PT Bookshelf: From Head to Toe

Sex Sleep Eat Drink Dream: A Day in the Life of Your Body

By Jennifer Ackerman

"The body is like Antarctica, a continent being opened up, mapped, even transformed," Ackerman writes. Like a textbook with the tone of a poem, her volume captures the fanciful science behind a day's worth of physical activity. Classic research has revealed the "ark of microbial handmaidens" that aids in digestion. New studies suggest that we should time cancer treatments to correspond with fluctuating rhythms of cell division. Nutrition labels may mean different things depending on when we eat and our genetically determined body weight ranges, and nervous fidgeting may stave off obesity. And, while early-rising "larks" are less prone to a variety of ailments, night owls benefit from the freedom and solitude of the witching hours. The book's striking take-home lesson is that tampering with our body rhythms is risky business and can even lead to tragedies like the Chernobyl disaster, the result of an operator's sleep deprivation. However, Ackerman's awestruck, reverent approach may seem a bit sappy to those of us who occasionally delight in debauching our bodies.

Balance

By Scott McCredie

From simple motion sickness to circus high-wire acts, the sense of balance plays a crucial role in guiding our movement, and it's for this reason that McCredie argues that balance—all too often overlooked and taken for granted—should be considered the sixth sense. Betrayals of the vestibular system may have caused Van Gogh to cut off his ear and JFK Jr. to lose control of his plane en route to Martha's Vineyard. McCredie provides a detailed history of research on the vestibular system, whose early explorers include father of psychology William James and Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles. The book delves into the minutiae and can be repetitive, but those who have experienced vertigo (40 percent of people will during their lifetimes) or have been sick at sea will stay engaged.

The Body Has a Mind of Its Own

By Sandra Blakeslee and Matthew Blakeslee

Svelte figures moving as if they still carried pre-diet bulk; amputees who sense their missing arm is still intact. It's strange examples like these that show how our minds and bodies are not always on the same page—or map. The Blakeslees venture deep into the mysterious folds of the brain to reveal how its representations of our physical selves aren't always accurate. Yet body maps do morph and can even incorporate clothing, vehicles, and video game characters on the fly, making them feel like your own flesh and blood. With captivating anecdotes and mind-bending tricks, this book shows how we often blur the boundaries between the corporal self, the mind, and the outside world.

Waistland

By Deirdre Barrett

Don't even think about rewarding yourself with chocolate if you've successfully adhered to a diet. Treats make dieting much tougher because your body regulates its cravings based on food availability. As for listening to your body's signals, here too you may want to desist: You're adapted to a hunter-gatherer environment of scarcity, and our sedentary, sugar-saturated lifestyle presents an obstacle course of temptations on display 24/7. Barrett argues that radical lifestyle changes are necessary to lose weight—but, paradoxically, they're easier than slow shifts. This well-researched and -argued offering is not another diet book, but by illuminating our evolved predispositions, and explaining why you should mistrust outdated ones, it can certainly help you gain the willpower to lose weight.