Two Books That Helped Me Understand My Body—Even If I Don’t Agree With Everything They Say

When you’re trying to figure out what your body can and can’t tolerate, there’s no shortage of opinions. One person says avoid fruit, another says only eat fruit. Someone says fat is the problem, someone else says carbs are the issue. It’s a lot to navigate.

A few years ago, I came across two books that helped me make sense of some things: Ketotarian by Dr. Will Cole and Liver Rescue by Anthony William.

I do want to be clear that I don’t follow either one exactly. I don’t think either book has all the answers. But both gave me helpful starting points, especially when I was trying to understand how certain foods might be making me feel worse without realizing it.

Ketotarian

Ketotarian is basically a plant-based spin on keto. I’m not keto and I don’t count macros. But this book helped me understand how refined carbs and sugar were affecting my energy and inflammation and how focusing more on healthy fats and fiber could help stabilize everything a bit.

What I liked about this book is that it didn’t lean too hard into extremes. There were a lot of meal ideas that felt doable and filling without relying on meat or dairy, which was helpful for the types of food I was eating and avoiding. I started building more meals around things like avocado, nuts, greens and roasted veggies, along with protein.

Do I still eat fruit? Yes. Do I eat rice? Absolutely. But Ketotarian helped me understand how my body react to certain types of food and clean up my meals in a way that felt sustainable.

Liver Rescue

Liver Rescue is definitely more controversial. Anthony William—aka the Medical Medium—is not a doctor and a lot of what he recommends isn’t backed by science. With that being said, the way he framed the liver as something that needs support, not just when you drink alcohol but because of all the environmental and dietary stuff we deal with daily really stuck with me.

I will say that I didn’t do most of what he suggested because it was just too much. I did try to drink celery juice each morning and it did make me feel good but it was ultimately hard to sustain. However, I did start paying more attention to how heavy my meals were, especially first thing in the morning. I started the day with more hydrating things like fruit, lemon water and light smoothies, which I think helped with my inflammation. I also cleaned up a lot of the little processed things that had been sneaking into my routine and that also made a big difference.

You don’t have to believe every part of the book to take away something useful. For me, the helpful part was just the reminder that what we eat either helps our body work better or makes it work harder.

Do you have any books you would recommend?