Colin Campbell

Co-author of The China Study, Professor Emeritus, Cornell University

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Book Recommendations:

Recommended by Colin Campbell

Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke have written what should become the seminal book on diet, athleticism, and physical fitness. (from Amazon)

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER The only research-based guide for connecting a plant-based diet with peak athletic performance, featuring interviews with professional athletes who've made the switch from meat to plants. The Plant-Based Athlete by Matt Frazier and Robert Cheeke reveals the incontrovertible proof that the human body does not need meat, eggs, or dairy to be strong. Instead, research shows that a consciously calibrated plant-based diet offers the greatest possible recovery times, cell oxidation, injury prevention, and restorative sleep, and allows athletes to train more effectively, with better results. However, committing to a plant-based diet as an elite athlete, first-time marathoner, or weekend warrior isn't as simple as swapping vegetables for meat. Even the slightest food adjustments can impact performance. That's why Matt Frazier, founder of No Meat Athlete, and Robert Cheeke, founder of Vegan Bodybuilding, wrote this groundbreaking book, to guide those interested in making this important shift in how to do so with the best, most transformative results. The Plant-Based Athlete offers readers: A persuasive body of evidence for adopting a plant-based lifestyle, with key information about how macronutrients, micronutrients, and calories fuel a body running on plant foodsAn entire chapter devoted to protein - why plant sources of protein are preferable over meat, and how plant protein can be used to increase strength, muscle mass, and power60+ delicious and nutritious plant-based recipes, including Veggie Burger Patties, Garden Meatballs, Summer Pasta Salad, Vegan Mac & Cheese, French Toast, Acai Bowl, and a High-Energy SmoothieInsights from winning plant-based athletes in nearly every sport including champion ultrarunners Rich Roll and Scott Jurek; former NFL player David Carter; champion boxers Yuri Foreman, Unsal Arik, Cam Awesome, and Vanessa Espinoza; and Olympic-level swimmers, cyclists, figure skaters, sprinters, and more.A Day in the Life of a Plant-Based Athlete - examples of what, when, and how different athletes eat to fuel their varied workoutsAn instant classic and mainstay on health and fitness shelves everywhere, The Plant-Based Athlete is the ultimate invitation for joining the growing community of athletes who use plants to power their workouts and their every day.

Recommended by Colin Campbell

Chef AJ knows how to make tasty food and how to make it healthy. It’s very special. Try it and you’ll like it. (from Amazon)

This revision is a celebration of the amazing versatility and health benefits to be found in whole plant foods. The original book inspired thousands to adopt a healthier diet, and this newly updated edition will appeal to anyone wishing to eat healthier and try out the adage of "let thy food be thy medicine." Chef AJ shares her own inspiring journey to wellness where she learned about the healing power of whole plant foods. The authors clearly define the differences between processed vs whole plant foods, explain why fiber- over calorie-dense is better, and offer numerous suggestions on how to replace the flavors of salt, oil, and sugar (SOS). More than 135 new and improved recipes are completely SOS and gluten-free. Chef AJ creatively fuses nutrient-rich ingredients into outrageously tasteful combinations. This compendium of selections will provide nourishing and satisfying choices for anyone who wishes to feel at their best.

Recommended by Colin Campbell

The specialty of nutrition has been misunderstood for far too long. The future of health care worldwide requires a better understanding of a whole-food, plant-based diet and its enormous nutritional benefits. In making a transition to this dietary lifestyle, one of the biggest challenges is learning how to cook healthy food. Toward this end, I recommend Cathy Fisher's excellent cookbook, Straight Up Food. (from Amazon)

Veteran cooking instructor Cathy Fisher guides you in preparing delicious meals made from the most health-promoting ingredients on the planet! Her recipes call for 100% plant foods: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, and contain no animal-derived ingredients: meat (beef, pork, fowl, fish, seafood), eggs, honey, or dairy products (cow's milk, cream, butter, cheese, yogurt). They are also gluten-free and "SOS-free" (made with no added salt, oil, or sugar). These are dishes that most of us have been eating all of our lives--they've just been given a makeover! Although Cathy emphasizes whole foods instead of overly processed foods, flavor is not sacrificed: her recipes simply call for more healthful sources of sodium (salt), richness (fat), and sweetness (sugar). This is not a complicated gourmet cookbook to be admired on the bookshelf, but rather a "let's make really good food so we can feel and look really good" cookbook filled with recipes you will make on a regular basis, like: potato salad, pesto pasta, minestrone soup, ranch dressing, and carrot cake. Cathy Fisher is the creator of the recipe blog StraightUpFood.com, and teaches cooking classes at TrueNorth Health Center and the McDougall Program, both located in Santa Rosa, California. Cathy has thrived on a plant-based diet since 1999.

Recommended by Colin Campbell

Dr. William Li has always been ahead of the curve. Both the reliability of his evidence and his passion for serving the public are self-evident. He traverses the evidence from the lab to the store to his clinic with exceptional skill. (from Amazon)

The pioneering physician scientist behind the New York Times bestseller Eat to Beat Disease reveals the science of eating your way to healthy weight loss. In his first groundbreaking book, Dr. William Li explored the world of food as medicine. By eating foods that you already enjoy, like tomatoes, blueberries, sourdough bread, and dark chocolate your body activates its five health defense systems to fight cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative autoimmune diseases, and other debilitating conditions. Now in Eat to Beat Your Diet, Dr. Li introduces the surprising new science of weight loss, revealing healthy body fat can help you lose weight; your metabolism at 60 can be the same as when you were 20; yo-yo dieting can be good for your health; 8-hour fasting windows can be as effective as 12-hour fasting windows; and losing just a little bit of weight can have big impacts on your health. Eat to Beat Your Diet shows readers how adding the right foods to your diet can heal your metabolism, reduce unhealthy body fat, and result in the kind of weight loss that can increase your lifespan and help you thrive. Foods like: Tomatoes Avocado Watermelon Carrots  Blueberries Dark Chocolate Mushrooms Lentils  Purple Maize  Apple Cider Vinegar  Turmeric Lobster Mussel Caviar Oysters Sea Bass  Green Tea Soy Milk Coffee Pomegranate Juice  Both informative and practical, Dr. Li offers a four-week meal plan for food lovers; easy food swaps and shopping tips; and more than a month of crowd-pleasing recipes.

Recommended by Colin Campbell

This is a great cookbook for treating and reversing heart disease as well as a wide variety of other ailments and diseases. So hear the whisper of your heart and do it a favor. Try these recipes and see for yourself what a fantastic difference they can make for your health. Dr. Esselstyn’s amazing accomplishments are backed up by Ann and Jane’s health enriching recipes. (from Amazon)

The long-awaited cookbook companion to the revolutionary New York Times bestseller Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. “I hope you'll treat yourself to one of these recipes and just open that door. I guarantee you won't close it!" —Samuel L. Jackson Hundreds of thousands of readers have been inspired to turn their lives around by Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn’s Jr.’s bestseller, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease. The plant-based nutrition plan Dr. Esselstyn advocates based on his twenty-year nutritional study—the most comprehensive of its kind—is proven to stop and reverse even advanced coronary disease, and is built on the message the Esselstyn family has lived by for years: Your health is truly in your own hands, and what you eat matters. Mother-daughter team Ann and Jane Esselstyn have decades of experience developing delicious, healthful recipes for both their family and Dr. Esselstyn’s many grateful patients. Now, they combine their expertise to offer you the cookbook companion to Dr. Esselstyn’s groundbreaking book, with more than 125 easy and mouthwatering recipes, brimming with nourishment for your heart and your overall health. From their quick and easy meals like Fast Pasta and Greens and delicious “Sloppy Joes” to their indulgent desserts like their signature Kale Cake and Minty Frozen Chocolate Balls, these recipes will empower you to reclaim your health and discover the pleasures of eating plant-based.

Recommended by Colin Campbell

Among the many diet and health books of recent years, this book should top the list. Dr. William Li, an experienced internal medicine physician, also has an outstanding professional reputation in medical research. He knows science and how to present it to the public. His facts can only lead to a more fulfilling way to think about health for all of us. (from Amazon)

Eat your way to better health with this New York Times bestseller on food's ability to help the body heal itself from cancer, dementia, and dozens of other avoidable diseases. Forget everything you think you know about your body and food, and discover the new science of how the body heals itself. Learn how to identify the strategies and dosages for using food to transform your resilience and health in Eat to Beat Disease. We have radically underestimated our body's power to transform and restore our health. Pioneering physician scientist, Dr. William Li, empowers readers by showing them the evidence behind over 200 health-boosting foods that can starve cancer, reduce your risk of dementia, and beat dozens of avoidable diseases. Eat to Beat Disease isn't about what foods to avoid, but rather is a life-changing guide to the hundreds of healing foods to add to your meals that support the body's defense systems, including: PlumsCinnamonJasmine teaRed wine and beerBlack BeansSan Marzano tomatoesOlive oilPacific oystersCheeses like Jarlsberg, Camembert and cheddarSourdough bread The book's plan shows you how to integrate the foods you already love into any diet or health plan to activate your body's health defense systems-Angiogenesis, Regeneration, Microbiome, DNA Protection, and Immunity-to fight cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular, neurodegenerative autoimmune diseases, and other debilitating conditions. Both informative and practical, Eat to Beat Disease explains the science of healing and prevention, the strategies for using food to actively transform health, and points the science of wellbeing and disease prevention in an exhilarating new direction.

Recommended by Colin Campbell

Scientific understanding of good nutrition is but one step; putting it into practice is quite another. John and Mary McDougall have done both. (from Amazon)

The McDougall Program for Maximum Weight Loss book cover

by John A. McDougall, Mary McDougall·You?

Offering weight loss that enhances vitality without counting calories, a new groundbreaking program provides more than one hundred delicious recipes that link up-to-date nutritional science with interesting and satisfying food. 60,000 first printing. Tour.