List of Paleo Diet Books

Here is a comprehensive list of Paleo Diet Books for your edification and enjoyment. (compiled by paleodiet.com)

The Evolution Diet: All-Natural and Allergy Free by Joseph SB Morse. I work with people to maximize their diets and I’ve worked with 100’s of different eating plans, from Atkins to the Zone. I have to say, this is better than anything else on the market. This third edition includes great information about food intoleraces and allergies and provides a wealth of food options that fit within the “All-Natural and Allergy Free” life. The other content is there too, but if you have celiac, egg or nut allergies, dairy intolerances, this is the book for you. Some of my clients have said that it’s a lifesaver. – Jenny Langley [Kindle edition available.]

The Evolution Diet: What and How We Were Designed to Eat, Second Edition by Joseph Morse. For nearly two million years, humans and our hominid ancestors were eating in the hunter/gatherer style of foraging for a wide variety of healthy fruits and vegetables and then hunting and scavenging for large game. However, about 9,000 years ago, humans started eating in a manner contrary to their design, while living increasingly sedentary lives. Author Joseph SB Morse shows in The Evolution Diet how we can achieve ultimate health by emulating our ancestors’ hunter/gatherer lifestyle. You’re about to embark on an insightful, and often humorous journey to discover how humans evolved to eat, what cultureless humans would eat, and how we can use that knowledge with today’s technology and wealth to develop the ideal diet. The benefits of The Evolution Diet are immediate and include attaining an ideal weight, achieving balanced energy throughout the day, and better sleep. If you’ve been asking yourself what and how we were designed to eat, Morse’s The Evolution Diet is the answer. [Kindle edition available.]

The Paleo Solution: The Original Human Diet by Robb Wolf, a research biochemist. Readers will understand digestion, how protein, carbohydrate and fat influence hormones, and how this plays into fat loss, health or disease. They’ll understand the significance of dietary fats whether the concern is performance, health, longevity, or making your fanny look good in a bikini. The book goes into how lifestyle factors such as sleep and stress influence the hormone cortisol. It gets into basic blood work and what things people should ask their doctor to include to better assess inflammation and health. It also includes a detailed 30-day meal plan and a beginner exercise program. The exercise program is geared to the beginner or someone who is quite de-conditioned but the nutritional info would be helpful for anyone regardless of background. The author’s website is Robb Wolf. He likes to pass out the information via weekly podcasts. Here’s a video Introduction to the book. And here is an excerpt from the book: How to Keep Feces Out of Your Bloodstream (or Lose 10 Pounds in 14 Days). The many Amazon reviews all rave about the book. Published September 14, 2010.

The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy by Mark Sisson is a journey through human evolution, comparing the life and robust health of our hunter-gatherer ancestors with a day in the life of a modern family. The author offers a solution in 10 empowering Blueprint Lifestyle Laws: eat lots of plants and animals, avoid poisonous things, move frequently at a slow pace, lift heavy things, sprint once in a while, get adequate sleep, play, get adequate sunlight, avoid stupid mistakes, and use your brain. The reader learns how the right high-fat diet can actually help one lose weight and how popular low-fat, grain-based diets might trigger illness, disease, and lifelong weight gain. The author presents a comprehensive, well thought out paleo style eating plan in a humorous and organized manner. He backs up all his work with research, natural wisdom, and historical timelines. He disputes the role of dietary saturated fat in causation of arteriosclerosis, the role of cholesterol in promotion of heart disease, and the costly over-promotion of expensive, potentially toxic statin drugs. He criticizes our massive overeating of refined carbohydrates and urges avoidance of grains, cereals, bread and sugar. There is specific recommendation for “primal” food including more natural healthy fats and meats, fruits, veggies, and nuts. Some reviewers consider this to be the best of the various paleo books. The many Amazon reviews average to 5 stars. The author’s popular and worthwhile web site: Mark’s Daily Apple.

The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat, Revised Edition by Loren Cordain. This revised edition features new weight-loss material and recipes plus the latest information drawn from breaking Paleolithic research. Published December 7, 2010.

The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat is Loren Cordain’s first paleo book. His publisher’s page. [Kindle edition available.]

The Paleo Diet for Athletes: A Nutritional Formula for Peak Athletic Performance by Loren Cordain and Joe Friel.

Bruce Fife also has a newly revised The Coconut Oil Miracle. The book describes the therapeutic properties of coconut oil. It offers a nutrition plan with dozens of recipes. [Kindle edition available.]

The New Evolution Diet: What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us about Weight Loss, Fitness, and Aging by Arthur De Vany. Art is the grandfather of the “Paleo Lifestyle” movement. The plan is built on three principles: (1) eat three meals a day made up of nonstarchy vegetables, fruits, and lean proteins; (2) skip meals occasionally to promote a low fasting blood insulin level; and (3) exercise less, not more, in shorter, high-intensity bursts. Note that the book is anti-fat. All oils are to be avoided, though canola is considered okay for higher temperatures. Egg yolks are to be skipped now and then. To be published December 21, 2010. [Kindle edition available now.]

Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes expounds on his 2002 article in the NY Times (What if It’s All Been a Big Fat Lie?) and then in Science Magazine (see below). He shows how public health data has been misinterpreted to mark dietary fat and cholesterol as the primary causes of coronary heart disease. Deeper examination, he says, shows that heart disease and other diseases of civilization appear to result from increased consumption of refined carbohydrates: sugar, white flour and white rice. Or in other words, without using the word Paleolithic, he justifies the paleo diet. Here is an excellent chapter by chapter summary of the book. [Kindle edition available.]

Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It by Gary Taubes has fresh evidence for his claim that certain kinds of carbohydrates–not fats and not simply excess calories–have led to our current obesity epidemic. This book is more accessible than his first one. He covers insulin’s regulation of our fat tissue. To be published December 28, 2010. [Kindle edition available.]

Peter D’Adamo’s serotype diet book Eat Right 4 Your Type: The Individualized Diet Solution to Staying Healthy, Living Longer & Achieving Your Ideal Weight is in sympathy with the paleo diet approach, at least if you are Type O. Buy at Amazon. [Kindle edition available.]

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan gives a guided tour of 20th century food science, a history of “nutritionism” in America and a look at the marriage of government and the food industry. Then the book presents a commonsense shopping-and-eating guide, which like the paleo diet focuses on shopping the perimeter of the supermarket. [Kindle edition available.] He also now has a much shorter Food Rules: An Eater’s Manual.

Nutrition & Physical Degeneration by Dr. Weston Price’s book puts to rest a lot of myths about diet, dental, physical, and emotional health, and presents the strongest case for a super-nutritious Native (or Paleo) Diet. His book outlines the conditions/causes for exceptional health. A classic that was first published in 1938. The Soil and Health Library has a Book Review by Steve Solomon. If you don’t buy the book at least read the review. [Kindle edition available.] N.B. If you live in one of the countries where this book is now in the public domain, you can read it online. But not if you live in a country where it is still under copyright protection.

Diana Schwarzbein is another M.D. that has come to realize that low carb is what works. See reviews at The Schwarzbein Principle. The book is based on her work with insulin-resistant patients with Type II diabetes. She concludes that low-fat diets cause heart attacks, eating fat makes you lose body fat, and it’s important to eat high-cholesterol foods every day. [Kindle edition available.]

Sally Fallon and Mary Enig have a new Coconut Diet book called Eat Fat, Lose Fat: Lose Weight And Feel Great With The Delicious, Science-based Coconut Diet. [Kindle edition available.]

Primal Body-Primal Mind by Nora Gedgaudas advocates a diet that our paleo ancestors ate. Meat, lots of fat, and seasonal fruits and berries when available. Basically, sugar and starchy carbs are discouraged. You can download a chapter from the author’s site. She has a Primal Body – Primal Mind Radio weekly show on Voice of America. It started May 20, 2009, so there are many shows you can listen to.

Protein Power: The High-Protein/Low-Carbohydrate Way to Lose Weight, Feel Fit, and Boost Your Health–in Just Weeks! by Eades and Eades was a best seller for over a year. It uses many paleo arguments for their diet recommendations. All easy to understand. The hundreds and hundreds of reviews at Amazon average to 4+ stars. [Kindle edition available.]

Ignore the Awkward! How the Cholesterol Myths Are Kept Alive by Uffe Ravnskov. Of his three books this is the newest and shortest. Two good book reviews are Tom Naughton’s Dr. Ravnskov’s New Book: Ignore the Awkward! and Laurence Chalem’s Customer Review. All reviewers at Amazon give it 5 stars. Published January 10, 2010.

Fat and Cholesterol are Good for You by Uffe Ravnskov is a new book which includes updated and simplified sections from his previous one (The Cholesterol Myths). Ravnskov also presents his own idea about the cause of heart disease, an idea that explains all the findings that do not fit with the present view. It is a powerful book. The Amazon.com reviews average to 5 stars. Published January 26, 2009.

Lights Out: Sleep, Sugar, and Survival recommends a very paleo-like diet, and they also make a good argument for electric lighting as a major contributor to modern health problems. It’s written in a very magazinish, overblown style, but the reasoning is overall sound. [Kindle edition available.]

The Vegetarian Myth: Food, Justice, and Sustainability by Lierre Keith is against industrial farming. She spent 20 years as a vegan, and now reveals the risks of a vegan diet, and explains why animals belong on ecologically sound farms. And as all the neolithic foods we avoid are produced on industrial farms, she is against the foods we avoid. Here’s a well thought out review by Eric Wargo: Clubbing Vegetarians Over the Head With the Truth. [Kindle edition available.]

Cereal Killer: The Unintended Consequences of the Low Fat Diet by Alan L. Watson. The book is in two parts: Part 1, the test of time, documents the unintended consequences of the low fat diet, describing how food pyramid schemes and sugary cereals are directly associated with insulin resistance, high blood sugar, and widespread diabetes. Part 2, life in the fat lane, combats decades of extreme fat-bashing by providing a definitive analysis of the value and wholesome nature of saturated fat and foods rich in cholesterol. The Amazon reviews average to 4+ stars.

Life Without Bread: How a Low-Carbohydrate Diet Can Save Your Life by Christian B. Allan, Wolfgang Lutz. It is based on Dr. Lutz’s work with thousands of patients in Austria. It deals with the health issues connected to high carb consumption. It is basically an English version and update of Dr. Lutz’s 1967 book with the same title: Leben ohne Brot. He recommends eating only 72 grams of carbohydrates, and an unlimited amount of fat. And provides evidence as to why this is the healthiest diet. Read the review at Amazon by Todd Moody (it will be first!). See excerpts from his earlier edition: Dismantling a Myth: The Role of Fat and Carbohydrates in our Diet

The Sugar Addict’s Total Recovery Program by Kathleen DesMaisons. While this isn’t really a paleo book, it does point out issues with the foods we aren’t eating. The books claims the excessive processed sugar consumed is responsible for “mood swings, depression, fatigue, fuzzy thinking, PMS, impulsivity … [and] unpredictable temper.” She says her research shows indulging in sugar highs should be treated much more seriously, akin to heroin or alcohol dependency, because sugar causes spikes in the neurotransmitters serotonin and beta-dopamine just like those drugs. [Kindle edition available.]

Dangerous Grains by James Braly and Ron Hoggan is the most comprehensive book ever written about the effects of gluten containing grains on the body. Includes a list of almost 200 diseases at the back of the book. [Kindle edition available.]

Know Your Fats: The Complete Primer for Understanding the Nutrition of Fats, Oils and Cholesterol by Mary G. Enig presents a thorough, in-depth, and understandable look at the world of lipids. There are several very thorough Amazon reviews, especially the review by Stephen Byrnes. The numerous Amazon ratings average to 4+ stars.

Going Against the Grain: How Reducing and Avoiding Grains Can Revitalize Your Health by Melissa Diane Smith deals with a much broader range of health problems associated with grains and one Amazon reviewer argues is better than the Mercola book. [Kindle edition available.]

Pottenger’s Cats: A Study in Nutrition by Francis Marion Pottenger, Jr. MD is a classic in the science of nutrition. Dr. Pottenger discovered that cats degenerated unless they were fed raw food.

The Great Cholesterol Con: The Truth About What Really Causes Heart Disease and How to Avoid It by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick reveals that high cholesterol levels do not cause heart disease; that high-fat diets–saturated or otherwise–do not affect blood cholesterol levels; and that for most men and all women the benefits offered by statins are negligible at best. Other data is also provided that shows that statins have many more side affects than is often acknowledged.

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham. This book argues that the ease of digestion and the added nutritional value available in cooked food was the key behind the explosion of human intelligence. (Cooking gelatinizes starch, denatures protein, and softens all foods, permitting more complete digestion and energy extraction. As a result, the food processing apparatus shrinks, freeing energy to support a larger brain.) He then suggests that cooking led to what eventually became marriage and the sexual division of labor. The two most helpful reviews at Amazon get into great detail. The reviews average to 4+ stars. [Kindle edition available.]

The Great Cholesterol Con by Anthony Colpo. The definitive book on the non-dangers of dietary cholesterol and saturated fat was The Cholesterol Myths by Uffe Ravnskov, 2000. This book is six years newer. Its forward is by Uffe Ravnskov. To get a wonderful description of the book read the leading review at Amazon. The many reviews there average to 5 stars.

The No-Grain Diet: Conquer Carbohydrate Addiction and Stay Slim for Life by Dr. Joseph Mercola and Alison Rose Levy argues that the secret to lasting weight loss is to cut out starches, sweets and grains entirely. (Dieters on the maintenance program are allowed “healthy” grains-buckwheat, quinoa, etc.) [Kindle edition available.]

Trick And Treat – how ‘healthy eating’ is making us ill by Barry Groves. The author is one of the world’s most outspoken proponents of a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. This book is an account of how and why the health-care establishment has got the concept of ‘healthy eating’ so wrong. Whereas Taubes work (see above) is a fairly straight forward review of the existing science, Groves expands into the politics of medical research and treatment to a much greater extent. “Trick and Treat” is divided into two parts. Part One describes the corruption in the health industry, points out the problems inherent in a high-carb, low-fat diet, and then prescribes a diet that leads to good health. The prescribed diet is high in fat – specifically animal fat, not polyunsaturated vegetable fat – and low in carbohydrates, with 60-70% of calories from fat, 15-25% of calories from protein, and a mere 10-15% of calories from carbohydrates. Part Two describes numerous diseases the author claims are the result of high carbohydrate consumption. These range from life-threatening disorders such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and cancer to less serious problems such as acne, near-sightedness and dental problems. The Amazon reviews average to 4+ stars.

Food in Antiquity: A Survey of the Diet of Early Peoples (Expanded Edition) by Don R. Brothwell and Patricia Brothwell is a survey of what is known archaeologically about food and drink in pre-modern times. The chapter on insects includes their food value. In beverages it covers what happens to a neglected jar of fruit juice. Under cannibalism it shows evidence of this being done in paleo times, thought most of the work focuses on the classical and near-eastern civilizations, but occasional mention is made of the mesoamerican cultures as well. There is taxonomic and anatomical information.

The Cambridge World History of Food encapsulates much of what is known of food and nutrition throughout the span of human life on earth. Selected chapters are online. You can buy from Amazon for a lot less than that site, but still high.

Human Diet: Its Origin and Evolution edited by Peter S. Ungar & Mark F. Teaford. This volume brings together experts in human and primate ecology, paleontology, and evolutionary medicine. Authors offer their unique perspectives on the evolution of the human diet and the implications of recent changes in diet for health and nutrition today. [Kindle edition available.]

The Carnitine Miracle by Robert Crayhon, M.S. The nutrient carnitine is abundant in red meat. According to Crayhon carnitine helps balance blood lipids and blood sugar levels, maximizes energy levels, increases endurance, eliminates discomfort in ketosis, promotes burning of fat and building of muscle and increases overall well-being. See reviews at Amazon.

Food and Western Disease: Health and nutrition from an evolutionary perspective by Staffan Lindeberg (MD at Lund University in Sweden) is the newest book promoting the paleo diet. It covers the link between diet and disease in the Western world (all major diseases, including cancer, heart disease, obesity, stroke and dementia) and towards a greater knowledge of what can be defined as the optimal human diet. Benefits and risks are detailed. The Amazon reviews are all 5 stars. Especially read Susan Schenck’s detailed review. You can read a preview at Google Books

Deadly Harvest: The Intimate Relationship Between Our Health and Our Food by Geoff Bond. The author is a nutritional anthropologist who has for years investigated both foods of the past and our prehistoric eating habits. Using the latest scientific research and studies of primitive tribal lifestyles, Bond first explains the actual diet that our ancestors followed–a diet that was and still is in harmony with the human species. He then describes how the foods in today’s diets disrupt our biochemistry and digestive system, leading to health disorders such as allergies, arthritis, cancer, diabetes, heart disease, osteoporosis, obesity, and more. Most important, he explains the appropriate measures we can take to avoid these diseases–and even beat them back–through healthy eating. The conclusions of Deadly Harvest are that disease control happens by eating a strict low-glycemic diet, lowering the percentage of body fat you carry around, eat a diet consisting of mostly non-starchy plant-based foods, eat a low-fat diet with ample amounts of omega-3 fats, maintain good colon health, engage in regular physical activity, get some daily sunshine, and reduce chronic stress. If you do this, then diseases like cancer, heart disease, digestive problems, allergies, autoimmune diseases, brain diseases, diabetes, and obesity can be avoided. The Amazon reviews average to 5 stars.

Man Eating Bugs: The Art and Science of Eating Insects by Peter Menzel and Faith D’Aluisio gets laudatory reviews at Amazon.

Evolution of the Human Diet: The Known, the Unknown, and the Unknowable by Peter S. Ungar. Diet is key to understanding the ecology and evolution of our distant ancestors and their kin, the early hominins. A study of the range of foods eaten by our progenitors underscores just how unhealthy many of our diets are today. This volume brings together authorities from disparate fields to offer new insights into the diets of our ancestors. Paleontologists, archaeologists, primatologists, nutritionists and other researchers all contribute pieces to the puzzle. The book has four sections: Reconstructed diets based on hominin fossils–tooth size, shape, structure, wear, and chemistry, mandibular biomechanics. Archaeological evidence of subsistence–stone tools and modified bones. Models of early hominin diets based on the diets of living primates–both human and non-human, paleoecology, and energetics. Nutritional analyses and their implications for evolutionary medicine. [Kindle edition available.]

Paleonutrition by Mark Q. Sutton, Kristin D. Sobolik, and Jill K. Gardner is the analysis of prehistoric human diets and the interpretation of dietary intake in relation to health and nutrition. This is a substantial text that combines background to paleonutrition, an extensive bibliography, a discussion on methods, and case studies. Published February 23, 2010.

Health Secrets of the Stone Age, Second Edition by Philip J. Goscienski MD. He suggests getting some exercise, eating more fruit and veggies, and cutting way back on the sugars/refined carbs. He suggests a Mediterranean diet and lifestyle that has grains at the bottom of its food pyramid. He uses the research of Alan Keys, research that was discredited by Gary Taubes in his much better and more scientifically researched book “Good Calories, Bad Calories”.

TBK Fitness Program by Tamir Katz shows how to achieve fitness through a healthy, natural hunter-gatherer diet along with a comprehensive exercise program with over 60 different bodyweight exercises of varying difficulty targeting all of the muscles in the body. Also included is a detailed discussion of nutrition and the diseases of civilization based on scientific research, information on stress management and preventive medicine, recommendations on vitamin and supplement use, tips on how to make your fitness program succeed where others have failed, tips on food shopping and preparation, sample meals, and more. The author’s page is TBK Fitness. The Amazon reviews average to 4+ stars.

Paul Burke’s Neo-Dieter’s Handbook: When We Lost Our Nutritional Roots; Where to Find These Foods Today by Paul Burke M. Ed. The book focuses on nutrition, the right nutrition to enhance health, exercise, weight training, and fitness. The diet consists of lean protein, vegetables, nuts, and fruit. He is opposed to grains. He wants you to stay away from grain-fed meat. The single review at Amazon.com gives the book 5 stars. Published August 21, 2009.

Meat-Eating and Human Evolution (Human Evolution Series) is a an expensive book that address the questions surrounding when, how, and why early humans began to eat meat. See and read the sample pages. [Kindle edition available.]

The Prehistoric Diet: For the Modern Man and Woman by J. Alexander. A story of how the author journeyed from a chubby, unhappy, and unaccepted child to a lean, healthy man through conscious eating of good, natural, unadulterated food. He shares recipes, nutritional information, and information on what foods to avoid. It is unknown how authentic his diet recommendations are. Published November 25, 2009.

Starch Madness: Paleolithic Nutrition for Today by Richard L. Heinrich. Has a foreword by Barry Sears of Zone fame. For Publishers Weekly and author’s review see Amazon.

Evolutionary Aspects of Nutrition and Health: Diet, Exercise, Genetics and Chronic Diseases is a compilation of articles showing how humanity’s genetic makeup has been directly influenced by nutritional selective pressures and how our present day diet may be discordant with our stone age genome. The book is rather expensive, but the description on the page is worth reading. One section is now entirely online! See Cereal Grains: Humanity’s Double-Edged Sword by Loren Cordain. Can buy at Amazon.