A thoroughly researched case for rethinking the idea that “natural” is always better.
A scientist attempts to set confused consumers straight about why “natural” and “organic” don’t necessarily mean “safer” and “healthier.”
Consumers have flocked to products marketed as natural and nontoxic in recent years, but this book avers that such supplements, foods, and cosmetics may not be as safe as they think. MacGregor is a scientist with a doctorate in toxicology from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry who’s spent a career in the fields of food and pharmaceutical safety, including positions at the Food and Drug Administration. Here, he effectively makes a case that “natural” products, such as botanical supplements and organic food, aren’t less likely to cause harm than prescription drugs or genetically modified foods. Drawing on his extensive professional knowledge, MacGregor first attacks what he calls the “widespread belief” that “natural” equals “safe,” highlighting numerous examples of natural plants and substances that are toxic to humans. He also outlines significant gaps in the regulatory framework, especially regarding supplements, which allow inadequately tested products to go to market, sometimes with devastating results. The author convincingly argues that pharmaceuticals are far safer than some supplements, which could have dangerous side effects. The perceived superiority of organic foods also comes in for criticism, with MacGregor arguing that organics are no healthier or safer than food produced using conventional methods. (He does not, however, address the environmental arguments for choosing organic foods.) He also asserts that people could do more for their health by simply adopting better eating habits, exercising more, and getting enough sleep. The work can be dense at times, however; MacGregor sometimes obscures his points with technical language, and his tone can make the text feel like a lecture. A gentler, more accessible approach might have been useful to convert more readers to his way of thinking.
A thoroughly researched case for rethinking the idea that “natural” is always better.Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73338-800-9
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.
The chef, rapper, and TV host serves up a blustery memoir with lashings of self-help.
“I’ve always had a sick confidence,” writes Bronson, ne Ariyan Arslani. The confidence, he adds, comes from numerous sources: being a New Yorker, and more specifically a New Yorker from Queens; being “short and fucking husky” and still game for a standoff on the basketball court; having strength, stamina, and seemingly no fear. All these things serve him well in the rough-and-tumble youth he describes, all stickball and steroids. Yet another confidence-builder: In the big city, you’ve got to sink or swim. “No one is just accepted—you have to fucking show that you’re able to roll,” he writes. In a narrative steeped in language that would make Lenny Bruce blush, Bronson recounts his sentimental education, schooled by immigrant Italian and Albanian family members and the mean streets, building habits good and bad. The virtue of those habits will depend on your take on modern mores. Bronson writes, for example, of “getting my dick pierced” down in the West Village, then grabbing a pizza and smoking weed. “I always smoke weed freely, always have and always will,” he writes. “I’ll just light a blunt anywhere.” Though he’s gone through the classic experiences of the latter-day stoner, flunking out and getting arrested numerous times, Bronson is a hard charger who’s not afraid to face nearly any challenge—especially, given his physique and genes, the necessity of losing weight: “If you’re husky, you’re always dieting in your mind,” he writes. Though vulgar and boastful, Bronson serves up a model that has plenty of good points, including his growing interest in nature, creativity, and the desire to “leave a legacy for everybody.”
The lessons to draw are obvious: Smoke more dope, eat less meat. Like-minded readers will dig it.Pub Date: April 20, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4197-4478-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Abrams
Review Posted Online: May 5, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2021
An absorbing, wide-ranging story of humans’ relationship with the water.
A study of swimming as sport, survival method, basis for community, and route to physical and mental well-being.
For Bay Area writer Tsui (American Chinatown: A People's History of Five Neighborhoods, 2009), swimming is in her blood. As she recounts, her parents met in a Hong Kong swimming pool, and she often visited the beach as a child and competed on a swim team in high school. Midway through the engaging narrative, the author explains how she rejoined the team at age 40, just as her 6-year-old was signing up for the first time. Chronicling her interviews with scientists and swimmers alike, Tsui notes the many health benefits of swimming, some of which are mental. Swimmers often achieve the “flow” state and get their best ideas while in the water. Her travels took her from the California coast, where she dove for abalone and swam from Alcatraz back to San Francisco, to Tokyo, where she heard about the “samurai swimming” martial arts tradition. In Iceland, she met Guðlaugur Friðþórsson, a local celebrity who, in 1984, survived six hours in a winter sea after his fishing vessel capsized, earning him the nickname “the human seal.” Although humans are generally adapted to life on land, the author discovered that some have extra advantages in the water. The Bajau people of Indonesia, for instance, can do 10-minute free dives while hunting because their spleens are 50% larger than average. For most, though, it’s simply a matter of practice. Tsui discussed swimming with Dara Torres, who became the oldest Olympic swimmer at age 41, and swam with Kim Chambers, one of the few people to complete the daunting Oceans Seven marathon swim challenge. Drawing on personal experience, history, biology, and social science, the author conveys the appeal of “an unflinching giving-over to an element” and makes a convincing case for broader access to swimming education (372,000 people still drown annually).
An absorbing, wide-ranging story of humans’ relationship with the water.Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-61620-786-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Algonquin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2020
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