Co-op News
From "Maple Street Co-op News", December 2007/January 2008

Dietary Healing with Kathryn Alexander
By Ruth Parnell, Co-op member

It was a full house for the 11 October UpFront Club launch of Co-op News contributor Kathryn Alexander's new self-published book Dietary Healing: The Complete Detox Program.

Starting the evening's proceedings was health economist Stephen Alexander (Kathryn's husband), who spoke about the worldwide trend in 'expert patients' who inform themselves about the state of their health (or that of their loved ones) and the treatment options available, and who want to self-manage chronic conditions without ending up in hospital. He remarked that Kathryn's book fits with this theme by informing readers and helping them support themselves in achieving optimum health. Stephen also prepared the exciting visuals displayed on his iMac G5 in the background.

Next up, Kathryn Alexander spoke about her health philosophy of proper nutrition as opposed to the pill-popping dependency marketed by the pharmcos. A Gerson therapist, naturopath and dietician, she enthralled guests with case histories of patients who have followed her advice and overcome serious health afflictions against the odds. A firm believer in the body's ability to heal itself naturally given the correct nutritional and environmental conditions, Kathryn is confident that her detoxification diet "actually does work". She discussed some biochemistry basics, outlining the correct ratios of potassium to sodium and magnesium to calcium that are essential for cellular health. She also waxed lyrical about the benefits of coffee enemas in the detox process.

"You may as well have a coffee enema, as it's the only coffee you're allowed in this diet," I quipped when giving my critique of Kathryn's book. It struck me that her book is really a recipe for general good health, not just for detoxing (in fact, it has some delicious-looking recipes, too). I was amazed to learn, for instance, that a dash of soy sauce on your brown rice can adversely change the recommended 5:1 ratio of potassium to sodium. (See my review of her book in the Dec 2007-Jan 2008 edition of Nexus magazine, along with Kathryn's article on Expert Patients.)

The evening was concluded by Anne Blacklaw of Queensland Complete Printing Services, printer of Kathryn's book. Anne explained the ins and outs of having your book published and distributed versus doing it all yourself. She offers services to help you self-publish and is pleased to be part of the process. Looking at how well Kathryn's book turned out, I'd have to agree that the independent path has its advantages.

Kathryn Alexander's book is available at the Co-op for $39.95 (5% discount to members).

[From "Maple Street Co-op News", December 2007/January 2008; published by The Maple Street Co-operative Society Ltd, 37 Maple Street, Maleny, Qld 4552, Australia, tel (07) 5494 2088, email maplest.co-op@serv.net.au,
website http://www.maplestreetco-op.com.au]