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In preparation for the Cook Real Food Cooking Classes, some clients ask for a few recommended books on the Low Carb Healthy Fat lifestyle, so I compiled list of a few of my favourites. Once you have decided this way of eating is what you want, and is good for you, it becomes your way of cooking and eating, your lifestyle,  one you will follow forever. It is healthy, sustainable, enjoyable, will give you energy and boosts your immune system as well as benefit your gut health.  And I love it.   Top of the list is:

‘A Fat Lot of Good: how the experts got food and diet so wrong and what you can do to take back control of your health’, by sports medicine physician, Professor Dr Peter Brukner. 2018. This is my favourite; it is very readable and easy to understand for the layman.  Peter’s mission is to change the way we view our food and what we eat.  He provides an easy-to-follow system for good health. It is also what I believe and have always taught in my cooking school.  It is to:  Eat Real Food; make it with fresh, seasonal and local ingredients.  Avoid processed foods.
Peter stresses that fat has merit and sugar is demonic; he supports his views with scientific research which has the good effect of shifting the nutritional status-quo.  For years health experts have had it wrong with the dietary pyramid presented upside down.  It needs to be inverted! In fact, it is currently under review, is being re-researched at our CSIRO and hopefully will be rectified soon!

Peter advocates a traffic light system of eating: with some foods are given the green light, while others should be eaten with caution, the amber zone, the red zone where the foods are either stopped or saved for very special occasions. He acknowledges that there must be a degree of flexibility and that healthy eating habits are those that can be sustained over the long term. The resources section in his book, has links to podcasts, YouTube videos, website and blogs, movies and books.
I know Peter and respect his work. He is a colleague and friend of my son, Barton.  Many years ago,  coached my son, Haig, in his school hockey team, along with Peter’s own son as well! He lives nearby in Melbourne.  To read more about Peter and his work, check his websites: A Fat Lot of Good and Dr Peter Brukner.

You can buy a copy buy it online and I sell Peter’s book here for $25, and it comes with his food chart fridge magnet.  All royalties for this book go to Peter’s SugarByHalf Campaign.  www.sugarbyhalf.com

Defeat Diabetes Australia

‘How did we get it so wrong’, Peter Brukner, Sports Physician and Defeat Diabetes founder. https://www.defeatdiabetes.com.au/resources/how-did-we-get-nutrition-so-wrong

The sooner we get back to the way our grandparents ate, lose our fear of saturated fat and acknowledge that sugar, processed foods and vegetable oils are the problem not fat, then the sooner we can start reversing the upward trend of these diseases.’

‘How to lose weight without eating less and exercising more’, Dr Barton Jennings, Lung and Sleep, Respiratory Physician. YouTube– https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF8h4-6GR8U&t=1164s  2021.  ‘For many years, we have been told incorrect information about healthy nutrition. This has resulted in many people gaining weight and developing diseases of lifestyle such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes and cancer. In this video, Barton explains what we should be eating for weight loss and to achieve optimal health.’

My library collection includes these excellent LCHF resources as well as many LCHF cookbooks and videos which you are welcome to borrow:

‘The real meal revolution; the radical, sustainable approach to healthy eating’, by sports scientist, Professor Tim Noakes, chef Jonno Proudfoot and nutritionist Ann-Ann Creed. 2015.  In the first quarter of his book, Tim Noakes explains his views on a healthy LCHF lifestyle to obtain good health; the remainder is packed with excellent recipes to guide you along the way.

‘The art and science of low carbohydrate living’ by Jeff S. Volek and Stephen D. Phinney. 2011. This is a detailed guide to making the lifte-saving benefits of carbohydrate restriction sustainable and enjoyable. This excellent, detailed book is also written with healthcare professionals in mind as well as the layman.

‘What the fat?’ by Grant Schofield, Caryn Zinn and Craig Rogers.  2015.

‘Good calories, bad calories’ by Gary Taubes 2007.

‘Toxic oil: why vegetable oil will kill you and how to save yourself’ by David Gillespie 2013

‘Sweet poison: learn how to break your addiction with sugar for life’ by David Gillespie 2017

‘Low carb, healthy fat: the simplest way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight’ by Pete Evans. 2017. This is one of my favourite Pete Evans books as part one explains the low carb healthy fat diet in a very understandable fashion with the second part packed with excellent recipes.

‘Primal body, primal mind: beyond paleo for total health and a longer life’,

by Nora Gedgaudas. 2011.  In my library but not yet finished.

‘The omnivore’s dilemma’, by Michael Pollan 9  is not no crucial in our understanding of LCHF, but it did start the American conversation about the American way of eating.  His next book, In defence of food helps us to make the right choices.

‘In defence of food; an eater’s manifesto’ , by Michael Pollan. 2008.  In this work he proposes a new answer to the question of what we should eat; seven simple, liberating words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Pollan shows us how we can start making thoughtful food choices, ones that will enrich our lives, enlarge our sense of what it means to be healthy, and bring pleasure back to eating.  A good read.