What is a healthy diet?
Nobody but you can really answer that when it comes to your body. Each and every one of us has a different body with different needs, so the way we go about a healthy lifestyle may vary. For some, it’s working out at least 4 times a week, for others, it’s about maintaining a good work and social life balance, and for others, it can be about putting nutritious foods into our body. The top secrets to healthy living can vary for all of us, but there are some simple tips we can all follow to make sure our bodies are getting the vitamins, minerals, and nutrients it needs. Therefore I’ve gathered 7 healthy diet books that deserve a read: to get inspired by and become more knowledgable about your body and how much it gets affected by what you put into it.
I don’t believe we’re all made to eat exactly the same, but there’s a common thread among the masses:
Real and whole foods. That, we all can agree upon? But be open to new information and let these books explain further…
Kimberly Snyder | The Beauty Detox Solution
Whenever someone asks me for a suggestion on a healthy book or diet, I first and foremost tell them about Kimberly Snyders books to start off with.
I like that she doesn’t use the word “diet” nor ever forces you to go cold turkey or change your whole diet, but actually encourages you to go slow and that there’s nothing wrong with it. She gives you three phases to go through at your own pace and ensures you that either one of the phases will benefit you enormously.
Occasionally I come across people who take the book and meal plans too seriously. But Kimberly always encourages self-exploration and that the recipes are only guidelines – therefore there’s not a lot of them to follow in the first book. And I actually like that there’s no strict meal planner to follow up on. Even though it would be nicer and easier for most. I do feel that people should understand the importance of leaving room for your own needs, we aren’t robots that function exactly the same. But we do have a few guidelines that apply to most of us.
I have The Beauty Detox Solution as an E-Book and the Beauty Detox Foods as hard copy.
Both books aren’t necessary to possess, both do explain things like proper food combining, pH and why certain foods are bad; only that in Detox Foods it doesn’t cover everything you should avoid but goes rather quickly through those answers and focuses more on what we should eat to feel great instead. If you’re totally new to the concept of ditching dairy, cutting down on meat and avoiding oil and cashews, read the Detox Solution first. If you’re not, the second book will give you some more inspiration in the kitchen and go more deeply into what to eat for sharper eyes and luscious hair.
Kimberly has since then written more books on the subject and even collaborated with Deepak Chopra.
Kris Carr | The Crazy Sexy Diet
This was the first book I started reading about healthy living and eating. Who would have known that all I’ve ever learned about food was wrong?
The base of this book refers a lot to the Anti-inflammatory diet. Just like Kimberly’s books, this one is a great introductory, and quite a funny and vibrant one! This book even suits to give to a friend without being overly judgy, because it’s more about empowerment and taking charge of your life and health by knowledge than it is to actually diet. They did though decide to use the word “diet”…
There’s two sides of the Raw Food world: High Fat and Low Fat. And this book tends to gravitate towards the high-fat end which will contradict with all my other book tips. But nonetheless, whatever you are following, it’s a great book to start off with and I do encourage a wide range of reads. I have sadly not tested all the recipes in the book because I need to see the outcome first (read: pictures). You do have to keep in mind that the author has cancer and that it may work for a healthy sick person but that you don’t have to be as strict per say and drink green juice every day if you get what I mean.
Douglas Graham | The 80/10/10 Diet
The book came out 2007 but didn’t face a lot of spotlight until 2013 thanks to the Raw Food movement on YouTube and Instagram. There are a few articles all from Women’s Health Mag, to where even Kimberly Snyder recently did a review on it. But I personally feel as if these articles aren’t fair and you shouldn’t bother believing in them. First of all, they all sound like they didn’t actually read the book page by page, second of all, they did too little research around it claiming there are not enough greens in the diet.
If you’ve read the book and done your research you would know that there’s a lot of emphasis on greens and their importance, even though the diet is mostly fruit based. The book is like the Bible of HCLF Lifestyle and seems to have been misinterpreting just like one, so you’ll find people doing it crazy extreme and complicated when it doesn’t have to be.
So I say, read the book when you feel ready, open and maybe even desperate, and take it to suit you. I do believe we are attracted to the things we wish to see, so if this book doesn’t attract you then you’re clearly not ready for it and should start small with my other book tips. Whether you like the teachings or not, it’s definitely and eye-opener overall.
Harvey Diamond | Fit For Life
Just like 811 has some roots in Natural Hygiene, this book from the 80’s is what kind of started the movement. I am currently reading another book by Harvey and it’s his latest from 2007 “Living Without Pain
Even though the same principles are probably preached in both books I would still like to read Fit For Life too. By the pages I’ve read so far in LWP it’s a very subtle read, where there’s really no statement of being a raw foodist per say. There is even underlying fruitarianism, but none of which a reader would actually predict. Harvey and the whole Natural Hygiene is so inline with my own beliefs from what I’ve read so far that I really enjoy reading this book. I truly believe that many things would be cured by a simple rule of not what we eat but how we eat it. And if you’ve read Kimberly’s books you will draw similarities in how to eat, and even here there’s really no pushing and even allowance of eating meat (but they encourage to cut down on it).
Diamond actually got terminally ill just after publishing Fit For Life, and the story of his body thriving 20 years beyond his death sentence is what LWP is all about.
It simply states, applies these principles how you want it and you could experience vibrant health. No dieting, no big lifestyle changes. Just eat the way your body is designed for. In other words, a perfect book for converting your parents.
Victoria Boutenko | Green For Life
Victoria and her family had been fully raw for seven years when problems started to occur and they didn’t really know why. She looked at our closest relative, the Chimpanzee, which eats a diet that consists of 55% Fruit, 40% Greens and 5% Nuts and Seeds, and realized they were not getting enough mineral-rich greens in their diet which they needed.
There’s a saying in the raw food community that there are no fat raw vegans… And from experiencing first hand how difficult it is to keep the weight on a raw food diet, I can’t possibly imagine how Victoria herself isn’t slim after all these years. However, her story and study are quite intriguing. And by my own explorations with salads, I’ve come to the same conclusion. It wasn’t until I started adding more greens, sneaking them into every meal that all my cravings disappeared! Before I was even resenting having any greens, my teeth would hurt all the chewing and salads are bland without dressings. It took some time and a lot of sneaking it in until I got more balanced again, and now I’m one of those who actually looks forward to my salad dinners! WTF happened?!
John A. McDougall | The Starch Solution
The Starch solution, as the name suggest, moves you away from the raw food-focused books, to the other end of the spectrum. While greens are equally important, McDougall tries to make the diet as easy to follow as possible. The large path in the end is to eat whole foods from nature. When you eat real foods, the body kind of does the math for you.
This book is very informative and breaks down some heavy myths about vegan diets, like the protein-issue. It also features nearly 100 recipes to help you adjust your diet. And many of them are really good!
I always encourage myself and others to find facts from different sources. If you thought eating plant-based was all about fruits and greens, think again! There are so many different ways to eat a vegan diet, and I hope you through these books can find one or take something from each to adjust to yourself – that will help you get that ideal weight and vibrant health and energy that lays in eating plants.
Rudy Scarfalloto | What Should I Eat
I just got to read a draft (pages 18-19) in the preview of the largest Raw Food Magazine Vibrance and it sparked my interest.
The book came out recently in 2013 and explores the Fruit Theory of our ancestors of the Paleolithic Period. We all are probably familiar with the Paleo diet: it’s kind of raw food with a side of eggs and meat (but everyone seems to do it differently just like with everything else).
The history of our diet goes like this though: Last 10 000 years, we’ve been living off a grain-based diet; 2 million years ago we started a hunter/gatherer diet; 63 million years of the human history we’ve been living off of a fairly fruit-based diet.
I love that the book isn’t about “what should We eat?” as a whole because we all can call ourselves fruit eaters, meat eaters, and grain eaters; enough time has passed to allow all three to be a part of our genetics to a certain degree. There’s no simple answer to what we All should eat, so the correct question should be: What should I eat?
I encourage you to never stop learning on your journey.
Embrace what seeks you and learn more about Yourself.
The best study is You.
Try Amazon Kindle and get access to these books and tons of other!
Join Now for a 30-Day Free Trial
Got any more healthy book tips? Tell me in the comments below!
“IS THE RAW VEGAN DIET THE ANSWER? I LITERALLY KNOW HUNDREDS OF RAW VEGANS AND NOBODY DOES THIS DIET THE SAME.”
– Storm Talifero
