Book Review Leaves of Life: Volume 4 by Kazembe Bediako, CMPS, MSTOM

The fourth installment of the Leaves of Life series has arrived. So far author-researcher Kazembe Bediako has taken his readers on a global expedition to find the most important life- enhancing plants and herbs to ensure practitioners can live their best lives. He has toured the planet with an eye on bringing readers to their peak health and how to remain balanced and whole. This fourth volume does the reverse. The text focuses on the individual’s body with a global eye out for the most effective dietary practices. Because of the overwhelming landslide of information regarding this diet versus that eating program, Bediako has made a scientific review of the most popular nutrition regimens on the market today. His side-by-side comparisons and analyses of each plan takes the confusion out of which to choose. Bediako clearly explains our bodies’ composition and changes over the millennia and why our optimum health demands that we eat in ways that the consumer market simply does not understand or conveniently ignores for popularity and profits sake.

This volume matches the body’s needs with cultural, economic and spiritual parameters for the safest improvements across one’s life span. As with previous volumes, Bediako explains why each food is needed and what foods should be avoided. His explanations take us right down to the cellular level without confusing jargon. Yes, he explains the science. No, he doesn’t go over the reader’s head without uplifting understanding and comprehension. However, Bediako’s tone never talks down to the reader. He is providing information so we can make up our own minds; he is never preachy nor patronizing. This book is laid out in a visually inviting manner that guides readers through enlightening data and evidence. As usual, Bediako has multiple tables and references to previous research so we can plainly see sources and use the information to make vital decisions on how to proceed on our life journey.

A welcome addition to this volume is the use of more than 60 flowcharts and figures in full color. These easy-to-read charts are summaries of the text in creative formats that act as visual aids. While Bediako has used drawings and photos throughout the Leaves of Life series, this is his first book to use such colorful charts to enhance and review his text. Because of the centuries of factual information that Bediako has examined, we benefit from his years of prolonged investigations and searches. His distillation of so much knowledge has now stretched to four volumes of essential material for the beginning novice seeking a healthier way of life, the veteran of holistic living, and everyone in between. Whether the reader owns the previous three volumes of Leaves of Life or is just now discovering Bediako’s series, Volume 4 is a timely, critical, and indispensable clarification of the current popular dietary regimes overflowing the media. It is a rational weapon in the battle against physical, mental, and spiritual imbalance and illness, on the trek towards wholeness and well-being.