Reddit reviews Biochemistry (Lippincott Illustrated Reviews Series)

You should probably start with a couple of chemistry (intro and organic) and physiology courses. If you don't have a good science foundation, you won't be able to fully understand how all of these things work together in the body. Not to scare you away, but to get to the point where I think I understand the things you want to know, I had to take 5 semesters of chemistry (probably 2 were unnecessary), physiology, genetics and normal biochemistry plus 2 semesters of grad-level metabolism courses.

If you do already have a science background, then I recommend Lippincott's biochemistry text. We used it in my intermediate nutritional biochemistry course.

If you still have questions after that, then hit the literature. It's sometimes hard to get your questions answered if they're broad, but just look at the background section of related studies, see where they reference something you want to understand, go to their relevant source(s) and repeat the process. Eventually you'll find a paper where they lay it all out.

Our upper level metabolism courses don't use text books solely because there aren't any good ones out there for the level of biochemistry we study in the context of consumption.

Biology is nothing without chemistry so you need to know the basics of chemistry as well. My favourite book is the Color Atlas of Biochemistry by Jan Koolman, K. Rohm.

Another very useful book is Biochemistry (Lippincott Illustrated Reviews Series) by R. Harvey.

Many past participants recommend the Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, however, this book may be too detailed for olympiads.

GENETICS TEXTBOOKS|

Genetics: Analysis and Principles (WCB Cell & Molecular Biology) by Brooker presents an experimental approach to understanding genetics and what I like most is that there are plenty of problems with explanations and answers. Another good textbook for genetics is Genetics: From Genes to Genomes, 5th edition by Hartwell. Genetics: From Genes to Genomes is a cutting-edge, introductory genetics text authored by an unparalleled author team, including Nobel Prize winner, Leland Hartwell.

GENERAL BIOLOGY TEXTBOOKS|

It is not a secret that the Bible of Biology is Campbell Biology (11th Edition). It is a good book and it covers all fundamental biology topics, nevertheless, some topics are discussed only concisely so some good books in addition to Campbell’s could come in handy.

HUMAN ANATOMY |TEXTBOOKS

For human body anatomy and physiology great books are Human Physiology: An Integrated Approach (7th Edition) by Dee Unglaub Silverthorn or  Vander’s Human Physiology. 

MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY|TEXTBOOKS

My top choice for molecular biology is Molecular Biology of the Cell by Bruce Alberts, et al. This is book is a big one, a hard one, an interesting one, a useful one. From my point of view, current and upcoming IBOs are focusing on molecular and cell biology because these fields are developing so rapidly and thus these branches of biology are perfect source for olympiad problems. So try to read it and understand it. If you want something cheaper than Alberts but equally useful, try Molecular Biology of the Cell, Fifth Edition: The Problems Book

PLANT BIOLOGY|TEXTBOOKS

Many past biology olympiad questions contain quite a lot of problems about plant anatomy and physiology. Thus, I suggest to read Stern’s Introductory Plant Biology.  Another amazing book for plant biology is Biology of Plants by Peter H. Raven, Ray F. Evert, Susan E. Eichhorn.

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TEXTBOOKS FOR AND PROBLEM SOLVING|TECHNIQUES

Science competitions test a student’s level of knowledge, power of scientific reasoning, and analytical thinking outside of the regular school curriculum. A systematic approach and smart study regimen are both required to get good results in science competitions. This is where my book How To Prepare for the Biology Olympiad And Science Competitions by Martyna Petrulyte comes into the picture.

I studied the crap out of Lippincott's Illustrated Review: Biochemistry.

I still think I could have done better on the MCAT if I had taken both classes in addition to studying from that book, but even then, I think the book covered more material and gave me a better understanding. My genetics class had also covered enough biochemistry that it actually ended up being more useful in the long term... not that that helps you if you don't have time for a genetics class, but it might be a good idea to include genetics material in your biochem studying.

Ochem II was pretty unnecessary/useless for my mcat, but then again, not everybody gets the same questions, and more importantly, not everybody covers the same information in an Ochem II class. If I made a list of all the Ochem II topics that I wish I had studied going into the test, I think only about one or two of them even ended up being covered in my actual Ochem class... it was just a very low-yield class IMO.

I think this is what you are looking for. The diagrams are great. It explains it in a understandable fashion.

http://www.amazon.com/Biochemistry-Lippincotts-Illustrated-Reviews-Series/dp/160831412X