My attitudes toward making healthy food choices and eating locally have recently shifted. In terms of nutritional beliefs, this has been a life-changing year for me. Until last year, I have worked exclusively in pediatric hospitals as a clinical dietitian, working with mostly very sick patients. This means I have spent the majority of my career creating the best formula to pump into a stomach feeding tube or an intravenous nutrition line. Because these were such difficult and important decisions to make, I was always studying to keep abreast of "clinical" nutrition information for my pediatric population. But it didn't allow much time for me to read other interesting and somewhat more practical books about everyday nutrition.

The past year has been different. I have stepped outside the hospital setting and dove head first into fascinating books about nutrition, veganism, politics and the food industry, eating locally and so much more. None of these books are about the latest fad diets, but they are chock full of excellent information that will forever change the way you look at food.

Perhaps I was undereducated in this area, and I am just now catching up with the rest of you. But either way, I just had to share my experiences with Tranquil Parent readers. If any of these books appeal to you, click on the Amazon link and read the editorial reviews for a more thorough summary.

These books have been voted as my favorite nutrition reads of 2008 (and I read them in this order):

In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, by Michael Pollan: “Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.” This is Michael Pollan’s advice. And he helped me to better understand the connection between politics and the food industry, and some of the pitfalls of studying nutrition. Even I, as a nutrition expert, learned so much from his thoroughly researched and highly entertaining book! The hardcover edition is only $14 on Amazon.

The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health, by T. Colin Campbell: This book rattled and shook me up more than anything else I have ever read. Honestly, I couldn't sleep for several nights because I was so disturbed that I hadn't learned this information earlier in my career. This book is full of well-developed and extensively researched studies about how food choices impact our overall health and specifically diseases such as cancer, heart disease, MS, diabetes and more. Under $12 on Amazon.com.

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life, by Barbara Kingsolver with Camille Kingsolver, Stephen Hopp: Emily wrote a great review of this book on Gardenaut a few months ago, so check out it if you are interested to learn more. And I would highly recommend listening to the audio version, if possible. Barbara Kingsolver has a beautiful storytelling voice that captured me in the first paragraph. Listening to her audio book on my iPod headphones, I started to actually look forward to folding laundry and doing house chores during my daughter's naptime. About $10 on Amazon.

I encourage you to open up your perspective on nutrition and health and start reading. Whether you are a vegan, carnivore, dietitian or self-proclaimed locavore, you will learn something in reading these books and most likely, you will learn much more than you expected. So if I may suggest an ambitious 2009 New Year’s Resolution, try reading all three of these books, and be sure to share your thoughts with me along the way!