Keto Diet Meal Plan Book
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If you're interested in doing the low carb, high fat keto diet, you may want to dive into a good book on the subject to learn all you can about it.
Healthline assembled this list of the best keto diet books based on the following criteria:
- Ratings. Does the book have high ratings and favorable reviews?
- Author expertise. Does the author have an academic degree, experience, or credentials that help boost their credibility as a keto diet expert?
- Thoroughness. Does the book provide a thorough and comprehensive look into the keto diet?
This review is further divided into subtopics like "best for beginners" and "best cookbooks," so you can easily pick the type of book you're looking for.
Here are Healthline's picks for the 12 best keto diet books.
Price: $
This primer to low carb diets was co-written by Stephen Phinney, a physician, and Jeff Volek, a dietitian. These men are part of the founding team of Virta Health, a company with a mission to reverse type 2 diabetes through dietary changes.
The book is a comprehensive guide to why low carb diets like keto work, and it offers insights into how to implement a keto diet.
The book has over 1,000 Amazon reviews averaging 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Buy "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living" online.
These books are solid recommendations for those who are completely new to keto, offering a wealth of information about how and why the diet works, as well as advice for starting and maintaining it.
2. 'The Obesity Code' by Jason Fung
Price: $
Dr. Jason Fung is a Canadian nephrologist who operates a medical clinic that uses the principles of ketogenic diets and fasting to help its patients lose weight and improve type 2 diabetes.
His books "The Obesity Code" and "The Diabetes Code" share why this approach works, as well as how to implement it.
"The Obesity Code" has over 7,000 Amazon reviews averaging 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Buy "The Obesity Code" online.
3. 'New Atkins for a New You' by Eric Westman, Stephen Phinney, and Jeff Volek
Price: $
Along with Virta Health co-founders Phinney and Volek, this book is co-authored by Eric Westman, a physician and weight management specialist who uses the principles of the keto diet in his outpatient weight loss clinic at Duke University.
Using the Atkins approach to a keto diet may work best for you if you prefer structured diet programs that offer guidance about exactly what and how much to eat. If this applies to you, this book is a great resource.
It has over 2,100 Amazon reviews averaging 4.3 out of 5 stars.
Buy "New Atkins for a New You" online.
Price: $
This book is a worthwhile read for vegans, vegetarians, or pescatarians who are interested in keto.
Will Cole, a chiropractor and natural medicine doctor, authored this book, which offers a plant-based approach to the ketogenic diet. The diet outlined in the book is not vegan, but it can be made so with a few small changes.
In addition to information about the diet, it offers recipes and meal plans.
It has over 1,000 Amazon reviews averaging 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Buy "Ketotarian" online.
These highly rated cookbooks contain 100% keto-friendly recipes. They represent a variety of cuisines and are suitable for varying skill levels.
5. 'Southern Keto' by Natasha Newton
Price: $$
Natasha Newton runs a popular keto recipe blog called Keto Is Life. In addition, she offers this cookbook that contains a collection of over 100 keto-friendly versions of recipes that are popular in the Southern United States, such as biscuits and sausage gravy.
The book also contains grocery lists and a key to help you easily identify recipes that suit your specific dietary needs.
It has over 3,300 Amazon reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars.
Buy "Southern Keto" online.
6. 'The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook' by Maya Krampf
Price: $$
Maya Krampf operates a wildly popular keto recipe blog called Wholesome Yum. In "The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook," she shares family-friendly recipes that require 10 or fewer ingredients and are easy and quick to prepare.
Examples include keto-friendly garlic breadsticks and chicken fingers.
The book has over 1,800 Amazon reviews averaging 4.8 out of 5 stars.
Buy "The Wholesome Yum Easy Keto Cookbook" online.
7. 'The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking' by Carolyn Ketchum
Price: $$
Carolyn Ketchum runs a successful low carb recipe blog called All Day I Dream About Food.
This book, "The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking," contains over 150 tested keto baking recipes, along with a comprehensive guide to the tools and ingredients you'll need for making keto-friendly baked goods.
It has over 1,200 Amazon reviews averaging 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Buy "The Ultimate Guide to Keto Baking" online.
8. 'Simply Keto' by Suzanne Ryan
Price: $$
Suzanne Ryan is a popular keto blogger who lost a significant amount of weight following the keto diet. Her blog features many low carb and keto-friendly recipes.
Her book "Simply Keto" contains over 100 recipes, along with meal plans and information about how to follow a keto diet and why it works for weight loss. However, note that the author is not a credentialed healthcare professional.
The book has over 4,000 Amazon reviews averaging 4.7 out of 5 stars.
Buy "Simply Keto" online.
These books take a deep dive into the scientific research surrounding keto diets, as well as how the diet works for weight loss and other health purposes.
9. 'Fat Chance' by Robert Lustig
Price: $
Robert Lustig is a pediatric endocrinologist and professor at the University of California San Francisco.
Although his book "Fat Chance" isn't explicitly about the keto diet, it presents research showing the many ways in which sugar and highly processed foods can damage your health.
The book has over 1,500 Amazon reviews averaging 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Buy "Fat Chance" online.
10. 'The Big Fat Surprise' by Nina Teicholz
Price: $$
Nina Teicholz is a health reporter and the executive director of the Nutrition Coalition, a nonprofit organization that strives to ensure the scientific rigor of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
Her book "The Big Fat Surprise" is a deep dive into the benefits of dietary fat and the flawed science that led to the low fat craze of the 1990s.
The book has over 1,400 Amazon reviews averaging 4.6 out of 5 stars.
Buy "The Big Fat Surprise" online.
11. 'Good Calories, Bad Calories' by Gary Taubes
Price: $
Gary Taubes is a health journalist and co-founder of the Nutrition Science Initiative, a nonprofit organization that helps design and oversee nutrition research studies.
In addition to his book "Why We Get Fat," his book "Good Calories, Bad Calories" renewed interest in low carb diets when it was published in 2008. While it's an educational read, much more information about low carb, high fat diets has become available since it was published.
The book has over 1,200 Amazon reviews averaging 4.5 out of 5 stars.
Buy "Good Calories, Bad Calories" online.
Price: $$
Leanne Vogel is a certified holistic nutritionist and well-known keto diet blogger and podcaster.
Her book "The Keto Diet" provides a thorough and comprehensive look at the why and how of the keto diet, as well as recipes and meal plans.
Note that while this book may contain valuable information, holistic nutritionists aren't required to complete thorough training and educational programs like those required of medical doctors or registered dietitians.
The book has over 4,700 Amazon reviews averaging 4.4 out of 5 stars.
Buy "The Keto Diet" online.
The keto diet is wildly popular, and you can find hundreds — if not thousands — of keto diet books online.
However, not all of these books are credible. To identify credible books about the keto diet, look for those that are written by keto diet experts.
These experts may be physicians, dietitians, or other healthcare or wellness professionals with experience working with the keto diet, or — in the case of cookbooks — food bloggers or chefs who are familiar with recipe development and testing.
You should also avoid books that make dubious or outlandish claims about the keto diet. While the keto diet has many potential benefits, it's not a panacea.
Keto diet books are a great way to learn more about the diet, especially if you're a beginner.
The best keto diet books are thorough, written by credible authors, and have favorable ratings and reviews.
If you're interested in learning how to implement the keto diet, the science behind it, or keto-friendly recipe ideas, these 12 books offer great starting points.
Source: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/keto-books