“The China Study” – by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D.  If you are going to read one book on the subject of plant-based nutrition, this is the one, plain and simple.  Dr. Campbell gives us a State of the Union on the extensive research available on the subject, including the largest nutrition study ever conducted (based upon the findings of a Chinese survey of 880 million people, and a extraordinarily well designed nutrition study of 6,500 Chinese that examined 367 variables, and which had more than 8,000 statistically significant associations between these variables.) This is the bible for the science behind eating a plant-strong diet.

“Keep It Simple, Keep it Whole: Your Guide to Optimum Health” – by Drs. Alone Pulde and Matt Lederman.  A wonderfully straight-forward guide book to healthy nutrition, this easy to read book covers both the science behind and methods for integrating whole foods into your life.  A resource for anyone starting a plant-strong journey, the book also includes a large amount of terrific, myth-busting briefs, which are helpful in walking your family or friends through the minefield of mis-information that exists about eating plant-strong.

“Healthy at 100: How You Can – at any age – Dramatically Increase Your Life Span and Your Health Span” – by John Robbins.  Why do some pockets of people around the globe produce some of the healthiest, oldest people?  In this fascinating expose, John Robbins isolates the characteristics that four of the world’s most vibrantly healthy cultures share – wholesome, yet satisfying fare; a manageable daily exercise routine, and the cultivation of strong, loving personal relationships.  If you want a boatload of anecdotes to share with your family about the cultures around the world that have found life’s fountain of youth, this is the place to start.  

“Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease” – Dr. Caldwell B. Esselstyn, Jr.  One of the most ground-breaking studies ever conducted showing that heart disease – which kills more Americans than any other disease out there – is not only preventable – but reversible – through nothing more complicated than changing what we eat.  If you – or someone you love – has suffered from or is at risk of heart attack or stroke – this book can literally save their life.

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” – Michael Pollan.  Where does what we eat for dinner come from?  In this beautiful expose, journalist Michael Pollan shows us that a healthy diet is inevitably linked to a healthy food chain, and explores how our country has made a radical change – evolutionarily speaking – in our food relationships – all the way from the soil to the meal.

Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes – Neal D. Barnard, MD.  Simply put, your diet can reverse your Type II diabetes.  We’ll say that again – what you eat can get you off of your diabetes medication – for good.  To say that this ground-breaking book is a must-read is to grossly understate one of the most important points that plant-based advocates make:  nutrition and disease are extraordinarily linked.  If you – or someone you know – suffer the daily tolls of insulin shots and expensive drug regiments, READ THIS BOOK.

Breaking the Food Seduction – Neal D. Barnard, MD.  If sweets and high-fat foods (vegan or otherwise) are sabotaging your efforts to lose weight and get healthy, nothing will help you understand the power that such foods have over us better than this book.  Dr. Barnard explains in an easy-to-understand manner the biochemical processes that eating sweets, meat, and cheese result in – and why they are chemically ‘addictive’ – in a way that will empower any reader with the knowledge and skills to be a smarter and more strategic eater.  Our body can be our best friend or our worst enemy – and this book will teach you how to feed it wisely.