The Detox Plan: For Body, Mind and Spirit [Paperback]

I bought this book because I am interested in de-toxification, and I received an e-mail from Amazon saying people who had bought the same healthcare books as I, had also bought this one. so I read the reviews from other readers, and suitably impressed, ordered Ms Alexander's book. I regret to say however that it is probably the worst, most useless book on healthcare I have read. There are 120 pages, of which 50% are either glossy pictures or 'self anaylsis questionaires. That leaves 60 pages of information (big typeface however). In that space Ms Alexander manages to cover everything from how you arrange your living space to self help psychology to time management to diet to yoga. All pretty big topics that normally would warrant books of their own. Consequently what she has produced is a superficial review that lacks scientific justification or analysis and is strong on assertion and generalisation but totally misses out on substance. In other words it is a long magazine article, which makes up for its lack of depth or research with glossy pictures of healthy looking young ladies with big smiles, (no doubt musing at the gullability of people like myself for buying this rubbish). Lets take some examples - GM foods are summarised and dismissed in just 2 paragraphs, in determining whether I suffer from work place stress, I answer one for her many questionnaires; yes - I do have artifical fabrics in the home, yes I use dry clearers, yes I use a PC for more than 1 hours a day, yes - some of my furniture is made from chipboard, yes, someone once lit a cigarette in my presence, yes - I have some clutter in my home. Oh my god, I live a toxic life! The problem is that this is about as far as Ms Alexander's analysis goes. We are told that the above, and many other things, are 'toxic' but no proof is given of why, and to whom, and what can sensibly be done about it. No remedies are offered, other than removing them all from our lives. Great - I'll go and live in a cave, eat only fruits and berries, and die around 40 like our ancestors - but my God, my body will be toxin free when they bury me!

There is a scientific basis to de-toxification, their are important interplays of amino acids, vitamins and nutrients that affect the way we life, thrive or get diseases. Lots of work is being done in this area, with important implications for diet and longevity, especially for people who may, without realising it, have unbalanced nutirent systems. But you won't find out about any of this in Ms Alexander's book. So my advice is, if you want to get to grips with detoxification and you are serious about health care - buy something else. If you want something glossy with some nice picture, maybe this is the book for you. In future I will treat rave reviews with a lot more scepticism - and perhaps question whether they really are by independent individuals!

This book, more than any others I have read on the subject, made me want to immediately begin the process of detox-ing myself and my house. Wonderfully written in a very user-friendly tone which anyone can understand. Jane Alexander has really done it with this book!

This book is exceptional in that the author, Jane Alexander, has experienced all the different treatments for herself. This makes it much safer for anyone to use than most books of this genre. I recommend this book highly to anyone who wishes to get their health together. Mental, physical and spiritual balance can be achieved through following one of several detox plans offered by Jane Alexander in this excellent and highly readable book.