| If Our Bodies Could Talk: A Guide to Operating and Maintaining a Human Body by James HamblinIn this engaging, convenient book, the physician behind The Atlantic's video series with the same title presents a host of queries about the human body and briefly discusses the answers. Drawing on his medical training and interviews with other physicians and biological scientists, author James Hamblin provides information, counters misinformation, critiques health-related marketing, and bemoans the effects of money and politics on health policy. Whether you're looking for specific answers or want an informative and thought-provoking overview of health issues, If Our Bodies Could Talk offers a one-stop resource. |
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| The Secret Life of Fat: The Science Behind the Body's Least Understood Organ... by Sylvia TaraAccording to biochemist Sylvia Tara, fat is the least-understood organ in our bodies, which may explain why, though we're spending billions of dollars on the war on fat, we're fighting a losing battle. In this well-researched book, Tara explains how fat works, providing fascinating scientific explanations of its biochemistry, its influence on the rest of the body, and why some people stay slim while others gain weight easily. Whether your body type runs more to Sumo wrestler or to supermodel, you'll find The Secret Life of Fat revealing. |
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The Hungry Brain: Outsmarting the Instincts That Make Us Overeat
by Stephan J. Guyenet
No one wants to overeat. And certainly no one wants to overeat for years, become overweight, and end up with a high risk of diabetes or heart disease--yet two thirds of Americans do precisely that. Even though we know better, we often eat too much. Why does our behavior betray our own intentions to be lean and healthy? The problem, argues obesity and neuroscience researcher Stephan J. Guyenet, is not necessarily a lack of willpower or an incorrect understanding of what to eat. Rather, our appetites and food choices are led astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by the rules of a survival game that no longer exists. And these circuits don't care about how you look in a bathing suit next summer. To make the case, The Hungry Brain takes readers on an eye-opening journey through cutting-edge neuroscience that has never before been available to a general audience.
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The Case Against Sugar
by Gary Taubes
The best-selling author of Why We Get Fat outlines compelling arguments about the health dangers of sugar, identifying the powerful lobbies behind its overuse while citing its role in a range of challenges from obesity to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
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Focus on: Animals and Human Health
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| The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating by Elisabeth Tova BaileyIncapacitated at age 34 by a virus that wreaked havoc on her nervous system, author Elisabeth Tova Bailey was almost completely immobilized and had to rely on a caregiver and friends for everything. After someone brought her a wild snail with some flowers in a pot, Bailey became fascinated with its activities and found that observing it gave her a new purpose in her extremely circumscribed life. In The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating, she relates details of her illness, but keeps her focus on the snail, adding scientific information about mollusks that she learned after she got better. Kirkus Reviews calls this memoir a "charming, delicate meditation on the meaning of life." |
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| Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust... by Michael Hingson with Susy FloryIn Thunder Dog, author Michael Hingson relates how he grew up blind and learned to rely on guide dogs, providing details about how he gets along in the world. In this engaging and inspiring memoir, he also shares how, on September 11, 2001, he was at work on the 78th floor of the World Trade Center when a terrorist-flown airliner crashed into it. Hingson's guide dog Roselle proved her worth as the pair walked down 1,463 stairs in the collapsing skyscraper, helping others remain calm during the ordeal. This book offers an absorbing account of the guide dog's essential role in Hingson's life, woven into the harrowing chronicle of 9/11. |
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| Weekends with Daisy by Sharron Kahn LuttrellDaisy the Labrador retriever lived five days a week in a prison, where she was a pupil in the National Education for Assistance Dog Services program, which employs prison inmates as dog trainers. On weekends, Daisy went to live with journalist Sharron Luttrell, who volunteered to help with the dog's accommodation to life in the "real world." Keith, Daisy's trainer in the prison, and Sharron often consulted about training matters, and Sharron's family played a big role in Daisy's life at their house. Weekends with Daisy offers an inspiring and lively account of assistance dogs and the lives of their humans -- both in and out of prison. |
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| Comet's Tale: How the Dog I Rescued Saved My Life by Steven D. Wolf with Lynette PadwaComet's Tale relates how macho, workaholic attorney Steven Wolf refused to admit that his spinal condition significantly impaired his ability to work, until his law firm forced him to resign. Moreover, Wolf's attitude angered his wife, who wanted a separation. When Wolf moved alone to Arizona for its warm winter climate, loneliness and depression magnified his physical pain. Then he learned about greyhound rescue and adopted -- or was adopted by -- Comet, who began helping him with simple tasks. Wolf trained her to be his service dog, and their relationship healed both his psychological state and his marriage. Booklist calls this a "wonderful salute to the power of man's best friend." |
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