Health books unexpectedly dominate Saxo’s August bestseller list

Seven of the 10 best-selling books at Danish book retailer Saxo on Wednesday focused on health, the body, food or the nervous system, DR reported.

The titles included “Sundhed Indefra”, “Spis.Mere.Grønt.Nu.” and “30 styrkende dage”. Health books normally become popular at Saxo in January, when customers seek to make up for their holiday eating habits.

“In my more than 10 years in publishing, I have never seen health titles dominate August in this way,” Saxo communications manager Camilla Leyla Lind wrote.

Jon Fuglsang, a lecturer and food sociologist at Copenhagen University College, said the bestseller list reflected a strong focus on food and the body, with an emphasis on nutrition presented through different themes.

“It is very much about wanting to eat in a particular way,” he told DR’s programme “K-live”.

Fuglsang compared the trend with the intense interest in popular diets around 10 years ago, when people sought to challenge established eating habits. He said some advice from that period was misinformation, while other recommendations were sound but difficult to put into practice.

Since then, he said, new body norms had emerged and there was no longer just one ideal body being promoted.

Fuglsang suggested that the lack of routines and structure during the summer holidays could lead people to seek familiar routines or adopt new habits when the summer ends.

“Perhaps people feel they have let themselves go for long enough, and have been in places where there was an expectation that they would do so,” he said.

Criticism of the focus on health

Commentator Anne Sophia Hermansen also noted Saxo’s list in the Danish newspaper Weekendavisen and called for a more noble purpose behind the current interest in health books.

She wrote that the desire for self-improvement was not new, but that the ancient Stoics had mainly focused on becoming more just, loyal and honest.

“The many health books bring a different idea: the purpose is no longer to become a better person, but to get a better gut microbiome. Can it become more self-centred?” Hermansen wrote.

Bookshop chain Bog & Idé said it did not recognise the same trend. Its best-selling book at the time of writing was “30 styrkende dage”, but the chain had not seen a general increase in sales of health titles.

Lind said the rise at Saxo was not simply the result of new titles being released. Some of the books had not yet been published and were due to come out the following week.

“The unique and striking thing is how they are influencing our bestseller list. Everyone at Saxo is surprised by it,” she said.

Saxo had launched a campaign on Wednesday to strengthen the trend, Lind said, but had not otherwise taken steps to promote the books.