The Vitamin D Cure

(Revised Edition)

By James E. Dowd, MD and Diane Stafford

Hoboken, John Wiley & Sons, 2012

288 pages    Nonfiction

The Shortlist

No one can escape all the aches and pains of aging, but we should all do as much as we can to make aging a healthier experience. Recently my husband was told that his vitamin D levels were low. So, he doubled the dosage of Vitamin D he had been taking. After I read The Vitamin D Cure, I did the same. Time will tell. (Actually today was my first day.)

Dr. Dowd makes an argument for increasing the Vitamin D in the ordinary person’s diet, but he makes it truly convincing when he tells about the benefits of Vitamin D in the treatment of high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes and obesity. He offers scientific evidence, a diet plan with recipes, encouragement for exercise, and a lot of common sense about creating a healthier lifestyle. Adding or increasing Vitamin D is only one part of the equation. He suggests that people eat too many grains and cheeses and don’t get enough magnesium or potassium-rich foods.

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He estimates that the recommendations he makes in The Vitamin D Cure will lower the risk of arthritis by about 50 percent. And he says that “vitamin D and a healthy diet represent a real Fountain of Youth. The most prevalent health problems of old age are arthritis, osteoporosis, heart disease, cancer, and dementia, and all of these respond favorably to normalization of vitamin D levels and diet.”

 Dr. James Dowd is a specialist in rheumatology and integrative holistic medicine and has a clinic in Brighton Michigan. He has recently revised The Vitamin D Cure. I was sent a review copy from the publicist. I have to say that I did not read the whole book, hence its placement on my shortlist.

Dr. Dowd’s website: http://www.drjamesdowd.com/