Week 4 is hosted by Rebekah at She Seeks Nonfiction blog. The topic is mind openers, and she asks:
One of the greatest things about reading nonfiction is the way it can open your eyes to the world around you—no plane ticket required. What nonfiction book or books have impacted the way you see the world in a powerful way? Is there one book that made you rethink everything? Is there a book that, if everyone read it, you think the world would be a better place?
That’s a really good question. My initial answer is that I would hope to learn something from every book I read, and especially nonfiction. Memoirs can really draw you into the memoirist’s personality; histories can bring a period to life; travelogues can inspire you to find out more about countries and their people; technical and scientific subjects can educate. However, the two related books that probably made me rethink things are:
Gut by Giulia Enders & The Diet Myth by Tim Spector
Gut (full review here) was the first book I read in 2016. It introduced me to my second brain via the vagus nerve which connects the gut with the brain, and is responsible for producing 95% of our serotonin. Written in three sections, the book describes the physiology of our digestive system from one end to the other, moving on to that second brain aspect, finishing with a look at gut flora, or your ‘microbiome’ as we often now call it.
Enders and her translator, David Shaw, have done a great job to make a complex subject comprehensible, it is informal in style and easy to read accompanied throughout by little cartoons and diagrams. I like a good diagram, and some of these were indeed useful.
Of course, this is not a diet book either. It does give some good pointers on how to keep your gut happy though and that is enough to inspire me to make some gentle lifestyle changes. It’s a good thing I love asparagus! A fascinating read.
A few months later, I moved on from Gut to The Diet Myth by Tim Spector (full review here). Published before Spector became a constant on our radio and TV, this book was a real revelation. Learning about the anatomy and physiology of the gut from Gut was only half of the equation. You need to combine that with good science about the stuff you put into it!
This is where The Diet Myth by Tim Spector comes in. Spector is a geneticist and physician in London, and runs the British Gut project and now works for health promotion company Zoe, coming to the public forefront during COVID as Zoe’s stats outperformed the Govt’s. Now they promote a personal approach to better health through nutrition, but I digress.
Spector’s interest in diet came after he was left with high blood pressure after another medical condition and he decided to eat himself back to health and research how what we eat affects our gut. He is lucky, for being a geneticist, he runs a large database of twins who help in his research.
He started off by reviewing all the existing best-selling diets – and concluded that, with the exception of the 5:2 diet, they are all fatally flawed because they are based on exclusion. There is growing evidence emerging that a lack of diversity in your microbiome can affect many of our body processes, including tendencies to obesity etc. He explains more about where our microbiomes originate from. We each have around 100 trillion microbes weighing about 2kg in our guts – and we actually share 40% of our genes with them!
Spector’s book goes on to cover all the major food types in turn with some fascinating detail. He is scathing on all the pseudo-scientists, he tells us that the advent of cooking led to us evolving to have shorter intestines, the differences between artificial sweeteners and sugar-replacements, how emulsifiers are so bad and so much more. But he does also tell us what’s good for us and our microbiome, explaining prebiotics and polyphenols etc. The big secret is to eat as diversely as possible – You Are What You Eat!
Spector has since written several other books expanding on and updating The Diet Myth, which I have also enjoyed.
I’m a Spector aficionado! He’s converted me to throwing a handful of seeds and nuts over salads and adding a dollop of yoghurt or kefir to breakfast every day.
It was you that pointed out Spector to me, Susan! Thank you.
I must read both these books – thanks, Annabel.
They are both fascinating and Tim Spector will be a revelation! His more up to date books are also brilliant.
I have read some of Tim Spector’s articles when I took part in Zoe during COVID. I haven’t come across Guilia Enders book before.
Good choice. We all have to eat, but it is a matter of what and how we eat. Always an interesting topic. You are what you eat is also a very good line to remember.
I should likely read these because I do have issues with my gut more than any other body part. Thanks for sharing these recommendations!
My pleasure – both absolutely fascinating!
I nearly added Gut to my list along with Ultra-Processed People and Eat and be Well. The mind – gut connection is fascinating and this book was interesting!
I need to read Ultra Processed People too.