My current “intro” email

I thought it would be useful to take an edited version of the current email I send out to folks with links to info (books, websites, etc) and share it here.  It’s a good wrap up of what I would consider to be the best sources and places to start learning about where we went wrong with regards to health and nutrition, and how to fix it.

Read on for the full mail and list of info.

WEB:
If you want to start simple, here’s the quick ones to check out:

• http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
  • In particular, start here:  http://www.marksdailyapple.com/primal-blueprint-101/
• http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike
• http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/
  • In particular, start here:  http://www.paleonu.com/what-is-panu/
• http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/

MOVIE:

There’s a very low budget but pretty funny documentary movie on the subject.  It’s a great way to get a partial overview in 90 minutes– it covers the short version of how hormones control weight, how food affects hormones, and where the lipid hypothesis came from and why it’s wrong.
I strongly recommend the movie– and it’s a great way to get someone who doesn’t want to invest in reading a book or a website to check this stuff out.

The Movie (because sometimes 1.5 hours is all you want to spend): http://fathead-movie.com/

BOOKS:

Each author has their own different perspective and often there’s aspects of each approach you have to look past a bit (the veggie myth author is a bit on the revolutionary activist side, the primal blueprint author can wax a bit poetic about cavemen, nourishing traditions can be pretty touchy-feely-new-age in spots, and GCBC can put some people to sleep with too much info), but they’re all phenomenal books and largely spot on.  Just skim the commentary and get to the main info if it’s too over the top of just rubbing you the wrong way.
I can describe the books in more detail if you’re interested, but here’s the basic list form, with links to Amazon.

1. Primal Blueprint (my personal favorite overall for simplicity and comprehensiveness of material and approach)
2. Real Food    (totally different approach than #1, starts from a personal story and moves to talking about things from a food angle)
3. Good Calories, Bad Calories (if someone wants to get technical, throw this at them– it’s where you go when you want the full proof and research, but it’s not an easy read for some)
4. Nourishing Traditions (cook book & history of food… want to have a great reference for traditional foods and which foods are "real", get this)

5. The Vegetarian Myth (tons of great info for non-vegetarians and vegetarians both about misconceptions about veggie vs. meat consumption from all angles, political, ecological, nutritional, moral, ethical, historical– the author gets over the top a good amount, but it’s a fascinating book)

6.  Protein Power Lifeplan
7.  Eat Fat, Lose Fat

Books I haven’t read but that are highly recommended:

The Doctor’s Heart cure: http://www.amazon.com/Doctors-Heart-Beyond-Modern-Exercise/dp/0938045652/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253238674&sr=8-1

The Great Cholesterol Con: http://www.amazon.com/Great-Cholesterol-Con-Really-Disease/dp/1844546101/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1253313626&sr=1-1

If, somehow, in some crazy universe… you want more:

Here’s my current blog reading list.  Each source, of course, may get some things wrong and has to be taken as part of the larger overall picture.  I’ve been flagging really good posts via Google Reader (and sharing them via http://www.google.com/reader/shared/lowell.meyer), and have found that G.R.’s search function is amazing—I can find anything ever posted from just the blogs I follow on any particular topic.  It’s a great way to narrow the scope of a general web search to semi-trusted sources.  Anyhow–

My current daily blog reading list (alphabetical, no real order—many of these are gold, but of course often they’ll disagree and no single one should be taken purely at face value—think for yourself and compare sources):

• Animal Pharm: http://drbganimalpharm.blogspot.com/
• Associated with the “Track Your Plaque” program at Stanford… good stuff!
• Fat Head: http://www.fathead-movie.com/
• Free the Animal: http://freetheanimal.com/
• Dr. Eades: http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike
• Health Man Blog: http://healthmanblog.com/
• Hey, I know that guy!
• Hyperlipid: http://high-fat-nutrition.blogspot.com/
• Mark’s Daily Apple: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/
• NephroPal: http://nephropal.blogspot.com/
• PaNu: http://www.paleonu.com/panu-weblog/
• Primal Wisdom: http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/
• Professional / Triathlete: http://christremonte.blogspot.com/
• Hey, I know that guy too!
• The Heart Scan Blog: http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/
• Whole Health Source: http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/

Some others I follow (less avidly, but I still read all the posts):

• ArthurDeVany: http://www.arthurdevany.com/
• At Darwin’s Table: http://darwinstable.wordpress.com/
• Cooling Inflammation: http://coolinginflammation.blogspot.com/
• Diabetes Update: http://diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/
• Fitness Spotlight: http://www.fitnessspotlight.com/
• Joe Levy: Sunlight Advocate: http://joelevy.blogspot.com/
• Pay Now, Live Later: http://paynowlivelater.blogspot.com/
• Primal Blog: http://www.primalbody-primalmind.com/blog
• Son of Grok: http://www.sonofgrok.com/
• Sterling Advice: http://sterlingadvice.blogspot.com/
• The Daily Lipid: http://blog.cholesterol-and-health.com/
• The Paleo Garden: http://www.thepaleogarden.com/
• The Truth, The Whole Truth, And Nothing But The Truth: http://slowburn.typepad.com/my_weblog/
• Vitamin D3: http://drsorenson.blogspot.com/