Looking for last minute gift ideas? Give the gift of metabolic health!
There are a lot of books about ketogenic diet and lifestyles—if you’re new to the concept, the selection might be overwhelming. Keto recipe books, especially, seem like they’re a dime a dozen these days. But the true fundamentals of the ketogenic diet—the science, the history, even the politics—are best trusted to the real experts.
What is keto? Where does it come from? Why does it work? These books have the answers.
We’ve read ‘em all. Here’s our guide:
The Case for Keto by Gary Taubes
Gary Taubes is a journalist, not a doctor or a dietitian, but nevertheless he is perhaps the most important single figure in the recent history of low-carbohydrate dieting. Taubes has spent a career investigating the history and politics of nutrition science, as well as the advanced science of human metabolism. In The Case for Keto, his latest, he consolidates his learning into a single concise and comprehensive argument. Why does keto work? And how did the authorities get it so wrong for so long? Start here. There’s no better foundation.
The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living by Jeff Volek and Dr. Stephen Phinney
Perhaps the one book that did the most to ignite the keto trend in the last decade, this book remains a bible for low-carb diet & lifestyle, presenting an authoritative guide to how and why we should restrict carbohydrates. Also popular: The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, the definitive guide to exercise in the ketogenic state.
The Diabetes Code by Dr. Jason Fung
Dr. Fung is known for one dieting technique above all: intermittent fasting. The Diabetes Code provides an excellent overview on the reality insulin resistance, and explains why low-carbohydrate diets work. But it will ultimately be of most interest to dieters that want to try the fasting technique, which may be uniquely beneficial to people with diabetes
Why We Get Sick by Benjamin Bikman
Bikman, a professor of physiology and developmental biology, looks deep at insulin resistance, a condition that has reached epidemic proportions across virtually the entire globe. Insulin resistance causes Type 2 diabetes, of course, but is also at the heart of a bewildering number of chronic diseases and conditions, from cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer’s disease to sexual dysfunction. The book is both a definitive explanation of the pathogenesis and mechanisms of insulin resistance and a practical manual for improving one’s own health (hint: cut the carbs!).
How to Eat in the Time of Covid-19 by Dr. Mariela Glandt
At her pioneering clinic, endocrinologist Dr. Mariela Glandt has helped hundreds of patients lose weight, correct diabetes, and reclaim their lives using the principles of a ketogenic diet. In How to Eat In the Time of Covid-19, she explains how you can use the keto diet principles to fix your metabolic health.
Dr. Glandt offers easy-to-follow eating rules and recommendations that will put you on the path to metabolic health in no time at all! This short, simple guide will help you optimize your nutrition and maximize your defenses against Covid-19!
The P:E Diet by Dr. Ted Naiman
Six-packed Twitter star Dr. Ted Naiman has his own spin on keto—he recommends a diet very high in lean protein and an accompanying regimen of intense muscle-building exercise. This is an extremely practical manual, with hundreds of photos and illustrations. Anyone could benefit from the approach, but it might be most popular with dieters that are really trying to lose weight and add muscle at the same time.
Dr. Bernstein’s Diabetes Solution by Dr. Richard Bernstein
Pretty much the bible of diabetes care, this doorstopper is required reading for anyone ready to take their diabetes management—Type 1 or Type 2—to the next level. No book has influenced the ASweetLife philosophy more. Dr. Bernstein started on his own keto diet when such a thing was practically unheard of. Fifty years later, and he’s still going strong.
End Your Carb Confusion by Dr. Eric Westman and Amy Berger
Dr. Westman has done pioneering clinical work and has recommended low-carb diets to his patients for years. Here he’s joined by the popular nutritionist Amy Berger to share his method. The authors eschew the one size fits all approach and instead offer multiple diet plans featuring different levels of carbohydrate intake, and help explain which might be right for you.
The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholz
Teicholz, an investigative journalist, shows that just about everything you thought you knew about dietary fat, especially saturated fat, is wrong. This book was a thunderclap in the mainstream media, led to the reappraisal of butter and bacon, and helped pave the way for the keto diet’s widespread popularity.
Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution by Dr. Robert Atkins
The book that set off the ketogenic trend in the modern era. The Atkins diet has come in and out of fashion several times, and has since been superseded in its description of metabolic processes, but there’s a reason it’s remained a touchstone for nearly fifty years: it works.
Letter on Corpulence by William Banting
Published in 1863, this booklet wasn’t just the first low-carb diet manual—it may well have been the world’s first diet book, period. William Banting was no doctor—he was undertaker, of all things—but he found wild fame when he shared his own success combatting obesity with a zero-starch, zero sugar diet. A fascinating time machine and a great gift for the intellectually curious keto dieter
The Everyday Keto Kitchen – Carolyn Ketchum
If you’re trying out a new diet, you’re gonna need recipes, and with about a billion keto cookbooks out there, where do you start? We heartily recommend Carolyn Ketchum, a long-time ASweetLife contributor, who is universally beloved in the low-carb community. Everyday Keto Kitchen is just the start—Carolyn has books on baking, soups, breakfast, and more.
