susan birch

Books

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Get into shape with the Health Detective's Handbook

Understand your body. Improve your health.

Are you tired of diets and health advice that never seem to work? You’re not alone. The Health Detective’s Handbook helps you understand why your body may not be responding as you hoped, so you can break the cycle and make informed decisions about your health.

Drawing on more than 40 years of experience, nutrition and exercise specialist Susan Birch explains how the body works in clear, everyday language. She explores the roles of metabolism and hormones, along with food, movement, sleep and stress. You’ll see how they work together to influence your energy, weight, mood and overall health.

This book doesn’t prescribe a single diet or rigid plan. It helps you make sense of conflicting health advice and choose an approach that suits your body, supports your goals and fits into everyday life.

The book also includes 17 personal case stories, including Susan’s own. They show how practical changes helped people with weight struggles, low energy, hormone symptoms, blood sugar problems and brain fog, bringing the science to life through real experiences.

With warmth, humour and the curiosity of a true health detective, Susan shows you how to care for your body so it can support the life you want to live.

Pre-launch offer

Order a signed copy of The Health Detective’s Handbook for the pre-launch price of NZ$39.95 before its official release on 31 August 2026.

RRP NZ$49.95.

the health detective handbook

Health Detective’s Guide to Cholesterol and Heart Disease

The Health Detective’s Guide to Cholesterol and Heart Disease helps you cut through the confusion around cholesterol, heart disease, and cardiovascular risk. It goes beyond cholesterol alone to explain the key blood markers, patterns, genetics, and underlying drivers that may influence risk, including inflammation, metabolic health, and the broader context that’s often overlooked.

Rather than reducing cardiovascular risk to a single number, this guide takes a wider, more practical view. It’s designed to help you better understand what your results may be telling you, inform discussions about possible treatment options, and support more meaningful conversations with your GP, specialist, or wider medical team.

the health detectives guide to cholesterol and heart disease

Health Detective’s Guide to Blood Chemistry Analysis

The Health Detective’s Guide to Blood Chemistry Analysis is a practical resource for anyone wanting to better understand what their blood test results may be saying about their health. Written for GPs, practitioners, health coaches, and the public, it uses a unique systems-based approach that explains key markers, pattern recognition, and how different body systems connect and influence one another.

It helps connect the dots between markers instead of viewing each result in isolation. It’s designed to help GPs, practitioners and health coaches interpret results with more context and guide their patients and clients more effectively. It also helps the public better understand their health, ask better questions, and take a more active role in discussions with their GP, practitioner, or wider medical team.

the health detectives guide to blood chemistry analysis