Recommended Books & Handouts
I invite you to enjoy these books that focus on body, mind, spirit & artful living of a long life. You'll see books exploring the ecological importance of conscious living & eating as key to saving our future aboard this magnificent planet.
Guides from Dr Klaper
Books About Nutrition & Nutritional Health
Nourish by Resha Shah, M.D. and Brenda Davis, R.D.
Nourish is a comprehensive, evidence-based guide for families that are plant-based or simply plant-curious. It helps families navigate the what, why, and how of plant-based eating, providing parents the reassurance they need to succeed in raising children who have a permanent, positive relationship with healthy food.
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Parents will learn:
How a diet centered around plants can optimize health, prevent chronic disease, care for our planet & be an act compassion.
Nutrition specifics for all the stages of childhood, from pregnancy & breastfeeding all the way through adolescence.
Tips, strategies & mouthwatering recipes to bring all of this information to dinner tables as they transition to plant-based eating.
The Vegan Starter Kit by Neal Barnard, M.D.
Many are looking to adopt a more healthful diet but may have questions, like: How do I plan a vegan meal? Is protein an issue? How do I make it work if I don't cook? Which are the best choices at restaurants?
In The Vegan Starter Kit, Dr. Neal Barnard answers your questions and gives you everything you need to put vegan power to work. You'll learn how to ensure complete nutrition, and get quick-reference charts for calcium sources, tips for modifying your favorite recipes, & examples of quick and easy meals. Everything you need for permanent weight control & dramatically better health is presented.
The Vegan Starter Kit also includes information on healthy eating in childhood, pregnancy, & other stages of life, & a complete set of basic meals, holiday feasts, snacks, among many other features.
How Not to Die by Michael Greger, M.D.
From Michael Greger, M.D., FACLM, the physician behind the trusted & wildly popular website Nutritionfacts.org, How Not to Die reveals the groundbreaking scientific evidence behind the only diet that can prevent and reverse many of the causes of disease-related death.
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The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease. The fifteen leading causes of death claim the lives of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn't have to be the case. By following Dr Greger's advice, all of it backed up by strong scientific evidence, you will learn which foods to eat and which lifestyle changes to make to live longer.
How Not to Die, presents the scientific evidence behind the only diet that can prevent & reverse many of the causes of premature death & disability. From Superfood Breakfast Bites to Two-Berry Pie with Pecan-Sunflower Crust, every recipe in offers easy-to-prepare, plant-based dish to help anyone eat their way to better health.
Undo It!: How Simple Lifestyle Changes Can Reverse Most Chronic Diseases by Dean Ornish, M.D. & Anne Ornish
Dean Ornish, M.D., has directed revolutionary research proving that lifestyle changes can often reverse the progression of many of the most common & costly chronic diseases & even begin reversing aging at a cellular level.
With seventy recipes, easy-to-follow meal plans, tips for stocking your kitchen & eating out, recommended exercises, stress-reduction advice, & inspiring patient stories of life-transforming benefits, for example, several people improved so much after only nine weeks they were able to avoid a heart transplant.
Straight Up Food Cookbook by Cathy Fisher
Known for her delicious & healthy meals made from whole plant ingredients & natural spices, I am honored Cathy Fisher, one of my favorite chefs & authors, asked me to write the introduction for her colorful & valuable cookbook. This is one delicious book!
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Nearly 100 recipes for 100% plant-based food: vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts & seeds – gluten-free with no animal-derived ingredients & no added salt, oil & sugar.
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250 pages with full-color photos, numbered instructions, nutrient & calorie breakdowns, amounts and times, shopping tips, & support information. Filled with easy & delicious recipes to make on a regular basis.
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Available in hard copy form with spiral binding.
Comfortably Unaware – Global Depletion & Food Responsibility by Dr. Richard Oppenlander
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If you or someone you know needs convincing about the unsustainable impact of meat-based diets on our planet and future – & WHY & HOW we must redress our food choices – please read and share this superb & powerful book!
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Written by a wise & eloquent author, this is the most powerful case I’ve read for what I consider to be our best & only hope to save our children’s future: world-wide adoption of a plant-based diet.
Food Choice & Sustainability: Why Buying Local, Eating Less Meat, & Taking Baby Steps Won’t Work by Dr. Richard Oppenlander
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Food Choice & Sustainability is a groundbreaking book that anyone who cares about our future and that of other species should read – individuals, academic institutions, businesses, organizations, & policy makers. Categories of global depletion are detailed, widely held myths are debunked, critical disconnects are exposed, & profound solutions are offered.
Entering the Real World by David Kramer
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If you are, or if you know, a teen or young adult who has recently left home, or who will soon do so to enter the “Real World,” David Kramer’s book, “Entering the Real World: Timeless Ideas Not Learned in School” is a valuable & timely gift.
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This lean (188 pages), easy-to-read book is filled with practical, “get to the point” advice for communicating effectively with others, challenging people & life situations, time management, dealing with Corporate America, owning a small business, wealth, finance and investing, & many other practical topics every person venturing out into the “Real World” is bound to encounter.
Eat for Health by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
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Dr Fuhrman’s scientifically proven system enables you to conquer your cravings & food addictions while steering your taste buds toward healthier food choices. Be aware of the side effects: you may experience reversal of heart disease, headaches, allergies, high blood pressure, & diabetes.
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Eat for Health includes Dr Fuhrman’s ANDI food scoring system with three phases of meal plans and 150 recipes. Start where you’re comfortable & progress at your own pace, or jump right into phase three to maximize weight loss & optimize the therapeutic effects for disease reversal.
The End of Diabetes: The Eat to Live Plan to Prevent and Reverse Diabetes by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
A scientifically proven, practical program to prevent and reverse diabetes – without drugs! Dr. Fuhrman makes clear we don’t have to “control” diabetes. Patients can choose to follow better nutritional guidelines that will control it for them, even before they’ve lost excess weight. The end result is a medical breakthrough – a comprehensive reversal of the disease.
Joel Fuhrman, M.D., research director of the Nutritional Research Foundation, shows you how to live a long, healthy, and happy life – disease free. He offers a complete health transformation, starting with a diet with a high nutrient-per-calorie ratio that can be adapted for individual needs.
The End of Dieting: How to Live for Life by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
In The End of Dieting, Joel Fuhrman M.D., a board–certified family physician who specializes in preventing and reversing disease through nutritional and natural methods, delivers a powerful paradigm-shifting book that shows us how and why we never need to diet again.
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Fuhrman writes, “By reading this book, you will understand the key principles of the science of health, nutrition and weight loss. It will give you a simple and effective strategy to achieve—and maintain—an optimal weight without dieting for the rest of your life. This new approach will free you forever from a merry-go-round of diets and endless, tedious discussions about dieting strategies. This is the end of dieting.”
Disease-Proof Your Child: Feeding Kids Right by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.
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Dr. Fuhrman’s nutrient-rich eating plan can have a significant impact on your child’s resistance to dangerous infections and a dramatic effect on reducing the occurrence of illnesses – asthma, ear infections, and allergies. He also explains how eating certain foods and avoiding other foods can positively impact a child’s IQ and success in school.
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Featuring easy-to-prepare, kid-friendly recipes to satisfy even the pickiest eaters, Disease-Proof Your Child can help your whole family learn to establish life-long healthful eating habits.
Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure by Caldwell B. Esselstyn Jr., M.D.
Based on the groundbreaking results of Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn’s 20-year nutritional study showing that artery-clogging atherosclerotic plaques can be melted away with a wholesome, plant-based diet. New York Times and Amazon national bestselling guide to the lifesaving diet that can prevent and help reverse the effects of heart disease.
Complete with more than 150 delicious, plant-based recipes, Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease explains the science behind the simple plan that has drastically changed the lives of heart disease patients forever. It empowers readers by providing tools to take control of heart health.
Dr. Neal Barnard’s Program for Reversing Diabetes: The Scientifically Proven System for Reversing Diabetes without Drugs by Neal Barnard, M.D.
In a series of studies, the most recent funded by the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Barnard has shown that it is possible to repair insulin function and reverse type 2 diabetes. By following his scientifically proven, life-changing program, diabetics can control blood sugar three times more effectively than with the standard diet; and cut back on and in some cases eliminate medications while reducing the risk of diabetes complications.
Neal Barnard, M.D., is a physician, clinical researcher, and adjunct associate professor of medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine. He is also is the president and founder of the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Barnard Medical Center. He is the author of 17 books, including New York Times best-sellers.
The Cheese Trap: How Breaking a Surprising Addiction Will Help You Lose Weight, Gain Energy, and Get Healthy by Neal Barnard, M.D.
New York Times bestselling author Dr. Neal Barnard reveals the shocking truth about cheese – a dangerous addiction that is harming your health – and presents a radical program to lose weight and feel great.
Although we’ve been told dairy does a body good, the truth is cheese can be dangerous. In this 320-page book, Dr. Barnard, president of the nonprofit Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine, presents a comprehensive program to break free of cheese addiction to lose weight, boost energy, and improve overall health. This easy-to-follow diet features healthy recipes that can tame even the toughest cravings – from pizza and lasagna, to ice cream and cheesecake
Crazy Sexy Kitchen: 150 Plant-Empowered Recipes to Ignite a Mouthwatering Revolution by Kris Carr with Chef Chad Sarno
New York Times best-selling author Kris Carr offers a Veggie Manifesto for gourmands and novices alike. Filled with inspiration, education, and cooking tips, plus more than 150 nourishing, nosh-worthy recipes.
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Infused with her signature humor, style, and wit, Crazy Sexy Kitchen redefines the kitchen as headquarters for a wellness revolution. You’ll see goodness born in your kitchen reaching deep into the rest of your life – enriching your health, home, heart, and the planet.
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Crazy Sexy Kitchen provides tools and know-how to adopt a joyful and vibrant plant-powered lifestyle that harmonizes your beautiful body at the cellular level. It’s a celebratory way of living – deeply connected, healthy, awake, and engaged.
Finding Ultra by Rich Roll
The inspiring story of Rich Roll’s dramatic transformation from out-of-shape mid-lifer to endurance machine — and a life filled with power, passion and health – in a matter of mere months.
An edge-of-the-seat look at a series of jaw-dropping athletic feats and a practical training manual for those seeking to attempt a similar transformation.
The Plantpower Way: Whole Food Plant-Based Recipes and Guidance for The Whole Family by Rich Roll and Julie Piatt
A practical, how-to guide on the power of plant-based eating to help you and your family transition to a truly healthy diet and lifestyle. Includes 120 recipes from world-renowned vegan ultra-distance athlete, Rich Roll, and his chef wife, Julie Piatt.
“A powerful guidebook to the best versions of ourselves.” – Howard Jacobson, PhD
Becoming Vegan: Comprehensive Edition by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D.
Becoming Vegan: Comprehensive Edition provides all the information MD’s, dietitians, other health professionals need to guide their patients and clients in designing diets that optimize nutrition and minimize disease risk. This book provides in-depth answers to common questions about protein, essential fats, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals.
It takes a deep dive into nutrition during pregnancy and lactation, infancy, childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and the senior years. It examines issues such as overweight, underweight, and eating disorders. This book is packed with practical information including a comprehensive food guide, and it is widely viewed as the classic on plant-based nutrition.
Becoming Vegan: Express Edition by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D.
Becoming Vegan: Express Edition is the condensed version of Becoming Vegan: Comprehensive Edition. It has won multiple book awards and been called the go-to book on plant-based nutrition by the American Library Association. Author Brenda Davis is an esteemed and popular speaker, a member of the Vegetarian Hall of Fame, and a past chairperson of the Vegetarian Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Vesanto Melina has taught nutrition at the University of British Columbia and Bastyr University in Seattle and is consultant to the government of B. C. She is lead author of the current position paper on vegetarian diets for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
The Kick Diabetes Cookbook by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D.
The Kick Diabetes Cookbook is a practical guide for successfully fighting diabetes through simple (and tasty) dietary changes. It provides over 100 delicious, well tested recipes without any added fats, oils or sugar. This book is also proving useful for those who want to lose weight, maintain a healthy body weight, or reverse cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases.
Nutrition and diabetes experts Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina help ward off hunger with highly nutritious meals and snacks, lower blood glucose levels and yet provide optimal nutrition.
Kick Diabetes Essentials by Brenda Davis, R.D. and Vesanto Melina, M.S., R.D.
Kick Diabetes Essentials is a detailed plant-based guide for treating type 2 diabetes. The goal is remission, and with this book, you can be sure you will have your best chance of getting there. Well-planned plant-based diets tackle the disease from its roots.
They work to maximize protective dietary components and minimize pathogenic dietary components. This book provides a summary of the current research and compares the effectiveness of plant-based diets with low-carbohydrate diets. You will find a solid blueprint for type 2 diabetes reversal, along with absolutely delicious recipes that will transform the way you think about food.
Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande, M.D.
Dr. Atul Gawande is a surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, an assistant professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, a New York Times best selling author, and a MacArthur fellow with a gift for clear, compassionate writing who uses inspiring stories from medicine to show how striving to improve is part of the human spirit and how each of us can use what we have to overcome the apparent limits we face.
The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. and Thomas M. Campbell, II, M.D.
This book has become a classic in its presentation of a massive nutrition study examining the diet and disease patterns in every county in China. The results make clear that, when it comes to cancer, heart disease and so many of the degenerative diseases we face – diet makes a big difference.
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When I ask my patients who have successfully changed to a healthier diet what inspired them to do so, many have said, “Oh, I read The China Study.”
Diet for a New America: How Your Food Choices Affect Your Health, Happiness and the Future of Life on Earth, Second Edition by John Robbins
The personal and planetary effects of a meat-based diet are now glaringly apparent, despite denials by those who profit from meat and dairy production, the fossil-fuels burned to create them, and those who consume meat in large quantities.
This remarkable and newly revised book makes clear why the single most effective action you can take to improve your health, the health of our planet, and the lives of all who come after us is to reduce or eliminate the consumption of meat, dairy, and other animal products.
Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat by Philip Lymbery & Isabel Oakeshott
At a recent annual Earth Day celebration, my message was that our rapacious consumption of animal-based food products is a driving force behind most of the environmental destruction we face today, including deforestation, soil erosion, water depletion, desertification, water pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, and more.
If you have any doubt about this, read this book. It’s an amazing and thorough piece of investigative reporting!
The Food Revolution: How Your Diet Can Help Save Your Life & Our World by John Robbins
In a clear, powerful voice, John Robbins sounds the alarm about what our current food choices are doing to our bodies, our society & our planet & offers practical solutions to lead us out of our now dire predicament. No one has made the plate-planet connection better than John Robbins.
By the time you read the final page, you will be educated and motivated to do what you can to create a healthier future for yourself & everyone with whom we share this precious Earth.
The Green Scene Diet: A must-have guide, the Why & How to of Plant Based Nutrition & Cuisine by Linda Berson
If you’re looking for an easy introduction to the world of healthy, plant-based eating, I recommend Green Scene Diet by Linda Berson. Written by a woman who made the journey from “meat-and-potatoes land” after her husband was diagnosed with seriously clogged arteries & clinical heart disease, Green Scene Diet offers an eating plan to heal your body with practical tips on shopping & meal preparation, including dozens of delicious recipes – all presented in an upbeat, conversational style.
No Happy Cows: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Food Revolution by John Robbins
No Happy Cows is a collection of observations by internationally known vegan and bestselling author, John Robbins, from the frontlines of the food revolution. Topics include grass-fed beef, greed & salmonella, junk food marketing to kids, soy & Alzheimer’s, & hormones in our milk.
Robbins’ trenchant & provocative observations into relationships between animals & the humans who raise them remind us of the importance of working for a more compassionate & environmentally responsible world.
Rethink Food: 100+ Doctors Can’t Be Wrong by Shushana Castle & Amy-Lee Goodman
An increasing number of physicians are awakening to the reality that the vast majority of serious diseases – clogged arteries, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, inflammatory bowel & joint diseases, etc. are, in truth, wreckage caused by the overly-processed & “chemicalized,” animal-based, Standard American Diet.
This book presents a welcomed recognition by medical professionals that the most effective treatment for these largely diet-caused diseases is nutrition based on whole plant foods. If you’re looking for science-based medical validation of healthy nutrition, start with this remarkable book & enjoy its many inspiring accounts of the dawning of a new age of nutrition-based medicine.
Yoga for Osteoporosis: The Complete Guide by Loren Fishman MD & Ellen Saltonstall MD
A comprehensive, user-friendly medical yoga program designed for the management & prevention of osteoporosis, with more than 400 illustrations.
This book helps readers understand osteoporosis & provides a spectrum of exercises for beginners & experts. Classical yoga poses, as well as physiologically sound adapted poses, are presented with easy-to-follow instructions & illustrations.
The Great Work of Your Life: A Guide for the Journey to Your True Calling by Stephen Cope
From the Senior Scholar-in-residence & Ambassador for the famed Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health comes an incisive & inspiring meditation on living the life you were born to live.
Stephen Cope uses illustrative stories & ancient scripture to show how people throughout history have discovered their true calling & the passion & happiness that such a quest creates.
Still Here: Embracing Aging, Changing, and Dying by Ram Dass
Ram Dass, one of the wisest (& funniest) of our sages, helps us use our ageing process as a vehicle for spiritual growth.
This lovely & yet, powerful book will plant seeds in your mind & heart that will nourish your spirit year after year.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry Into Values by Robert Pirsig
This book is a journey of discovery as a teacher-father & his troubled teenage son ride a motorcycle across the country to explore exciting frontiers of the heart, mind & existence.
Realizing the “motorcycle” is your life, this book is a manual full of life lessons that will change the way you look at almost everything you encounter & help you to re-evaluate what is truly important in your life.
In their latest release, PLANT-POWERED PROTEIN: Nutrition Essentials and Dietary Guidelines for All Ages
Canadian plant-based nutrition experts Brenda Davis, RD, & Vesanto Melina, MS, RD, together with Cory Davis, answer the top
question for many people considering a plant-based diet: Will I get enough protein? The exciting answer is a resounding YES.
The authors provide scientific studies, tables, charts, and in-depth nutritional analyses to show that plants are an abundant source of high-quality protein, and explain the roles of macronutrients and micronutrients, and how the amino acids found in protein promote healthy growth. Readers learn how to determine their recommended daily allowance (RDA) for protein per age groups, and how to obtain all the vital nutrients each group requires.