Book picks similar to
Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease by Robert H. Lustig
health
non-fiction
food
nonfiction
The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It
Malcolm Kendrick - 2007
Rubbishing the diet-heart hypothesis, in which clinical trials 'prove' that high cholesterol causes heart disease and a high-fat diet leads to heart disease, Malcolm Kendrick lambastes a powerful pharmaceutical industry and unquestioning medical profession, who, he claims, perpetuate the concepts of good and bad cholesterol.
The Icepick Surgeon
Sam Kean - 2021
But sometimes, when obsession gets the better of scientists, they twist a noble pursuit into something sinister. Under this spell, knowledge isn’t everything, it’s the only thing—no matter the cost. Bestselling author Sam Kean tells the true story of what happens when unfettered ambition pushes otherwise rational men and women to cross the line in the name of science, trampling ethical boundaries and often committing crimes in the process.The Icepick Surgeon masterfully guides the reader across two thousand years of history, beginning with Cleopatra’s dark deeds in ancient Egypt. The book reveals the origins of much of modern science in the transatlantic slave trade of the 1700s, as well as Thomas Edison’s mercenary support of the electric chair and the warped logic of the spies who infiltrated the Manhattan Project. But the sins of science aren’t all safely buried in the past. Many of them, Kean reminds us, still affect us today. We can draw direct lines from the medical abuses of Tuskegee and Nazi Germany to current vaccine hesitancy, and connect icepick lobotomies from the 1950s to the contemporary failings of mental-health care. Kean even takes us into the future, when advanced computers and genetic engineering could unleash whole new ways to do one another wrong.Unflinching, and exhilarating to the last page, The Icepick Surgeon fuses the drama of scientific discovery with the illicit thrill of a true-crime tale. With his trademark wit and precision, Kean shows that, while science has done more good than harm in the world, rogue scientists do exist, and when we sacrifice morals for progress, we often end up with neither.
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.
Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
Jon Kabat-Zinn - 1990
(The somewhat confusing title is from a line in Zorba the Greek in which the title character refers to the ups and downs of family life as "the full catastrophe.") But this book is also a terrific introduction for anyone who has considered meditating but was afraid it would be too difficult or would include religious practices they found foreign. Kabat-Zinn focuses on "mindfulness," a concept that involves living in the moment, paying attention, and simply "being" rather than "doing." While you can practice anything "mindfully," from taking a walk to cleaning your house, Kabat-Zinn presents several meditation techniques that focus the attention most clearly, whether it's on a simple phrase, your breathing, or various parts of your body. The book goes into detail about how hospital patients have either improved their health or simply come to feel better despite their illness by using these techniques, but these meditations can help anyone deal with stress and gain a calmer outlook on life. "When we use the word healing to describe the experiences of people in the stress clinic, what we mean above all is that they are undergoing a profound transformation of view," Kabat-Zinn writes. "Out of this shift in perspective comes an ability to act with greater balance and inner security in the world." --Ben Kallenreissue 2005
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.”
Against All Grain: Delectable Paleo Recipes to Eat Well Feel Great
Danielle Walker - 2013
After four years of turning her kitchen into a laboratory for revamping her culinary point of view, Danielle mastered the art of grain- and dairy-free cooking—and improved her well-being, virtually eliminating all her ailments.A self-trained chef, Danielle is the new face of grain-free cooking, tempting foodies of all stripes with her accessible recipes for vibrant Paleo food. Paying homage to the dishes she loved in her pre-Paleo life, she has ingeniously recreated all her favorites without grains or dairy in her first cookbook.Complementing her innovative recipes with elegant photography, Danielle takes you on a culinary Paleo journey that includes everything from quick breakfasts to sinful desserts, with a long list of hearty entrees in-between. And because Danielle knows she's not the only one with a finicky toddler at home, she has included a special section filled with healthy recipes that kids will be eager to eat and moms will be just as eager to serve.These recipes are sure to leave you feeling satisfied and exhilarated, rather than discouraged and deprived. Danielle proves that omitting grains, gluten, dairy, and refined sugar doesn't correlate with sacrificing taste; in fact, just the opposite. This book will show you that you can go against the grain in the culinary world and enter a paradise of gourmet foods with exciting flavors.
Women, Food and God: An Unexpected Path to Almost Everything
Geneen Roth - 2009
Now, two decades later, here is her masterwork: WOMEN FOOD AND GOD. The way you eat is inseparable from your core beliefs about being alive. No matter how sophisticated or wise or enlightened you believe you are, how you eat tells all. The world is on your plate. When you begin to understand what prompts you to use food as a way to numb or distract yourself, the process takes you deeper into realms of spirit and to the bright center of your own life. Rather than getting rid of or instantly changing your conflicted relationship with food, Women Food and God is about welcoming what is already here, and contacting the part of yourself that is already whole—divinity itself.
Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook: Over 300 Simple and Delicious Plant-Based Recipes to Help You Lose Weight, Be Healthier, and Feel Better Every Day
Del Sroufe - 2012
By avoiding meat, fish, eggs, dairy, and emphasizing whole, unrefined plant foods, millions of people have begun to notice staggering improvements to their physical fitness, weight, blood sugar and cholesterol levels, lifestyle, and overall health--including preventing, managing, or recovering from illnesses like diabetes, heart disease, and even cancer. Yes, the bestselling book "Forks Over Knives: The Plant-Based Way to Health" includes a solid foundation of recipes for anyone newly aware of the benefits to be gained from a plant-based diet. But home cooks are hungry for even more delicious, satisfying, from-scratch recipes full of whole plant foods like grains, legumes, fruits, and vegetables. That's what this cookbook provides: A full year's worth of meals for anyone hoping to cut out animal products, refined oils, and processed foods for the sake of their health. The recipes are eclectic, global, low fat, often gluten free, and simple to prepare, relying on common ingredients that anyone can find in their local grocery store. These recipes will take readers through an entire year with recipes that rely often on seasonal produce and always on the fundamental building blocks of a plant-based diet. Covering breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even desserts and ranging from everyday classics like Mac and Cheese and Baked Ziti to festive, holiday-ready dishes like Chard and Bean Stuffed Delicata Squash, these recipes will prepare readers to cook the plant-based way every day--starting this year and continuing through a long and healthy life.
Health and Nutrition Secrets That Can Save Your Life
Russell L. Blaylock - 2002
Dr. Russell Blaylock, a board-certified neurosurgeon, combines many years of medical practice with study of thousands of research studies to create this monumental book.
Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats
Steve Ettlinger - 2007
And, like most consumers, he often reads the ingredients label -- without a clue as to what most of it means. So when his young daughter asked, "Daddy, what's polysorbate 60?" he was at a loss -- and determined to find out. From the phosphate mines in Idaho to the corn fields in Iowa, from gypsum mines in Oklahoma to the vanilla harvest in Madagascar, Twinkie, Deconstructed is a fascinating, thoroughly researched romp of a narrative that demystifies some of the most common processed food ingredients -- where they come from, how they are made, how they are used -- and why. Beginning at the source (hint: they're often more closely linked to rock and petroleum than any of the four food groups), we follow each Twinkie ingredient through the process of being crushed, baked, fermented, refined, and/or reacted into a totally unrecognizable goo or powder with a strange name -- all for the sake of creating a simple snack cake. An insightful exploration into the food industry, if you've ever wondered what you're eating when you consume foods containing mono- and diglycerides or calcium sulfate (the latter, a food-grade equivalent) this book is for you.
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.
The pH Miracle: Balance Your Diet, Reclaim Your Health
Robert O. Young - 2002
Strike the right balance by nourishing your body with certain foods to create an alkaline environment, and say good-bye to low energy, poor digestion, extra pounds, aches and pains, and disease. This innovative program, proven effective over decades, works with your body chemistry to revitalize and maintain your health. Now completely revised, updated, and expanded, this classic guide includes the latest research and reveals the secrets of:Core nutrients-an all-new program that provides the most important components your body needs: chlorophyll from green vegetables, essential oils, alkaline water, and pure mineral saltsCleansing-remove impurities and normalize digestion and metabolism with new ways to detox the bodyExercising right-a brand-new chapter on which alkalizing exercises help maintain the correct pH levelAlkaline foods-over thirty-five new, tempting pH-powerful recipes to help you easily balance your body using foods like tomatoes, avocados, sprouts, nuts, lemons, limes, grapefruits, and green vegetables.Learn how to balance your life and diet with the incredible health benefits of this revolutionary program.
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress
Gabor Maté - 2003
With great compassion and erudition, Gabor Maté demystifies medical science and, as he did in Scattered Minds, invites us all to be our own health advocates.
SuperFoods Rx: Fourteen Foods That Will Change Your Life
Steven G. Pratt - 2003
Steven Pratt's instant bestseller, you can actually stop the incremental deteriorations that lead to common ailments and diseasesBeans -- reduce obesityBlueberries -- lower risk for cardiovascular diseaseBroccoli -- lowers the incidence of cataracts and fights birth defectsOats -- reduce the risk of type II diabetesOranges -- prevent strokesPumpkin -- lowers the risk of various cancersWild salmon -- lowers the risk of heart diseaseSoy -- lowers cholesterolSpinach -- decreases the chance of cardiovascular disease and age-related macular degenerationTea -- helps prevent osteoporosisTomatoes -- raise the skin's sun protection factorTurkey -- helps build a strong immune systemWalnuts -- reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer* Yogurt-promotes strong bones and a healthy heartSuperFoods Rx includes recipes created by Chef Michel Stroot of the Golden Door Spa and teaches you how to incorporate SuperFoods and their sidekicks into your diet. SuperFoods Rx is an indispensable guide to a healthy, long, and energetic life.
Food Isn’t Medicine
Joshua Wolrich - 2021
It's all what Dr Joshua Wolrich defines as 'nutribollocks' and he is on a mission to set the record straight.As an NHS doctor with personal experience of how damaging diets can be, he believes every one of us deserves to have a happy, healthy relationship with food and with our bodies. His message is clear: we need to fight weight stigma, call out the lies of diet culture and give ourselves permission to eat all foods.Food Isn't Medicine wades through nutritional science (both good and bad) to demystify the common diet myths that many of us believe without questioning. If you have ever wondered whether you should stop eating sugar, try fasting, juicing or 'alkaline water', or struggled through diet after diet (none of which seem to work), this book will be a powerful wake-up call. Drawing on the latest research and delivered with a dose of humour, it not only liberates us from the destructive belief that weight defines health but also explains how to spot the misinformation we are bombarded with every day.Dr Joshua Wolrich will empower you to escape the diet trap and call out the bad health advice for what it really is: complete nutribollocks.