Here are 100 books that If Our Bodies Could Talk fans have personally recommended if you like
If Our Bodies Could Talk.
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I am an evidence-based dietitian whoâs worked in gastroenterology practices for over a decade and have seen countless patients defrauded by modern-day snake oil salespeople and unqualified influencers trying to hawk fad diets, unregulated supplements, pseudoscientific lab tests, and more. Knowledge is power, and scientific literacyâunderstanding how our bodies actually workâis the best defense against being led down a harmful rabbit hole of health misinformation. I love popular science books, and I especially love it when people can write about science with humor and intelligence without âdumbing it downâ or oversimplifying; these books all meet that criteria!
Long before everyone and their mother knew about the gut microbiome and its impact on overall health and immunity, Velasquez-Manoff blew my mind with this impeccably researched book about the connections between specific âold friendsââmicroorganisms that had long been part of the human speciesâ inner ecosystemsâand risk of developing autoimmune disease. Forget the fearmongering explanations youâve seen on social media blaming GMOs, gluten, lectins, or the dietary demon du jour; this book has actual evidence-based answers to the question of why allergies and autoimmune diseases are on the rise.
The author is a journalist with a knack for storytelling and making complex science accessibleâand he is also affected by multiple autoimmune diseases himself. His storytelling takes readers all over the world to different societies at different periods and introduces us to specific bacteria, worms, and virusesââold friendsââwhose erasure from our collective inner ecosystems seems to foretell a rise in theâŚ
A brilliant, groundbreaking report on the dramatic rise of allergic and autoimmune disease, and the controversial therapies scientists are developing to correct these disorders.
From asthma to Crohnâs disease, everyone knows someone who suffers from an allergic or autoimmune disorder. And if it appears that the prevalence of these maladies has increased recently, thatâs because it hasâto levels never before seen in human history. These days no fewer than one in fiveâand likely moreâAmericans suffers from one of these ailments. We seem newly, and bafflingly, vulnerable to immune system malfunction. Why? One possibility is that we have systematically cleaned ourselvesâŚ
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa storiesâall reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argueâŚ
As a medical herbalist for over 25 years, I have long been treating people for chronic fatigue, post-viral fatigue, and, more recently, Long Covid. These days, there is so much stress to consider too, and I have recognized that stress has a major effect on the health of our bodies and also our life experience. One of my great interests in life is the wisdom of Nature, spirituality, and metaphysics. I love to combine medical science with spirituality, metaphysics, and Nature to contribute to helping people to feel their best through the wisdom of nature.
This was a fascinating read. I love traveling, especially to places where the Western world has had less impact, so this book appealed to me. Having traveled widely, adventurer and expedition leader Dan Buettner set out to discover the areas of the world where people lived longer and more healthily than our average modern human being.Â
On a map of the world, he circled five âlongevity hotspotâ areas in blue, which became known as The Blue Zones. While chronic disease is becoming increasingly common in the developed world, these Blue Zones communities experience low rates of chronic disease and live in good health, easily into their 90âs and even over 100 years. He says that genetics only accounts for about 20â30% of our longevity and ability to live well. The rest is determined by our lifestyle and our diet.
In this wonderful book, he discusses the lifestyles and choices madeâŚ
A long, healthy life is no accident. It begins with good genes, but it also depends on good habits. If you adopt the right lifestyle, experts say, chances are you may live up to a decade longer. Buettner has led teams of researchers across the globe--from Costa Rica to Sardinia, Italy, to Okinawa, Japan and beyond--to uncover the secrets of Blue Zones. He found that the recipe for longevity is deeply intertwined with community, lifestyle, and spirituality. People live longer and healthier by embracing a few simple but powerful habits, and by creating the right community around themselves. In TheâŚ
I have lectured in 30 countries and all US States. Previously, I was the Director of Training in Mental Health for Kaiser Permanente in the Northern California region. In this capacity, I oversaw training programs in 24 medical centers where over 150 postdoctoral residents and interns are trained each year, the largest mental health training program in the US. I am the author of 15 books (translated into over 20 languages). The second edition of my book, Rewire Your Brain 2.0, came out last year. My book, Mind-Brain-Gene: Toward the Integration of Psychotherapy, encompasses the fields of psychoneuroimmunology, Epigenetics, Neuroscience, Nutritional Neuroscience, and psychotherapy research.
This timely book reveals how many of the food fads are not based on coherent and sensible science.
One of the hot fads that the book reveals does not make historical sense is the so-called paleo diet, which is based on the no-carb diet. Actually, our ancestors, who were all hunter-gatherers, did not eat primarily meat and avoid carbohydrates. In fact, these ancestors ate complex carbohydrates. The point that the author raises is that complex carbs are critical for metabolism. Â
'Pontzer's findings have huge implications for our attitudes to exercise, diet and public health' Mark Webster, Sunday Times
A myth-busting tour of the body's hidden foundations from a pioneering evolutionary biologist
'Public health strategies stubbornly cling to the simplistic armchair engineer's view of metabolism, hurting efforts to combat obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and the other diseases that are most likely to kill us'
Herman Pontzer's ground-breaking research has revealed how, contrary to received wisdom, exercise does not increase our metabolism. Instead, we burn calories within a very narrow range: nearly 3,000 calories per day, no matter our activity level.
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicitâŚ
I have been fascinated with the impact of gut health since becoming diagnosed with coeliac disease and IBS myself. As a registered dietitian, I was able to translate the complex science of gut health into a step-by-step format, which improved my symptoms, and I then went on to dedicate my career to this space and become a Consultant IBS Dietitian. I now run The IBS Dietitian, which is an online platform for people with IBS and includes online courses, a free podcast, and a book. One of the most important things you need to do to stay up to date with research in this area is to read.
I have used this book as a reference to explain gut anatomy for the past 12 years; it is amazing for anyone wanting to understand how our gut works. It cleverly explains the complex anatomy and science behind each part but in an easy-to-understand format that does not require qualifications in this area.
âEverything you ever wanted to know about the gut (and then some).â âSELF
Discover the secrets of your digestive systemâand how to hone a healthy gutâplus new research on the mind-gut connection.
With quirky charm, science star and medical doctor Giulia Enders explains the gutâs magic, answering questions like: Whatâs really up with gluten and lactose intolerance? How does the gut affect obesity? What's the connection between our microbiome and mental health? Why does acid reflux happen? In this revised edition of her beloved bestseller, Enders includes a new section on the brain-gut connection,âŚ
I have expertise in the area of spirituality and alternative health from working for over 20 years as a shamanic practitioner, spiritual teacher, and healer. I have travelled extensively and trained with many renowned teachers all over the world. I also provide ancestral healing and train students to be ancestral healers. Through my own healing journey, I have studied many healing and alternative approaches to wellness. I have studied extensively with plants and herbs. In 2020 I wrote my award-winning book Illumination of the Shadow, which explores ancestral healing. I have always had an interest in books in the mind, body, and spirit area, and read extensively in this area.
This is a great book, which comprehensively explores the body's immune system. It provides great insights that I was not aware of the various factors that can cause the immunity to breakdown. It is full of information and is easy to read, yet very comprehensive on each area that is explored. I loved the individual exercises included in the book, for example around exploring how toxic your environment is and how this can affect your immunity, which provided great practical information for reflection
This book really helped me with my personal well-being. I am more aware of what can affect my immunity, and how I can live and eat better and enhance my natural defenses.
Based on the author's personal experience of fighting cancer, this study draws on current research in the area of immune efficiency and provides practical guidelines on planning and implementing an enhancement programme which concentrates on mind, emotions, diet and exercise. The author explores the connection between the onset of illness and emotional upsets, and explains how to deal with anger, stress and resentment through a series of visualization and relaxation techniques. She also examines the physiological and psychological effects of exercise, and outlines the "peak immunity" diet. The text includes information on other immune-deficient and auto-immune diseases, such as allergies,âŚ
Iâm a Rutgers professor of psychology and a body image scientist. Growing up, I was a dancer and learned to be dissatisfied with my body at a young age. These concerns inhabited so much mental space during my adolescence that I ultimately began to study these issues in college as a way to better understand myself and others who had similar experiences. Iâve been doing research on body image and eating behaviors for over 25 years now and write books about these topics to help other kids and adults who may be struggling with these issues. Can you imagine what we could accomplish if we all felt comfortable in our own skin?
One of the things that I love about Sumner and Ameeâs book is their strong social justice mindset. Theyâre thinking about how to parent kids who are satisfied with their bodies and have a healthy relationship with food, but they also keep the broader context in mind with everything they write.
Our culture has many disordered aspects when it comes to how we talk about bodies, health, and wellness. I was extra pleased that this book doesnât make you feel like a failure as a parent (as so many parenting books seem to).
They have a lot of compassion for parents and appreciate that feeding kids is hard and what most adults have been taught is wrong (but itâs not their fault!)
With the wisdom of Intuitive Eating, a manifesto for parents to help them reject diet culture and raise the next generation to have a healthy relationship with food and their bodies.
Kids are born intuitive eaters. Well-meaning parents, influenced by the diet culture that surrounds us all, are often concerned about how to best feed their children. Nearly everyone is talking about what to do about the childhood obesity epidemic. Meanwhile, every proposed solution for how to feed kids to promote health and prevent weight-related health concerns donât mention the importance of one thing: a healthy relationship with food. TheâŚ
Crossing is a vividly human re-imagining of the love, sacrifices, and accomplishments that two Chinese brothers - American Immigrants - experience as they travel to California to build the Transcontinental Railroad.Â
The idea for our book, Between Our Legs, was conceived over a sushi dinner during a girlsâ night out, as we shared stories about the gynecological issues we had struggled with throughout our lives. We realized every woman had a story, but as a society we werenât having those conversations, at least not publicly, not loudly. We wanted to confront that silence, because womenâs health is more than just having babies and shouldnât be shrouded in stigma and taboo. This silence can harm our health. It can even cost us our lives. Our hope is that Between Our Legs will become part of the canon of books that spark those necessary conversations around womenâs health.Â
This book is rich with medical revelations, describing how the long-perpetuated misinformation surrounding womenâs bodies and the male-centric nature of health care has dire health consequences for women.
We especially love it because, like our book, Pain and Prejudice emphasizes the difficulty of navigating the health care system when it comes to gynecological issues, the struggle to receive a diagnosis and proper care, and the importance of advocating for yourself as a woman.Â
â[A] powerful account of the sexism cooked into medical care ... will motivate readers to advocate for themselves.ââPublishers Weekly STARRED Review
A groundbreaking and feminist work of investigative reporting:
Explains why women experience healthcare differently than men Shares the authorâs journey of fighting for an endometriosis diagnosis In Pain and Prejudice, acclaimed investigative reporter Gabrielle Jackson takes readers behind the scenes of doctorâs offices, pharmaceutical companies, and research labs to show thatâat nearly every level of healthcareâmenâs health claims are treated as default, whereas womenâs are often viewed as a-typical, exaggerated, and even completely fabricated. The impacts of thisâŚ
The idea for our book, Between Our Legs, was conceived over a sushi dinner during a girlsâ night out, as we shared stories about the gynecological issues we had struggled with throughout our lives. We realized every woman had a story, but as a society we werenât having those conversations, at least not publicly, not loudly. We wanted to confront that silence, because womenâs health is more than just having babies and shouldnât be shrouded in stigma and taboo. This silence can harm our health. It can even cost us our lives. Our hope is that Between Our Legs will become part of the canon of books that spark those necessary conversations around womenâs health.Â
This is an examination of the sexism women encounter when seeking medical care and the devastatingâeven deadlyâconsequences of that discrimination.
We love how Hossain emphasizes that because women have a sample size of one on which to evaluate their experiences, they often doubt whether they have truly faced discrimination; it is only through sharing and compilation that women can feel seen and gain a full understanding of the problem.Â
Explore real women's tales of healthcare trauma and medical misogyny with this meticulously researched, in-depth examination of the women's health crisis in America-and what we can do about it.
When Anushay Hossain became pregnant in the US, she was so relieved. Growing up in Bangladesh in the 1980s, where the concept of women's healthcare hardly existed, she understood how lucky she was to access the best in the world. But she couldn't have been more wrong. Things started to go awry from the minute she stepped in the hospital, and after thirty hours of labor (two of which she spentâŚ
Juggling roles as a professor, nurse practitioner, author, mother, and grandmother would seem to limit my reading time but instead, I always have a book in my car, on my phone, or in my hands. I read broadly and enjoy all genres, from fiction to nonfiction, poetry to medical comics, as well as the creative essay columns nursing journals are beginning to embrace. In particular, I gravitate toward resources that help nurses create a positive relational workplace where their best efforts can be even more effective. Whether itâs ending the RN-RA (relational aggression) Rut, using poetry to express feelings about caregiving, or writing creatively about the many aspects of nursing, I am ready to read! And of course, the best part of reading is having a discussion with colleagues or friends about what exactly that book was aboutâŚ
This story about four patients cared for by nurse practitioner and acclaimed poet Cortney Davis reminds me a bit of pandemic narratives in that she works in a public clinic with individuals whose financial, emotional, or social situation puts them at risk. Since her patients are all female, their needs are related to gynecology, but the bigger story is Cortneyâs ability to connect with them on a humanistic level and share their hopes, concerns, and fears.
"I cannot ignore the reality of the body, its glorious beginnings and its subtle endings," writes Cortney Davis in this intimate and startlingly original account of her work at a women's clinic. A poet and nurse-practitioner with twenty five years' experience, Davis reveals the beauty of the body's workings by unfolding the lives of four patients who struggle with its natural cycles and unexpected surprises: pregnancy and childbirth, illness and recovery, sexual dysfunction and sexual joy. An abundance of solid medical information imbues every graceful line.
Davis's eternal question to herself is: How do you help someone to not merelyâŚ
At five years old, Kasiel was found with the pointed ends of his ears cut off. Despite that brutal start, heâs lived twelve peaceful years with the man who took him in. Keeping his hair long over his mutilated ears helps him hide the fact that he is Vanrian, aâŚ
After the loss of my first baby, I became obsessed with understanding the emotions I was feeling and how to find myself again. I began reading memoirs during this time as a way to connect and find myself. While each story carries its own merits and uniqueness, I found I could take away bits of wisdom from each. How does one figure out who they are when they have lost something so important to themselves? How does one reconcile relationships within their own family? And how does one deal with the mental health toll that inevitably life can take? These questions are my focus when I read and write.
I love learning about real-life things that are not as talked about in popular media, and HernĂĄndezâs book does just that. I fell in love with her through the memoir parts and how she tried so earnestly to learn about the disease that was killing her beloved aunt.
I was impressed by HernĂĄndezâs expert weaving of family stories and researched information. She allowed me to learn about Chagas Disease through her reportage, but she also pulled me into the emotional side of the disease and the devastation it causes.Â
National Book Foundation Science + Literature Selection
Finalist for New American Voices Award and Lammy Award for Bisexual Nonfiction
A TIME, NPR, Chicago Public Library, Science for the People, WYNC, WBUR Radio Boston, and The Stacks Podcast Best Book of the Year
Longlisted for the PEN Open Book AwardÂ
As heard on Fresh Air
Growing up in a New Jersey factory town in the 1980s, Daisy HernĂĄndez believed that her aunt had become deathly ill from eating an apple. No one in her family, in either the United States or Colombia, spoke ofâŚ
