Health Books

In Stronger, Michael Joseph Gross, a longtime contributing editor at Vanity Fair, investigates strength in all its dimensions. Over the decade he spent reporting it, Gross interviewed scientists, athletes, and ordinary people in pursuit of one question: what does it really mean to be strong? In this conversation, he reflects on that journey and introduces five books that illuminate strength and guide us on how to become stronger.

What's good for your health can be bewildering at times, as new studies reveal new angles on what's good for you and what's bad for you. What to eat can be particularly confusing, as we try to differentiate the latest fad from what actually matters to our long-term health.

A solid sleep schedule is the bedrock of a healthy lifestyle. But a surprising number of people either struggle to maintain a good routine, or to stay asleep once they finally manage to drift away. We've gathered together a list of recommended books for anyone out there ready to get serious about sleep.

Many of us view cancer as an enemy that we have to fight and look forward to the day it is eliminated by modern medicine. But that's not going to happen, says Jarle Breivik, a professor of medicine at the University of Oslo. He argues for a more realistic approach to cancer as a fundamental part of life and what it means to be human.

Today the idea of wellness has been wrapped into 'self care' and the luxury lifestyle. But the movement grew out of radical ideas in the 1960s and 1970s, explains the Cambridge academic James Riley, whose new book presents a cultural history of alternative health. Here he recommends five of the best books on wellness—taking in both satirical novels and how-to guidebooks.

The promises of potions or techniques to achieve longevity have been with us since time immemorial, the outlandishness of some claims matched only by our willingness to believe them. And, yet, today's scientific research does give some clues on how to live longer and healthier lives. Biologist Steven Austad, Distinguished Professor and Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research at the University of Alabama, recommends a range of books that give insight into longevity.

Fad diets have been with us for generations, but the truth is that any regime that focuses on excluding whole food groups should be approached with caution, says Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at King's College London and author of the bestselling books The Diet Myth and Spoon-Fed. For this reason, he says, intermittent fasting (also known as the 5:2 diet) is the only weight-loss diet he'd truly recommend.

What can literature offer to medicine and what can medicine offer to literature? Author and physician Gavin Francis offers his professional opinion – and prescribes a list of five notable books at the intersection of his two great passions.

Two decades ago Andy Puddicombe was ordained as a Buddhist monk. Now back in lay life, he tries to teach the benefits of meditation to the rest of us—most notably through the Headspace app, but also by writing books. Here he chooses some of the books that inspired him, from Japanese poetry to Tibetan philosophy. Not all are meditation books but they are his "old favorites."

Sex: it's all around us, but many of us still have questions. Relationship coach and author Susan Quilliam, who updated the 1970s classic, The Joy of Sex, talks us through the best sex guides and also some of the groundbreaking books that broke taboos and paved the way to more open-minded sexual attitudes.