The Starch Solution

by John McDougall, MD, a practicing physician in Santa Rosa California. In his book he describes how his own medical practice and the careful scientific research of others have found that the consumption of animal products and oils leads to sickness and death. A healthy plant-based diet that avoids the harmful overdose of protein and fat, by necessity provides most of our calories from starch. Thus a heavily starch-based diet leads to weight loss, health, and long life. This way of eating is also good for animals, our world energy problems, and our environment. This book ends with a 7-day sure-start menu plan and nearly 100 delicious recipes compiled by John's wife Mary. Dr. McDougall's conclusions are backed up by 381 references, mostly to refereed scientific journals. We highly recommend this book.

In addition to writing several cookbooks, Dr. McDougall offers weekend study programs, 5 and 10 day immersion programs, and healthy adventure trips to Cost Rica (highly recommended!). In addition to his books, Dr. McDougall maintains an extensive web site which is a treasure trove of meticulously researched information on a variety of health and nutrition topics. He also authors an e-mail newsletter that you can sign up for from his web site.

Author's web site: www.drmcdougall.com

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease

by Caldwell Esselstyn, MD a surgeon, clinician, and researcher at the Cleveland Clinic. This book, based on meticulous research of the literature as well as the author's own study of tracking a set of his own extremely sick heart patients, tells us the causes of heart disease and how we can prevent and reverse heart disease. If your total cholesterol blood test is over 150 or you are taking statin medications, you must read this book. And buy a copy to give to your doctor. They generally are not up to date on the research in this book. Mine wasn't. The last half of the book is a cookbook. I keep my copy in the kitchen and refer to it often.

Author's web site: www.heartattackproof.com

The China Study

by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell. Dr. Colin Campbell is Professor Emeritus of Nutritional Biochemistry at Cornell University. The China Study is the most comprehensive study of health and nutrition ever conducted. The book covers results from analysis of field data from China, other research by Campbell, and summaries of landmark nutrition research by others. Dr. Campbell and his son weave these scientific findings into a coherent story and prescription for action to live a long and healthy life. If you want to avoid the leading killers of heart disease and cancer as well as 20 or 30 other diseases, read this book.

Author's web site: www.tcolincampbell.org

Keep It Simple, Keep It Whole

by Alona Pulde, M.D. and Matt Lederman, M.D., a husband-wife team who guide their patients to much greater health and longer life than traditional doctors by teaching them how to eat right. This book contains carefully researched nutrition science, but also guides the reader through the transition to healthy eating. The appendices are a gold mine including one with recipes, and my favorite, Appendix K, which compares the anatomy of herbivores and carnivores. For those who think humans evolved as meat eaters, read this and think again.

Author's web site: www.transitiontohealth.com

Eat to Live

by Joel Fuhrman, MD, a family physician in Flemington, NJ. This book conveys the science behind living healthy through proper nutrition, with a small emphasis on weight loss. There are also some recipes in the back. One small disappointment for me was that Dr. Fuhrman makes the strong case throughout the book that consumption of meat and dairy products leads to disease and death, but then he includes recipes in his book that include some meat and dairy products for those who can't quite banish these things from their diet completely. Nevertheless, this book is recommended.

Author's web site: www.drfuhrman.com

Whitewash

by Joseph Keon, who earned a Ph.D. in nutrition. This heavily researched book describes how study after study has found the danger of consuming cow’s milk and how it increases the risk of cancer, osteoporosis, diabetes, and more. Other books such as the ones described above relate how the naturally occurring fat and protein in milk are harmful to us. Whitewash goes beyond that to detail all the unnatural impurities that are in cow’s milk ranging from pesticides, dioxins, and radioactive isotopes. These toxins may occur at low levels in the cow’s environment, but are magnified in the cow’s meat and milk, delivering us doses that sicken and kill us. Nursing human mothers must read this book to learn how their own bodies magnify the toxins from the dairy products they eat into the human milk they are feeding their infants. Highly recommended for anyone currently consuming dairy products.

Mad Cowboy

by Howard Lyman with Glen Merzer. Howard Lyman is a former Montana cattle rancher who won’t eat meat. Lyman describes the cycle of increased agricultural chemical usage which harms the environment, the stock animals, and the humans who eat these animals, yet economically drives the rancher to even more chemical usage. He uses his own life story to describe how he became aware that the typical meat production methods were wiping him out financially while impacting negatively the health of consumers. He details how meat production industry processes led to the Mad Cow epidemic and identifies the risks that still exist today. If you are still eating meat of any kind, you need to read this book. Author's home page: http://www.madcowboy.com/

Unprocessed

by Chef AJ with Glen Merzer. This cookbook begins by telling the life journey by Chef AJ as she battled with food-related medical problems. Even after giving up all animal food products, she still wasn’t healthy. As a pastry chef, she could make vegan delights that contained lots of oils and sugars and were very unhealthy. In this cookbook Chef AJ has compiled many delicious recipes ranging from snacks, main dishes, and desserts using only ingredients that are healthy because they are unprocessed.

Author's web site: www.eatunprocessed.com