A thought-provoking reinterpretation of how vitamins affect wellness.
A psychiatric physician makes a case for focusing on the key role of two specific molecules on one’s health.
In this debut health book, Zablow lays out his argument that the beneficial effects of two crucial forms of vitamin B are often overlooked and that if everyone consumed sufficient B12 and folate (B9) in forms most easily used by the body—the “vitamers” of the title—it would result in substantial improvements in individual and public health. The book opens with an explanation of how vitamins work, with a particular focus on B12 and folate, and a detailed account of how nutrition affects the expression of genes. It also presents a rundown of the biochemistry of metabolism and the different forms that B12 and folate can take. The body, Zablow says, responds to stress with inflammation, and if people are able to find ways to reshape their body’s response to stress, they can minimize inflammation, which, in turn, can improve their overall physical well-being. He addresses the dietary and lifestyle changes that he says are necessary to incorporate vitamers at appropriate levels and provides suggestions for reframing the medical field’s understanding and treatment of vitamin deficiencies. The book takes a fanciful turn when it uses questions about astronaut nutrition and an eventual mission to Mars to demonstrate the practical implications of particular B-complex deficiencies and suggest mitigation strategies, but Zablow effectively pulls the focus back to how his concepts might be applied to everyday circumstances on Earth. Ultimately, his book makes an intriguing argument for his health-management system.
Zablow does a good job of making a complex topic comprehensible for those who might lack a background in nutrition or biochemistry while also providing more detailed information for those who are able to approach the topic from a more technical perspective: “Without ample supplies of B12 and folate to generate energy, regulate genetic expression, and keep the cells clear of metabolic waste, all other efforts to improve health will be of reduced benefit.” The author ably breaks down the various elements of what it takes to use vitamers properly—processing them into forms the body can use, consuming the compounds in sufficient quantities, and being aware of symptoms of deficiencies, which may also be present due to other conditions. The book is realistic about practical aspects of treating such deficiencies; for instance, it notes that folate supplements are readily available in stores, but it also warns that they’re often in forms that are harder for the body to process, making them less effective than their packaging might suggest. Zablow’s challenges to medical orthodoxies, such as that the body retains a usable store of vitamin B in the liver, will likely raise eyebrows, but his persuasive arguments, supported by research, make his ideas worth looking into further. Overall, the book provides readers with a new framework for understanding functions of the body—one that can serve as a basis for productive conversations with medical providers.
A thought-provoking reinterpretation of how vitamins affect wellness.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-948181-86-0
Page Count: 214
Publisher: Hybrid Global Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A cogent “horror story” about the plot to reanimate mid-20th-century White male supremacy at the expense of abortion access.
Incisive look at the destructive path of anti-abortion ideology in the U.S.
Even though most Americans believe in a woman’s right to choose—“consistent research has shown that more than 7 in 10 Americans support legal access to abortion”—the radical right has succeeded in steadily eroding reproductive freedoms since Roe v. Wade. According to NARAL Pro-Choice America leaders Hogue and Langford, the campaign against abortion is but a means to an end for the architects of the pro-life movement. Their true aim is the uncontested dominion of White Christian men. The battle began in 1954, when Brown v. Board of Education struck down “state laws used by segregationists to maintain structural inequality in the nation’s schools.” In 1976, the IRS rescinded the tax-exempt status of the Rev. Jerry Falwell’s segregationist Bob Jones University. What has followed, argue the authors convincingly, is more than a half-century of machinations designed “to halt progressive cultural change and maintain power for a privileged minority.” Anti-abortion rhetoric is just a weapon, driven by design, propaganda, disinformation, and cowed Republican politicians—hallmarks of the Trump era. Hogue and Langdon make a strong case that the rises of Trump, fake news, and science skepticism are not flukes but rather the culmination of a dogged campaign by forces still smarting from desegregation and second- and third-wave feminism. The reproductive freedom of American women is the victim of an “anti-democratic power grab on a historic scale.” The authors build a chilling case that the startling 2019 wave of abortion bans across the nation should serve as a canary in the coal mine for citizens concerned with democracy and a catalyst for bolder messaging, better strategic planning, and sustained action to combat disinformation.
A cogent “horror story” about the plot to reanimate mid-20th-century White male supremacy at the expense of abortion access.Pub Date: July 22, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-947492-50-9
Page Count: 280
Publisher: Strong Arm Press
Review Posted Online: Aug. 6, 2020
Lorde’s big heart and fierce mind are at full strength on each page of this deeply personal and deeply political collection.
The groundbreaking Black lesbian writer and activist chronicles her experience with cancer.
In her mid-40s, Lorde (1934-1992) was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent a radical mastectomy. Through prose, poems, and selected journal entries beginning six months after the surgery, the author explores the anger, pain, and fear that her illness wrought. Her recovery was characterized by resistance and learning to love her body again. She envisioned herself as a powerful fighter while also examining the connection between her illness and her activism. “There is no room around me in which to be still,” she writes, “to examine and explore what pain is mine alone—no device to separate my struggle within from my fury at the outside world’s viciousness, the stupid brutal lack of consciousness or concern that passes for the way things are. The arrogant blindness of comfortable white women. What is this work all for? What does it matter if I ever speak again or not?” Lorde confronts other tough questions, including the role of holistic and alternative treatments and whether her cancer (and its recurrence) was preventable. She writes of eschewing “superficial spirituality” and repeatedly rejecting the use of prosthesis because it felt like “a lie” at precisely the time she was “seeking new ways of strength and trying to find the courage to tell the truth.” Forty years after its initial publication and with a new foreword by Tracy K. Smith, the collection remains a raw reckoning with illness and death as well as a challenge to the conventional expectations of women with cancer. More universally, Lorde’s rage and the clarity that follows offer us a blueprint for facing our mortality and living boldly in the time we have. This empowering compilation is heartbreaking, beautiful, and timeless.
Lorde’s big heart and fierce mind are at full strength on each page of this deeply personal and deeply political collection.Pub Date: Oct. 13, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-14-313520-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Penguin
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
