Sunday, April 1, 2012

Current Reading List

I was talking to a good old friend yesterday who has a lot of his health and fitness books at his finger tips via his iPad (there are two at our house but I still do not own my own). I seem to be in the book, scientific journals and research paper collection mode still...that's a lot of paper after more than 25 years in the fitness industry.

Here a few books that make up my current reading list:

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life by Nick Lane, Ph.D (Oxford University Press). This book could become an all-time favorite because it is pulling together a lot of science for me that was kind of "floating around" out there for me - especially with the inner working of cell biology and more specifically the intriguing organelle - the Mitochondria. This book was selected as one of The Economist's Books of the Year for 2005, and shortlisted for the 2006 Royal Society Aventis Science Book Prize and the Times Higher Young Academic Author of the Year Award. See Nick Lane's website here.

The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living by Jeff Volek, Ph.D, RD and Stephen Phinney, Ph.D (Beyond Obesity LLC). I'm very familiar with both of these researchers. There is so much, in my opinion, that is misunderstood regarding nutrition and especially with appropriate carbohydrate intake. This book starts off with a great history and overview of low carbohydrate diets and picks up steam with each subsequent chapter including some great recipes at the end of the book. This is a great follow-up book from the works of author Gary Taubes.

The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth by Johnny Bowden, Ph.D, CNS (Fair Winds Press). If your looking for some great new super foods - like Kale - to add to your diet - this is the book - check out this ORAC listing.

Physical Activity and Obesity by Claude Bouchard (ed.) (Human Kinetics) - Can't hurt to add one of many textbooks. This text takes you from the history of the obesity epidemic to the behavioral determinants of obesity through activity needed for this population. One of the more interesting chapters for me (chapter 12) dealt with levels of activity and more specifically research on a protective level of activity on preventing weight gain. One such paper mentioned about 80 min/day of moderate intensity exercise or 35 min/day of vigorous activity to prevent weight gain.

Also reading Fast Food Nation (Eric Schlosser) and recently finished Planet Obesity (Egger and Swinburn)

1 comment:

David Haas said...

Hi,
I have a quick question about your blog, do you think you could email me?
David