Welcome to my book review page.  Here I share with you my brief thoughts on health-related books that I have read to help you decide if you would like to read them too.  Of course, our opinions may differ and I accept no liability for any books purchased based on my reviews that do not reflect your own views – life would be boring if we were all thought the same wouldn’t it?!

I hope you find this page useful, and enjoy any books you choose to purchase or borrow from your local library.  If you read, or have written, any books that you think may be of interest to me, let me know (nutrition@alible.diet)!

I should note that this page will not fill up very quickly – I am not a prolific book reader.

(I have not received any payment in relation to these reviews, and they have been compiled without input from the author or publisher)

Gut_Giulia Enders_book photoA great read for anyone wanting to understand the importance of gut health without getting in to the really technical stuff.  Explanatory and light-hearted illustrations included throughout to support the text.  There is a lot of humour in the book, although at times it does seem like it is trying too hard to maintain this tone, but this doesn’t detract from the information and explanations being provided.

If you want to learn about the importance of your digestive system in relation to your health, this is a must-read!

4000 weeks_Oliver Burkeman_book coverMany parts of this book resonated with me.  The observed truths about our attitudes to time are thought provoking.

This book makes for quite easy-reading as the author covers various concepts with references to well-known, and not so well-known, figures in both recent and ancient history.  A few times I felt as though the author was encouraging a defeatist attitude, but I persevered and continued reading the chapter to understand what the author was intending.

With chapters including topics such as valuing your choices, procrastination and finite time there is quite a lot covered.  Make sure you read the afterword and the appendix which seem to be the summary guide to the key points.

This book is great for people who feel stressed and overwhelmed by their to-do lists and task-orientation. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody experiencing depression.

Naturalogy_Spencer Pullin_book coverA thought-provoking book that covers many aspects of our lives that impact our health.  Chapters include: Nutrition, Thoughts, Activity, and Rest.  The latter includes a great overview about sleep including the 5Rs.  I am a little unsure about the fifth ‘R’ being called ‘Re-inflation’ however as it sounds very much like something I would wish to avoid happening to me each night!  The title, thankfully, doesn’t quite reflect what the paragraph actually means.

There is a great section under Activity about “fit” vs “healthy” which is crucial to our understanding of the importance of exercise and the balance with other lifestyle aspects.  It also has an interesting and worthwhile discussion about insulin resistance.

Overall, the book is a useful introduction for anyone who is interested in health but may be lacking the motivation to introduce healthier habits.  For me, there is a lack of referencing on some important, and some perhaps controversial, points that would have helped to support the author’s statements.  This would be particularly helpful where the author has developed, what appear to be, personal, subjective theories based on scientific “fact”.  The author appears to believe in the Paleo diet and mindset – I am not saying this is wrong in any way, but readers may wish to bear this in mind.

The book is not overly prescriptive in terms of telling the reader what they must do, it focuses more on why the different aspects are important.  This provides a good basis on which readers can continue their research and begin to find ways to form better habits that work within their own lives.

Activate Your Vagus Nerve book coverActivate Your Vagus Nerve is packed with information about what the vagus nerve is, its function and how to look after it.  There is much discussion about how problems with the vagus nerve can impact our health (and in some cases vice versa).  However, at times it felt like the links were ‘reaching’.  The inclusion of the bibliography is a great idea to help support the claims made throughout the book (I haven’t yet critically appraised the studies listed – that will take a while as there are so many!)

The book is not written in a stuffy textbook style and includes some analogies to help explain different points.  I however found it hard to ‘get in to’ and keep my focus on. I don’t know why that was – may be I have some work to do on my own vagus nerve!

Just One Thing book coverThis book is the accompaniment to Dr Michael Mosley’s podcast, and the writing style means that you can ‘hear’ him saying the words as it is very much in his style.  I haven’t yet listened to the podcast so the information was new to me in that sense.

This book is very easy to read.  It has short chapters, one for each simple change, which means it can easily be put down and picked up again whenever you have just a few minutes spare.  I don’t want to go into detail about the chapters as that would stop you needing to read it, however throughout the emphasis of the book is to do as the title says: change just one thing (at a time).  The author acknowledges that not everything will work for everyone, we all have our own lifestyles and preferences.  Habit formation is mentioned with the suggestion of attaching the new habit to something you already do, helping to establish it as a routine.  I found the chapter about motor imagery a particularly interesting section.

The chapters are personal in that Dr Michael Mosley tried out the changes himself, as he did many of the things he talked about publicly.  He includes insights into his home life with references to his wife and the changes they have made together, including a recipe of hers to help readers along.  There is a reference section including the key studies that were used to compile the book, divided by chapter to make it easier to find the evidence for any particular points.  There are also less scientific studies and anecdotal ‘evidence’ here and there, which is typical of BBC health programmes.

I do recommend this book for anyone to read, even those who think healthy habits are too difficult may find inspiration.