It is with great pleasure and excitement that I announce the publication of my new book, The Dieting Doctor: Which Diet Wins?–A Memoir in Essays and Recipes. Here is the story of how it came to be.

When I moved to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, I did not plan to write a book about diets.

I also did not plan to stay.

Like many young physicians, I imagined a future in academic medicine at a large metropolitan center. I loved the disciplines of urology and science–conducting clinical research and treating patients with complex urological conditions. But, as the saying goes, when people plan, God laughs. Life rarely follows exact plans.

A professional opportunity brought me to Marquette. The winters were long, the town remote, the vast Lake Superior cold and formidable. I had grown up surrounded by Mediterranean flavors and bustling cities. This felt different. It was meant to be temporary.

Yet in a rural practice, medicine becomes personal. It was not only urological conditions I was called to diagnose and treat. The questions my patients–my neighbors, whom I saw at the grocery store, in coffee shops, and in local restaurants–began to echo beyond the exam room.

Alongside concerns about their urological conditions, another question surfaced again and again:

“Doctor, how do I lose weight?”

And: “Which diet works best?”

I had been asking those same questions of myself for years. I was a chubby child. Over time, I have lost weight and regained it enough times that, if added together, the pounds would total roughly 360–about the weight of a baby elephant. I tried what many people try: low-fat plans, low-carb plans, calorie counting, intermittent fasting. Each offered something. None offered everything.

Gradually, I realized that when patients asked about diets, they were not only asking about carbohydrates or calories. They were asking about hope, discipline, identity, and memory. Food is not merely fuel. It is comfort, celebration, culture. In my own experience–and in that of my patients–I came to understand that food signifies meaning.

That realization became the seed of The Dieting Doctor.

In a long series of articles in The Mining Journal, I began exploring these questions–not only for myself, but for my patients and readers. I did not want to write another diet manual promising quick results. Instead, I wrote essays–one at a time, over several years.

Some explore the anatomy of digestion and the science of appetite. Others tell stories drawn from medicine and from my own family life. Together, they reflect on how physiology and emotion intertwine at the table.

The second part of the book examines the crowded landscape of modern diets: vegan, paleo, keto, intermittent fasting, and commercial programs. Each has its logic. But logic is not enough. Science demands careful study design, honest data, and humility about what we truly know. I approached each diet not as an advocate or critic, but as a physician trained to evaluate evidence.

And then there is the kitchen.

Living in Marquette, I missed Mediterranean food. There were no neighborhood cafés serving the flavors I cherished in childhood. So I began recreating them myself.

Cooking became its own kind of laboratory. I followed the same method I had used in research: start with a baseline recipe, change one variable, taste, record, repeat. Replace butter with olive oil. Adjust the ratio of water to tahini. Refine the process of making pita at home. Simplify ingredients without sacrificing flavor. Over time, these experiments became a collection of Mediterranean-inspired recipes grounded in both memory and method–recipes included in this book.

Looking back, I see that this book could only have been written here, in the Upper Peninsula.

In a larger city, I might never have felt the need to cook so deliberately. In an academic center, I might not have had the quiet space to reflect on the deeper meaning behind my patients’ questions. The Upper Peninsula offered something unexpected: distance from trends and noise. It allowed me to think more carefully about what truly matters in health–and in eating.

So which diet wins?

The honest answer is less dramatic than a headline. The best diet is one supported by evidence, sustainable over time, attentive to habits, and generous enough to include pleasure. Weight matters. But so do memory, meaning, and joy.

The Dieting Doctor is available at Snowbound Books in Marquette and online.

I hope you will find its journey–through science, story, and the kitchen–both thoughtful and nourishing.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Shahar Madjar, MD, MBA, is a urologist and an author. He practices at Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital in Manistique, and in Baraga County Memorial Hospital in L’Anse. Find his books on Amazon or contact him at smadjar@yahoo.com.