On my bookshelf

Erica Bencivenga
Oct 27, 2024
2 min read

Nutrition

I started my nutrition reading journey probably 15 years ago when I was a pharmacy technician at CVS in nursing school. The pharmacist I worked with recommended I read Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health by Gary Taubes. He made the recommendation based on my interested in nutrition. I have been HOOKED on reading about nutrition ever since!!!

Since then, I have read a number of Taubes' books including Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It, and The Case Against Sugar.

I have have read so many books over the past 20 years about physiology and the science of nutrition. These books have molded my view of nutrition to include a diet full of whole, nutritious foods, full of meat products, fruit and vegetables and very little processed food.

Right now, I am listening to Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health by Dr. Casey Means. This has, by far, been the most revolutionary book I have read about nutrition and the medical community.

Food Fix: How to Save Our Health, Our Economy, Our Communities, and Our Planet- Ones Bite at a Time By Dr. Mark Hyman opened my eyes to how corrupt Big Food and Big Ag are. The food industry is imbedded in our corrupt government. I like to think I am pretty astute about politics in our country but this book BLEW ME AWAY. If you have recently been paying attention to the movement with RFK Jr, this book is for you.

History of Healthcare

I have read a small handful of books over the past few years that have shown me how far medicine has come. I had to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot the summer before I started my nurse practitioner degree. I was absolutely enthralled and simultaneously appalled with this book. Informed consent is only a recent (and wonderful) idea.

I really, really enjoyed The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women by Kate Moore. This was also a point in history when the doctor's wouldn't tell you what was wrong with you or if you were terminally ill. It was very fascinating to live that through the lives of these women.

Modern Healthcare

We also had to read Brain on Fire: My Month of Madness by Susannah Cahalan when I started nurse practitioner school. Very interesting perspective from the eyes of a patient on the healthcare system.

I have also read most of Dr. Atul Gawande's books. The one I think that resonated with me the most was Being Mortal: Illness, Medicine, and What Matters in the End. He compares how we treat our elderly family members in the United States to other areas of the world. Trigger warning on this book; it does talk about death and dying.