Book picks similar to
An Apple a Day by Joe Schwarcz


non-fiction
health
nonfiction
science

Real Food: What to Eat and Why


Nina Planck - 2006
    The country's leading expert on farmers' markets and traditional foods tells the truth about the foods your grandmother praised but doctors call dangerous.Everyone loves real food, but they're afraid bacon and eggs will give them a heart attack--thus the culinary abomination known as the egg-white omelet. But it turns out that tossing out the yolk isn't smart. Real Food reveals why traditional foods are not only delicious--everyone knows that butter tastes better--but are actually good for you, making the nutritional case for egg, cream, butter, grass-fed beef, roast chicken with the skin, lard, cocoa butter, and more.In lively, personal chapters on produce, dairy, meat, fish, Nina explains how the foods we've eaten for thousands of years--pork, lamb, raw milk cheese, sea salt--have been falsely accused. Industrial foods like corn syrup, which lurks everywhere from fruit juice to chicken broth, are to blame for the triple epidemic of obesity, diabetes, and heart disease, not real food.Nina Planck grew up on a vegetable farm in Virginia and learned to eat right from her no-nonsense parents: along with lots of local fruits and vegetables, the Plancks drank raw milk and ate meatloaf, bacon, and eggs with impunity. But the nutritional trends ran the other way--fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol were taboo--and in her teens and twenties, Nina tried vegan, vegetarian, low-fat, and low-cholesterol diets, with unhappy results.When she opened the first farmers' markets in London, Nina began to eat real food again--for pleasure, not health--and to her surprise she lost weight and felt great. She began to wonder about the farmhouse diet back home. Was it deadly, as the cardiologists say? Happily for people who love food, the answer is no.Real Food upends the conventional wisdom on diet and health. Prepare for pleasant surprises on whipped cream and other delights. The days of deprivation are over.(from the flap)

The Hormone Cure: Reclaim Balance, Sleep, Sex Drive and Vitality Naturally with the Gottfried Protocol


Sara Gottfried - 2013
    Or they’re led to believe that the answer can be found only at the bottom of a bottle of prescription pills. Dr. Sara Gottfried, a Harvard-educated physician and nationally recognized, board-certified gynecologist, refuses to accept that being a woman means feeling overwhelmed or that popping pills is the new normal. In The Hormone Cure, she shares the unique hormone-balancing program that she has used to help thousands of women reclaim wellness, verve, and optimal health. Combining natural therapies with rigorous scientific testing and using an informative questionnaire to identify the common causes of hormonal imbalance, Dr. Gottfried provides an individualized plan in nonjudgmental and thoughtful language. Based on ten years’ study of cutting-edge medical research as a specialist in functional and integrative therapies, Dr. Gottfried’s three-tiered treatment strategy includes: •Supplements and targeted lifestyle changes that address underlying deficiencies •Herbal therapies that restore balance and optimize your body’s natural function • Bioidentical hormones— most available without a prescription The Hormone Cure is a groundbreaking book that demonstrates how balancing your hormones can cure underlying health issues and result in restored sleep, greater energy, improved mood, easy weight loss, increased productivity, and many more benefits. Dr. Sara Gottfried’s The Hormone Cure will transform your life.

Caffeinated: How Our Daily Habit Helps, Hurts, and Hooks Us


Murray Carpenter - 2014
    No, not that powder. This is caffeine in its most essential state. And Caffeinated reveals the little-known truth about this addictive, largely unregulated drug found in coffee, energy drinks, teas, colas, chocolate, and even pain relievers.We’ll learn why caffeine has such a powerful effect on everything from boosting our mood to improving our athletic performance as well as how—and why—brands such as Coca-Cola have ducked regulatory efforts for decades. We learn the differences in the various ways caffeine is delivered to the body, how it is quietly used to reinforce our buying patterns, and how it can play a role in promoting surprising health problems like obesity and anxiety.Drawing on the latest research, Caffeinated brings us the inside perspective at the additive that Salt Sugar Fat overlooked.

The Protein Power Lifeplan


Michael R. Eades - 1900
    In The Protein Power Lifeplan, its authors Michael R. and Mary Dan Eades expand their theory and eating program and offer an astonishing three-tiered nutrition plan, enabling readers to choose their level of commitment and effort. This evolutionary-based diet makes it easy for everyone—even die-hard junk-food addicts!—to reap the benefits of good health. Treat major health problems (including high cholesterol, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and obesity) and change the way you live with:A fat primer: how some fats can reduce heart diseaseA look at sunlight: in a chapter sure to cause controversy, the Eades show why too little sun is unhealthyResearch on insulin resistance: why it's so important to detect, and how to avoid the weight problems this condition can causeCrucial data on supplements: vitamin E, alpha-lipoic acid, vitamin C, magnesium, chromium, and coenzyme Q10Important information on iron: why our bodies naturally conserve it and how to decrease iron buildup...plus meal plans, recipes, kitchen stocking advice, and more.

Skin Cleanse: The Simple, All-Natural Program for Clear, Calm, Happy Skin


Adina Grigore - 2015
    Dryness. Redness. Oiliness. If you're like most women, you've been on a never-ending quest for perfect skin—or even just good skin—since adolescence. It's a frustrating pursuit to say the least, filled with one disappointing (and expensive) miracle solution after another. Why is it so hard to get good skin?Adina Grigore, founder of the organic skincare line S.W. Basics, would argue that getting clear, calm, happy skin is about much more than products and peels. Or, rather, it's about much less. In Skin Cleanse, she guides readers through a holistic program designed to heal skin from the inside out. We tend to think of our skin as a separate entity from the rest our bodies when in fact it is our largest organ. The state of our skin is a direct reflection of what our bodies look like on the inside. So Adina's program begins as any healthy regime should: with the basics for full-body health. That means eating plenty of fresh, whole foods; drinking more water; getting blood pumping and oxygen flowing to your cells through movement; and giving your skin a chance to repair and regenerate by resting.From there, readers are challenged to a skin cleanse that requires going product-free for twenty-four hours. Once detoxed, Adina then shows us how to overhaul our beauty routine, how to carefully add some products back in, and even how to make our own products at home, with advice and targeted solutions for specific skin conditions such as acne, dry skin, oily skin, and more.The secret to beautiful, stress-free skin is simple: it's an inside job.

The Good Food Revolution: Growing Healthy Food, People, and Communities


Will Allen - 2012
    But after years in professional basketball and as an executive for Kentucky Fried Chicken and Procter & Gamble, Allen cashed in his retirement fund for a two-acre plot a half mile away from Milwaukee’s largest public housing project. The area was a food desert with only convenience stores and fast-food restaurants to serve the needs of local residents.In the face of financial challenges and daunting odds, Allen built the country’s preeminent urban farm—a food and educational center that now produces enough vegetables and fish year-round to feed thousands of people. Employing young people from the neighboring housing project and community, Growing Power has sought to prove that local food systems can help troubled youths, dismantle racism, create jobs, bring urban and rural communities closer together, and improve public health. Today, Allen’s organization helps develop community food systems across the country.An eco-classic in the making, The Good Food Revolution is the story of Will’s personal journey, the lives he has touched, and a grassroots movement that is changing the way our nation eats.

Breath Taking: What Our Lungs Teach Us about Our Origins, Ourselves, and Our Future


Michael J. Stephen - 2021
    "Our lungs are the lynchpin between our bodies and the outside world," writes Dr. Michael Stephen. And yet, we take our lungs for granted until we're incapacitated and suddenly confronted with their vital importance.In Breath Taking, pulmonologist Michael Stephen takes us on a journey to shed original and much-needed light on our neglected and extraordinary lungs, at a most critical societal moment. He relates the history of oxygen on Earth and the evolutionary origins of breathing, and explores the healing power of breath and its spiritual potential. He explains in lay terms the links our lungs have with our immune system and with society at large. And he offers illuminating chronicles of pulmonary research and discovery--from Galen in the ancient world to pioneers of lung transplant--and poignant human stories of resilience and recovery--from the frantic attempts to engage his own son's lungs at birth to patients he treats for cystic fibrosis today.Despite great advances in science, our lungs are ever more threatened. Asthma is more prevalent than ever; rising stress levels make our lungs vulnerable to disease; and COVID-19 has revealed that vulnerability in historic ways. In this time, Breath Taking offers inspiration and hope to millions whose lungs are affected and vital perspective to us all.

Healthier Without Wheat: A New Understanding of Wheat Allergies, Celiac Disease, and Non-Celiac Gluten Intolerance


Stephen Wangen - 2009
    For millions of people, bread, pasta, and many other foods are bad for their health. Thousands of people have already come to their own realization that they are healthier without wheat in their diet, but it can be difficult to figure out when most doctors aren’t knowledgeable on the topic. This book provides validation for what these people have discovered, and explains how you too can determine whether or not wheat and gluten are making you sick. In Healthier Without Wheat you learn the difference between celiac disease, non-celiac gluten intolerance, and wheat allergies. You will discover how hundreds of health problems are connected to wheat and gluten reactions and why sorting this out on your own can be more difficult than you might think. You will also discover how you can be gluten intolerant even if you don’t have celiac disease, and why non-celiac gluten intolerance can be just as severe as or more severe than celiac disease. You will also learn how to determine if your infant or child reacts to wheat or gluten. Healthier Without Wheat also covers nutritional deficiencies commonly seen in gluten intolerance, and equally important, what to do if you are avoiding gluten but not getting better. You should read this book if you or someone you know suffers from any of the following: abdominal pain, chronic anemia (iron deficiency), arthritis, autoimmune diseases, constipation, depression, diarrhea, eczema, fatigue, fibromyalgia, frequent illness, headaches, heartburn, hypoglycemia, irritable bowel syndrome, irritability, migraines, or osteoporosis.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life


Barbara Kingsolver - 2007
    Part memoir, part journalistic investigation, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle is an enthralling narrative that will open your eyes in a hundred new ways to an old truth: You are what you eat.

Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?


Clinton Ober - 2010
    It is something right beneath our feet-the Earth itself!Throughout most of evolution humans walked barefoot and slept on the ground, largely oblivious that the surface of the Earth contains limitless healing energy. Science has discovered this energy as free-flowing electrons constantly replenished by solar radiation and lightning. Few people know it, but the ground provides a subtle electric signal that maintains health and governs the intricate mechanisms that make our bodies work-just like plugging a lamp into a power socket makes it light up. Modern lifestyle, including the widespread use of insulative rubber or plastic-soled shoes, has disconnected us from this energy and, of course, we no longer sleep on the ground as we did in times past.Earthing introduces the planet's powerful, amazing, and overlooked natural healing energy and how people anywhere can readily connect to it. This eye-opening book describes how the physical disconnect with the Earth creates abnormal physiology and contributes to inflammation, pain, fatigue, stress, and poor sleep. By reconnecting to the Earth, symptoms are rapidly relieved and even eliminated and recovery from surgery, injury, and athletic overexertion is accelerated.This never-before-told story-filled with fascinating research and real-life testimonials- chronicles a discovery with the potential to create a global health revolution.About the AuthorClinton Ober started as a cable TV salesman in Billings, Montana, and rose to become a leader in the industry. Following a near fatal disease in 1993, he embarked on a personal journey looking for a higher purpose in life. Since discovering Earthing he has been devoted to promoting the scientific exploration and practical applications for the concept.Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C., is a board-certified cardiologist, a certified bioenergetic psychotherapist, and a certified nutrition and anti-aging specialist. He is the author of the best-selling book The Sinatra Solution: Metabolic Cardiology.Martin Zucker has written extensively on natural healing, fitness, and alternative medicine for thirty years.

The Paleo Approach Cookbook: A Detailed Guide to Heal Your Body and Nourish Your Soul


Sarah Ballantyne - 2014
    This companion cookbook to the groundbreaking book The Paleo Approach makes changing your diet easy and economical with more than 200 Paleo recipes, shopping guides, meal plans, and more.An estimated 50 million Americans suffer from some form of autoimmune disease. If you're among them, you may know all too well how little modern medicine can do to alleviate your condition. But that's no reason to give up hope. In this companion cookbook to the groundbreaking book The Paleo Approach, Sarah D. Ballantyne, Ph.D., shows you just how easy and delicious regaining your health can be. The Paleo Approach Cookbook walks you through which foods you should eat to calm your immune system, reduce inflammation, and help your body heal itself. There's no need to worry that "going Paleo" will break the bank or require too much time in the kitchen preparing special foods. In The Paleo Approach Cookbook, Dr. Ballantyne provides expert tips on how to make the switch easily and economically. She explains how to stay within your food budget, how to make the best use of your time in the kitchen, and where to shop for what you need. Complete food lists, shopping guides, and meal plans take the guesswork out of eating to maximize healing. Don’t know how to cook? Dr. Ballantyne walks you through essential kitchen techniques, from chopping vegetables to using a pressure cooker safely. Armed with more than 200 delicious recipes, from breakfast staples to decadent desserts, you can reverse your disease and love every bite!

Fantastic Voyage: Live Long Enough to Live Forever


Ray Kurzweil - 2004
    Startling discoveries in the areas of genomics, biotechnology, and nanotechnology occur practically every day. The rewards of this research, some of it as spectacular as science fiction, are practically in our grasp. Fantastic Voyage shows us how we can use these new technologies to live longer than previously imaginable.The authors take the reader on a journey to undreamed-of vitality with a comprehensive investigation into the cutting-edge science regarding diet, supplementation, genetics, detoxification, and the hormones involved with aging and youth. By following their program, which includes such simple recommendations as eating a balanced, low-glycemic-index diet, and taking powerful anti-aging nutritional supplements, anyone will be able to add years of healthy, active life.

Beginners: The Joy and Transformative Power of Lifelong Learning


Tom Vanderbilt - 2021
    He tackles five main skills (and picks up a few more along the way), choosing them for their difficulty to master and their distinct lack of career marketability--chess, singing, surfing, drawing, and juggling. What he doesn't expect is that the circuitous paths he takes while learning these skills will prove even more satisfying than any knowledge he gains.He soon finds himself having rapturous experiences singing Spice Girls songs in an amateur choir, losing games of chess to eight-year-olds, and dodging scorpions at a surf camp in Costa Rica. Along the way, he interviews dozens of experts to explore the fascinating psychology and science behind the benefits of becoming an adult beginner. Weaving comprehensive research and surprising insight gained from his year of learning dangerously, Vanderbilt shows how anyone can get better at beginning again--and, more important, why they should take those first awkward steps. Ultimately, he shares how his refreshed sense of curiosity opened him up to a profound happiness and a deeper connection to the people around him. It's about how small acts of reinvention, at any age, can make life seem magical.

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers


Robert M. Sapolsky - 1993
    Sapolsky's acclaimed and successful Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers features new chapters on how stress affects sleep and addiction, as well as new insights into anxiety and personality disorder and the impact of spirituality on managing stress.As Sapolsky explains, most of us do not lie awake at night worrying about whether we have leprosy or malaria. Instead, the diseases we fear--and the ones that plague us now--are illnesses brought on by the slow accumulation of damage, such as heart disease and cancer. When we worry or experience stress, our body turns on the same physiological responses that an animal's does, but we do not resolve conflict in the same way--through fighting or fleeing. Over time, this activation of a stress response makes us sick.

Happiness by Design: Change What You Do, Not How You Think


Paul Dolan - 2014
    In Happiness by Design, happiness and behavior expert Paul Dolan combines the latest insights from economics and psychology to illustrate that in order to be happy we must behave happy. Our happiness is experiences of both pleasure and purpose over time and it depends on what we actually pay attention to. Using what Dolan calls deciding, designing, and doing, we can overcome the biases that make us miserable and redesign our environments to make it easier to experience happiness, fulfilment, and even health.  With uncanny wit and keen perception, Dolan reveals what we can do to find our unique optimal balance of pleasure and purpose, offering practical advice on how to organize our lives in happiness-promoting ways and fresh insights into how we feel, including why:• Having kids reduces pleasure but gives us a massive dose of purpose• Gaining weight won’t necessarily make us unhappier, but being too ambitious might• A quiet neighborhood is more important than a big houseVividly rendering intriguing research and lively anecdotal evidence, Happiness by Design offers an absorbing, thought-provoking, new paradigm for readers of Stumbling on Happiness and The How of Happiness.