I am in medical school and Lippincotts Illustrated Review: Biochemistry, got me through my biochemistry class. It breaks down concepts into simple terms, but the information is not dumbed down. There are great pictures that help greatly in understanding the concepts.

I would go with a used copy. They just came out with a new edition in June, but the last edition is just as good.

http://www.amazon.com/Lippincotts-Illustrated-Reviews-Biochemistry/dp/160831412X/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1285983316&sr=8-3

I think that if you are interested in understanding the scientific details of nutrition and biochemistry you would enjoy reading this book.

You can find it on amazon.com

It is expensive as it is an academic book but is worth the money. It is much more readable than most books of its type and focuses on nutritional biochemistry and endocrinology and the interactions between your bodies different metabolic systems.

Quite a bit of it is avaliable to read on google books.

Via Nigel Kinbrum (http://nigeepoo.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-stuff-works.html)

"My last post got a bit technical and delved into the nitty-gritties of cell biochemistry. For those who would like to learn more about what makes cells tick, I thoroughly recommend the book Metabolism at a Glance (Paperback) by Jack G Salway, Sen. Lecturer in Medical Biochemistry, University of Surrey. It's crammed with diagrams of metabolic pathways and every picture speaks a thousand words.

I've also got Medical Biochemistry at a Glance (Paperback) by Jack G Salway. EDIT: I thoroughly recommend this book, too.

For more general information on nutrition & metabolism, I recommend the book Introduction to Nutrition and Metabolism (Paperback) by David A Bender, Sen. Lecturer in Biochemistry, UCL.

A good website for medical biochemistry information is MedBio.info by Prof. em. Robert S. Horn.

A good website for enzyme structures is Enzyme Structures Database.

Here's a searchable version of Biochemistry by L Stryer. It's a bit dry, but of interest is Food Intake and Starvation Induce Metabolic Changes and Phosphatidate Is a Common Intermediate in the Synthesis of Phospholipids and Triacylglycerols.

Here's NCBI Bookshelf where you can search many textbooks.

Here's an absolutely humongous diagram in .pdf format of Metabolic Pathways. You need a fast machine to view this.

Update: Here are some cool Animations & Computer-Generated Movies by Harvard University.

Here's a YouTube video of ATP Synthase, which takes a proton gradient and, using a molecular motor-generator, converts ADP + Phosphate into ATP, the energy source that cells use."

If no one has any better ideas, you could always go with Biochemistry for Dummies. I haven't read it but it looks like it would fit the general bill: http://www.amazon.com/Biochemistry-Dummies-John-T-Moore/dp/0470194286

Hi Seb,

In undergraduate one often uses Berg's Biochemistry. Medical schools seem to prefer Stryer's biochemistry. How much organic chemistry background do you have? What specifically would you like to learn? Tell us a bit more and I'm sure we can make more targeted recommendations.

Mike

How about some free and very good online videos like those at Khan Academy.

http://www.khanacademy.org/#Biology

for example.

I also like this "text" book:

Metabolic Regulation: A Human Perspective

http://amzn.com/1405183594

but it's not really an intro biochem book.

Funny you should ask! I just picked up a textbook at the library. Very basic, but has a good Bibliography and suggested reading list for more detail:

Essential Chemistry is the Series Title Biochemistry by Monique Laberge, PhD ISBN 978-0-7910-9693-2 2008, Chelsea House , an imprint of Infobase Publishing NY, NY

I will sound like an elitist, but I would advise you to register to a class at a nearby university if you have the money and/or the time. I find it easier to learn in that way.

Otherwise, I would go with a book they use in those university class :

Here is an example : http://www.amazon.com/Biochemistry-3rd-Christopher-K-Mathews/dp/0805330666

http://amzn.com/0199226717

I found this book to be quite clear, having only some basic background in biology and chemistry.

Seb,

Much of the paleo diet involves trying to influence our epigenetics (gene expression). From an easy to read and understand viewpoint, Bruce Lipton's "The Biology of Belief" is hard to beat. In no way does one need to study organic chemistry first: he walks you through all the basics of cell biology (and the basic biochemistry involved). He then ties it to, and gives detailed examples of, the effects various things in our environment on our epigenetics.

Might not get you to where you want to be, but a great introductory text that covers the latest scientific thinking.

Biochemistry at MIT - video lecture, full course, free, online: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m4Gvu90Ydw

How about that Biochemistry book that's at Robb Wolf's website. Robb seems to be touting that one. How is that compared to the ones mentioned above, thanks.

I just wrote a brief primer on biochemistry which I intended for my family who have zero background in science.

Hopefully it'll help some people here too.

Hmm, even "Why we get fat" by Gary Taubes explores biochemistry in a basic way, if you are interested in reading a book that isn't JUST biochemistry, but also explores application of biochemistry!

I am actually a biochem major at my university for the same curiosity about the subject. (:

I really like Mark's: http://books.google.com/books/about/Marks_Basic_Medical_Biochemistry.html?id=HHK7S7t47BEC

I started reading parts of it several years ago. And my wife got a copy for med school. Good stuff and easy to understand.