Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: The non-fiction book everyone should read and why

It’s time again for the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge hosted by Long and Short Reviews.
Today’s topic is: The non-fiction book everyone should read and why
This was actually a hard topic for me because I have a LOT of non-fiction books I could recommend. If I stick to one author, can it still be considered one book? 😀
In previous posts here and here and here, I’ve discussed Prescription for Nutritional Healing by Phyllis A. Balch, so … I won’t on this post. But you should definitely read about it if you haven’t already.
Today, I’ll talk about the author I always turn to when ever talk turns to how we should eat for optimal health. This can be a topic that’s quite polarizing. When people believe in something, they BELIEVE in it. If they tried Keto and it worked for them, then IT’S THE ONLY WAY TO EAT HEALTHY. Or if folks are vegan THEN THIS IS THE ONLY WAY YOU SHOULD EAT. You get the idea…
I’m not a fan of absolutes. With two exceptions, I don’t believe any food is evil or bad for you (those exceptions are refined sugar and refined flour — that said, I do still eat both on occasion). I read pretty much every book that comes out about nutrition and glean every bit of information I can…I cross reference and check and search. I take very little at face value. But I absolutely do believe that eating right can make your body work as it was always meant to. I honestly believe many ailments can be ‘cured’ by right nutrition. If you put bad gas in your car, it dies. Why can’t we consider that our bodies are also a type of machine and need the right kind of fuel to run optimally?
And in that vein, please allow me to put forth two books from the man I believe offers the most reasonable, level-headed, cohesive, common sense approach to eating for optimal health: Michael Pollan. He’s the person who gave me my favorite line ever: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” As a side note, he does have a definition of “food” in his book.
He has tons of books out and they’re all interesting, but the two I would recommend everyone read are In Defense of Food and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
If you’re confused about all the hype regarding various “diets” out there (low carb, keto, paleo, whatever) I highly recommend these two books. One discusses food and how it’s evolved over the years and the other discusses how we relate to and develop/harvest/butcher our “food” today. They aren’t hard to read and they’re just interesting. They honestly changed my entire outlook on what we eat.
If you get a chance to read them, I’d love to hear what you think!