The most recommended diet books

Who picked these books? Meet our 18 experts.

18 authors created a book list connected to diet, and here are their favorite diet books.
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Book cover of Eat Like a Human: Nourishing Foods and Ancient Ways of Cooking to Revolutionize Your Health

Sharad P. Paul Author Of The Genetics of Health: Understand Your Genes for Better Health

From my list on help you understand and take charge of your health.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a skin MD, family physician, and an adjunct professor at the Auckland University of Technology. My peers awarded me the Ko Awatea International Excellence Award for Leading Health on a Global Scale for “improving management, education and patient-centered care internationally, across several countries.” I have often said, “One cannot have bad health and good skin” and therefore my interests are using skin, our only universal organ, to help us understand not only human health and wellness, but also issues that affect humanity such as the changing climate, pollution, aging, and skin color. I am a global citizen as I was born in England, grew up in India, and I now live in New Zealand.

Sharad's book list on help you understand and take charge of your health

Sharad P. Paul Why did Sharad love this book?

As I did in my book, this book uses evolutionary biology to explain how our diets and lifestyle impact our health. Ultimately it is not about the latest fad food or fancy diet, but understanding that the secret to becoming healthy, happy, and content is relearning how to eat like a human. Life has existed on Earth for 3.5 billion years, but modern human beings only migrated out of Africa 100,000 years ago, and yet our lifestyles bear no resemblance to that of our forebears. Here an archaeologist and chef explains how to follow our ancestors' leads when it comes to dietary choices and cooking techniques to achieve wellness. 

By Dr. Bill Schindler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Eat Like a Human as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Vegan or carnivore? Vegetarian or gluten-free? Keto or Mediterranean? Fasting or Paleo?

Our relationship to food is filled with confusion and insecurity. Every day we hear about a new ingredient that is good or bad, a new diet that promises everything. But the truth is that none of those labels matter. The secret to becoming healthier, losing weight, living a pain-free and energetic life and healing the planet has nothing to do with counting calories, reducing portion sizes or feeling deprived - the key is re-learning how to eat like a human.

This means finding food that is as nutrient-dense…


Book cover of The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet: How to Beat Diabetes Fast

Roy Taylor Author Of Life Without Diabetes: The Definitive Guide to Understanding and Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

From my list on type 2 diabetes: making sense of muddled advice.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since childhood, I’ve wanted to find out how things work. The human body is an amazing combination of mind and body. As Professor of Medicine and Metabolism at Newcastle University, I’ve been fortunate to be able to find out what goes wrong to cause type 2 diabetes. It was not the complex mystery believed by other experts, but just one simple process. A little too much fat inside the liver caused insulin not to work properly, and an overspill of fat prevented enough insulin to be made. Growing a wild idea into a proven NHS programme involves sleepless nights, disbelief of colleagues, gratitude of patients, and hugely enjoyable team-working. 

Roy's book list on type 2 diabetes: making sense of muddled advice

Roy Taylor Why did Roy love this book?

Michael Mosley was the one of the first best-selling authors to disseminate the new knowledge about how type 2 diabetes could be put into remission. It is all the more authentic in that he describes his personal battle with rising blood sugar levels. "Once you tip from prediabetes into diabetes you will be slapped on medication faster than you can say 'Coca-Cola'."  And it worth avoiding that fate. This is an eminently readable book which brings you onside with the author—a confident not a teacher. Just look at the section "Sort out your head". It’s the mind and body thing, often overlooked by well-meaning advisers. Just glance down the three sections of the book—The Science, The Diet, The Menus. Where will you start? This book bubbles with well-informed enthusiasm.

By Michael Mosley,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Discover the groundbreaking method to defeat diabetes without drugs using the step-by-step diet plans and recipes from #1 New York Times bestselling author Dr. Michael Mosley.

The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet is a radical new approach to the biggest health epidemic threatening us today...

Our modern diet, high in low-quality carbohydrates, is damaging our bodies—producing a constant overload of sugar in our bloodstream that clogs up our arteries and piles hidden fat into our internal organs. The result has been a doubling in the number of type 2 diabetics, as well as a surge in those with a potentially hazardous…


Book cover of Chris Beat Cancer: A Comprehensive Plan for Healing Naturally

Ginny Dent Brant Author Of Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer

From my list on showing you how to help prevent and survive cancer.

Why am I passionate about this?

Unleash Your God-Given Healing is the book I never wanted to write. As an educator and trained researcher, I uncovered some of the reasons I got a cancer I had no risk factors or genetics for. I also discovered what I could do to help my doctors to beat my cancer and prevent a recurrence. After surgeries and then chemo and immunotherapy for a year, my cancer was gone. My doctors called me their “Rock Star” cancer patient and attributed my lifestyle changes as to why I fared well and returned quickly to vibrant health. I realized that what I learned could help many people. The treasures I learned are in this book. 

Ginny's book list on showing you how to help prevent and survive cancer

Ginny Dent Brant Why did Ginny love this book?

Chris had surgery for his stage 3 colon cancer but began to research what he could do to beat cancer with diet and lifestyle changes. His plan worked. He’s now been cancer free for many years. In this book, he gives ten steps that helped him to beat the residual cancer in his body after his doctor removed the cancer in his colon.

By Chris Wark,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Now in paperback, the Wall Street Journal best-selling guide to charting a path from cancer to wellness through a toxin-free diet, lifestyle, and therapy--created by a colon cancer survivor. Millions of readers have followed Chris Wark's journey on his blog and podcast Chris Beat Cancer, and in his debut work, he dives deep into the reasoning and scientific foundation behind the approach and strategies that he used to successfully heal his body from stage-3 colon cancer. Drawing from the most up-to-date and rigorous research, as well as his deep faith, Wark provides clear guidance and continuous encouragement for his healing…


Book cover of The Cancer Revolution: A Groundbreaking Program to Reverse and Prevent Cancer

Ginny Dent Brant Author Of Unleash Your God-Given Healing: Eight Steps to Prevent and Survive Cancer

From my list on showing you how to help prevent and survive cancer.

Why am I passionate about this?

Unleash Your God-Given Healing is the book I never wanted to write. As an educator and trained researcher, I uncovered some of the reasons I got a cancer I had no risk factors or genetics for. I also discovered what I could do to help my doctors to beat my cancer and prevent a recurrence. After surgeries and then chemo and immunotherapy for a year, my cancer was gone. My doctors called me their “Rock Star” cancer patient and attributed my lifestyle changes as to why I fared well and returned quickly to vibrant health. I realized that what I learned could help many people. The treasures I learned are in this book. 

Ginny's book list on showing you how to help prevent and survive cancer

Ginny Dent Brant Why did Ginny love this book?

Dr. Connealy, an integrative medical oncologist, gives practical ways that cancer patients can be a part of reversing their cancer. She is a sought-after speaker and oncologist. After reading this book, you’ll see why cancer patients travel a distance to consult with her. She shares much wisdom in this book. I’ve also had the privilege of hearing her lecture several times. She is on the cutting edge of cancer.

By Leigh Erin Connealy,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Integrative health pioneer offers her groundbreaking approach to treating (and preventing) cancer, based on 6 Revolutionary Findings, with a practical program and strategies.

When it comes to cancer, conventional doctors are trained to treat their patients exclusively with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. These methods are grueling on the whole body--and they don't treat beyond the tumor or the cancer itself. The focus is on the disease, not the whole person--and because of this, the outcomes in conventional medicine can be bleak.

But it doesn't have to be this way. Dr. Leigh Erin Connealy has developed a whole-person approach to treating…


Book cover of Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human

Guy Crosby Ph.D Author Of Cook, Taste, Learn: How the Evolution of Science Transformed the Art of Cooking

From my list on history and future of agriculture, food, and cooking.

Why am I passionate about this?

Since childhood I've been fascinated with the beauty of organic molecules. I pursued this passion in graduate school at Brown University and through a postdoctoral position at Stanford University. My professional career began at a startup pharmaceutical company in California, which evolved into research positions in agriculture and food ingredients. After 30 years I retired as a vice-president of research and development for a food ingredients company. I developed a passion for food and cooking and subsequently acquired a position as the science editor for America’s Test Kitchen, which I held for over 12 years. Today at the age of 80 I still write and publish scientific papers and books about food, cooking, and nutrition.

Guy's book list on history and future of agriculture, food, and cooking

Guy Crosby Ph.D Why did Guy love this book?

This book was the inspiration for my book and was written by a professor of Biological Anthropology at Harvard University. It sets out a convincing argument that cooking may have been started by the earliest humans about 2 million years ago, which is far earlier than most anthropologists believe. Much of Wrangham’s arguments are based on his own research that illustrates how cooking provided better nutrition resulting in the expansion of the human brain by 60% over thousands of years giving humans a head-start over all other living species. 

By Richard Wrangham,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Catching Fire as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this stunningly original book, Richard Wrangham argues that it was cooking that caused the extraordinary transformation of our ancestors from apelike beings to Homo erectus. At the heart of Catching Fire lies an explosive new idea: The habit of eating cooked rather than raw food permitted the digestive tract to shrink and the human brain to grow, helped structure human society, and created the male-female division of labour. As our ancestors adapted to using fire, humans emerged as "the cooking apes".

Covering everything from food-labelling and overweight pets to raw-food faddists, Catching Fire offers a startlingly original argument about…


Book cover of Paradox of Plenty: A Social History of Eating in Modern America

Carolyn Steel Author Of Sitopia: How Food Can Save the World

From my list on how food shapes our lives.

Why am I passionate about this?

Food and architecture have been dual passions in my life for as long as I can remember. My grandparents had a hotel in Bournemouth, and I can still recall my fascination with the way everything changed as I passed through the green baize doors between the service areas and the public rooms. I became an architect, but food was always there in the background, and much later, I realised how I could bring the two together in order to describe the world in a completely new way. This led to my first book, Hungry City, and its follow-up Sitopia, both of which have changed the way I see the world. 

Carolyn's book list on how food shapes our lives

Carolyn Steel Why did Carolyn love this book?

If you want to understand how modern (i.e. American) fast food culture evolved, this book is for you.

From ‘Chickens of Tomorrow’ to Betty Crocker’s cakes, from Women’s Lib to crash diets, flash-freezing to TV dinners, it’s all here – along with the political manoeuvring, misleading adverts, corporate greed, and social manipulation that created the unhealthiest, most destructive, yet also most popular and profitable food culture on earth.

Paradox of Plenty explains how we got into the mess we’re in when it comes to food – and is therefore essential reading for anyone concerned with the way we eat today. It’s also fast-paced, brilliant, and funny.

This book really opened my eyes to the craziness of industrial food culture and I can’t recommend it highly enough. 

By Harvey Levenstein,

Why should I read it?

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


Book cover of Food and Healing: How What You Eat Determines Your Health, Your Well-Being, and the Quality of Your Life

Rena Greenberg Author Of CBD for Health and Wellness: Questions You Should Be Asking

From my list on how to eat healthy and live healthy for life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Facing death at the age of 26, I was determined to turn my health and my life around. Grateful for a second chance, I studied everything I could about health and wellness. I learned about herbs and healthy eating, but my real turn-around happened when I started to study the power of the mind through hypnosis and biofeedback. I founded a wellness & weight loss program sponsored by over 100 corporations, such as Disney and Home Depot. My own books teach not only healthy eating but how to change your mindset. My recommended books were a lifesaver as they helped me learn about how to eat for my body type when I needed it most.

Rena's book list on how to eat healthy and live healthy for life

Rena Greenberg Why did Rena love this book?

This book was life-changing for me. Annemarie Colbin shares so much wisdom about eating whole foods as opposed to being on any kind of diet. She is a big advocate of “listening to your body.” She even asserts that if you “forget” to take your supplements, it could be because your body doesn’t need them at this time. In that case, she encourages taking a short break. This book inspired in me the idea of trusting your body to let you know what foods are best for you.

By Annemarie Colbin,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Yes, you are what you eat. For everyone who wonders why, in this era of advanced medicine, we still suffer so much serious illness, Food and Healing is essential reading.

“An eminently practical, authoritative, and supportive guide to making everyday decisions about eating that can transform our lives. Food and Healing is a remarkable achievement.”—Richard Grossman, Director, The Health in Medicine Project, Montefiore Medical Center

Annemarie Colbin, founder of New York's renowned Natural Gourmet Cookery School and author of The Book of Whole Meals, argues passionately that we must take responsibility for our own health and rely less on modern…


Book cover of Fat Chance: Beating the Odds Against Sugar, Processed Food, Obesity, and Disease

Vera Tarman, MD Author Of Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction

From my list on capturing sugar and food addiction.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an addictions physician with a passion for the field of food addiction. I have spoken, taught, and written about this subject for over 15 years. I am the author of Food Junkies: Recovery from Food Addiction; have a thriving free Facebook group: I'm Sweet Enough: Sugar-Free for Life (which you are invited to join), and a podcast called Food Junkies—to catch up on the latest in the field. I am also a food addict in recovery for over 15 years and have maintained a 100-pound weight loss since then.

Vera's book list on capturing sugar and food addiction

Vera Tarman, MD Why did Vera love this book?

This is a must-read by anti-sugar advocate Robert Lustig. He is a paediatric endocrinologist who became famous with the viral YouTube video: Sugar the Bitter Truth.

This book covers the science of sugar and its detrimental effects on the body. This is a staple its the food addiction field. For a scientific book, it is readable and mind-boggling.

By Robert H. Lustig,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

Sugar is toxic, addictive and everywhere. So what chance do you have of living sugar-free?

With busy lives and little time left for cooking we find ourselves relying on a diet of processed food. But this is what's responsible for our chronically expanding waistlines, soaring levels of diabetes and a catalogue of diseases.

Dr Robert Lustig reveals the truth about our sugar-laden food:

Why conventional low-fat weight loss advice won't work: not every calorie is the same, and skipping lunch doesn't mean it's ok to eat dessert Why too much sugar can cause serious illness even if you are not…


Book cover of Carlton Fredericks' Nutrition Guide for the Prevention and Cure of Common Ailments and Diseases

Rena Greenberg Author Of CBD for Health and Wellness: Questions You Should Be Asking

From my list on how to eat healthy and live healthy for life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Facing death at the age of 26, I was determined to turn my health and my life around. Grateful for a second chance, I studied everything I could about health and wellness. I learned about herbs and healthy eating, but my real turn-around happened when I started to study the power of the mind through hypnosis and biofeedback. I founded a wellness & weight loss program sponsored by over 100 corporations, such as Disney and Home Depot. My own books teach not only healthy eating but how to change your mindset. My recommended books were a lifesaver as they helped me learn about how to eat for my body type when I needed it most.

Rena's book list on how to eat healthy and live healthy for life

Rena Greenberg Why did Rena love this book?

Dr. Carlton Fredericks was a nutrition expert ahead of his time. When I was living in New York City in my 20s, I became very sick after living in Tahiti and Guadeloupe, working for Club Med. I pounded the pavement going from doctor to doctor looking for answers. Ultimately, it turned out that I had a systemic infection that caused my heart to almost stop beating.

Still, after a three-week stay in the cardiac care unit of Brooklyn’s Methodist Hospital and a pacemaker implanted in my heart that was keeping me alive, I wanted to know how to thrive. I didn’t want to live as a “sick person” which is what I had become.

I went to see Dr. Fredericks who worked in Dr. Robert Atkins's office, at the time, on the upper east side of Manhattan. He showed me how to eat to balance my blood sugar and get…

By Carlton Fredericks,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Carlton Fredericks' Nutrition Guide for the Prevention and Cure of Common Ailments and Diseases as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sets forth nutritional, vitamin, and mineral therapies for treating common psychological and physical disorders


Book cover of The Brain Health Kitchen: Preventing Alzheimer's Through Food

Christine Buckley Author Of Plant Magic: Herbalism in Real Life

From my list on that prove eating locally is also delicious.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm an herbalist dedicated to teaching people practical approaches to herbalism and creativity. I do this on my Substack, in clinical intakes with my herbal clients (I work mostly with artists), and in workshops and classes. My life and herbal practice revolve around food. I’ve cooked professionally for over 15 years, worked on organic farms, and grow food at home for myself and pollinators in my region. The best bet we have at caring for ourselves and our communities is through the food we grow, buy, prepare, and eat. I like to say most people are already doing herbalism, they just don’t know it's happening in their kitchens at breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day.

Christine's book list on that prove eating locally is also delicious

Christine Buckley Why did Christine love this book?

Dr. Annie Fenn is a board-certified ob-gyn and chef who focused her work on degenerative brain disease after her mothers dementia diagnosis.

I worked as part of the food styling team on this book in Idaho and Wyoming cooking and eating from Annie’s garden and local farmer’s markets. Her Italian-American heritage shines throughout her book, organized by foods with neuroprotective properties, most of them plants. Each of the 100 recipes are brain healthy, flavorful, and deeply satiating.

The book is educational and hopeful: she sites study after study that found the number one dementia-reducing behavior is a brain-healthy dietary pattern. As an herbalist and someone who recently lost a loved one to Alzheimers, I know compliance is key.

We are all more likely to eat a brain health diet if its flavorful, satiating, and adaptable to our social lives and familial traditions. Annie is…

By Annie Fenn,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

A physician and chef identifies the top ten brain-smart ingredients and shows that eating to maintain brain health is easy, accessible, delicious, and necessary for everyone. The foods we choose to eat (or not) sit at the core of the Alzheimer's epidemic. In The Brain Health Kitchen, readers will learn exactly how making the right choices about the foods we select and cook, and how we eat them, can keep our brains younger, sharper, more vibrant, and much less prone to dementia. Scientific studies show that there are ten foods with powerful neuroprotective properties. None should come as a surprise-leafy…