Some of the best books on health and nutrition are based on the principles of good nutrition. These principles are based on recommendations from experts in fields such as family medicine, dietetics, nutrition, food science, public health, general medicine and more.
There are many nutritional book options available on the market, from how to healthy eating, the food industry, fitness and nutrition, etc. There is plenty of health and nutritional books on the market to pick fom.
However, with so many options available, it can be tough to find healthy eating books that are reliable, informative, lively, and enjoyable.
You’ll find that there are plenty of nutrition books that you can fit into your library regardless of whether you’re a health expert or a foodie!
Here are some of the top books on healthy eating, both general and more specialized readings, along with tips to help you find the best book for you.
#1. Food Rules: Best book if you care about eating healthy
#2. Intuitive Eating for Every Day: Best nutrition book if you want to develop a healthier relationship with food
#3. Diet for a Hot Planet: Best book if you care about sustainable food
#4. Peak: Best book on nutrition if you are an athletes
#5. Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Complete Food and Nutrition Guide: Best book on nutrition if you are a beginner
#6. Food Politics: Best book related to policies around food
#7. Not a Diet Book: Best book if you care about fitness and nutrition
#8. Metabolical: Best book on healthy eating if you are a lover of science
#9. How to Be Well: Best book on nutrition if you are interested in easy-read
#10. Fortify Your Life: Best book if you are interested in supplements
#11. In Defense of Food: Best book if you are interested in learning more about the food industry.
#12. The Well Plated Cookbook: Best book if you need health eating cookbook
Choosing a book about nutrition can be tricky. With so much conflicting information out there, it’s hard to know what to believe. That’s why I compiled this list of tips to help you make the right decision for yourself and your family.
- Cross-check the source. Always make sure to check the credentials (area of expertise) of the author before buying a book. Ask questions like: “Does this person work in nutrition?” or “Are they trained to deal with diet-related issues?”. Books written by experts, such as dietitians or physicians, are often best.
- Be mindful of exaggerated health claims. That’s why it’s important to learn how to spot misleading claims and phrases when reading. Books that make exaggerated claims should be avoided in favor of those which back up their statements with research.
- It’s important to take a realistic approach to nutrition. It’s important to find books that teach you how to be healthy without resorting to fad diets or similar restrictive practices. Always look for books that focus on a balanced, realistic approach to healthy living.
- Pay attention to what customers are saying in reviews. Considering buying a book? Customer reviews can offer helpful insights, and can also help you decide which one is right for you. They’re a good way to figure out whether the book is appropriate for your nutritional knowledge level.
- Always make sure to only use recipes that are aligned with your health goals. If you’re going to buy a cookbook, it’s best if the recipes and advice address your dietary restrictions and preferences.
Our criteria for choosing our recommended health and nutrition books
- We Vet. Publishers included on this list go through a vetting process to ensure that they meet our book recommendations standards.
- Authoritativeness of the Author. The authors are the world’s foremost authorities on the topics they write about.
- Quality of information. We searched for books that are engaging, useful, and credible.
- Customer feedback or reviews. If the reviews are genuine and good, we share recommend the book to others you also need the information provided.
Here are our picks of the best books on healthy eating and nutrition
About the Author: Best-selling author Michael Pollan has previously written six best-selling books and is the author of Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire. He has been a longtime contributor to the New York Times Magazine and also teaches writing at Harvard and the University of California, Berkeley. In 2010, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
About this Book: “Food Rules” will help readers understand how they should eat and provide evidence-based explanations. For anyone looking to learn about healthy eating, this book is a must-read. It’s different from most books with its 64 sensible guidelines for eating well, instead of restrictive food rules & fad diets.
About the Author: Author Evelyn Tribole has authored ten books, including the bestseller Intuitive Eating and her newest book, Intuitive Eating for Every Day: 365 Inspirations and Practices. Evelyn has been training health professionals on how to help their clients stay healthy and keep stable with food, mind, and body through the process of Intuitive Eating. There are over 1500 Certified Intuitive Eating Counselors in 37 countries around the world.
Evelyn’s writings have been featured in big media channels like CNN, Good Morning America, NBC’s Today Show, MSNBC, Fox News, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, and of course Ten Percent Happier. Her work has also been highlighted in prestigious magazines like Vogue and People Magazine.
About this Book: “Intuitive Eating for Every Day” will help you learn to manage your day-to-day relationship with food and your body. You’ll also get tips and recipes along the journey to improve your general well-being.
This book tackles the challenges of eating in a society with limited food education and an unrealistic expectation of what constitutes a ‘healthy’ body. It will help you reconnect to your intuition and your urges, while not getting bogged down in unsustainable diet culture.
Intuitive Eating for Every Day would be a great resource to start with if you’re not familiar with the topic.
About the Author: Anna Lappé is the author of several national bestsellers and the founder of both the Small Planet Institute and Small Planet Fund. She is also the co-author of Hope’s Edge with her mother Frances Moore Lappé and Urban Organic Kitchen Grub with Bryant Terry.
She is the host of MSN’s Practical Guide to Healthier Living and has appeared on Sundance Channel’s Ideas for a Small Planet. She has appeared in many popular magazines like Time’s “Eco” Who’s Who and The New York Times, Gourmet, O-The Oprah Magazine, Food & Wine, and Vibe.
She is the Vice President of the Glynwood Institute for Sustainable Food and Farming, as well as a Senior Fellow with the Oakland Institute.
About this Book: “Diet for a Hot Planet” is lauded for being a well-researched source of information on the issues surrounding sustainability and quality food. It also provides a plethora of practical tips to ensure that you become a sustainable eater.
About the Author: Dr. Marc Bubbs is a Naturopathic Doctor, consultant Performance Nutritionist for Canada Basketball and ALTIS. He is also a speaker who provides advice on all aspects of physical activity & exercise including the improvement of strength skills. He’s also a former strength coach and regular contributor to Breaking Muscle, in addition to being on the board of advisors for Strong Magazine
Marc has been working with elite athletes, executives, and others for decades using scientific nutrition practices to help them improve their health.
Dr. Bubbs has presented at many health conventions and consults with professional sports teams to help players.
About this Book: “Peak” is a must-have for any athlete looking to improve their performance and maximize their potential. He also addresses the importance of other factors that can affect an athlete’s performance, such as gut health, recovery, sleep, and hormone levels
About the Author: Roberta Larson Duyff is a nationally-recognized award-winning author, national speaker, media writer, and food industry consultant. She emphasizes science-based food & nutrition guidance promotes “the power of positive nutrition” and provides a link to a better life with healthier options for consumers of all ages. Roberta has authored many books including the American Dietetic Association Complete Food and Nutrition Guide (now in its fourth edition, 2012), and 365 Days of Healthy Eating with its flavorful recipes and healthy lifestyle tips (John Wiley & Sons).
About this Book: Hailed as the most trusted manual for healthy eating, the “Academy of Nutrition and Dietetic’s Complete Food and Nutrition Guide” is a great book to have on hand if you’re new to nutrition.
The book is very detailed and lays out easy-to-follow, proven strategies for living more healthily. It can be used as a reference guide for any of the stages of life. This book isn’t designed to be read cover-to-cover but instead, it’s great as a go-to reference when you need it.
About the Author: Dr. Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She was chair of NYU’s Department of Nutrition from 1988-2003. During her senior position in the Department of Health and Human Services from 1986-88, she was a senior nutrition policy advisor and managed the publication of The Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. Her work mainly focuses on scientific, economic, and social research.
Dr. Nestle is the author of three prize-winning books: “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health” (2002, revised edition, 2007), “Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety” (2003, revised edition, 2010), and “What to Eat” (2006). “Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine” published in September 2008 and the paperback version in 2010. She has also co-authored and written several other great books.
About this Book: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health tackles all topics related to food policy and much more.
The book will show you how food and nutrition policies have been historically driven by politics and economics, as well as how you can make a difference with your vote.
About the Author: James Smith is a Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author, an online Personal Trainer who wants to help people reach their goals. James is ruthlessly honest with his blog and social media content and doesn’t apologize for it. He wants to show people the truth about the toxic myths in diet culture, as well as help people reach their fitness goals – no matter how old they are
Known for his honest approach to fitness and nutrition, personal trainer James Smith offers refreshingly straightforward advice on how to adopt healthier habits, boost your training routine, and improve your life in this bestselling book.
About this Book: Not a Diet Book: Take Control. Gain Confidence. Change Your Life is full of complex topics like metabolism, fitness fallacies, supplements, etc. The information covered in the book is about fat loss, muscle growth, and more.
The book has been 5-star rated by more than 5000 readers. They appreciate that all the advice is evidence-based and easy to understand.
About the Author: Robert H. Lustig serves as professor of pediatrics in the Division of Endocrinology and a member of the Institute for Health Policy Studies at the University of California, San Francisco. He has authored 120 peer-reviewed articles over the years and was also able to train 30 pediatric endocrinology fellows under his mentorship.
He is the former chairman of the Obesity Task Force of the Pediatric Endocrine Society, a member of the Obesity Task Force of the Endocrine Society, and a member of the Pediatric Obesity Devices Committee of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. He also holds the position of president at the non-profit Institute for Responsible Nutrition, which is dedicated to reversing childhood obesity and Type 2 Diabetes. He has consulted for so many childhood obesity advocacy groups and is also involved with governmental agencies.
About this Book: Metabolical is a well-researched critique of modern medicine and investigates the connection between diet, health, and chronic disease
The book draws from plenty of research and years of experience to show you what you should put on your plate to feel better and conserve the environment
About the Author: A pioneer and internationally recognized expert in the fields of Integrative Medicine. Frank Lipman, MD is the founder and director of Eleven Eleven Wellness Center in New York City and the creator of Be Well by Dr. Frank Lipman, a proprietary brand of dietary supplements, detoxifying cleanses and health coaching services.
A New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Lipman has written 4 books: Total Renewal – 7 Key Steps to Resilience Vitality and Long Term Health; Revive – End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again; The New Health Rules – Simple Changes to Achieve Whole-Body Wellness; and his latest book 10 Reasons You Feel Old and Get Fat.
About this Book: How to Be Well: The 6 Keys to a Happy and Healthy Life includes many helpful pointers on how to live a healthy life.
Customers love this book because it’s an enjoyable read that breaks down complex nutrition topics and presents them in an easy-to-understand way. It also includes useful illustrations, sample menus, and meal plans that customers find useful.
About the Author: Tieraona Low Dog is an internationally recognized expert in the field of dietary supplements and integrative medicine. She’s had many different roles in her career and has also been involved with national health policy and regulatory issues, serving on advisory panels for the White House and National Institutes of Health to name a few. She is the author of Fortify Your Life, Healthy at Home, Life is Your Best Medicine, and Guide to Medicinal Herbs.
About this Book: Shopping for supplements can be tedious, but this book does a good job of making it easier by providing essential information and guiding people to take charge of their health in an easy-to-follow way.
The book covers everything from the importance of label reading and how to shop for vitamins and minerals, to research on the connection between supplements and your diet. It also delves into how you can use supplements to help you feel your best.
About the Author: As already mentioned, Best-selling author Michael Pollan has previously written six best-selling books and is the author of Cooked, Food Rules, In Defense of Food, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and The Botany of Desire. In 2010, TIME magazine named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
About this Book: Michael Pollan is a food writer so he knows what he’s talking about. He takes an in-depth look at how the food industry has changed since the introduction of ultra-processed foods.
Not only does Michael Pollan extensively explore the complicated world of food, but he debunks popular diet myths. He discusses how to make more mindful food choices and redefine what healthy eating means.
About the Author: Erin Clarke launched her popular recipe website, WellPlated.com, in 2012 and it now welcomes millions of readers every month. She has established herself as the go-to resource for healthy yet enjoyable meals that are easy to prepare and can be made weekly.
She’s also known for providing the best dishes both for dates and picky eaters. Known to many as an intense runner, she often appears unannounced at friends’ homes with enchiladas and sangria.
About this Book: The Well Plated Cookbook is a must-have for anyone looking for quick, healthy recipes that are easy to find ingredients for. Whether you’re a picky eater or not, one of these recipes is sure to please you.
Whether it’s Sticky Asian Cauliflower Wings or Ultimate Creamy Mac and Cheese (4 Ways), it got you covered. Though the book is not written by a nutritionist, the author has been cooking up healthier dishes on family classics since 2012. You’ll surely love her non-diet approach to healthier eats!
The best books on health and nutrition will help you understand the importance of healthy eating and lifestyle. They will also teach you how to avoid diseases that are caused by unhealthy eating habits.
There seems to be a never-ending supply of books on healthy eating. Next time you shop for a book try and look at the author’s credentials and make sure it matches your interests, needs, and nutrition knowledge.
With this list, we hope you find a few reads to fill up your bookshelf and change your life as far as health and nutrition are concerned.
Featured Video: What to Eat and When You Should Eat to Fix Your Metabolic Problems