Nutrition and Physical Degeneration

Weston A Price, DDS

This book is the Opus Magnum on cultural diets and the effect of the Western diet on health and physical degeneration and disease. When Dr. Price's son died from a dental abscess, he was struck with the paradox of how an apparently healthy individual could get a simple treatable infection and then die. The result was his 30 years of world travel researching the diets of the Mauri, Masai, Aborigines and other secluded cultures and then comparing it to those of these cultures who had become westernized. His discoveries were profound. He uncovered a link between maternal diet and infant diseases, dental arch malformation and processed foods, tuberculosis and white bread consumption. His study of the bones and skulls from the indigenous peoples of Peru and Florida uncovered ancient groups averaging 6 feet in height with perfect dental arches an almost no cavities. For anyone with a deep interest in cultural diets and its effects on health, this is a must-read.

The End of Alzheimer’s

The First Program to Prevent and Reverse Cognitive Decline

Dale Bredesen, MD

Alzheimer’s incidence is quickly rising to the point of being an epidemic. Dr. Bredesen’s life research has focused on the intricacies of Alzheimer’s Disease. To date, he has discovered over 38 different pathways and five major classifications associated with this degenerative disease. This is the first and only work of its type and is a must read for anyone with memory issues, declining memory or a family member with Alzheimer’s Disease.

The Toxin Solution

How Hidden Poisons in the Air, Water, Food, and Products We Use Are Destroying Our Health—AND WHAT WE CAN DO TO FIX IT

Joseph Pizzorno, MD

Dr. Pizzorno is best known for founding Bastyr University and writing the textbook of Natural Medicine. This book represents his most recent research project on the association between environmental toxins and chronic illness. This book is enlightening in its clear exposition of the association of entities from diabetes and autoimmune diseases to cancer and their close association with environmental toxin exposure. This is a great recommendation for anyone who is skeptical of the association between environmental toxins and human health.

The Gut Balance Revolution

Boost Your Metabolism, Restore Your Inner Ecology, and Lose the Weight for Good!

Gerald Mullen, MD

It seems like every year a new connection is made between the gastrointestinal tract and human health. Dr. Mullen, associate professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins, learned early in his career about the close association between gut health and personal health. His research at the University of Maryland and now Hopkins has shed light onto the association between the bacteria in the gut and obesity, metabolic syndrome and systemic inflammation. This book would be a good read for anyone wanting to know more about the human microbiome, from one of its top researchers in the country.

The Plant Paradox

The Hidden Dangers in “Healthy” Foods That Cause Disease and Weight Gain

Steven Gundry MD

Dr. Gundry is an internationally recognized heart surgeon whose career has changed over the past two decades through his research into diet and its effects on the cardiovascular system. In this book, Dr. Gundry summarizes his decades of practice and research. The main theme is: plants can heal and harm. Certain plant-based foods have incredible healing properties and others can be harmful. This insightful work in a must read for those with a history of heart disease or a family history of heart disease.

The Brain's Way of Healing

Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity

Norman Doidge, MD

The traditional way of thinking about brain health is that once you reach adulthood, you start to lose brain cells and once lost, they can never be recovered nor the connections they represent. Dr. Doidge shows that this is actually not the case. He reviews the science behind miraculous stories of recovery from conditions such as stroke and brain trauma to Parkinson's Disease. His second book, The Brain That Changes Itself is a continuation of his work. Your brain is changing your entire life, you can take charge to positively direct this change.

Real Food

What to Eat and Why

Nina Planck

Why is it that cows know which type of grasses are more nutrient dense and yet most Americans struggle with the most basic food choices? What we now call food would not have been recognized by our grandparents as such. In “Real Food,” Nina Planck tackles the now-difficult question of what is real food. This is a great book for anyone starting their real food journey and even for those further along the path. She writes in a clear yet concise style that will be enjoyable to all.

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living

An Expert Guide to Making the Life-Saving Benefits of Carbohydrate Restriction Sustainable and Enjoyable

Jeff Volek PhD and Stephen Phinney MD, PhD

This book dives deep into the science of cholesterol and fat biology and how fat metabolism is the preferred manner of energy production in humans. They focus on ketogenic diet, low carb diets and the science behind them. This book is a little technical and requires a moderate grasp of medical concepts. It is a thorough and deep read on ketogenic diets.

A Mind of Your Own

Kelly Brogan MD

Dr. Brogan is a practicing psychiatrist who after having her own medical issues realized that many mental health issues stem from brain based nerve inflammation. She is one of a handful of specialists in post-partum neuropsychiatry. She reviews the concepts of holistic mental health and then dives into how she, as a practicing psychiatrist, has gone from a pharmaceutical based practice to a 100% natural practice without using medications for her patients.

Missing Microbes

How the Overuse of Antibiotics Is Fueling Our Modern Plagues

Martin Blaser MD

In this book, Dr. Blaser reviews his 30-year career as an infectious disease specialist and how his research at Vanderbilt and now NYU have shown a link between overuse of antibiotics and multiple modern diseases ranging from Celiac Disease and Crohn’s Disease to Autism and MRSA infections. This book is research heavy and is a little dense but it a good primer on the risks of modern antibiotic overuse.

Brain Maker

The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain for Life

David Perlmutter MD

David Perlmutter is a thought leader in the area of functional medicine (FM) and neurology. In Brain Maker he focuses on optimization of brain function using functional medicine concepts. This is not a disease-centered book but focuses on neurological function optimization. This is a great read for anyone, especially those who wonder what a focused FM approach in particular systems would look like. The audible version comes with a companion PDF that has a brain optimization diet and meal planning.

Hashimoto's Protocol

A 90-Day Plan for Reversing Thyroid Symptoms and Getting Your Life Back

Isabel Wentz PharmD

This book is a follow up to Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: Lifestyle Interventions for Finding and Treating the Root Cause. The first book was more technical and research-based. In this book, she focuses on the basics of treating autoimmune thyroid disease, the diet changes, and protocol needed for treatment. This more clinically-based work is a must-read for anyone wanting a basic approach to treating their thyroid.

The Disease Delusion

Conquering the Causes of Chronic Illness for a Healthier, Longer, and Happier Life

Jeffery Bland PhD

Dr. Bland is one of the founders of The Institute for Functional Medicine and considered one of the founders of functional medicine. In The Disease Delusion, Dr. Bland lays out a new paradigm for evaluation and treatment of chronic diseases. This paradigm is a new way of evaluating disease and getting to the root cause of illness by using systems based biology, nutrigenetics, nutrigenomics and now metabolomics to uncover the true causes of modern chronic diseases. This way of thinking is the basis of Functional Medicine. This book is an excellent introduction to the foundational principles of functional medicine.