My favorite books to help you eat to beat disease

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a physician, scientist, and food as medicine researcher who has spent three decades studying how the body defends itself against disease to protect health. A major focus of this has been on how your body responds to what you feed it. I'm an internationally renowned physician, scientist and author of the New York Times bestseller Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself. My work has led to the development of more than 30 new medical treatments and impacts care for more than 70 diseases. My TED Talk, “Can We Eat to Starve Cancer?” has garnered more than 11 million views. 


I wrote...

Book cover of Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself

What is my book about?

Is your diet feeding or defeating disease? Forget everything you think you know about your body and food and discover the new science of how the body heals itself. Learn how to identify the strategies and dosages for using food to transform your resilience and health in Eat to Beat Disease.

Your body was designed to fight disease, and we have radically underestimated how foods can be used to amplify this hidden power. Pioneering physician-scientist Dr. William Li empowers readers by showing them the evidence behind over two hundred health-boosting foods that can stave off cancer, reduce your risk of dementia, and beat dozens of avoidable diseases.

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of Lifespan: Why We Age--And Why We Don't Have to

William W. Li Why did I love this book?

I’m fascinated by the idea of longevity and if, like me, you want to learn what science is showing us it takes to live longer and better, you have to read this book by a scientist who is doing the research and making the discoveries that will lengthen lifespan.

By David Sinclair,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Lifespan as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this paradigm-shifting book from acclaimed Harvard Medical School doctor and one of TIME magazine's 100 most influential people on earth, Dr. David Sinclair reveals that everything we think we know about ageing is wrong, and shares the surprising, scientifically-proven methods that can help readers live younger, longer.

For decades, the medical community has looked to a variety of reasons for why we age, and the consensus is that no one dies of old age; they die of age-related diseases. That's because ageing is not a disease - it is inevitable.
But what if everything you think you know about…


Book cover of This Is Your Brain on Food: An Indispensable Guide to the Surprising Foods That Fight Depression, Anxiety, Ptsd, Ocd, Adhd, and More

William W. Li Why did I love this book?

Dr. Uma Naidoo is a psychiatrist and expert on mental wellness, and how to use food to influence the brain in positive ways. My own work focuses on physical wellness, but mental wellness is every bit as important. Plus, Dr. Naidoo is a trained chef, so it’s fun to read about her passion for food.

By Uma Naidoo,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked This Is Your Brain on Food as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Eat for your mental health and learn the fascinating science behind nutrition with this "must-read" guide from an expert psychiatrist (Amy Myers, MD).

Did you know that blueberries can help you cope with the aftereffects of trauma? That salami can cause depression, or that boosting Vitamin D intake can help treat anxiety?
When it comes to diet, most people's concerns involve weight loss, fitness, cardiac health, and longevity. But what we eat affects more than our bodies; it also affects our brains. And recent studies have shown that diet can have a profound impact on mental health conditions ranging from…


Book cover of Fiber Fueled: The Plant-Based Gut Health Program for Losing Weight, Restoring Your Health, and Optimizing Your Microbiome

William W. Li Why did I love this book?

This is a book all about gut health, and how the microbiome and the foods that either nurture it, or harm it, can heal or injure your gut. As a physician, I know how miserable intestinal distress can be for someone who suffers from it. Written by Dr. Will Bulsiewicz, a gastroenterologist, Fiber Fueled (and its follow-up cookbook) will answer almost every question you’ve ever had about how to heal your gut with food.

By Will Bulsiewicz,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Fiber Fueled as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Fix your health with fibre not fads - the instant New York Times bestseller

The benefits of restrictive diets like paleo and keto have been touted for more than a decade, but as award-winning gastroenterologist Dr Will Bulsiewicz, or 'Dr B', illuminates in this groundbreaking book, the explosion of studies on the microbiome show that elimination diets are in fact hazardous to our health. What research clearly indicates is that gut health is the key to boosting our metabolism, balancing our hormones and taming the inflammation that causes a host of diseases. And the scientifically proven way to fuel our…


Book cover of Undo It! How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases

William W. Li Why did I love this book?

Dean Ornish is a legend in the world of lifestyle medicine. He was the first to show you can reverse heart disease with diet and lifestyle, and his work has gone on to study many of the diseases we care about, from diabetes to prostate cancer to Alzheimer’s disease. Undo It is a wonderful synthesis of Dr. Ornish’s research, and it suggests a unifying hypothesis for disease. This book also is co-authored by Anne Ornish, who brings a holistic dimension to lifestyle medicine.

By Dean Ornish, Anne Ornish,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Undo It! How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • By the pioneer of lifestyle medicine, a simple, scientifically program proven to often reverse the progression of the most common and costly chronic diseases and even begin reversing aging at a cellular level! Long rated “#1 for Heart Health” by U.S. News & World Report, Dr. Ornish’s Program is now covered by Medicare when offered virtually at home.

Dean Ornish, M.D., has directed revolutionary research proving, for the first time, that lifestyle changes can often reverse—undo!—the progression of many of the most common and costly chronic diseases and even begin reversing aging at a cellular level.

Medicare…


Book cover of The Future of Nutrition: An Insider's Look at the Science, Why We Keep Getting It Wrong, and How to Start Getting It Right

William W. Li Why did I love this book?

T. Colin Campbell is most famous for authoring The China Study, which revealed the striking differences in health between people who eat a traditional, mostly vegetarian, diet versus a Western diet—and the reasons why. The Future of Nutrition is a wry, sometimes cutting retrospective by Campbell on why the American diet has become so unhealthy and why the nutrition, medical, industrial, and government worlds have been so reluctant to change. This book uses the past to suggest ways that we can change for a more hopeful future. Anyone who enjoys a credible exposé (“I knew it!”) on the world of nutrition will love this book.

By T. Colin Campbell, Nelson Disla,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Future of Nutrition as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

2020 Foreword Indie Award Winner in the "Health" Category

From the coauthor of The China Study and author of the New York Times bestselling follow-up, Whole

Despite extensive research and overwhelming public information on nutrition and health science, we are more confused than ever-about the foods we eat, what good nutrition looks like, and what it can do for our health.

In The Future of Nutrition, T. Colin Campbell cuts through the noise with an in-depth analysis of our historical relationship to the food we eat, the source of our present information overload, and what our current path means for…


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Acquaintance

By Jeff Stookey,

Book cover of Acquaintance

Jeff Stookey Author Of Dangerous Medicine

New book alert!

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Historical fiction writer Gay male Reader History buff Curious human

Jeff's 3 favorite reads in 2023

What is my book about?

As a young doctor, Carl Holman has experienced the horrors of World War I and the death of his lover, a fellow officer. Back home after the War, he befriends a young jazz musician who he hopes will become a companion he can share his life with. But this is Oregon: the Ku Klux Klan is gaining influence, homosexual acts are illegal, and such a relationship will jeopardize Carl’s promising medical career.

Musician Jimmy Harper has his own dreams for the future and his own obstacles to overcome before he will allow himself to accept Carl’s love. More than a gay love story, Acquaintance is a deep dive into gay and lesbian history based on extensive period research of the 1920s.

Acquaintance

By Jeff Stookey,

What is this book about?

As a young surgeon, Carl Holman has experienced the horrors of World War I and the loss of his lover, a fellow officer. Back home after the war, he befriends a young jazz musician who he hopes will become a companion he can share his life with. But this is Oregon: the Ku Klux Klan is gaining influence, homosexual acts are illegal, and such a relationship will jeopardize Carl’s promising medical career. Musician Jimmy Harper has his own dreams for the future and his own obstacles to overcome before he will allow himself to accept Carl’s love.
Acquaintance is a…


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