Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I bought this book because a yoga teacher whose breathing seminar I remotely attended suggested contacting Dr. Lin. I was wondering whether I could do anything about my teeth grinding besides wearing a night guard. Since I don't live near Dr. Lin's office and he's a media star, I decided to buy and read his book instead. On the positive side, I've taken away some helpful things from The Dental Diet. The mouth and breathing exercises are particularly helpful. Dr. Lin doesn't talk much about grinding, but he suggests that it's largely a breathing problem. I've been doing most of the breathing exercises in the book for the last week and notice that my nasal passages seem clearer and am breathing better at night. As someone who has studied yoga for many years, I'm familiar with breathing techniques and the importance of nose breathing. I find that I'm nose breathing more, despite my deviated septum, which probably resulted from a very bad accident during a swim team practice when I was in high school. Dr. Lin's tongue exercises have also allowed me to more naturally and easily keep my tongue away from my front teeth, especially at night, something my orthodontist was less successful at getting me to do when I was growing up. This, too, seems to help with my breathing. Dr. Lin seems to imply that back sleeping is better than side sleeping and says that most side sleepers are grinders. I've been a side sleeper most of my life, and it's always been quite difficult for me to back sleep, but I've been trying it again for the past few days. I get up at night a few times, but I seem to breathe better with a clearer throat and have been able to sleep on my back longer than ever before. Dr. Lin makes a good case for the relationship between oral and overall body health, and millions of people like me can relate to having had tooth extractions and orthodontic work as children. He also makes a strong case for diet influencing both teeth and the rest of the body. The emphasis on fresh vegetables and legumes, and avoiding sugary drinks, make perfect sense. I particularly like the idea of chewing tough foods like celery and carrots at every meal to strengthen the teeth and jaw. I've incorporated this simple technique into my diet. My father, who, despite his slight malocclusion, had the strongest teeth of any human being I've ever known, encouraged me to do this for years, but I resisted his suggestions. Now I think he had the right idea. There are other small modifications I've adopted from The Dental Diet, such as using olive oil instead of prepared dressing mixes, and looking for wild-caught fish instead of farm-raised ones. Focusing on whole foods and getting away from processed ones also makes a lot of sense. Vegetable pasta is pretty simple to prepare, will appeal to kids, and sounds like a great alternative to the flour-based pastas. I hope to try it soon. I suspect this book will be more of interest to parents that want to prevent dental problems in their kids than single middle-aged people like me. When I told a doctor friend of mine about The Dental Diet, he said he'd be more inclined to look into it if his college-aged children were young because kids' bodies are more malleable, and it's much easier to prevent a medical condition than it is to correct one. On the other hand, a lot of what Dr. Lin says is highly controversial. For example, vegetarians and vegans will not like to hear that he's a proponent of meat and associated animal fat, including bacon. I used to enjoy bacon as a kid, until I read about its links to heart disease and cancer. Dr. Lin is also a big proponent of coconut and palm oils, which have historically been associated with heart disease but have been rehabilitated in some quarters (e.g, the NIH) and been given mixed reviews in others (e.g., Harvard Medical School). Another drawback is practicality. As a single city dweller without a car, it is highly impractical for me to go to farmer's markets for all-natural foods. It would require a three-hour round trip for me to do that. I may be able to get to a fish store a mile or two away, but even that is time-consuming. In addition, many of Dr. Lin's recipes take a lot of time to prepare. Soups can take 45 minutes to three hours. Fermenting foods takes weeks, and you need space to store them and have to guard against contamination. Moreover, I've never heard of many of these foods. One-stop shopping these ingredients seems unlikely. Following the diet probably requires going to multiple stores which can also be time-consuming. There are some foods in the diet you'll know you don't like; in other cases, you won't be sure whether you like them until you try them; and you may be allergic to still others. For example, among frequently mentioned foods in Dr. Lin's recipes, I don't like avocados and guacamole; I'm allergic to mushrooms and oats; and I've never heard of a whole bunch of other ingredients peppered throughout the book. Most people I know don't like liver and other organ meats, which also figure prominently. True, nothing ventured, nothing gained, but if you try a lot of this stuff and don't like it, you're unlikely to stick with the plan. My impression is that many of these meals are too exotic for the average person, especially if you're not into cooking. In passing, Dr. Lin also suggests using substitutes for food ingredients that you can't or won't use. But if you're not a well-informed cook, how do you know what to substitute? Who has time to experiment like this? Most importantly, in Weeks 2 and 3 of his 40-day program, Dr. Lin tells people to cut out all forms of sugar, including from natural sources like fruit. His premise seems to be that most people are hooked on sugar like a drug addict is hooked on heroin. Dr. Lin reports that his patients experience symptoms such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, dizziness, and flu-like symptoms as they emerge from their "sugar coma". He also says these symptoms can last from five days to two weeks. I'm no doctor or scientist, but this seems dangerous. The body requires sugar for a major part of its energy. As I recall from my basic biology, the body gets much of its energy from converting food into glucose, a sugar that the body utilizes. We all know that too much sugar, especially the processed kind, is bad for us, but going "cold turkey" like this in order to supposedly reset the body to a healthier normal, could be fatal for a hypoglycemic. It sounds like some people may have to miss work, or might even pass out. To his credit, Dr. Lin acknowledges that most people won't be able to follow the program 100 percent and suggests an 80 percent target. For me at this point in my life, even that's unrealistic. Each person has to judge for him- or herself. If you live in a suburb or rural area, have a car, a spouse or other family members to help you, or have the time and inclination to do extensive cooking, that's great. I speak for myself but suspect that most people will not be able to follow this program closely. I hope to try some of the less time-consuming recipes, but I'm in a situation for the foreseeable future where I have other priorities. I suspect that Dr. Lin would agree that is a major ill of modern society. Still, unless you're a farmer or natural food cook, the program will be very difficult to follow. My advice is to take what you can from this book and experiment with it. It doesn't hurt to broaden your horizons, or your palate.