Rare Intellect

Page 19

Lee Wilson

- Professor of chemistry,

University of Saskatchewan

Recommends:

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

By Ken Kesey

Signet-1963

One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was one of the more entertaining and thought-provoking fictional books I have read. The book is narrated from the perspective of Chief Broom, a patient in a psychiatric ward. The story centres on a new patient by the name of McMurphy who is introduced into the ward and changes the lives of those that reside and interact with him, particularly Chief Broom. There are many subtle themes in the story, but an important one is the fine line that exists between sanity and madness. The exploits of McMurphy are certainly comedic and very therapeutic in nature, particularly for Chief Broom's recovery and sense of health and well being. Kesey provokes us to question our idiosyncrasies, values and inner self. The novel takes us on a beautiful journey through Chief Broom's mind that begins like a scattered jig-saw puzzle and takes on increased meaning, complexity, and beauty with each passing page. This book teaches us about ourselves, and the world that we live in. I recommend this book to others. I have read it twice and will likely read it a third time.

Dr. Jay Wortman

-Regional Director, Pacific Region, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch

Recommends:

Atkins for Life

By Robert C. Atkins, M.D.

St. Martins Press-2003

This is the latest in a series of books by the late Dr. Robert Atkins, the famous proponent of low carbohydrate dieting. I am recommending this book to Aboriginal people because of the tremendous positive effect that low-carb dieting has had on my own health and the potential benefit this dietary approach can have in reversing the terrible epidemics of obesity and diabetes that are ravaging the Aboriginal population. I discovered the benefits of low-carb dieting when I found I had type II diabetes about 18 months ago. I immediately began to follow a low-carb diet. Within a month I had lost 18 pounds and found that both my blood sugar and blood pressure had returned to normal. A year-and-a-half later, I still follow a low-carb diet and have been maintaining a weight loss of about 20 pounds. I recently had my blood tested and all my results are normal. This striking turnaround in my own health made me curious about low-carb diets.

Over the past year I have studied the research on low-carb dieting and I have talked to Aboriginal people who are knowledgeable about their traditional diets. In every case, the kinds of traditional diets I have heard about are all very low in carbohydrates. At the same time, there has been good scientific research that has validated the diet principles that Dr. Atkins used to develop his low-carb approach. The greatest contributor to the obesity epidemic that is affecting the whole North American population is the unhealthy diet that has become the norm. We have been lulled into thinking that eating heaps of highly-refined sugars and starches is OK. It turns out it is not. This is particularly true for Aboriginal people. In my view, if Aboriginal people followed the advice of Dr. Atkins, they would be following a dietary pattern very similar to the kind of diet eaten by their ancestors. Given the tremendous success I have had personally in reversing the effects of type II diabetes with this approach, I am now advocating to Aboriginal people to look to what their ancestors ate and to avoid those modern refined foods-the sugars and starches-that are causing the obesity and diabetes that is so prevalent in our communities.