5 Books To Read That Make Healthy Eating Less Confusing, According to a Registered Nutritionist

These days, every person I meet seems to be an expert on nutritional science. One person swears by a ketogenic diet while another is a firm believer in intermittent fasting. Although I feel everyone is entitled to their beliefs, I find most of these food rules to be overwhelming. Instead of solving all health problems, I’ve seen how these rules only instill more fear, shame and hopelessness in people.

Thankfully, five books have showed me a unique (dare I say, healthier) perspective on foods and nutrition. I recommend that you pick at least one of them to dive into in order to see how far you’ve been pulled into our fat-phobic and diet-obsessed society. You may realize that a few of your eating patterns are not as “healthy” as you’ve been led to believe but may be more restrictive and stress inducing.

Intuitive Eatingby Evelyn Tribole & Ilene Resch

At my current job, we use this book as a guide to help clients who suffer with disordered eating behaviors. It has helped many of them to relearn their hunger and fullness signals and therefore, heal their relationships with their bodies. Even though this concept was introduced in the nineties, the two dietitians still find it necessary to bust the common myths about nutrition. Of note is the authors take on the neurobiology behind what happens when we don’t eat carbohydrates. There’s a neuropeptide called NPY that is responsible for our bagel and cupcake cravings. When we deprive ourselves of carbs, our levels of NPY increase and that is what causes our carb cravings to feel out of control. Tribole and Resch encourage us to embrace these cravings because they are cues that we are running low on energy and need to restore our cells. Tribole and Resch remind us that there is no point in fighting human physiology since it is was what keeps us alive.

👉🏽 Amazon: Buy it here

Vitamania: How Vitamins Revolutionized The Way We Think About Foodby Catherine Price

Okay, you’re thinking why would I want to read about vitamins? That’s what I thought too but as soon as I read the first page, I was hooked. Price tells great stories about human evolution through our discovery of vitamins and minerals. In one instance, she describes how sailors used to die at sea from a strange disease called scurvy and what caused it? A lack of vitamin C. I also love that Price provides an in-depth glossary in the back of the book that lists every vitamin and mineral that our bodies need. A serious deficiency in any of them can cause us to experience undesirable symptoms from headaches to night-blindness. I appreciate that this book shines a light on the ridiculous standards that people hold for their bodies. The health and wellness industry has boiled down good health to nutrients and we’re forgetting about the importance of eating whole foods. Price reminds us that the best way to eat a sufficient amount of nutrients is to eat a variety of different foods, instead of relying on a plethora of pills.

👉🏽 Amazon: Buy it here

Body Kindness® by Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN

It’s so refreshing when a nutrition book that takes the focus away from weight loss and discusses other topics such as fun exercise, positive body image and the importance of sleep. Dietitian Rebecca Scritchfield describes Body Kindness® as, “how to think for yourself more effortlessly so you can get on with enjoying your life instead of constantly working on your health.” In order to achieve this type of self-compassion, Scritchfield encourages readers to experiment with their food preferences in order to create their own definition of good health. Scritchfield recommends that a snack like a scoop of ice cream before bedtime can help us to sleep soundly through the night. She argues that the combination of calcium and carbohydrates in the ice cream trigger the release of our sleep hormone, melatonin. Does that sound awesome or what?

👉🏽 Amazon: Buy it here

Your Child’s Weight: Helping Without Harming by Ellyn Satter

If I could eat dinner with one person, it would be with dietitian and family therapist, Ellyn Satter. Her background in psychotherapy and developmental nutrition inspired me to obtain a minor in child and adolescent mental health studies while in college. Satter believes that children are responsible for how much they will eat and whether or not they will eat. Parents should be responsible for the rest (where they will eat, what they will eat and when they will eat). When parents cross what she calls, “the division of responsibility,” they are at risk of negatively altering their children’s eating behavior. For instance, Satter encourages parents to place “fun foods,” like chocolate and ice cream on their dining tables. She believes that the less we treat fun foods as rewards, the more we normalize them. When we normalize our indulgences, we are less likely to binge on them to the point of nausea.

CAUTION: I want to let you know upfront that Satter’s early work was not pro-Health At Every Size. Even though she encouraged parents to feed their children tacos and pizza, she tended to praise children who were naturally-slim. Her beliefs were that all children would naturally lose weight over time but I’d like to remind you that not every child will slim down when they grow up. It’s perfectly normal for children to continue to gain weight as they age; don’t keep your fingers crossed for your children to become thin or slim.

👉🏽 Amazon: Buy it here

8 Steps to Eating Disorder Recovery by Carolyn Costin & Gwen Schubert Grabb

According to the National Eating Disorders Association, about 20 million women suffer with an eating disorder in their lifetimes. This means that either you may experience an eating disorder yourself or will encounter others who suffer with one. This book is a great guide for either party. The perspective is through two marriage and family therapists who have both recovered from eating disorders. It’s what makes the writing more powerful. What also makes this book different than other books on eating disorders is that it shows how so many people suffer with similar symptoms even though they have not been diagnosed with an eating disorder. Many of us struggle with some degree of psychological trauma, and these traits plus a genetic predisposition are a recipe for eating disorders. It may make you more aware of who may be at risk in your close circle of family and peers.

👉🏽 Amazon: Buy it here


Find a book that sparked interest? I hope so. They all show that maintaining good nutrition is not complicated. Sadly, our societal beliefs and the media make this a nightmare to understand. Let these books remind you that you are allowed to eat what you like and you do not need to feel guilty about what’s on your plate or in your body. If you’d like more book recommendations, please reach out and ask for more.

Noni Vaughn-Pollard, NDTR

Written by

I have a lot to say about food and nutrition. I hope you learn something.

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