Rodale

For many centuries, ancient, ayurvedic, and traditional Chinese medicine have identified the gut as the center of health and wellness, but it has been largely downplayed by modern Western medicine. In The Inside Tract, Gerard E. Mullin, a leading internist, gastroenterologist, and nutritionist at Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Kathie Madonna Swift, a registered dietitian and culinary nutritionist, show that good digestive health is vital to overall wellness.

Studies have shown that over half of the 90 million Americans suffering from digestive disorders such as IBS, GERD, celiac disease, and gluten sensitivity are actively looking for alternative ways to address these ailments. Advocating a regimen of dietary changes, supplements, detoxification, and a 7-step lifestyle modification program, Mullin and Swift show how food can be used as medicine to heal intestinal problems.

Using the questionnaire provided, readers will be able to determine their own unique Gastrointestinal Point System (GPS) and design an individualized plan to get themselves on the right “tract” to digestive wellness and vibrant health.

DR. GERARD MULLIN is an internist, gastroenterologist and nutritionist who is currently Associate Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and Director of Integrative GI Nutrition Services at Johns Hopkins Hospital. He is the author of Integrative Gastroenterology, part of the Weil Integrative Medicine Library series, which will be published in March 2011.

KATHIE MADONNA SWIFT is a Registered Dietician and Nutritionist who was the Director of Nutrition for Canyon Ranch for ten years and is now the Nutrition Director for the UltraWellness Center in Lenox, MA.