Description

Hidden inflammation lies behind many modern diseases. Shilpa Ravella, an expert in nutrition and the gut, explains why our immune systems are turning against us and what we might do about it.

‘Controlling inflammation is the key to good health and this beautifully written and researched book is the best way to understand it’ TIM SPECTOR, #1 bestselling author of Food for Life
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Inflammation is the body’s response to injury and foreign microbes. But as our environments and diets have changed, low-level inflammation, simmering quietly and undetected, has been identified behind everything from heart disease and cancer to mysterious autoimmune conditions.

Shilpa Ravella is a doctor at the forefront of this field, specialising in gut transplants, nutrition and the microbiome. In A Silent Fire she interweaves the latest research with unusual case studies from her own practice and the history of immunology to explain what we know about this elusive phenomenon. She debunks common myths about ‘anti-inflammatory’ lifestyles and explains the simple principles by which we can reform our relationship with food and our microbiomes to benefit our health.
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‘As gripping as a mystery story and as useful as a self-help book’ BEE WILSON, author of First Bite

‘Compelling, thoughtful and rigorously researched’ The Times

Publisher Review

As gripping as a mystery story and as useful as a self-help book, A Silent Fire may change the way you eat as well as opening your eyes to the hidden connections between microbes and medicine, the food we eat and the air we breathe * Bee Wilson, author of First Bite and The Way We Eat Now * Controlling Inflammation is the key to good health and this beautifully written and researched book is the best way to understand it -- Tim Spector, #1 bestselling author of Food for Life A beautiful and authoritative deep dive into one of the most important scientific frontiers of our time. Big new ideas in health and medicine are explained brilliantly, using case studies, history and cutting-edge research. Every page is fascinating * Daniel M. Davis, author of The Beautiful Cure and The Secret Body * A must read ... Shilpa Ravella, a gastroenterologist with a writer's gift for translating complex science into clean, beautiful prose, is the perfect person to tell this gripping tale -- Kathleen McAuliffe, author of This Is Your Brain on Parasites Ravella's fascinating exploration of the body food, and history will sweep you up ... A book that could not only reshape readers' understanding of their own systems and choices but possibly medicine itself -- Lauren Sandler, author of This Is All I Got A spellbinding tale ... unveils how the two-edged sword of inflammation shapes the past, present, and future of our health -- Walter C. Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health An enlightening dive into the medical science at the root of the modern epidemic of chronic diseases and what it all means for healthy eating -- David R. Montgomery, co-author of What Your Food Ate and The Hidden Half of Nature Accessible and engaging, [winds] together a wonderful historical perspective with cutting-edge science -- Justin Sonnenburg, coauthor of The Good Gut