Reviewed by Pat G. Palmer, Suppers Facilitator, April, 2017
A year ago, I visited a macrobiotic counselor for a health consultation and was asked to fill out a medical history. After reading my background, the counselor commented: “Oh. You’re one of those.” I knew what he meant—one of those people who had had a wide variety of ailments, over many years, and was still looking for relief. People like me have had to become independent thinkers and experiment for ourselves and have tried to adopt the best eating and living practices we could, in an attempt to let our bodies heal.
Last year, a friend recommended that I check out a book, Medical Medium, by Anthony William. When I browsed the table of contents of the book on Amazon, I found that it includes an extensive list of what the author styles “mystery illness.” I was intrigued; it was as if someone had written a book specifically about me. Those were the very bugaboos that conventional medicine had failed to help me with.
The book starts with a startling account of the author’s claim to be guided by a higher power, whom he calls “Spirit.” There is a long, and pruriently interesting, chapter on how Spirit first entered his life, and an account of the first decades of his life when, unable to stop hearing Spirit’s voice, he struggled against his fate which, it appears, is to be Spirit’s voice for human health improvements in the world. Whatever capabilities Anthony Williams has or does not have as a medium, he is articulate and tactful and full of compassion for people suffering from “mystery illnesses,” which he recognizes as occurring today in epidemic proportions, and which he defines as poorly understood conditions. He writes:
“It (an ailment) can be a mystery because there isn’t a name for a given set of symptoms—and so it’s written off as a sign of mental imbalance. A mystery illness can also be an established, chronic condition for which there’s no effective treatment of the root cause (because medical communities don’t yet understand it), or a condition that’s frequently misdiagnosed.”
Here are some of the diagnoses which people get from either conventional or alternative medicine which the author considers to be mystery illness: Epstein-Barr Virus, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Multiple Sclerosis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, Type 2 Diabetes and Hypoglycemia, Adrenal Fatigue, Candida, Migraines, Shingles, Colitis, TMJ, Diabetic Neuropathy, Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, Autism, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, Depression, Premenstrual Syndrome and Menopause, and Lyme Disease.
Williams does not hesitate to state when his Spirit voice claims that science, so far, has things wrong. He calmly asserts that future science will find the claims of Spirit to be true. An example is his message about spinach. Conventionally, we are told it is best not to eat spinach raw because of the oxalic acid in it (which can contribute to kidney stones) but that cooking renders spinach safer. It’s the opposite, according to Williams; raw spinach, he says, is good for us but cooked spinach is not. I laughed when I read this. How many times in life we are confronted with such conflicting claims that it becomes a matter of humor! And after all, it’s pretty difficult for now to find out the truth of such claims. But Williams is not disrespectful of contradictory information, and he also reminds us of how brilliant and wonderful the medical profession is when people need help with physical injury.
Medical Medium includes very specific dietary advice for people suffering from various mystery illnesses. That advice consists of eating a lot more fresh fruits and vegetables than most people eat, and also in avoiding certain foods he considers harmful. His harmful list is almost identical to the list of harmful foods given to me by my macrobiotic counselors. After reading Medical Medium, I began experimenting with some of the dietary recommendations in the book, and my results were quite favorable. I’m still cleaving to much of the wonderful knowledge gained via my macrobiotic studies, but I’m also open to trying more of Anthony William's suggestions.
William's second book, Life-Changing Foods, is at heart a gorgeous recipe book. Its recipes use fresh fruits and vegetables, with only a few and mostly fresh ingredients, are easy to prepare, taste great, and beautifully photographed and presented. This book also makes its own quite radical claims, including (just for example) that humanity’s biggest threat over time will not be over-population so much as infertility due to increasingly poor nutrition, which in turn is a function of the continually degrading environment. The sunniest day we now get, Williams claims, is no longer as bright and clear as was a sunny day was in the 1960’s. Williams believes that the radioactive fallout from the 1984 Chernobyl nuclear accident is still circulating high about the earth and, along with other pollution, blocks some of the sunlight that people need and that plants need to grow to their healthiest potential.
I’ll admit I’ve become a fan. I recommend this book highly, or I wouldn’t bother reviewing it. Please, take this all with a healthy skepticism and go forth and experiment. You won’t be alone: A whole lot of people are reading William's books and following his writings online. Of course, herd action alone is no reason to trust advice; let your own experience be your teacher. Thankfully, Anthony William is generous with his information, and people who cannot afford to buy those books will find much of the information available online at no cost.
A last word of skepticism is in order. In addition to fresh vegetables and fruits, William recommends a variety of dietary supplements (such as green superfoods) for specific conditions. Sometimes he even recommends specific brands of these supplements, and this seems to me like an ethical slippery slope. I am happy to note that he openly writes that he receives a percentage of profits from companies whose products he has endorsed. As well he should. There is no reason at all, that I can see, to prefer those products over any other company, as there is no sign that anyone has done safety or quality comparison checks. So caveat emptor.