Books That may Save Your Life
Reading, learning and applying information found in these books could quite literally save your life. The path to regaining your health, is the food you eat. Switching to a whole food, plant-based, no oil diet is a tried and true method for regaining your health.
All of the below books are science centered, plant based, with full citations so you can read the referenced studies for yourself.
From Atkins to Dukan, fear of the almighty carb has taken over the diet industry for the past few decades--even the mere mention of a starch-heavy food is enough to trigger an avalanche of shame and longing. But the truth is, carbs are not the enemy. Now, bestselling author John A. McDougall, MD, and his kitchen-savvy wife, Mary, prove that a starch-rich diet can actually help readers lose weight, prevent a variety of ills, and even cure common diseases. By fueling the body primarily with carbohydrates rather than proteins and fats, readers will feel satisfied, boost energy, and look and feel their best.
Including a 7-Day Sure-Start Plan, helpful weekly menu planner, and nearly 100 delicious, affordable recipes, The Starch Solution is a groundbreaking program that will help readers shed pounds, improve their health, save money, and change their lives.
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease challenges conventional cardiology by posing a compelling, revolutionary idea-that we can, in fact, abolish the heart disease epidemic in this country by changing our diets. Drawing on the groundbreaking results of his twenty-year nutritional study, Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., a former surgeon, researcher, and clinician at the Cleveland Clinic, convincingly argues that a plant-based, oil-free diet can not only prevent and stop the progression of heart disease, but also reverse its effects.
Furthermore, it can eliminate the need for expensive and invasive surgical interventions, such as bypass and stents, no matter how far the disease has progressed. Dr. Esselstyn began his research with a group of patients who joined his study after traditional medical procedures to treat their advanced heart disease had failed. Within months of following a plant-based, oil-free diet, their angina symptoms eased, their cholesterol levels dropped significantly, and they experienced a marked improvement in blood flow to the heart. Twenty years later, the majority of Dr. Esselstyn's patients continue to follow his program and remain heart-attack proof.
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease explains the science behind these dramatic results, and offers readers the same simple, nutrition-based plan that has changed the lives of his patients forever. In addition, Dr. Esselstyn provides more than 150 delicious recipes that he and his wife, Ann Crile Esselstyn, have enjoyed for years and used with their patients. Clearly written and backed by irrefutable scientific evidence, startling photos of angiograms, and inspiring personal stories, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease will empower readers to take charge of their heart health. It is a powerful call for a paradigm shift in heart-disease therapy.
Offering new hope to millions, this new nutritional approach to diabetes will dramatically alter the way we think about treating the disease
Until Dr. Barnard's scientific breakthrough, most health professionals believed that once you developed diabetes, you were stuck with it--and could anticipate one complication after another, from worsening eyesight and nerve symptoms to heart and kidney problems. But as this groundbreaking work reveals, this simply is not true. In a series of studies--the most recent funded by the National Institutes of Health--Dr. Barnard has shown that it is possible to repair insulin function and reverse type 2 diabetes. By following his scientifically proven, life-changing program, diabetics can control blood sugar three times more effectively than with the standard diet; and cut back on and in some cases eliminate medications while reducing the risk of diabetes complications.
"The long overdue epic scientific breakthrough in diabetes is here…an obvious must-read for health professionals and for diabetic and potential diabetic patients." —Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr., MD, preventive cardiology consultant, Cleveland Clinic
"This is the approach to follow…the clinically proven way to get your blood sugar under control… and start living again."—John McDougall, MD, founder and medical director of the McDougall program
"Dr. Barnard’s book is no exaggeration…The signs and symptoms of diabetes can be reversed, and he’s got the evidence to prove it."—Jennie Brand-Miller, PhD, author of The New Glucose Revolution
Lose weight, lower cholesterol, significantly reduce the risk of disease, and become physically fit--in just 4 weeks.
Professional athlete-turned-firefighter Rip Esselstyn is used to responding to emergencies. So, when he learned that some of his fellow Engine 2 firefighters in Austin, TX, were in dire physical condition-several had dangerously high cholesterol levels (the highest was 344!)-he sprang into action and created a life-saving plan for the firehouse. By following Rip's program, everyone lost weight (some more than 20 lbs.), lowered their cholesterol (Mr. 344's dropped to 196), and improved their overall health. Now, Rip outlines his proven plan in this book. With Rip as your expert coach and motivator, you'll transform your body and lifestyle in a month. His plant-powered eating plan is based on a diet of whole foods, including whole grains, fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and seeds. This invaluable guide features: **Dozens of easy, mouthwatering recipes-from pancakes to pizza, Tex-Mex favorites to knockout chocolate desserts-that will keep you looking forward to every bite **Pantry-stocking tips will take the panic out of inevitable cravings and on-the-fly meals **Guidelines on menu choices that will allow you to eat out, wherever and whenever you want **Rip's simple, firefighter-inspired exercise program that will boost your metabolism and melt your fat away.
Medically approved, easy-to-follow, and amazingly effective, this diet is designed for anyone who wants to make heroic strides in his or her health, weight, and well-being-all without heroic effort.
"Want to be as strong as a Texas firefighter? Or as healthy as a professional triathlete? Then follow the wonderful advice of Rip Esselstyn, who is both. His book can save your life--whether you're a man or a woman. Highly recommended!" -Dean Ornish, M.D., Founder and President, Preventive Medicine Research Institute, Clinical Professor of Medicine, U of California SF, author, Dr. Dean Ornish's Program for Reversing Heart Disease
From the physician behind the wildly popular NutritionFacts website, How Not to Die reveals the groundbreaking scientific evidence behind the only diet that can prevent and reverse many of the causes of disease-related death.
The vast majority of premature deaths can be prevented through simple changes in diet and lifestyle. In How Not to Die, Dr. Michael Greger, the internationally-renowned nutrition expert, physician, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, examines the fifteen top causes of premature death in America-heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson's, high blood pressure, and more-and explains how nutritional and lifestyle interventions can sometimes trump prescription pills and other pharmaceutical and surgical approaches, freeing us to live healthier lives.
The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease. The fifteen leading causes of death claim the lives of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn't have to be the case. By following Dr. Greger's advice, all of it backed up by strong scientific evidence, you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make to live longer.
History of prostate cancer in your family? Put down that glass of milk and add flaxseed to your diet whenever you can. Have high blood pressure? Hibiscus tea can work better than a leading hypertensive drug-and without the side effects. Fighting off liver disease? Drinking coffee can reduce liver inflammation. Battling breast cancer? Consuming soy is associated with prolonged survival. Worried about heart disease (the number 1 killer in the United States)? Switch to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which has been repeatedly shown not just to prevent the disease but often stop it in its tracks.
In addition to showing what to eat to help treat the top fifteen causes of death, How Not to Die includes Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen -a checklist of the twelve foods we should consume every day.Full of practical, actionable advice and surprising, cutting edge nutritional science, these doctor's orders are just what we need to live longer, healthier lives.
What happens when you eat an apple? The answer is vastly more complex than you imagine.
Every apple contains thousands of antioxidants whose names, beyond a few like vitamin C, are unfamiliar to us, and each of these powerful chemicals has the potential to play an important role in supporting our health. They impact thousands upon thousands of metabolic reactions inside the human body. But calculating the specific influence of each of these chemicals isn’t nearly sufficient to explain the effect of the apple as a whole. Because almost every chemical can affect every other chemical, there is an almost infinite number of possible biological consequences.
And that’s just from an apple.
Nutritional science, long stuck in a reductionist mindset, is at the cusp of a revolution. The traditional “gold standard” of nutrition research has been to study one chemical at a time in an attempt to determine its particular impact on the human body. These sorts of studies are helpful to food companies trying to prove there is a chemical in milk or pre-packaged dinners that is “good” for us, but they provide little insight into the complexity of what actually happens in our bodies or how those chemicals contribute to our health.
In The China Study, T. Colin Campbell (alongside his son, Thomas M. Campbell) revolutionized the way we think about our food with the evidence that a whole food, plant-based diet is the healthiest way to eat. Now, in Whole, he explains the science behind that evidence, the ways our current scientific paradigm ignores the fascinating complexity of the human body, and why, if we have such overwhelming evidence that everything we think we know about nutrition is wrong, our eating habits haven’t changed.
Whole is an eye-opening, paradigm-changing journey through cutting-edge thinking on nutrition, a scientific tour de force with powerful implications for our health and for our world.
Nearly half of Americans take at least one prescription medicine, with almost a quarter taking three or more, as diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and dementia grow more prevalent than ever. The problem with medicating common ailments, such as high blood pressure or elevated cholesterol, is that drugs treat symptoms—and may even improve test results—without addressing the cause: diet.
Overmedicated, overfed, and malnourished, most Americans fail to realize the answer to lower disease rates doesn’t lie in more pills but in the foods we eat.
With so much misleading nutritional information regarded as common knowledge, from “everything in moderation” to “avoid carbs,” the average American is ill-equipped to recognize the deadly force of abundant, cheap, unhealthy food options that not only offer no nutritional benefits but actually bring on disease.
In Food Over Medicine, Pamela A. Popper, PhD, ND, and Glen Merzer invite the reader into a conversation about the dire state of American health—the result of poor nutrition choices stemming from food politics and medical misinformation. But, more important, they share the key to getting and staying healthy for life.
Backed by numerous scientific studies, Food Over Medicine details how dietary choices either build health or destroy it. Including recipes from Chef Del Sroufe, author of the bestselling Forks Over Knives—The Cookbook and Better Than Vegan, Food Over Medicine reveals the power and practice of optimal nutrition in an accessible way.
From the authors of the New York Times bestselling Forks Over Knives Plan comes a complete guide to a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle for your entire family, with more than 125 delicious kid-friendly recipes and tips for raising a whole-foods-loving child in a junk-food-laden world.
After the trailblazing film Forks Over Knives helped spark a medical and nutritional revolution, more and more people continue to adopt a whole-food, plant-based lifestyle. Now, Doctors Alona Pulde and Matthew Lederman share those same values for the entire family. Filled with more than 125 quick and easy recipes, helpful tips, and the latest in scientific findings, The Forks Over Knives Family teaches you why whole food, plant-based eating is the best way to keep your family healthy and well-nourished.
With a comprehensive look at every stage of a child’s development, the Forks Over Knives team will help get kids on track to a sustainable, whole foods lifestyle. Beginning with pregnancy, through birth and childhood, and continuing into the teenage years, this guide tackles all the most important topics to keep your children healthy, from dealing with allergies to traveling to sleepovers. The book addresses major obstacles and parenting concerns such as: Are supplements and vitamins necessary? Is my kid eating enough? How can we transition to plant-based living with a house full of kids? What about birthday parties and play dates?
With easy-to-understand tips and tricks for a clean, sustainable lifestyle, The Forks Over Knives Family is the in-depth, go-to guide for the whole household to have healthier, more nutritious lives.
An acclaimed surgeon specializing in weight loss delivers a paradigm-shifting examination of the diet and health industry’s focus on protein, explaining why it is detrimental to our health, and can prevent us from losing weight.
Whether you are seeing a doctor, nutritionist, or a trainer, all of them advise to eat more protein. Foods, drinks, and supplements are loaded with extra protein. Many people use protein for weight control, to gain or lose pounds, while others believe it gives them more energy and is essential for a longer, healthier life. Now, Dr. Garth Davis, an expert in weight loss asks, “Is all this protein making us healthier?”
The answer, he emphatically argues, is NO. Too much protein is actually making us sick, fat, and tired, according to Dr. Davis. If you are getting adequate calories in your diet, there is no such thing as protein deficiency. The healthiest countries in the world eat far less protein than we do and yet we have an entire nation on a protein binge getting sicker by the day.
As a surgeon treating obese patients, Dr. Davis was frustrated by the ever-increasing number of sick and overweight patients, but it wasn't until his own health scare that he realized he could do something about it. Combining cutting-edge research, with his hands-on patient experience and his years dedicated to analyzing studies of the world’s longest-lived populations, this explosive, groundbreaking book reveals the truth about the dangers of protein and shares a proven approach to weight loss, health, and longevity.
The science is clear. The results are unmistakable.
You can dramatically reduce your risk of cancer, heart disease, and diabetes just by changing your diet.
More than 30 years ago, nutrition researcher T. Colin Campbell and his team at Cornell, in partnership with teams in China and England, embarked upon the China Study, the most comprehensive study ever undertaken of the relationship between diet and the risk of developing disease. What they found when combined with findings in Colin’s laboratory, opened their eyes to the dangers of a diet high in animal protein and the unparalleled health benefits of a whole foods, plant-based diet.
In 2005, Colin and his son Tom, now a physician, shared those findings with the world in The China Study, hailed as one of the most important books about diet and health ever written.
Featuring brand new content, this heavily expanded edition of Colin and Tom’s groundbreaking book includes the latest undeniable evidence of the power of a plant-based diet, plus updated information about the changing medical system and how patients stand to benefit from a surging interest in plant-based nutrition.
The China Study—Revised and Expanded Edition presents a clear and concise message of hope as it dispels a multitude of health myths and misinformation. The basic message is clear. The key to a long, healthy life lies in three things: breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The definitive guide to the optimum diet for health and wellness, from the founder of Whole Foods Market and the doctors of Forks Over Knives
THE WHOLE FOODS DIET simplifies the huge body of science, research, and advice that is available today and reveals the undeniable consensus: a whole foods, plant-based diet is the optimum diet for health and longevity. Standing on the shoulders of the Whole Foods Market brand and featuring an accessible 28-day program, delicious recipes, inspirational success stories, and a guilt-free approach to plant-based eating, THE WHOLE FOODS DIET is a life-affirming invitation to become a Whole Foodie: someone who loves to eat, loves to live, and loves to nourish themselves with nature's bounty. If Whole Foods Market is "shorthand for a food revolution" (The New Yorker), then THE WHOLE FOODS DIET will give that revolution its bible - the unequivocal truth about what to eat for a long, healthy, disease-free life.
A wake-up call to even the most health conscious people, The Pleasure Trap boldy challenges conventional wisdom about sickness and unhappiness in today's contemporary culture, and offers groundbreaking solutions for achieving change. Authors Douglas Lisel, Ph.D., and Alan Goldhamer, D.C., provide a fascinating new perspective on how modern life can turn so many smart, savvy people into the unwitting saboteurs of their own well-being.
Inspired by stunning original research, comprehensive clinical studies, and their successes with thousands of patients, the authors construct a new paradigm for the psychology of health, offering fresh hope for anyone stuck in a self-destructive rut. Integrating principals of evolutionary biology with trailblazing, proactive strategies for wellness, they argue that people who are chronically overweight, sick and ailing, or junk food junkies aren't that way because they're lazy, undisciplined, or stuck with bad genes. The authors reveal that most are victims of a dilemma that harkens back to our prehistoric past-"the Pleasure Trap."
Drs. Lisle and Goldhamer then call upon their clinical experience, scientific investigations, and a recent revoution of understanding in human motivational psychology to provide you with solutions for the challenges of keeping on a healthful course-and how to make the most of your life. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
The Cancer Survivor's Guide explains how foods influence the hormones that fuel cancer and how a dietary change to a low-fat, plant-based diet can be beneficial to anyone diagnosed with cancer. Each section describes specific nutrients and how they work in your body, which foods are the best sources, recommended recipes, and offers simple, practical steps you can take during the week to increase consumption of these foods. Includes over 60 pages of recipes for satisfying and flavorful meals to help implement the recommendations.
Free PDF version of the book is available direct from the Authors here.
“You never have to be fat or hungry again.”—Your Health
Lose weight, eat as much as you want, feel healthy, and look great. This may sound like an impossible dream, but with The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss it is a dream come true for thousands of people. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. John A. McDougall draws on the latest scientific and medical information about nutrition, metabolism, and hunger to provide a simple weight-loss plan. Feature more than 100 healthy and delicious recipes by Mary McDougall, packed with all the information and encouragement you need, this total weight-loss program also brings you:
· Studies and documentation on the McDougall approach
· The secrets of carbohydrates, your metabolism, and weight loss
· The truth about fat—in your diet and on your body
· Complete McDougall menu plans and cooking methods
· Supermarket shopping guides
· How to deal with eating disorders
· Dining-out information, and more
“Its rewards include not just a slimmer figure but enhanced physical vitality, mental clarity, and self-esteem.”—Bookpage
Hailed a "medical breakthrough" by Dr. Mehmet Oz, EAT TO LIVE offers a highly effective, scientifically proven way to lose weight quickly. The key to Dr. Joel Fuhrman's revolutionary six-week plan is simple: health = nutrients / calories. When the ratio of nutrients to calories in the food you eat is high, you lose weight. The more nutrient-dense food you eat, the less you crave fat, sweets, and high-caloric foods.
The Eat To Live 2011 revised edition includes updated scientific research supporting Dr. Fuhrman's revolutionary six-week plan and a brand new chapter highlighting Dr. Fuhrman's discovery of toxic hunger and the role of food addiction in weight issues. This new chapter provides novel and important insights into weight gain. It explains how and why eating the wrong foods causes toxic hunger and the desire to over consume calories; whereas a diet of high micronutrient quality causes true hunger which decreases the sensations leading to food cravings and overeating behaviors. It instructs readers on how to leave behind the discomfort of toxic hunger, cravings, and addictions to unhealthy foods.
EAT TO LIVE has also been revised to include inspiring success stories from people who have used the program to lose shockingly large amounts of weight and recover from life-threatening illnesses; Dr. Fuhrman's nutrient density index; up-to-date scientific research supporting the principles behind Dr. Fuhrman's plan; new recipes and meal ideas; and much more. This easy-to-follow, nutritionally sound diet can help anyone shed pounds quickly-and keep them off.
This is a book that will let you live longer, reduce your need for medications, and improve your health dramatically. It is a book that will change the way you want to eat. Most importantly, if you follow the Eat To Live™ diet, you will lose weight faster than you ever thought possible.