be expected that the "Department of Agriculture" would come up with a diet guideline based on a foundation of "6 to 11 servings" of starchy grain products a day. This "advice," I wrote, seemed to be both ridiculous and dangerous to one's health. Luise saw my article and dropped me a note introducing herself as the nutrition expert hired by the USDA to create the Food Pyramid. I was momentarily taken aback, but Dr. Light quickly reassured me that she agreed with what I had written. She explained that the Food Pyramid given to the unsuspecting public bore little resemblance to the real Pyramid she and her team of experts had created.

The real Pyramid called for a diet based on fresh vegetables and fruits. Instead, this Pyramid was altered prior to being published. The altered Pyramid suggested a cheap, starch-filled diet, but the resulting protests from Luise and her team fell on deaf ears. While the starch-based diet would create healthy profits for the grain and cereal industry, the Americans following such diet guidelines would pay for it with something more than mere dollars. They would pay for it with their health.

Luise's information was stunning and it served as somber affirmation of a long-denied suspicion: that "official government approval" was indeed being swayed by corporate interests. Here was evidence that, in its official capacity, the government had participated in one of the most monumental and far-reaching lies in US history - a lie that predictably resulted in the current epidemic of obesity and ill-health in America.

Luise Light's timely book, "What to Eat," not only bravely exposes the corruption she witnessed, but it does so in a constructive and informative manner. Her book contains the simple ingredients necessary for a healthy diet to truly live by, and shining through this book are the kindness and integrity of a woman who has devoted her life to teaching others the simple rules of proper nutrition so that they might enjoy the good health that is their birthright.

It seems that the old saying is true: we are what we eat. At this time, approximately two-thirds of American adults have eaten their way into a state of ill health or obesity, through no particular fault of their own. "What to Eat" should be in every household in America, it should be used as a teaching tool in all schools, used as a planning guide in all cafeterias and lunch rooms, and it should be required reading for all healthcare professionals.