My Top 18 Most Useful And Thought-Provoking *Must-Read* Health, Fitness, Nutrition, Spirituality & Self-Improvement Books Of 2020.

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Chances are, you've got some extra time on your hands these days—that is, if you're not busy teaching yourself how to make a crazy superfood cheesecake or trying to become TikTok famous. (And no, I haven't even begun using TikTok at all myself—I need another social media platform like I need another hole in my head.)

So I thought what better time than this to write another one of my “Top Books” articles with the purpose of enlightening you with 18 self-improvement and health and fitness books I've read recently that I've found to be especially useful and thought-provoking.

Oh, and if you're anything like me—someone who wants to extract as much wisdom from a book in the shortest amount of time as possible—then I highly recommend checking out some of the following resources to equip you to get through books faster, glean more information from them, or get the “cliff-notes” versions of the ones you want to learn more from but might not have time to read in full.

First, the book How to Read a Book: The Classic Guide to Intelligent Reading will teach you all about various levels of reading (elementary,  systematic skimming, inspectional reading, and speed reading) and how to put them into practice. If you're not interested in reading an entire book about “how to read a book,” this comprehensive article summarizes it quite nicely. A new title, The Only Skill That Matters, by Jonathan Levi, is also quite good. (I also have a podcast coming out with him in two weeks about learning more and reading faster!)

Next, if you don't have the time, don't want to commit fully to a book just yet, or want to gain an understanding of what a book is about beyond what the back cover will tell you, book summaries by Derek Sivers and James Clear are a great option. I often use them to determine whether I really want to read a full book or just get the CliffsNotes.

Finally, my friend Brian Johnson's website Optimize.me has quick downloadable PDFs and MP3s for some of the world's top books (both old and new). By the way, you can use code BEN to save 10% on a membership to Optimize (which is dirt cheap anyways).

Ready to dive in? Enjoy, and let me know your favorite recent reads and must-read books in the comments section below!


1. EMF*D: 5G, Wi-Fi & Cell Phones: Hidden Harms & How To Protect Yourself

health and fitness booksI sat slack-jawed and shocked in my bed when I stayed up until 2 am glued to my friend Dr. Joseph Mercola's new book about 5g dangers, EMF*D. (Granted, I had to interview him the next day so I had to fly through his book and break my sleeping rules.)

The hazards of electronic pollution may once have been the stuff of science fiction, but now we know they're all too real, and with the advent of 5G ultra-wideband technology, the danger is greater than ever.

So I just had to get Dr. Mercola on this comprehensive 5G and EMF podcast to talk about exactly what they are and how you can protect yourself. He's one of the world's foremost authorities on alternative health, and in this latest title, he has mined the scientific literature to offer a radical new understanding of how electromagnetic fields impact your body and mind.

In this first-of-its-kind guide, he reveals:

  • What EMFs (electromagnetic fields) actually are, where you find them in your daily life, and how they affect you…
  • The toll that EMFs have been proven to take in conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and neuropsychiatric illnesses…
  • Why you've been largely kept in the dark about this threat to your health…
  • How you can actually repair the damage done by EMFs at a cellular level…
  • Practical strategies to protect yourself and your loved ones from EMFs at home, at work, and out in the world…

The coming 5G technology will be pervasive and powerful. It will also be one of the largest public health experiments in history, with no way of opting out. That's why you need to read this book. Get EMF*D here.


2. The Ozone Miracle: How You Can Harness the Power of Oxygen to Keep You and Your Family Healthy

This is important and probably one of the most powerful things you can use (especially during these times) and an amazing health tool for you and your family going forward.

It's ozone. It's so important that I'm not just going to share with you the best book I've read about ozone, but also how I'm currently using it.

After reading The Ozone Miracle by Dr. Frank Shallenberger, I was absolutely blown away by the anti-microbial and oxygen-enhancing properties of ozone. In medicine, ozone therapy is used to disinfect and treat diseases by limiting the effects of bacteria, viruses, fungi, yeast, and protozoa.

Frank’s book also gets into the effects of ozone for:

  • Inactivating bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, yeast, and protozoa…
  • Stimulating the immune system to speed up healing…
  • Improving circulation by cleaning the arteries and veins…
  • Purifying blood and the lymph…
  • Normalizing hormone and enzyme production…
  • Having anti-inflammatory properties…
  • Reducing pain…
  • Stopping bleeding…
  • Preventing shock…
  • Limiting stroke damage…
  • Reducing cardiac arrhythmia or abnormal heart rhythm…
  • Reducing the risk of complications from diabetes…
  • Improving brain function and memory…

So based on all this, and the advice of the brilliant Dr. Matt Cook, who uses ozone extensively in his functional medicine practice, I decided to research and purchase an at-home ozone generator for myself and my family. (Matt has a great, comprehensive research-based document on ozone research here.) At the bottom of this virus page, you can read more about the ozone generator I purchased after reading Frank's book and why I got the one I did (which I now use daily for ozone water, rectal ozone, ear and nasal ozone insufflation, and much more). Anyways, you can get The Ozone Miracle here.


3. Anti-Factory Farm Shopping Guide

health and fitness booksThis short and easy-to-read book is meant for anyone who is interested in transitioning from factory-farmed food to organic (and hopefully, one day biodynamic food), but at the same time feels confused by all the labels, and even whether organic food is any better than factory-farmed food. With entertaining illustrations, video links, and very light reading, the Anti-Factory Farm Shopping Guide covers the following topics:

  • Differences between caged, cage-free, free-range, and pasture-raised meats and eggs…
  • How to easily identify genetically-modified foods…
  • Why factory-farmed meats cause inflammation…
  • The myth of safe pesticides…
  • Differences between factory-farmed, organic, and biodynamic fruits and vegetables…
  • Why seeing “vegetarian-fed” on a label is actually a bad thing, even if it’s organic…
  • Importance of staying away from farmed fish…
  • How to source quality water and supplements…
  • And much more!

To enhance learning and make it all as simple as possible, this book comes with free video instructions and other extended learning materials. For a taste of what this book has to offer, check out this recent guest article by author Eugene Trufkin on my blog. Get the Anti-Factory Farm Shopping Guide here.


4. The Sprout Book: Tap Into the Power of the Planet's Most Nutritious Food

During my quarantine time, I powered through The Sprout Book to learn how to use dirt-cheap seeds (readily available anywhere even when grocery stores are sold out of twinkies and toilet paper) to unlock a host of nutrients in an inexpensive, space-saving environment at home. I used the “Broccoli & Friends” mix (a potent blend of high-germination broccoli, alfalfa, radish, and clover sprouting seeds) and the glass mason jar sprouting method to sprout for 5 days and…holy hell, check out this Instagram post to see the life these little powerhouses took on!

As you'll read in the book—which teaches you how to easily grow sprouts, microgreens, grasses, and much more—the health benefits of sprouts include the ability to:

  • Improve the digestive process…
  • Increase metabolic rate…
  • Prevent anemia…
  • Aid in weight loss…
  • Increase enzymatic activity…
  • Regulate cholesterol…
  • Reduce blood pressure…
  • Prevent neural tube defects…
  • Boost skin health…
  • Improve vision…
  • Support the immune system…
  • Increase usable energy reserves…

Plus, sprouting deactivates all the built-in plant defense mechanisms. I plan to use most of the sprouts I'm growing on salads and in smoothies then salt, spice, and dehydrate a batch for a crunchy on-the-go snack. Get The Sprout Book here. It's the most up-to-date, easy-to-read sprouting book I've been able to find.


5. The Oxygen Advantage

The Oxygen Advantage is one of the best breathing books I've read. In it, the man who has trained over 5,000 people—including Olympic and professional athletes—in reduced breathing exercises shares his scientifically validated techniques to help you breathe more efficiently.

His name is Patrick McKeown, and in his book, you learn:

  • The fundamental relationship between oxygen and the body…
  • How to use a Body Oxygen Level Test (BOLT) to determine how efficiently your body uses oxygen…
  • How to increase your BOLT score by using light breathing exercises…
  • How to simulate high altitude training…
  • Techniques used by Navy SEALs and professional athletes to help increase endurance, weight loss, and vital red blood cells to dramatically improve cardiovascular fitness…
  • And more!

The secret to weight loss, fitness, and wellness lies in the most basic and most overlooked function of your body: how you breathe. One of the biggest obstacles to better health and fitness is a rarely identified problem: chronic overbreathing. We often take many more breaths than we need without realizing it. This contributes to poor health and fitness, including a host of disorders, from anxiety and asthma to insomnia and heart problems.

Following Patrick's program, even the most out-of-shape person (including those with chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma) can climb stairs, run for a bus, or play soccer without gasping for air, and everyone can achieve:

  • Easy weight loss and weight maintenance…
  • Improved sleep and energy…
  • Increased concentration…
  • Reduced breathlessness during exercise…
  • Heightened athletic performance…
  • Improved cardiovascular health…
  • Elimination of asthmatic symptoms…

This book offers a simple, yet revolutionary approach to improving your body's oxygen use and increasing your health, weight loss, and sports performance—whether you're a recovering couch potato or an Ironman triathlon champion. Get The Oxygen Advantage here.


6. Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

Yes, another book on breathing! Can you tell I'm obsessed with the breath (in my opinion, for good reason)? After all, no matter what you eat, how much you exercise, how skinny or young or wise you are, none of it matters if you’re not breathing properly.

There is nothing more essential to your health and well-being than breathing: take air in, let it out, repeat 25,000 times a day. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to breathe correctly, with grave consequences.

Journalist, and previous podcast guest of mine, James Nestor travels the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. The answers aren’t found in pulmonology labs, as we might expect, but in the muddy digs of ancient burial sites, secret Soviet facilities, New Jersey choir schools, and the smoggy streets of São Paulo. Nestor tracks down men and women exploring the hidden science behind ancient breathing practices like Pranayama, Sudarshan Kriya, and Tummo and teams up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe.

Modern research is showing us that making even slight adjustments to the way we inhale and exhale can jump-start athletic performance; rejuvenate internal organs; halt snoring, asthma, and autoimmune disease; and even straighten scoliotic spines. None of this should be possible, and yet it is.

Drawing on thousands of years of medical texts and recent cutting-edge studies in pulmonology, psychology, biochemistry, and human physiology, Breath turns the conventional wisdom of what we thought we knew about our most basic biological function on its head. You will never breathe the same again. Stay tuned to my newsletter for an upcoming podcast with James where we discuss his new book in depth. Get Breath here.


7. The Power of Your Breath: The Secret Key to Reshaping Your Looks, Your Body, Your Health and Your Weight

OK: one more book on breathing! Anders Olsson, founder of Conscious Breathing, has educated hundreds of breathing instructors and helped thousands of people create massive change in their lives through the power of their breath. In The Power of Your Breath, he draws on his vast experience, as well as countless hours studying all aspects of the human breath as he reveals:

  • The science of breathing…
  • How poor breathing habits ruin your health…
  • How good breathing habits make you feel great and perform at your very best…
  • Why proper breathing is crucial for your teeth and facial development…
  • How conscious breathing can reduce stress and improve sports performance…
  • The five simple principles of optimal breathing…
  • How to quickly and easily retrain your breathing…

His fascinating book is the definitive step-by-step guide to reshaping your life in order to transform your health and well-being with nothing but your breath! After beginning to use the practices in this book, I also bought Ander's “Relaxator” device, which vastly enhances the practices he teaches in the book. Get The Power of Your Breath here.


8. The Invisible Rainbow: A History of Electricity and Life

Over the last 220 years, society has evolved a universal belief that electricity is ‘safe’ for humanity and the planet. Scientist and journalist Arthur Firstenberg disrupts this conviction by telling the story of electricity in a way it has never been told before—from an environmental point of view—by detailing the effects that this fundamental societal building block has had on our health and our planet.

In The Invisible Rainbow, Firstenberg traces the history of electricity from the early eighteenth century to the present, making a compelling case that many environmental problems, as well as the major diseases of industrialized civilization—heart disease, diabetes, and cancer—are related to electrical pollution.

I read this book after deciding to dig into the whole 5g coronavirus issue, and it's certainly quite thought-provoking regarding that. (Although I personally don't feel that 5g was the “cause” of COVID-19, it may affect the body's susceptibility to inflammation and decreased immunity.) The pretty interesting connections between EMFs and diabetes, influenza, and heart disease are quite eye-opening. This one will make you think twice about how much you bombard your body with EMF, and also the entire 5g rollout and the politics surrounding that. Get The Invisible Rainbow here.


9. The Human Photosynthesis

health and fitness booksThe concept of photosynthesis (building-up something using light energy) is presently applied only to the plant kingdom. However, the unraveling of the intrinsic property of melanin to split and re-form the water molecule breaks the paradigm. During a study about the three main causes of blindness initiated in 1990 in Aguascalientes, Mexico, Dr. Solis Herrera found the previously unknown capacity of melanin molecule to absorb photonic energy, dissipating it in a unique manner: splitting the water molecule. The very first step of life in plants and humans is practically the same—the dissociation of the water molecule.

The Human Photosynthesis delves into the human's ability to essentially engage in photosynthesis, very similar to a plant, and the pigment melanin and how it simulates chlorophyll. Rather than using the chlorophyll molecule, we use the melanin molecule. And when the melanin molecule is split with photon-based energy from, say, sunlight, you actually get this very interesting upregulation of mitochondrial activity/release of ATP, etc. The human body is actually capable of producing electrical energy in response to biophotons of light using this melanin molecule which can be found in our skin and elsewhere, like our retina, for example.

This book is a translation into English that makes some sections of it a bit difficult to get through, but you're certain to find some gems—especially if you dig biochemistry and how it can be harnessed to create energy in the body in very unique ways. Get The Human Photosynthesis here.


10. Regenerate: Unlocking Your Body's Radical Resilience through the New Biology

I recently read Regenerate and have to admit that it was one of the most mind-blowing books I've read all year (and does a good job presenting the concepts of human photosynthesis described above).

Regenerate elegantly incorporates concepts about food, supplements, recovery, biohacking, energy medicine, ancient wisdom, and many other concepts contained in other books I've read into one extremely well-written and thorough title.

Modern medicine and human health are at a critical crossroads, and the truth is that you (not your genes) are in the driver's seat. You are the one who gets to make informed decisions on how you use and nourish the evolutionary miracle that is your body.

Combining analysis of cutting-edge scientific findings with our deepest ancestral wisdom and health-promoting practices, author (and previous podcast guest here) Sayer Ji offers a time-tested program to help prevent and manage the most common health afflictions of our day: cancer, heart disease, neurodegenerative diseases, and metabolic syndrome. His “New Biology” concept explains why biological time is not a downward spiral and how chronic illness is not inevitable when you implement nature's resiliency tools, including information such as:

  • The fascinating new science of food as information…
  • The truth about cancer and heart disease screening and what real prevention looks like…
  • How to reverse the most common forms of degeneration using food-based approaches…
  • How the body extracts energy from sources other than food, including water and melanin…
  • How to make sense of conflicting dietary recommendations and out-of-date food philosophies…

Encoded within every tissue of your body is your ability to regenerate. In Sayer's new book, you'll learn how to unlock your radical resiliency with a roadmap for diet, exercise, stress reduction, and the cultivation of the environment in which you choose to live. Get Regenerate here.


11. Forbidden Healing: The Curiously Simple Solution to Disease

The truth about disease has been repressed for generations. Disease does not just happen. Emotional stress, industrial foods, environmental toxins, and the drugs that were supposed to heal you have made you sick.

Forbidden Healing, written not by a doctor or nutritionist, but rather by a Captain, was a book that I anticipated to be a bit woo-woo, but I was pretty blown away with the practical tactics (e.g. baking soda, Vitamin C, MSM, etc.) to battle the endless combinations of these negative factors that lead to oxidative stress which causes cancer, heart disease, arthritis, etc., and threatens every other life form in our biosphere. Operating from this point of view, simple common substances can be employed to correct cellular chemistry so that self-healing mechanisms can kick in. It may seem unbelievable, but it works!

Randall gets a bit political. He says: “The public is purposefully confused and willing to accept official fictions. Minds are controlled through political correctness and a steady diet of corrupted information, but you can know the truth. You can protect your health and recover from disease. Certain knowledge, not mainstream belief, leads to personal empowerment and collective well-being”.

If you're game to think outside the box, this one is an incredibly helpful addition to any home healing or longevity protocol. Get Forbidden Healing here.


12. The Immunity Code: The New Paradigm for Real Health and Radical Anti-Aging

This book blew my mind, and in a week, I'm recording a three-hour podcast about it with author Joel Greene. Here are a few clues of what to expect:

Joel had his 10,000 hours already in before just about any modern fitness guru ever began.

In the 1970s, he was interval training. In 1979, he was doing Olympic lifts for three hours every night. In the 80s, he began studying MCTs. In 1990, he began studying the Keto diet. In the early 90s, he was doing what would be called intermittent fasting today. In the mid-90s, he experienced the rebound from chronic starvation. In the late 90s, he went through his clean eating phase, his macro phase, his ancestral diet phase. By 2001, he had his first nutrition website publishing cutting edge research. By 2006, he came to the end of all the above and over time discovered that none of it worked under real-life pressure. In 2007, he authored the first article to the health and fitness community based on the new science linking gut bacteria and obesity. In 2008, his website lookcut.com hit #2 in google for weight loss, with over 1,000 original groundbreaking articles that today represent many of the most widely copied ideas in nutrition. In 2009, he launched the world's first diet system based on targeting the gut bacteria.

​In 2010, he was implementing signal activation of the AMPK pathway. The gurus only began speaking to AMPK in 2017. By 2013, he had the world's largest body of anecdotal outcomes for body composition targeting the gut bacteria. In 2013, he published the first article to the health and fitness community on the dangers of MCT oil supplementation.

​Today, at 53, on 1 workout a week, eating whatever, whenever, with no drugs, SARMS, prohormones, or ergogenic aids ever, he is the world leader in hacking the body. He is the real deal. He has done it longer and always been far ahead. He looks it, he lives it. What the gurus said was impossible he was living every day before they were even gurus. He has hacked peak human…working out once per week, eating whatever, whenever, even what many of us would call fast food!

He is the future of real-world health and nutrition—today, and his new book was one of the most nitty-gritty deep dives into “rebooting your body” that I've ever read. The Immunity Code is simply a new paradigm and an entirely new way to think about caring for the body. The new goal is learning to control immunity, health, and aging using new science-based techniques (or hacks if you will), steer immunity for health, and to slow or even reverse aging. ​

This book will change everything you know about the body. Starting with simple, easy to-dos that build one on top of the other, the reader will emerge with a powerful understanding of how the body really works and how to control it over time, in the real world. Simply put, you will jump 10 years ahead of anything else on the shelf today. Stay tuned to my newsletter for an upcoming podcast with Joel where we will discuss his new book in depth. Get The Immunity Code here.


13. Healing is Voltage

I've said before that “your body is a battery,” and this book was a key component in my own personal education about why that's very much true. Every cell in your body is designed to run at -20 to -25 millivolts. To heal, you must make new cells. To make a new cell requires -50 millivolts. Chronic disease occurs when voltage drops below -20 and/or you cannot achieve -50 millivolts to make new cells. Thus chronic disease is always defined by having low voltage.

Healing is Voltage tells you how to measure your voltage in each organ, how to correct it, and how to determine why your voltage dropped enough to allow you to get sick. The key to understanding energetic medicine is to understand that each cell is designed to run at a specific voltage and a specific frequency. Generally speaking, disease is caused when cells have too little voltage and are running at too low a frequency.

Once you determine that the voltage of a particular organ is low, you will obviously want to correct it. This can be done by inserting electrons into one of the wires that carry voltage to that organ, by drinking water that contains electrons (alkaline water), by eating foods that contain electrons (unprocessed foods), by getting into the sun, putting your feet in the dirt, hugging other living things, or by using devices designed to supply electrons like the Tennant BioModulator, low-level lasers, essential oils, homeopathy, exercise, etc.

A few key highlights you'll learn from the book include:

  • Almost all chronic diseases are characterized by low voltage. Just as a new Mercedes without a battery isn't going anywhere, a body without a functional electrical system doesn't work either. The main things that control voltage are thyroid hormone, fulvic acid, dental infections, scars, and exercise.
  • Electrons can be clean and free from toxins. You can test your water to see if it is an electron donor or electron stealer by simply placing the electrodes of the voltmeter into the water. If the voltmeter shows minus voltage, the water is an electron donor. If the voltmeter shows plus voltage, the water is an electron stealer. 
  • Moving water is always an electron donor. Still water is an electron stealer. Thus taking a shower will energize you whereas taking a bath will make you tired. Swimming in the ocean will give you electrons, but swimming in a chlorinated pool will steal voltage from you. Thus you can see that the human is designed to get voltage primarily the way our grandparents got it. They worked out in the sun, drank water from a well, ate unprocessed foods, weren't afraid to touch the earth with their hands or feet, hugged their family, leaned against a tree or stood in moving water while they were fishing, and weren't afraid to stand in the rain.
  • Because it can prevent the absorption of zinc, drinking coffee, tea (except green tea), and/or alcohol can make you susceptible to the misery of all of these things causing everything from athlete's foot to cancer!
  • One of those rare products that contain almost everything you need for life (and the rebuilding of a healthy life) is phytoplankton. It contains the ten amino acids that the body cannot make and must be consumed in our diet (essential amino acids). The essential fatty acids are also present (omega 3 and omega 6). Vitamins A (beta-carotene), B1 (thiamine), B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cobalamin), C, and D (tocopherol), and major and trace minerals are all present in phytoplankton. Note: here's my interview with Ian Clark about phytoplankton.
  • Clostridia are anaerobic, spore-forming rods (bacilli). C. difficile is the most serious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhea (AAD) and can lead to pseudomembranous colitis, a severe infection of the colon, often resulting from eradication of the normal gut flora by antibiotics. The C. difficile bacteria, which naturally reside in the body, become overpopulated: The overpopulation is harmful because the bacterium releases toxins that can cause bloating, constipation, and diarrhea with abdominal pain, which may become severe. Note: Tons of people have clostridia. It's crazy. 
  • Ozone is rarely given orally but is often given rectally or vaginally. More commonly it is given intravenously. Note: I highlighted this because ozone is so effective for so many different chronic diseases. 
  • An oxidative therapy that is considered to be a nutrient is sodium chlorite. It is sold under the trade name MMS (miracle mineral solution). The free acid, chlorous acid, HClO2, is only stable at low concentrations. Since it cannot be concentrated, it is not a commercial product. However, the corresponding sodium salt, sodium chlorite, NaClO2 is stable and inexpensive enough to be commercially available.
  • When sodium chlorite is mixed with a weak organic acid like citric acid, it changes to chlorine dioxide. As you can see, chlorine dioxide is two oxygens attached to a chloride. Chlorine dioxide (ClO2) is highly reactive with thiols (RSH), polyamines, purines, certain amino acids, and iron—all of which are necessary for the growth and survival of pathogenic microbes. Whenever it finds a microorganism, it releases the chloride. That steals electrons from the organism, killing it immediately. All that is left is that the two oxygens make water and the dead bug. Sodium chlorite (NaClO2) also finds application as a component in therapeutic rinses, mouthwashes, toothpastes and gels, mouth sprays, chewing gums and lozenges, and in contact lens cleaning solution under the trade name purite. Under the brand name Oxine, it is used for sanitizing air ducts and HVAC/R systems and animal containment areas (walls, floors, and other surfaces). I have seen the fever and fatigue/muscle aches of flu disappear in 2-3 hours using it. I have yet to find any virus, bacteria, yeast, fungus, parasite, or poison it will not destroy. It has been claimed that over 75,000 cases of malaria have been successfully cured in Africa within 2-3 days with the use of MMS. Note: I plan on trying this sodium chlorite trick. 
  • Beneficial probiotic intestinal bacteria are not iron-dependent and are not injured by Crohn's disease, and ulcerative colitis often responds to a course of gallium along with the GAPS diet. Gallium comes concentrated as 42% or 14% and must be diluted to 1% for use. One quart of 1% solution is taken orally daily. It is important to take this amount of water to prevent kidney dysfunction. Gallium and more information are available from: George A. Eby III George Eby Research Institute 14909-C Fitzhugh Road Austin, Texas 78736 Telephone 1-512-263-0805 Email [email protected]. Note: I have yet to order gallium. If you've tried this, leave a comment in the comments section below.
  • It is very difficult for the body to have an infection if there is enough iodine to form the normal shield around the body and if the voltage is normal so the immune system works. It is rare to find a traditional physician that recognizes the role of iodine in the prevention and cure of allergies. We discussed the role of iodine in the formation of stomach acid in the nutrition chapter as it relates to body voltage. Now we will discuss how iodine relates to allergies. Note: I get most of my iodine from metal-free seaweed and Thorne multivitamin, but many folks use Lugol's Iodine solution.
  • If you don't have enough stomach acid, whole or partially digested proteins reach the small intestine and are absorbed. The body recognizes these as foreign since it didn't make them. Thus you become allergic to the foods you normally eat! Now about 20-40 minutes after each meal, you body thinks it is being attacked by a foreign protein and attacks it. Thus it is like having a mini case of the flu after each meal! This is why so many people feel sleepy soon after they eat. They say, “I ate too much and it made me sleepy!” The reality is that their body is attacking the proteins they just ate. The reason for this allergy is a lack of stomach acid. So why don't you have enough stomach acid? Making stomach acid requires iodine, zinc, vitamin B1, water, salt, and carbon dioxide. Note: like clostridia, low stomach acid is another huge problem. You can jump-start your own production with a bit of lemon water before a meal, or you can use a good HCl supplement. 
  • Sewage is a strong electron stealer. It significantly lowers the voltage in the extracellular space. This is reflected in a consistently low urine pH. That is because urine pH is a reflection of the voltage in your extracellular space. If it is consistently below 6.5, you likely have a stopped up lymphatic system. If someone says, “You are full of s—!,” it is likely true. Note: Here's an article I wrote about what else your urine can tell you.
  • Birch Oil – targets bones; Helichrysum Oil – targets nervous system; Marjoram Oil – targets smooth muscles; Birch Oil -targets skeletal muscles; Lemongrass Oil – targets tendons and cartilage; Cypress Oil – targets the circulatory system; Geranium Oil – targets the emotional system. The essential oil Bay Laurel is also helpful in getting the lymphatics to drain. Note: I am a huge essential oil fan junkie and user. 
  • The harmonic of lavender is 59 MHz. This is very close to the resonate frequency of many of the organs. Thus we understand why lavender is considered the “universal essential oil,” i.e., it is useful for many different things because it resonates with many different organs, particularly lungs, liver, stomach, spleen, and colon! Note: Another oil that vibrates at a very high frequency is blue spruce oil, a favorite of mine for sprinkling in the sauna.
  • Hardware: this is the cell itself and its mechanical parts. This portion is much like your computer hardware. Electrical system: this gives the cell hardware the power to work. Without a power supply or battery, your computer won't work. Neither will your body. Software: this is the programming that tells the hardware what to do. In your body, it is composed of the subconscious as well as the Information that is received by your cells from your environment or your perception of your environment. This includes your spiritual connections. To some degree, the subconscious is your operating system like Mac OS X or Windows and your perception of your environment is other software like Pages for Mac or Word for Windows. Note: Don't get me wrong…humans have a spirit and a soul. But we really are a giant battery with a spirit and soul.
  • One of the things that is new about Nitric Oxide (NO) is our ability to easily measure it. Although there are over 1000 medical research studies available about NO, few doctors even think about it because we haven't had a way to measure it. Most doctors, therefore, have no idea how to correct it. A test strip is now available that only requires one to spit on the strip. In one minute, it tells you your levels! Note: If your NO is constantly low, you can jack it up with foods like beets and arugula, good charged water, infrared sauna, sunlight, and of course, copious amounts of Viagra. ;)
  • An often overlooked fact is that the amino acids in the foods listed are only available if you have stomach acid to convert the proteins that are in the listed foods into amino acids. If you don't have stomach acid, the amino acids are not available and you can't make NO. Remember that to make stomach acid, you need Vitamin B1, iodine, and zinc. Without stomach acid, you can't absorb zinc even if you take it, so you have to take a Betaine tablet with the zinc so it will be absorbed. So, remember to correct your stomach acid and eat your green vegetables. Correct your vitamin and mineral levels so you can make nitric oxide. It can help prevent glaucoma, macular degeneration, heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, and all the other maladies listed and even improve or restore your sex life! Note: This is why I think every high-calorie consuming, hard-charging athletes should use essential amino acids daily—to save your stomach the stress.
  • A high PSA is an indicator of fungus in the blood! Note: so you can lower your PSA risk by lowering sugar/starch intake and killing fungus with tactics such as oregano.
  • Think about a leaf on a tree. Since the leaf is alive, it contains voltage. Since it contains voltage, it also contains oxygen. Remember that the amount of oxygen in water is controlled by the voltage of the water. Oxygen controls fungus. Thus the fungal spores that are always present on leaves will be suppressed by the oxygen. Also remember that as oxygen disappears, cell-wall-deficient organisms move toward becoming fungal forms. These cell-wall-deficiencies are part of every living organism. You may want to revisit the chapter on infections and refresh your understanding of what are called L-forms. Now the leaf falls off the tree as winter approaches. As the leaf loses its voltage when separated from the tree, it also loses its oxygen. This loss of oxygen causes cell-wall-deficient organisms to become fungus and the fungal spores on the leaf to “wake up.” Then the fungus does what it was designed to do. It begins the process of turning the leaf back into “dirt.” This “dirt” contains a mixture of organic acids called “humic acid.” A series of complex acids in the humic is called “fulvic acid.” It contains all the known vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. Now a seed blows into the dirt. With the addition of water, the fulvic opens the cell membrane of the seed allowing the humic to enter the seed. With this nutrition and water, the seed grows into a plant containing the humic/fulvic complexes. When we eat this plant, our bodies get their necessary humic/fulvic so that our cell membranes are controlled and our cells nourished. The fulvic supplies voltage and the humic provides the vitamins, minerals, and amino acids to make new cells. All that's missing are fats.
  • The electrical potential of the amoeba, which is normally 20 millivolts (the difference in charge between inside and outside the cell), was depressed to zero. The researchers then noticed astonishing changes as the amoeba became dysfunctional. Note: And we come full circle: your body operates on voltage, just like an amoeba. Fix your voltage and you fix your problems and enhance your energy and longevity. 

You getting the idea that this book is jam-packed with tips? I've only scratched the surface with the takeaways above. Get Healing is Voltage here.


14. Biochemical Individuality: The Key to Understanding What Shapes Your Health

health and fitness books

There is no such thing as an average person, we are all genetically and biologically unique. But when sperm meets egg, our characteristics are not locked in stone. Biochemical Individuality argues that bad genes do not necessarily cause disease by themselves, and nutrition and environment can alter the outcome.

This book was recommended to me at a health conference by a man deemed as the Father of Functional Medicine, Dr. Jeffrey Bland (the author of many other excellent books you can peruse here). In Biochemical Individuality, Dr. Williams explains the fascinating amount of diversity that exists from human to human—including diversity in everything in the shape of our heart, the shape of our liver, the shape of our hands, the rate at which we excrete various fatty acids and amino acids, our natural enzyme production, and many other elements that display an extreme amount of individuality.

For example, consider the anecdote below from the book:

In that anecdote, you can see that one of the areas in which we humans highly differ is our own internal microbiome, and that, based on this fact, the presence of certain bacteria can dictate our need for nutrients such as, say, riboflavin or ascorbic acid or Vitamin A.

Or, consider the following second anecdote I'll now share from the book (neatly bracketed by my artistic blue Sharpie marks):

Yep, you read right. Nutrient deficiencies cause cravings (and the book goes into how these cravings go far above and beyond the level of mere booze). Of course, this isn't exactly groundbreaking news as I have indeed written about this seemingly logical phenomenon before, but still—this is especially scary to think about when you consider the recent shocking research revealed about the huge rise in earth's CO2 since the industrial revolution and the subsequent drop in plant nutrients accompanied by a steep rise in plant sugar!

Or how about this?

Wow. That should be a big warning sign to anyone still popping Vitamin D like candy based on health media's current infatuation with this seeming cure-all vitamin. There are certain people (possibly you) who can develop toxicity very easily with Vitamin D supplementation, and some people who can develop serious health issues from osteoporosis to hormone deficiencies without Vitamin D supplementation.

And yet, despite this enormous amount of biochemical individuality that exists from human to human, we still see a plethora of diet books published each year (particularly close to swimsuit season and close to the New Year) that promise to be the de facto final solution for everything from fat loss, to health, to banishing acne, to beating cravings and beyond, when all-the-while (as so elegantly put below) the same friggin' “ketosis” diet that caused your neighbor to shed twenty pounds can result in massive inflammation, brain fog, and oxidized cholesterol for you…

Get that? For dramatic emphasis, allow me to repeat what dear Roger Williams says above: “…all these diets likely have merit, but only for some individuals.” Get Biochemical Individuality here.


15. Earthing: The Most Important Health Discovery Ever?

I recently read Earthing (and my twin boys also watched the accompanying documentary “THE EARTHING MOVIE“) by author Clint Ober, founder of the Grounding Movement and CEO of EarthFX and former podcast guest of mine on the episode here.

Earthing (also known as grounding) has now become a massive international movement—causing people to shed their shoes and reconnect electrically to the surface of the Earth.

In Earthing, Clint reveals that the solution for chronic inflammation (regarded as the cause of the most common modern diseases) has been identified! Earthing introduces the planet's powerful, amazing, and overlooked natural healing energy and how people anywhere can readily connect to it. This never-before-told story, filled with fascinating research and real-life testimonials chronicles a discovery with the potential to create a global health revolution.

Although I already knew about the importance of having an intimate connection with the planet we live upon, this book blew my mind when it comes to identifying one of the best solutions for chronic inflammation, better sleep, enhanced deep sleep, and much more. Since reading it, I've been traveling everywhere with my grounded sleep mat, wearing my Earth Runners every day, and my boys have barely even touched their shoes and go just about everywhere barefoot (I'm proud of that!). Get Earthing here.


16. The Healing Code: 6 Minutes to Heal the Source of Your Health, Success, or Relationship Issue

This is a title that I thought was going to be a woo-woo ho-hum book on using your mind to heal your body, but it turned out to be very, very good. It was definitely about what I expected, but the impact of inflammation and stress on physiology was highlighted in a very unique way, and the tricks to get rid of that chronic stress were an amazing addition to my own personal stress-control toolbox.

Dr. Alex Loyd's international bestselling book is a life-changing program that uses energy medicine to heal mental and physical challenges. The Healing Code is a healing kit for life to recover from the issues you know about, and repair the ones you don't. The book also includes:

  • The Seven Secrets of life, health, and prosperity…
  • The 10-second Instant Impact technique for defusing daily stress…
  • The Heart Issues Finder, the only test that identifies your source issues in a succinct personalized report…

Dr. Alex Loyd discovered how to activate a physical function built into the body that consistently and predictably removes the source of 95% of all illness and disease so that the neuro-immune system takes over its job of healing whatever is wrong with the body. His findings were validated by tests and by the thousands of people from all over the world who have used The Healing Code‘s system to heal virtually any physical, emotional, or relational issue, as well as realize breakthroughs in success. His testing also revealed that there is a “Universal Healing Code” that will heal most issues for most people. In this book, you will get that Universal Healing Code, which takes only minutes to do. Get The Healing Code here.


17. Eat to Beat Disease: The New Science of How Your Body Can Heal Itself

health and fitness booksA big thanks to my friend J.J. Virgin for turning me onto Dr. William Li and his book Eat To Beat Disease—a really great book that delves into the research-based healing powers of a variety of foods. You can listen to my podcast with him about this book here.

We have long radically underestimated our body's power to transform and restore our health. Dr. Li empowers readers by showing them the evidence behind over 200 health-boosting foods that can starve cancer, reduce the risk of dementia, and beat dozens of avoidable diseases. This book isn't about what foods to avoid, but rather is a life-changing guide detailing the hundreds of healing foods you can add to your meals that support your body's defense systems.

With Dr. Li's plan, the foods you already love can be optimized to activate your body's five natural health defense systems—angiogenesis, regeneration, microbiome, DNA protection, and immunity—to fight cancer; diabetes; cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, and autoimmune diseases; and other debilitating conditions.

Both informative and practical, Eat to Beat Disease explains the science of healing and prevention, provides strategies for using food to actively boost your health, and points the study of well-being and disease recovery in an exhilarating new direction.

A few of my big takeaways include:

  • Regarding stem cells: Some foods, like dark chocolate, black tea, and beer can mobilize them and help us regenerate. Other foods, like purple potatoes, can kill deadly stem cells that spark cancer growth.
  • We all have cancer growing in our bodies. Every single one of us, even you. Over time, however, some tiny nests of cancer can overwhelm the defense system and overcome antiangiogenic countermeasures by releasing huge amounts of the same growth factor signals involved in wound healing. In lab experiments, once new blood vessels sprout into the small cluster of cancer cells, a tumor can grow exponentially, expanding up to sixteen thousand times in size in only two weeks after angiogenesis starts.
  • Even as little as thirty minutes of exposure to tobacco smoke exhaled by someone else is enough to stun your stem cells.
  • Not surprisingly, air pollution is similarly damaging. Researchers have found that in people living in communities with major air pollution problems, exposure to fine particulate matter during pollution flares lowers the number of endothelial progenitor cells in their blood.
  • Among the Malmo participants, researchers found that those with the highest levels of stem cell factor had a lower risk of heart failure by 50 percent, a lower risk of stroke by 34 percent, and a lower risk of death from any cause by 32 percent compared to those participants with the lowest levels of stem cell factor.
  • During the cholera epidemic of 1892 in France, Metchnikoff mixed bacteria together in a petri dish and found that some bacteria could stimulate cholera growth, but to his surprise found that other bacteria hindered it. This led him to speculate whether swallowing some types of helpful bacteria might be useful for preventing deadly diseases. He was also struck by the fact that some people lived to a ripe old age despite harsh rural conditions and poor hygiene associated with poverty. In Bulgaria, he noted, there were peasants in the Caucasus Mountains who lived beyond one hundred years. He observed that the oldest villagers were drinking fermented yogurt containing the bacteria Lactobacillus bulgaricus. Metchnikoff suggested that one secret to longevity is consuming healthy bacteria.
  • A study of 1,095 “ridiculously healthy people” who have no health issues or family history of serious disease across all age groups (from age three to more than one hundred years old) showed that a common denominator in both young and old is an almost identical microbiome.
  • The scientists concluded that some healthy bacteria are resilient and can bounce back from a dietary insult, while others cannot. They called the persistent defect a “scar” left on the microbiome due to diet. Here’s where it gets interesting in this study. The microbiome scar became larger over generations when the researchers began breeding the mice and exposing each generation of mice to the high-fat, low-fiber, Western-style diet. With each generation, more and more of the original bacteria from the healthy human disappeared from their microbiome. By the fourth generation (great-grandchildren of the original), a sobering 72 percent of the microbes from the initial healthy mice were no longer detectable. Generations of eating the same unhealthy high-fat, low-fiber diet killed off healthy gut microbes permanently.
  • But wound healing was only the beginning. In the lab, L. reuteri also reduced abdominal fat and obesity in mice, even if they ate a junk food diet of potato chips. L. reuteri can stimulate the growth of thick, shiny, healthy hair; improve skin tone; boost the immune system; and prevent the growth of tumors in the colon and in the breast. And that’s not all. Experiments have shown that in male mice, L. reuteri in drinking water increases testicular size, testosterone production, and mating frequency. A truly fascinating finding was that L. reuteri stimulates the brain to release the hormone oxytocin, which is the social bonding neurochemical that is released from the brain during a hug or handshake, by close friendship, during kissing, breastfeeding, and orgasm. The depth of research conducted with this one bacteria is so impressive it led to an article in The New York Times called “Microbes, a Love Story.” Needless to say, this is a probiotic worthy of taking because of the scientific evidence for its actions and potential benefits.
  • Do you wear sunscreen every time you get on a flight? You should. A 2015 study by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco published in the journal JAMA Dermatology showed that pilots flying for just one hour at thirty thousand feet altitude receive the same amount of UV radiation through the cockpit window as they would from a twenty-minute session in a tanning salon.
  • Solvents off-gassing from carpets, new cars, and chemicals in ordinary household products like nail polish remover, shampoo, and paint damage DNA, too. If you drive a car that uses gasoline, when you fill up the tank, you are breathing in fumes containing benzene, which damages DNA. It is wise to stand upwind of the vapor while you are at the gas station.
  • Other epigenetic changes from exercise can block harmful genes. These are seen after swimming, sprinting, interval training, and high-intensity walking.
  • A study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco showed that breastfeeding improved the length of telomeres in the child. In a group of 121 children, those who were exclusively breastfed when they were infants had longer telomeres by the time they were of preschool age (four to five years old) compared to children who were formula-fed. This shows the durability of the telomere effect—that the benefits of breastfeeding remain years after a child is weaned and eating solid food.
  • Scientists from the University of Southern California showed that fasting cycles can be used to build a fresh immune system. Remarkably, they showed that fasting two to four days in a row forces the human body to go into a recycling mode, which gets rid of the older, worn-out immune cells. Then, when food is started again, it jump-starts the hematopoietic stem cells in your bone marrow to start regenerating fresh immune cells thus rebuilding the immune system.
  • Soyfoods represent dozens of different kinds of foods made from soybeans, an ancient legume that originated in eastern China three thousand years ago. From fresh soy products, such as edamame, soymilk, and soy nuts, to soyfoods that are fermented, such as soy sauce, tofu, miso, natto, tempeh, and more, soy is encountered in many forms. Asian markets will often have fresh soybeans, but you can also often find them in the frozen section of the grocery store. Fresh tofu is versatile and is a common food in Asia. In Western countries, the best sources to find tofu varieties are Asian markets. Look at the menu of a Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Thai, or Vietnamese restaurant, and you’ll find many soy offerings. Soy contains antiangiogenic bioactives known as isoflavones, specifically genistein, daidzein, equol, and glyceollins. Fermented soy products have higher concentrations of them.
  • Research has revealed that chicken thighs and drumsticks are especially healthy choices. Dark chicken meat contains vitamin K2, or menaquinone, a naturally occurring fat-soluble vitamin.
  • At the Angiogenesis Foundation, we began studying teas for their biological properties using lab testing systems originally designed to evaluate antiangiogenic cancer drugs. We found that tea extracts had really exceptionally potent angiogenesis inhibitory effects, indeed comparable to that of drugs. What was interesting was that different varietals of teas exhibited different potencies. We found Chinese jasmine tea to be more potent than Japanese sencha tea, and Earl Grey tea was even more potent than jasmine tea. The most remarkable finding was that when we crossed cultures and mixed sencha (Japanese) with jasmine (Chinese) tea, the resulting tea blend had a synergistic effect on blood vessel growth that was more than twice as potent against angiogenesis than either one alone.
  • At the Angiogenesis Foundation, we conducted research on the antiangiogenic activity of six different wines made by different grape varietals from the same winery (Vintage Wine Estates) and the same vintage, grown on the same terroir. Among the six, we identified the most potent antiangiogenic wines as Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Petit Verdot.
  • At the end of the study, the researchers compared bloodwork from before and after the experiment. Amazingly, participants who drank the high-flavanol hot cocoa had twice as many stem cells in their circulation compared to the people who drank the low-flavanol cocoa.
  • Scientists at the University of Montreal discovered that a diet rich in fish oil increases production of endothelial progenitor stem cells that can regenerate oxygen-deprived muscles.
  • Squid ink, which actually usually comes from cuttlefish, contains bioactives that not only inhibit angiogenesis, but also can protect stem cells.
  • Scientists at the University of Warsaw in Poland examined endothelial progenitor cells in the blood of healthy young individuals and found that exposing them to chokeberry extracts could protect the stem cells against stress. The exposure to chokeberry also improved the ability of the stem cells to migrate and participate in regenerating blood vessels.
  •  Zeaxanthin is a bioactive known as a carotenoid. It is a pigment that gives corn and saffron their yellow-orange color, but it’s also common in leafy green vegetables, like kale, mustard greens, spinach, watercress, collard greens, Swiss chard, and fiddleheads. The results of this study suggest that eating zeaxanthin-containing foods may help the performance of our stem cells for organ regeneration.
  • The ellagic acid of the black raspberries activates stem cells.
  • The leaves, stalks, and seeds of Chinese celery are all edible and contain a number of health-promoting bioactives, including a tongue twister: 3-n-butylphthalide (NBP). NBP is important because it was approved as a pharmaceutical drug in 2002 by regulatory agencies in China for doctors to use as a neuroprotective treatment in patients who have suffered a stroke. NBP, also found in supplements containing celery seed extract, improves brain circulation, lowers brain inflammation, grows nerves, and limits brain damage from stroke. Researchers from Soochow University in China studied how NBP helps patients recover from a stroke. They recruited 170 individuals who had suffered an acute ischemic stroke, meaning a blood clot caused an interruption of blood flow and killed part of the brain. While these results are from a drug form of NBP, it shows that a bioactive present in Chinese celery has stem cell–activating properties that may help heal and regenerate organs after a medical catastrophe like a stroke.
  • Green tea has many well-researched health benefits, and now among them is activating the regenerative system. This has been studied in people who smoke. Cigarette smoking chemically scorches the blood vessel lining, which leads to increased risk of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease. Cigarette smoking is also damaging to stem cells and reduces the number of circulating stem cells. People who smoke have 60 percent fewer stem cells in their bloodstream compared to nonsmokers—another reason not to smoke. Researchers from Chonnam National University Hospital in Korea and the Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan examined the effects of drinking green tea on the stem cells of smokers. They enrolled twenty young men in their late twenties who had smoked for six years and gave them four cups of green tea to drink each day for two weeks (a total of 56 cups). Their blood was drawn at the beginning and at the end of the study to count the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells present. The results showed that drinking green tea increased the number of circulating stem cells by 43 percent over two weeks. The health of the smokers’ blood vessels was also improved by green tea over the study period. Their vascular dilation response was improved by 29 percent. In the lab, scientists have discovered that green tea and its catechins can stimulate regeneration of brain, muscle, bone, and nerves and can promote wound healing.
  • They found that one strain of L. reuteri in a sourdough starter that had been handed down from one baker to another since 1970 had actually evolved to live and thrive in bread dough. To dominate in their new turf, some L. reuteri strains in the starter actually developed the ability to produce a natural antibiotic called reutericyclin that kills other harmful bacteria growing around it. While the bacteria itself does not survive the high oven temperatures used for baking, scientists from Massachusetts Institute of Technology have shown that the benefits may not require live bacteria at all when it comes to L. reuteri. In the lab, scientists completely pulverized the bacteria so no live L. reuteri survived, but they found that substances coming from the particles of dead bacteria could create the same benefits as the live bacteria. This is a complete surprise because it’s always been assumed that the benefits of gut bacteria require them to be alive.
  • The Lion’s mane mushroom, renowned for its culinary and medicinal properties, was the subject of a study by scientists at Jiangnan University in China to test its effects on the microbiome. In the lab, they fed mice with severe gut inflammation the human equivalent of one tablespoon of Lion’s mane mushroom. The results showed that Lion’s mane could decrease the symptoms and the proteins associated with gut inflammation by as much as 40 percent. The mushroom increased the healthy bacteria Akkermansia while decreasing the harmful sulfur toxin-producing Desulfovibrio.
  • In a study called the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), researchers documented coffee and caffeine consumption in 5,826 adults and showed that drinking more coffee was associated with longer telomeres.
  • Tea drinking was associated with increased telomere length, but only in elderly men, not women. When the amount of tea consumed by men was analyzed, those who drank three or more cups of tea per day had longer telomeres compared to those who drank less than a third of a cup of tea. The difference in telomere length was equivalent to a calculated difference of five years of additional life between high-and low-level tea drinkers. No other food group was associated with any telomere lengthening in this elderly population. The study did not specifically ask which type of tea, but green tea and oolong tea are the most commonly consumed teas in China.
  • At the end of six weeks of eating blueberries, the participants did a 2.5-hour treadmill run. First, researchers drew their blood before the run. Then, an hour before exercise, the blueberry eaters ate a larger than usual amount of blueberries (375 grams, or 2.7 cups worth of fresh blueberries). Immediately after the participants’ run, researchers took another blood sample. One hour later, blood was drawn one final time to see what happened to their immune cells and what the effect of eating blueberries was. The blood samples were analyzed for different immune cells, including T cells, B cells, and natural killer (NK) cells. The results were eye-opening. Blueberry eaters had almost double the number of NK cells before exercise compared to those who did not eat blueberries. Normally, NK cells would be expected to rapidly decline after intense exercise. But in the group that consumed blueberries, the NK cells remained elevated for at least one hour after exercise ceased.
  • Most cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish, octopus) squirt a black ink to escape predators. This ink is collected by fishermen from a sac in the creature’s body and is a flavorsome delicacy used to make rice and pasta dishes in the seaside cuisine of the Mediterranean. Some famous dishes featuring the ink include Spain’s black rice (arroz negra), Venice’s risotto di nero di seppia, and black spaghetti known as pasta al nero. Lab research on the ink has shown it can have antioxidant, antiangiogenic, stem cell-protecting, and immune-enhancing effects. Squid ink can even protect the gut microbiome against the nasty side-effects of chemotherapy treatment.
  • In my TED Talk, some of the biggest audience reactions came when I showed the results of a study where we did a head-to-head comparison of the potency of different foods versus drugs on angiogenesis. We examined four cancer drugs, seven other common medications (anti-inflammatory drugs, statins, a blood pressure medication, and an antibiotic), and sixteen dietary factors from foods associated with lowering the risk of various cancers. Remarkably, fifteen of the dietary factors were more potent than one of the cancer drugs in the experiment we did.

As you can see, there's plenty to be gleaned from this book. Get Eat to Beat Disease here.


18. Top Five Regrets of the Dying: A Life Transformed by the Dearly Departing

health and fitness booksI've been thinking a lot about this book lately, which I've actually read multiple times. It's life-changing. After too many years of unfulfilling work, Bronnie Ware began searching for a job with heart. Despite having no formal qualifications or previous experience in the field, she found herself working in palliative care. During the time she spent tending to those who were dying, Bronnie's life was transformed. Later, she wrote a blog post outlining the most common regrets that the people she had cared for had expressed. The post gained so much momentum that it was viewed by more than three million readers worldwide in its first year.

At the request of many, Bronnie subsequently wrote a book, The Top Five Regrets of the Dying, to share her story. Bronnie has had a colorful and diverse life. By applying the lessons of those nearing their death to her own life, she developed an understanding that it is possible for everyone, if we make the right choices, to die with peace of mind.

In this best-selling memoir that has been read by over a million people worldwide, with translations in 29 languages, Bronnie expresses how significant these regrets are and how we can positively address these issues while we still have the time. The Top Five Regrets of the Dying gives hope for a better world. It is a courageous, life-changing book that will leave you feeling more compassionate and inspired to live the life you are truly here to live. Get Top Five Regrets of the Dying here.


Summary

Hopefully, this post has inspired you to add a few of these titles to your “to-read list.” I realize that it's somewhat of a daunting list, so definitely take advantage of the resources I've provided that can help you in either selecting a book to commit to or breezing through one that piqued your interest:

If you want to check out even more of my recently read, highly recommended books, then check out these other “Top Books” articles from the past two years:

What about you? What books are you currently reading?  What are your favorite books you've read in the past few months? What reading tricks do you use to get through books quickly?

Be sure to tell me in the comments section below!

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12 thoughts on “My Top 18 Most Useful And Thought-Provoking *Must-Read* Health, Fitness, Nutrition, Spirituality & Self-Improvement Books Of 2020.

  1. dil says:

    Love your content! it’s inspiring. 🥰

    I am on my journey to loose weight since I have gained a lot during this pandemic.

    already lost 10lb in 3 weeks, I am looking to loose around 20lb. here are more details https://bit.ly/3dWeJ9i

    1. youssef says:

      Good luck Dil, keep up the good spirit.
      I like your content and how you lost weight, I think your diet is as good as this custom keto diet, it works both for men and women
      https://bit.ly/3cyWqsT

  2. John says:

    Thank you for sharing this informative article, will tell others to read this and gain some knowledge.

  3. Noah says:

    Hey Ben, hope you’re having a great day! Just wondering where that podcast with Joel Greene is at. I believe it was supposed to be soon?

  4. younes says:

    thank you for the article, you are an insperation to us all
    heres a great way a found to lose weight ,i hope to helps some others https://bit.ly/36vKUKv

  5. tdc says:

    Hey Ben! thank you for the suggestions. Ive clicked the links for the 2 breath books and they both made my Amazon come up in Spanish and stay that way until I can figure out how to reset it to English. Its difficult because I can’t read spanish well enough to know where the right thing to click on is! So it takes me a while and once I get it switched back, I don’t think Im connected to your link anymore?

  6. Eduardo says:

    Awesome stuff !!

    I’m suffering with some anxiety problems.

    I’ll read the books about breathing. I’ll start tomorrow.

    Does anyone have a book recommendation for anxiety?

    1. Marcia says:

      Look into amino acids. GABA, Theonine. Get blood test by Spectra Cell (Houston Texas). It will look at deficits in your blood. Maybe copper is too high. Cut out sugar which can increase anxiety. The Food Cure by Julia Ross.

      1. Marcia says:

        Go to Mercola.com. Review his articles on anxiety. Do a search in his website. Don’t forget to read the comments at the end of every story. The people that comment (esp. Guillermu- MD from Spain) is so wise.

        1. Eduardo says:

          Thank you !!

    2. Eduardo says:

      I found this:
      https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/the-ultimate-breathwork-ninja-guide-how-to-banish-stress-kiss-high-cortisol-goodbye/
      Awesome !!
      I think Ben could do a solo episode about this post.

  7. Wow Ben an absolute plethora of information on these great book recommendations – must have taken you hours! Much appreciated and I will place your book on the top of my list as ‘Im sure you incorporate much of what you read. Caron x

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