Best Health & Wellness Books

Journalist Michael Easter spends 33 days hunting in the Alaskan wilderness while investigating the science of why modern comfort is making us physically and mentally worse, and what embracing discomfort can do for our lives.

Mark Bittman's flexible, part-time approach to plant-based eating — vegan before 6:00 p.m., then a sensible dinner — built to improve health and lose weight without the rigidity of a full-time diet, with strategies and recipes to make it work.

Tim Ferriss applies his 80/20 optimisation philosophy to the human body — covering fat loss, muscle gain, sleep, sex, and extreme athletic performance with self-experimental data.

Dr. Steven Gundry argues that longevity depends primarily on gut microbiome health, and provides a comprehensive protocol for living vigorously into old age.

A journalist goes in search of the reclusive Tarahumara Indians of Mexico's Copper Canyons, legendary for their ability to run hundreds of miles without rest or injury. What he discovers turns everything he thinks he knows about running — and human nature — upside down.

A nephrologist argues that obesity is caused by insulin resistance and chronic insulin elevation — not by calories in/calories out — and that intermittent fasting is the solution.

Atul Gawande's debut collection of essays explores the uncertainties, errors, and imperfections inherent in the practice of medicine — written from inside the operating room by a resident surgeon learning on real patients.

Atul Gawande argues that the humble checklist is the most powerful tool available for reducing failure in complex environments — drawing on evidence from surgery, aviation, construction, and finance to make the case.

Atul Gawande examines what it means to perform well in medicine — exploring the habits, diligence, and ingenuity required to close the gap between what medicine knows and what medicine does in practice.

Dr. Satchin Panda, the world's leading researcher on circadian rhythms, explains how aligning your eating, sleeping, and activity with your internal clock dramatically improves health outcomes.

Michael Pollan's response to the nutritionism that has dominated American food culture — a short, elegant argument that the answer to the question of what to eat is simpler than the food industry and nutrition science want us to believe.

Robert Lustig argues that chronic disease is driven by processed food and metabolic dysfunction — and that the current medical and food industry response actively worsens the problem.