Terry Wahls

nonfiction; health--chronic disease and autoimmune conditions / treatment & prevention through diet and lifestyle.
This is the book my autoimmune/Functional medicine doctor recommends (and even if it is over 4 years old, there is still a waitlist for it at my library, which shows that demand is holding steady). The author talks about her personal recovery, and the science behind the changes she recommends (including some background about mitochondria and how various cellular dysfunctions are a common theme among chronic diseases). She is a notable doctor in the medical field and I appreciate that she always looks for the science behind treatments and doesn't try to sell her patients on things she doesn't think are science-based. I like that there are less extreme/more extreme options (diet remains one of the hardest things to change about a person's lifestyle) and that there is the option of easing yourself into making the changes. Not everyone will have the determination to give up the foods they crave, but many people have stuck with the Wahls diet(s)--and have shown miraculous improvements for it. The tools to better health are in here; it's largely up to the patients to determine whether they will use them and how much they will benefit.

I have seen a dramatically positive change in my health since eliminating gluten, and so am now working towards increasing the nutrients and decreasing the processed foods (as soon as I finish re-testing for food sensitivities to eggs, nightshades, and dairy per my doctor's instructions).

(eventual) target goals -- these are adapted from Wahl's and not straight from the book:
* 9 cups veggies a day (for smaller people, can consume 3-5 in blended smoothies):
-3 cups leafy greens (for nutrients/natural vitamins)
-3 cups bright colors (for antioxidants)
-3 cups sulfur-rich (brassicas, onion family, mushrooms)
* 6-9 ounces of meat daily (my feeble attempts to try keto didn't go well, so I'm gonna stick with lean), preferably grass-fed and less processed.
* raw, soaked/sprouted, fermented foods (non-dairy), seaweed
* limit legumes (black beans, lentils) in favor of leafy and cruciferous veggies
* limit grains (non-gluten) and starchy potatoes (sweet potatoes ok) and
* severely limit sweets and processed foods (this one's the tough one).… (meer)

nonfiction/recipe companion book to Wahls' other book (Functional Medicine, holistic healing through food, Keto and non-Keto recipes).
This didn't go into the details of the why (for that you have to read the first book, I guess), but I liked that this is a practicing doctor who became a Functional Medicine convert (after reversing her multiple sclerosis symptoms with diet), and who still practices licensed medicine--NOT a less-credentialed person who makes money primarily through selling books and products, as you often see in this field (lots of desperate, terminal people provide a big market for quack schemes, unfortunately).

I also really liked that this provided recipes for three different levels of the Wahls' diet, each progressively more extreme/difficult, so that one can either stop at the level that suits their personal health, or can use them to ease themselves into the most difficult and extreme level, the Keto diet (ketosis is when your body has no sugar/carbs to burn, so it burns your fat--it is apparently super effective in speeding up the recovery time of surgery patients and even patients with Stage 4 cancers, but of course in order to get to ketosis you basically have to eliminate all sugars and carbs from your diet, so you've really got to be serious about it). Fortunately, this book includes recipes for the rest of us.
… (meer)