If you’re a health nut, or you just realize you need to take better care of yourself, your eye might catch one of the thousands of nutrition books that grace the bookshelves. Getting and staying healthy can be a difficult task in today’s world. Thankfully, you’re not alone! And there’s plenty of inspiration and expert views out there that can help you one your health journey! Each of the following books should provide you with the information you need to stay healthy for life.
What Did These Nutrition Books Do To Qualify For This List
Any time you are ranking the best of something the results are usually somewhat subjective but we have did our best to come up with a list the readers of the nutrition genre will truly like. To come up with this list we took into account:
- quantity and quality of user reviews
- sales data
- public perception
- opinions of readers of this genres
- commercial success
- and of course personal opinion
Take a look at the best Nutrition Books you can read right now:
Table of Contents
Best Nutrition Books
Here are the best nutrition books by the experts:
1) How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger M.D. and Gene Stone
Book Summary: 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.- Book Reviews:
2) Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food and Nutrition Guide, 5th Ed by Roberta Larson Duyff
Book Summary: Since its first, highly successful edition in 1996, The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food and Nutrition Guide has continually served as the gold-standard resource for advice on healthy eating and active living at every age and stage of life. At once accessible and authoritative, the guide effectively balances a practical focus with the latest scientific information, serving the needs of consumers and health professionals alike. Opting for flexibility over rigid dos and don’ts, it allows readers to personalize their own paths to healthier living through simple strategies.- Book Reviews:
3) ROAR: How to Match Your Food and Fitness to Your Unique Female Physiology for Optimum Performance, Great Health, and a Strong, Lean Body for Life by Stacy Sims and Selene Yeager
Book Summary: Complete with goal-specific meal plans and nutrient-packed recipes to optimize body composition, ROAR contains personalized nutrition advice for all stages of training and recovery. Customizable meal plans and strengthening exercises come together in a comprehensive plan to build a rock-solid fitness foundation as you build lean muscle where you need it most, strengthen bone, and boost power and endurance. Because women’s physiology changes over time, entire chapters are devoted to staying strong and active through pregnancy and menopause. No matter what your sport is—running, cycling, field sports, triathlons—this book will empower you with the nutrition and fitness knowledge you need to be in the healthiest, fittest, strongest shape of your life.- Book Reviews:
4) Deep Nutrition: Why Your Genes Need Traditional Food by Catherine Shanahan MD, Eliza Foss, et al.
Book Summary: Rooted in her experience as an elite athlete who used traditional foods to cure her own debilitating injuries, and combining her research with the latest discoveries in the field of epigenetics, Dr. Cate shows how all calories are not created equal; food is information that directs our cellular growth. Our family history does not determine our destiny: What you eat and how you live can alter your DNA in ways that affect your health and the health of your future children.- Book Review:
5) Nutrition Almanac by John D. Kirschmann and Nutrition Search Inc.
Book Summary: The Nutrition Almanac offers you reliable information based on the latest scientific discoveries as well as an expanded section on essential vitamins and minerals and their amazing benefits. All the nutritional information you need is here, so enhancing and maintaining good health is easy!- Book Reviews:
6) Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating by walter willett M. D. and P.J. Skerrett
Book Summary: Exposing the problems of popular diets such as the Zone, South Beach, and Atkins, Dr. Willett offers eye-opening research on the optimum ratio of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and the relative importance of various food groups and supplements. Find out how to choose wisely between different types of fats, which fruits and vegetables provide the best health insurance, and the proportions of each to integrate into their daily diet.
- Book Reviews:
7) Simply Keto: A Practical Approach to Health & Weight Loss, with 100+ Easy Low-Carb Recipes by Suzanne Ryan
Book Summary: The ketogenic diet, a low-carb, high-fat way of eating, is remarkably effective at transforming people’s lives, helping them shed pounds and find relief from common health conditions. No one knows this better than Suzanne Ryan. In her quest to overcome her lifelong struggle with her weight, she stumbled upon the ketogenic diet and decided to give it a shot. In just one year, she lost more than 100 pounds and reclaimed control over her health and well-being.
- Book Reviews:
8) Essential Sports Nutrition: A Guide to Optimal Performance for Every Active Person by Marni Sumbal MS RD CSSD
Book Summary: Essential Sports Nutrition teaches you how to nourish your body for energy with: A nutritional overview that includes new research on sources of nutrition and components of an ideal diet. Nutrient timing that teaches you what and when to eat before, during, and immediately after exercise for the best results. 24 recipes for before exercise or competition, during and after exercise, plus recipes for rest days.
- Book Reviews:
9) Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss, Revised Edition by Joel Fuhrman
Book Summary: 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.
- Book Reviews:
10) Whole: Rethinking the Science of Nutrition by T. Colin Campbell and Howard Jacobson
Book Summary: 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.
- Book Reviews:
Best Nutrition Movies
If you enjoyed the best nutrition books, why stop there? Take a look at our list of best nutrition movies and witness these hilarious films from the big screen.
1) That Sugar Film
Starring: Damon Gameau
Directed by: Damon Gameau
Movie Summary: In the vein of “Supersize Me”, Damon Gameau becomes a human guinea-pig when he puts himself through a grueling 6 week diet consuming the equivalent of 40 teaspoons of sugar a day.
Movie Reviews:
After reading and watching this I have cut down sugar and my health has improved greatly. I was counting calories and trying to eat healthy but never really thought about how much sugar i was consuming.
-Amazon Reviewer
The movie made me stop immediately and reassess my habits. I knew better, but sugar is a siren that makes you second guess yourself. I’m already much healthier.
-Amazon Reviewer
2) Foods That Cure Disease
Starring: T. Colin Campbell , Thomas M. Campbell , et al.
Directed by: Craig McMahon
Movie Summary: Over 4 hours of crucial video. Diagnosed with high cholesterol, Craig McMahon took control of his health and beat his genetic fate by consuming a whole plant-based diet inspired by Doctors Campbell, Esselstyn, Greger and McDougall. Certified by Cornell in plant nutrition, Craig asks experts hard science questions and creates delicious healthy meals in his kitchen based from years of research.
Movie Reviews:
I know perfectly well how to cook the unhealthy foods, I grew up learning that stuff. Now I’m having to learn how to cook another whole new world. This video excelled in that category.
-Amazon Reviewer
3) In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto
Directed by: Michael Schwarz
Movie Summary: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.” With those seven words, journalist Michael Pollan distills a career’s worth of reporting into a prescription for reversing the damage being done to people’s health by today’s industrially-driven Western diet. Pollan offers a clear answer to one of the most urgent questions of our time: What should I eat to be healthy?
Movie Reviews:
I absolutely enjoyed the movie on its’ own and as a compliment to the book. I’m so glad I watched the movie AND read the book. Both were very well done.
-Amazon Reviewer
Awesome presentation. Recommended by the dietician who teaches healthy diet choices classes through my healthcare provider. Raised my consciousness when in the grocery store or a restaurant.
-Amazon Reviewer
4) The Science of Fasting
Directed by: Sylvie Gilman and Thierry de Lestrade
Movie Summary: Young biologists from the University of Southern California have overturned conventional wisdom and used molecular biology to demonstrate the powerful effects of fasting. This research suggests a wide-ranging potential, which could include treatments for the disease of the century, cancer. If these scientists are right, maybe our approach to disease and treatment will need a rethink.
Movie Reviews:
It works! Shocking to see 90-year-old patients walk out of a hospital inpatient setting after not eating for weeks at a time. I am a fan of fasting and all the power it offers
-Amazon Reviewer
Excellent documentary based on studies carried out mostly in Russia and Germany, the pioneers and avant guard of healing modalities .They give significant argument and evidence based research results to show the positive effects of fasting on the human and indeed on any animal.
-Amazon Reviewer
5) Food Matters
Directed by: James Colquhoun and Laurentine Ten Bosch
Movie Summary: Let thy Food be thy Medicine and thy Medicine be thy Food” – Hippocrates. That is the message echoed in the controversial new documentary film Food Matters from Producer-Directors James Colquhoun and Laurentine ten Bosch.
Movie Reviews:
Absolutely brilliant documentary! Five years ago I would have said bullsh*t, but a health scare and a holistic nutritionist proved me wrong.
-Amazon Reviewer
We enjoyed watching this movie, as we like to learn about alternatives and natural ways of healing. We liked the nutritional information we took away from the film – such as Vitamin B and Niacin being such big parts of our make-up and the changes that can be made to our mental, emotional and physical health by making sure we are providing enough of these base needs to our bodies.
-Amazon Reviewer
Best Nutrition Books in Audio
Now that you’ve seen our list of the best nutrition books and movies, I’m sure you’ll be interested in trying out more of the best nutrition books in audio!
1) The Plant Paradox: The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain by Steven R. Gundry MD, Christopher Solimene, et al.
Book Summary: Most of us have heard of gluten – a protein found in wheat that causes widespread inflammation in the body. Americans spend billions of dollars on gluten-free diets in an effort to protect their health. But what if we’ve been missing the root of the problem? In The Plant Paradox, renowned cardiologist Dr. Steven Gundry reveals that gluten is just one variety of a common and highly toxic plant-based protein called lectin. Lectins are found not only in grains like wheat but also in the “gluten-free” foods most of us commonly regard as healthy, including many fruits, vegetables, nuts, beans, and conventional dairy products. Once ingested, these proteins incite a kind of chemical warfare in our bodies, causing inflammatory reactions that can lead to weight gain and serious health conditions.
Book Reviews:
-Amazon Reviewer
2) The Greenprint: Plant-Based Diet, Best Body, Better World by Marco Borges, Jay-Z – introduction, et al.
Book Summary: Accessible and easy-to-follow, The Greenprint is a movement to embrace your absolute best and healthiest life. Through his more than two decades of experience working with clients, including some of the world’s biggest celebrities, and spearheading exercise and nutrition research, Borges developed the groundbreaking “22 Laws of Plants”, which he’s determined are the most important plant-based diet, exercise, and lifestyle secrets for losing weight, increasing energy, boosting metabolism, and reducing inflammation, not to mention helping minimize your carbon imprint to help the planet. The Greenprint outlines three simple, step-by-step plans to implement the 22 Laws into your life, depending on where you are on your journey.
Book Reviews:
THIS IS A GREAT BOOK !!! The book itself is very well written and easily broken down. No trouble with understanding how to do anything. The book has very good recipes; even if you can’t cook you will easily be able to prepare these recipes.
-Amazon Reviewer
Ok! This book should be a must have in EVERY home in the world! It really explains food and scientifically wise and proven eating habits, and how, if understood, it can change your life and health, and if misunderstood can do just the opposite.
-Amazon Reviewer
3) Ultimate Gastric Sleeve Success: A Practical Patient Guide to Help Maximize Your Weight Loss Results by Duc C. Vuong, Al Kessel, et al.
Book Summary: Building on his popular Ultimate Success series, “Support Surgeon” Dr. Duc Vuong returns with his latest weight loss surgery guide, this time for gastric sleeve patients. Presented in an easy-to-understand manner, he explains some of the anatomical and surgical aspects of this newer surgical procedure, while providing practical strategies on how to be successful long-term. He delves into some of the most elusive topics that plague weight loss surgery patients, such as weight loss plateaus, social eating, and long-term follow-up testing requirements.
Book Reviews:
I believe this book will be a HUGE help in making my gastric sleeve a success in a big, big way!
-Amazon Reviewer
I can’t tell you how amazing this book is, it’s an amazing resource for anyone considering surgery, in the process or post op! Even if your surgeon does things differently Dr. V is still so relatable and makes it easy to adapt your surgeons recommendations with the knowledge you gain from him.
-Amazon Reviewer
4) Delay, Don’t Deny: Living an Intermittent Fasting Lifestyle by Gin Stephens and Don’t Deny, Inc. Delay
Book Summary: Tired of counting calories, eliminating foods from your diet, or obsessing about food all day? If so, an intermittent-fasting lifestyle might be for you!
In this audiobook, you will learn the science behind intermittent fasting and also understand how to adjust the various intermittent-fasting plans to work for your unique lifestyle.
The best part about intermittent fasting is it doesn’t require you to give up your favorite foods! You’ll learn how to change when to eat so you don’t have to change what you eat.
Are you ready to take control of your health and finally step off of the diet roller coaster? All you have to do is learn how to delay; don’t deny!
Book Reviews:
The book is wonderful! Written in such a way that anyone can understand the basic science behind intermittent fasting, this book explains it all without the textbook feel. Easy and light enough to read in one evening, like I did, and inspiring at the same time.
-Amazon Reviewer
This book on fasting by Gin Stephens is an excellent addition to the growing literature on the benefits of IF. It is a clear, succinct, and well-written introduction to the practice of intermittent fasting. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is considering trying this way of life.
-Amazon Reviewer
5) The Longevity Diet by Valter Longo PhD, Keith Sellon-Wright, et al.
Book Summary: Valter Longo, director of the Longevity Institute at USC and the Program on Longevity and Cancer at IFOM in Milan, designed the FMD after making a series of remarkable discoveries in mice, then in humans, indicating that specific diets can activate stem cells and promote regeneration and rejuvenation in multiple organs to significantly reduce risk for diabetes, cancer, Alzheimer’s, and heart disease. Longo’s simple pescatarian daily eating plan and the periodic fasting-mimicking techniques can both yield impressive results. Low in proteins and sugars and rich in healthy fats and plant-based foods, The Longevity Diet is proven to help you:
Book Reviews:
This is the most valuable and important book you can buy on diet and living a long life. Its not as specific as most books – because its written by an actual expert in the field rather than various educated hacks
-Amazon Reviewer
This guy is a genius! Read the book and have also watched all of his Youtube presentations.Have switched to a more vegan diet. Not strictly.. but choosing veg source proteins.. and decreasing total protein.
-Amazon Reviewer
Conclusion
What do you think about our list of best nutrition books? If you have another genre that you prefer to read we have probably compiled a list of our favorites for that genre too. So if you are looking for something other than the best nutrition books you can find other genres here.
