Book picks similar to
An Apple a Day by Joe Schwarcz


non-fiction
health
nonfiction
science

Nutrition: Concepts and Controversies


Frances Sizer - 1991
    Its colorful design and conversational writing style make it appealing and accessible to students and has made it the leading Nutrition text for the non-majors or mixed majors/non-majors introductory course.

Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World


Dan Koeppel - 2007
    Americans eat more bananas than apples and oranges combined. In others parts of the world, bananas are what keep millions of people alive. But for all its ubiquity, the banana is surprisingly mysterious; nobody knows how bananas evolved or exactly where they originated. Rich cultural lore surrounds the fruit: In ancient translations of the Bible, the 'apple' consumed by Eve is actually a banana (it makes sense, doesn't it?). Entire Central American nations have been said to rise and fall over the banana. But the biggest mystery about the banana today is whether it will survive. A seedless fruit with a unique reproductive system, every banana is a genetic duplicate of the next, and therefore susceptible to the same blights. Today's yellow banana, the Cavendish, is increasingly threatened by such a blight -- and there's no cure in sight. Banana combines a pop-science journey around the globe, a fascinating tale of an iconic American business enterprise, and a look into the alternately tragic and hilarious banana subculture (one does exist) -- ultimately taking us to the high-tech labs where new bananas are literally being built in test tubes, in a race to save the world's most beloved fruit.

Cholesterol Clarity: What The HDL Is Wrong With My Numbers?


Jimmy Moore - 2013
    Jimmy Moore, a prominent and highly respected health blogger and podcaster, has teamed up with Dr. Eric Westman, a practicing internist and nutrition researcher, to bring you one of the most unique books you'll ever read on this subject, featuring exclusive interviews with twenty-nine of the world's top experts from various fields to give you the complete lowdown on cholesterol. If you're worried about any confusing medical jargon in this book, don't be—this critical information is broken down for you to grasp what is really important and what is not.You won't find this kind of comprehensive, cutting-edge, expert-driven cholesterol information all in one place anywhere else. Has your doctor told you your total and/or LDL cholesterol is too high and thus requires you to take immediate action to lower it? Has the solution to your "high cholesterol" been to cut down on your saturated fat intake, eat more "healthy" whole grains and vegetable oils, and possibly even take a prescription medication like a statin to lower it to "desirable" levels? If so, then this is the book for you. Learn what the real deal is from some of the leading experts on the subject. Not only will Cholesterol Clarity tell you what your cholesterol tests—LDL, HDL, triglycerides, and other key cholesterol markers—really mean, but it will also arm you with nutritional guidance that will lead you to optimal health. Are you ready to find out what the HDL is wrong with your numbers?Within the pages of this book you'll learn invaluable lessons, including:-Why your LDL-C and total cholesterol numbers may not be as important in determining your health as your doctor may think-The undeniable negative role that chronic inflammation plays in your health-Why cholesterol-lowering statin drugs don't necessarily solve your heart health concerns-Why your doctor should be testing for LDL particles and particle size when measuring cholesterol-Why HDL and triglycerides are far more predictive of health concerns than LDL-C and total cholesterol-Why consuming foods with saturated fat is good for you, and why carbohydrate-based foods can be detrimental to attaining the best cholesterol numbers-Why a growing number of physicians, researchers, and nutritionists believe treating cholesterol numbers is virtually irrelevantContributing Experts Include:Cassie Bjork, RDPhilip Blair, MDJonny Bowden, PhDJohn Briffa, BSc, MB, BSDominic D'Agostino, PhDWilliam Davis, MDThomas Dayspring, MDDavid Diamond, PhDRon Ehrlich, BDS, FACNEMJeffry N. Gerber, MDDavid GillespieDuane Graveline, MDPaul Jaminet, PhDMalcolm Kendrick, MDRonald Krauss, MDFred Kummerow, PhDDwight C. Lundell, MDRobert Lustig, MDChris Masterjohn, PhDDonald Miller, MDRakesh "Rocky" Patel, MDFred Pescatore, MDUffe Ravnskov, MD, PhDStephanie Seneff, PhDCate Shanahan, MDKen Sikaris, BSc, MBBS, FRCPA, FAACB, FFScPatty Siri-Tarino, PhDMark SissonGary Taubes

Cracking the Aging Code: The New Science of Growing Old - And What It Means for Staying Young


Josh Mitteldorf - 2016
    Using meticulous multidisciplinary science, as well as reviewing the history of our understanding about evolution, this book makes the case that aging is not something that “just happens,” nor is it the result of wear and tear or a genetic inevitability. Rather, aging has a fascinating evolutionary purpose: to stabilize populations and ecosystems, which are ever-threatened by cyclic swings that can lead to extinction.When a population grows too fast it can put itself at risk of a wholesale wipeout. Aging has evolved to help us adjust our growth in a sustainable fashion as well as prevent an ecological crisis from starvation, predation, pollution, or infection.This dynamic new understanding of aging is provocative, entertaining, and pioneering, and will challenge the way we understand aging, death, and just what makes us human.

The F*ck It Diet: Eating Should Be Easy


Caroline Dooner - 2019
    In fact, our bodies are hardwired against it. But each time our diets fail, instead of considering that maybe our ridiculously low-carb diet is the problem, we wonder what’s wrong with us. Why can’t we stick to our simple plan of grapefruit and tuna fish??? Why are we so hungry? What is wrong with us??? We berate ourselves for being lazy and weak, double down on our belief that losing weight is the key to our everlasting happiness, and resolve to do better tomorrow. But it’s time we called a spade a spade: Constantly trying to eat the smallest amount possible is a miserable way to live, and it isn’t even working. So fuck eating like that. In The F*ck It Diet, Caroline Dooner tackles the inherent flaws of dieting and diet culture, and offers readers a counterintuitively simple path to healing their physical, emotional, and mental relationship with food. What’s the secret anti-diet? Eat. Whatever you want. Honor your appetite and listen to your hunger. Trust that your body knows what it is doing. Oh, and don’t forget to rest, breathe, and be kind to yourself while you’re at it.  Once you get yourself out of survival mode, it will become easier and easier to eat what your body really needs—a healthier relationship with food ultimately leads to a healthier you.An ex-yo-yo dieter herself, Dooner knows how terrifying it can be to break free of the vicious cycle, but with her signature sharp humor and compassion, she shows readers that a sustainable, easy relationship with food is possible.Irreverent and empowering, The F*ck It Diet is call to arms for anyone who feels guilt or pain over food, weight, or their body. It’s time to give up the shame and start thriving. Welcome to the F*ck It Diet. Let’s Eat.

A Headache in the Pelvis: A New Understanding and Treatment for Prostatitis and Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes


David Wise - 2001
    The 4th edition enlarges the scope of the book to specifically address the Stanford Protocol for women'ss pelvic pain and includes a large illustrated section on the method of pelvic floor trigger point release. It also includes details of Paradoxical Relaxation for conditions of pelvic pain that affect women.

The Forks Over Knives Plan: How to Transition to the Life-Saving, Whole-Food, Plant-Based Diet


Alona Pulde - 2014
    With so many people looking for change, the outstanding question became, “How can we put these dietary ideas into practice?” That’s what authors Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman reveal in The Forks Over Knives Plan: The 4-Week Guide to Whole-Food, Plant-Based Health—a clear, easy-to-follow plan that outlines the steps to take each week to transform your diet by cutting out animal-based and processed foods.Forks Over Knives is a leading authority in the “food as medicine” movement, showing how simple dietary changes are proven to prevent, and even reverse, chronic disease such as type-2 diabetes and heart disease and improve your overall health. This is no fad diet; the Forks Over Knives program is backed by original research and has received rave reviews from physicians like Dr. Sanjay Gupta and Dr. Mehmet Oz, to athletes like pro football star Arian Foster and pro basketball player Steve Nash, to healthy lifestyle pioneers like Alicia Silverstone, to name a few. Whether you’re already a convert and just want a dietary reboot, or you are trying a plant-based diet for the first time, The Forks Over Knives Plan makes it easier than ever to transition into this new way of eating.

An Elegant Defense: The Extraordinary New Science of the Immune System: A Tale in Four Lives


Matt Richtel - 2019
    An epic, first-of-its-kind book, entwining leading-edge scientific discovery with the intimate stories of four individual lives, by the Pulitzer Prize–winning New York Times journalist.A terminal cancer patient rises from the grave. A medical marvel defies HIV. Two women with autoimmunity discover their own bodies have turned against them. Matt Richtel's An Elegant Defense uniquely entwines these intimate stories with science’s centuries-long quest to unlock the mysteries of sickness and health, and illuminates the immune system as never before.The immune system is our body’s essential defense network, a guardian vigilantly fighting illness, healing wounds, maintaining order and balance, and keeping us alive. Its legion of microscopic foot soldiers—from T cells to “natural killers”—patrols our body, linked by a nearly instantaneous communications grid. It has been honed by evolution over millennia to face an almost infinite array of threats.For all its astonishing complexity, however, the immune system can be easily compromised by fatigue, stress, toxins, advanced age, and poor nutrition—hallmarks of modern life—and even by excessive hygiene. Paradoxically, it is a fragile wonder weapon that can turn on our own bodies with startling results, leading today to epidemic levels of autoimmune disorders.Richtel effortlessly guides readers on a scientific detective tale winding from the Black Plague to twentieth-century breakthroughs in vaccination and antibiotics, to the cutting-edge laboratories that are revolutionizing immunology—perhaps the most extraordinary and consequential medical story of our time. The foundation that Richtel builds makes accessible revelations about cancer immunotherapy, the microbiome, and autoimmune treatments that are changing millions of lives. An Elegant Defense also captures in vivid detail how these powerful therapies, along with our behavior and environment, interact with the immune system, often for the good but always on a razor’s edge that can throw this remarkable system out of balance.Drawing on his groundbreaking reporting for the New York Times and based on extensive new interviews with dozens of world-renowned scientists, Matt Richtel has produced a landmark book, equally an investigation into the deepest riddles of survival and a profoundly human tale that is movingly brought to life through the eyes of his four main characters, each of whom illuminates an essential facet of our “elegant defense.”

Brain over Binge: Why I Was Bulimic, Why Conventional Therapy Didn't Work, and How I Recovered for Good


Kathryn Hansen - 2011
    The author, Kathryn Hansen, candidly shares her experience as a bulimic and her alternative approach to recovery. Brain over Binge is different than other eating disorder books which typically present binge eating and purging as symptoms of complex emotional and psychological problems. Kathryn disputes this mainstream idea and explains why traditional eating disorder therapy failed her and fails many. She explains how she came to understand her bulimia in a new way – as a function of her brain, and how she used the power of her brain to recover – quickly and permanently. Kathryn also sheds new light on eating disorder topics such as low self-esteem, poor body image, and dieting. Brain over Binge is a brave book that will help many by delivering an informed and inspiring message of free will, self-reliance, and self-control.

ChiRunning: A Revolutionary Approach to Effortless, Injury-Free Running


Danny Dreyer - 2004
    This new edition is fully updated with fresh insights and innovative training techniques from one of the sport's leading voices. Danny Dreyer teaches us how to heal and prevent injuries and also to run faster, farther, and with much less effort at any age or ability.With more than 150,000 copies in print, this groundbreaking program makes running safe and fun for beginning and seasoned runners, while also giving competitive runners the edge they seek. ChiRunning employs the deep power reserves in the core muscles, an approach found in disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, and in this case T'ai Chi. Make knee pain and shin splints a thing of the past Experience the natural efficiency of the midfoot strike Dramatically reduce your potential for injury Transform your running with our new 10-step training program ChiRunning provides powerful insight and transforms running from a high-injury sport to a body-friendly fitness phenomenon. Join the revolution!

The Wild Life of Our Bodies: Predators, Parasites, and Partners That Shape Who We Are Today


Rob Dunn - 2011
    Dunn illuminates the nuanced, often imperceptible relationships that exist between homo sapiens and other species, relationships that underpin humanity’s ability to thrive and prosper in every circumstance.

Anticancer Living: Transform Your Life and Health with the Mix of Six


Lorenzo Cohen - 2018
    The scientific data on the link between lifestyle, environmental factors, and cancer risk has been accumulating at an accelerated rate over the past decade: Every week we learn something more that we can do as individuals to decrease the risk of can-cer and improve the likelihood of long-term survival. Many of us--patients and doctors included--do not realize that changes in our daily choices and habits can improve quality of life, increase the chances of survival, and aid in the healing process for those with a diagnosis. These ideas were pioneered in David Servan-Schreiber's Anticancer: A New Way of Life, and became the basis for a research study developed by Lorenzo Cohen and Servan-Schreiber at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.Introducing the concept of the "Mix of Six," Cohen and Alison Jefferies make an informed case that building social and emotional support; manag-ing stress; improving sleep, exercise, and diet; and minimizing exposure to environmental toxins work together to promote an optimal environment for health and well-being. While each plays an inde-pendent role, the synergy created by all six factors can radically transform health; delay or prevent many cancers; support conventional treatments; and significantly improve quality of life--as many testi-monies and stories of those in the anticancer com-munity eloquently show.Anticancer Living provides an accessible, pre-scriptive guide to wellness based on the latest scien-tific findings and clinical trials, and it showcases the community of doctors, researchers, caregivers, and patients who have been inspired to create change.*Includes a Bonus PDF with charts, graphs, chapter summaries, and appendices.

The Culprit & The Cure: Why lifestyle is the culprit behind America's poor health


Steven G. Aldana - 2004
    It provides easy-to-follow guidelines that will help individuals begin and maintain a healthy lifestyle for life. No infomercials here, just the facts from an authority who knows.

The Dental Diet: The Surprising Link between Your Teeth, Real Food, and Life-Changing Natural Health


Steven Lin - 2018
    But what if we flipped the paradigm? What if we thought about dental health as the foundation for our physical health as a whole?Dr. Steven Lin, an experienced dentist and the world’s first dental nutritionist, has analyzed our ancestral traditions, epigenetics, gut health, and the microbiome in order to develop food-based principles for a literal top-down holistic health approach. Merging dental and nutritional science, Dr. Lin lays out the dietary program that can help ensure you won’t need dental fillings or cholesterol medications—and give you the resources to raise kids who develop naturally straight teeth. With our mouth as the gatekeeper of our gut, keeping our oral microbiome balanced will create a healthy body through a healthy mouth.Dr. Lin arms you with a 40-day meal plan, complete with the Dental Diet food pyramid, exercises for the mouth, recipes, and cooking techniques to help you easily and successfully implement his techniques into your everyday life. The tools to improve overall wellness levels and reverse disease are closer than we think—in our markets, in our pantries, and, most frequently, in our mouths—if not just a well-chosen bite or two away.

Ingredients: The Strange Chemistry of What We Put in Us and on Us


George Zaidan - 2020
    Coffee. Sunscreen. Vapes. George Zaidan reveals what will kill you, what won't, and why--explained with high-octane hilarity, hysterical hijinks, and other things that don't begin with the letter H. INGREDIENTS offers the perspective of a chemist on the stuff we eat, drink, inhale, and smear on ourselves. Apart from the burning question of whether you should eat that Cheeto, Zaidan explores a range of topics. Here's a helpful guide:Stuff in this book: - How bad is processed food? How sure are we?- Is sunscreen safe? Should you use it?- Is coffee good or bad for you?- What's your disease horoscope?- What is that public pool smell made of?- What happens when you overdose on fentanyl in the sun?- What do cassava plants and Soviet spies have in common?- When will you die?Stuff in other books: - Your carbon footprint- Food sustainability- GMOs- CEO pay- Science funding- Politics- Football- Baseball- Any kind of ball reallyZaidan, an MIT-trained chemist who cohosted CNBC's hit Make Me a Millionaire Inventor and wrote and voiced several TED-Ed viral videos, makes chemistry more fun than Hogwarts as he reveals exactly what science can (and can't) tell us about the packaged ingredients sold to us every day. Sugar, spinach, formaldehyde, cyanide, the ingredients of life and death, and how we know if something is good or bad for us--as well as the genius of aphids and their butts--are all discussed in exquisite detail at breakneck speed.