1. The Precision Nutrition System
Why?
It's practical information delivered by people who actually coach other people. Many fitness and diet books are assumptions made by writers who have an interest in fitness, but many of them lack real world experience.
Other books I've read by nutrition or fitness professionals tend to take a very biased viewpoint on nutrition as well, so it's refreshing to read a book that discusses how to eat, rather than telling you exactly what to eat.
This system is built around optimizing your diet (i.e. showing you how to craft a diet that suits YOU, as opposed to the masses). It will show you how to break down your diet for various objectives (mass gain, weight loss, health, etc...) and is very simple/easy to follow. They have one of the most down-to-earth 'real-world' nutrition approaches I know of, that focuses more on long-term adaptation and less on the typical '12-weeks-to-a-ripped-physique' short-sighted approach.
They don't beat up on various types of food (i.e. carbs are bad for you, or meat is bad for you, or vegetarians are sickly, or any other nonsense), they recognize that the world of food isn't so much good food vs bad food, but rather a spectrum of eating that is either more optimal for an individual, or less optimal.
Really nutrition and diet is a lifestyle, not 'something-you-go-on' and I think the folks at PN get that. Some of my other recommendations won't fall into that category.
At $97 it's a bit more of an investment than your typical book, but it's a worthwhile resource that you will find yourself using years from now. Including a cookbook.
2. In Defense of Food (Or The Omnivore's Dilemma or even Food Rules - they are all decent reads, but Omnivore's Dilemma is a longer read, while Food Rules is a shorter read, In Defence of Food falls in the middle. Note:Food Rules is a bit abstract without the other two books) Why? It's not a diet book so much as a perspective book. Practical advice not served up by a dietician, a nutritionist or a fitness professional of any kind but a good writer who happens to maintain a healthy weight eating optimal foods. The basic principle of the book 'Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants' is almost spot on (I would specify 'whole foods,' then add in that lean proteins and healthy fats are important in the mix, not just plants...). This book will give you insights into the food ecosystem, and the quality of your food. All of which I feel are important concepts to grasp, the quality of your food matters. However, it may leave you feeling the need to eat exclusively organic and local food, which is just unfeasible for some people financially. If you can, I highly support the idea, but it's not an absolutely necessary component of having a healthy diet in the long run. Health is influenced by a variety of other factors that are not diet, including physical activity, stress, sleep, environment, social influence, occupational influence, etc... I think these books address the typical assault many 'diet' books on macronutrients, or specific 'types' of food, which I've always felt is a mistake. White Potatoes aren't 'bad' for you, they are just less optimal for certain people, under certain context or at certain times. Most 'diet' books will tell you that X is bad, end of story. I hate fear mongering books of that nature, and generally discourage them. I recommend avoiding books that tell you X foods is bad and Y foods are good. Food doesn't work like that, very few things are flat out 'BAD' for you, they just might not be 'ideal' for you. There is a spectrum of food choices and I think people should generally shoot for the highest quality they can manage on that spectrum the majority of the time. At the end of the day you eat food, not protein, not carbohydrates and not fats but food. Another important concept to understand, so I like that Michael Pollen discusses reductionism in these books, though I don't completely agree with his stance on it (reductionism is a necessary component of the scientific process).
3. Mindless Eating Why? A good chunk of nutrition, has little to do with what and everything to do with the environment in which you eat. This book reveals a lot of the psychological components surrounding eating, and provides strategies for combating them. Like why eating in front of a T.V. leads to eating more, or why eating from large plates leads to eating more, or drinking from short fat glasses will make you drink more, or why eating quickly leads to eating more, etc...etc... There are a lot of environmental cues and circumstances that marketers have influenced you in many more ways than you think (i.e. supersize me -- the idea of exchanging 'greater value' for your dollar at the expense of your waistline). This book can help make you more mindful of the influences that exist presently over how you eat on a daily basis and how you can combat them to eat better, more easily.
2. In Defense of Food (Or The Omnivore's Dilemma or even Food Rules - they are all decent reads, but Omnivore's Dilemma is a longer read, while Food Rules is a shorter read, In Defence of Food falls in the middle. Note:Food Rules is a bit abstract without the other two books) Why? It's not a diet book so much as a perspective book. Practical advice not served up by a dietician, a nutritionist or a fitness professional of any kind but a good writer who happens to maintain a healthy weight eating optimal foods. The basic principle of the book 'Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants' is almost spot on (I would specify 'whole foods,' then add in that lean proteins and healthy fats are important in the mix, not just plants...). This book will give you insights into the food ecosystem, and the quality of your food. All of which I feel are important concepts to grasp, the quality of your food matters. However, it may leave you feeling the need to eat exclusively organic and local food, which is just unfeasible for some people financially. If you can, I highly support the idea, but it's not an absolutely necessary component of having a healthy diet in the long run. Health is influenced by a variety of other factors that are not diet, including physical activity, stress, sleep, environment, social influence, occupational influence, etc... I think these books address the typical assault many 'diet' books on macronutrients, or specific 'types' of food, which I've always felt is a mistake. White Potatoes aren't 'bad' for you, they are just less optimal for certain people, under certain context or at certain times. Most 'diet' books will tell you that X is bad, end of story. I hate fear mongering books of that nature, and generally discourage them. I recommend avoiding books that tell you X foods is bad and Y foods are good. Food doesn't work like that, very few things are flat out 'BAD' for you, they just might not be 'ideal' for you. There is a spectrum of food choices and I think people should generally shoot for the highest quality they can manage on that spectrum the majority of the time. At the end of the day you eat food, not protein, not carbohydrates and not fats but food. Another important concept to understand, so I like that Michael Pollen discusses reductionism in these books, though I don't completely agree with his stance on it (reductionism is a necessary component of the scientific process).
3. Mindless Eating Why? A good chunk of nutrition, has little to do with what and everything to do with the environment in which you eat. This book reveals a lot of the psychological components surrounding eating, and provides strategies for combating them. Like why eating in front of a T.V. leads to eating more, or why eating from large plates leads to eating more, or drinking from short fat glasses will make you drink more, or why eating quickly leads to eating more, etc...etc... There are a lot of environmental cues and circumstances that marketers have influenced you in many more ways than you think (i.e. supersize me -- the idea of exchanging 'greater value' for your dollar at the expense of your waistline). This book can help make you more mindful of the influences that exist presently over how you eat on a daily basis and how you can combat them to eat better, more easily.
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