Some of the most popular cookbooks of the year might make for mouth-watering reading, but for heaven's sake, don't make any of the recipes.

That's the warning from the doctors' group, Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which alleges that many of the most popular books of 2010 books lay out instructions for cholesterol-laden, saturated-fat-packed dietary nightmares.

The non-profit advocacy group, which promotes nutrition education, has just released its list of the five worst cookbooks of 2010, taking to task such TV chef favourites as Gordon Ramsay and the Barefoot Contessa (aka Ina Garten).

"These cookbooks are blueprints for obesity and heart disease," PCRM's nutrition education director Susan Levin says in a news release. "They completely disregard the fact that America's in the midst of an obesity epidemic."

This is not the first list from the doctors' group. In years' past, the doctors have taken aim at southern-cooking lover Paula Deen, barbecue-crazy Bobby Flay, and even the beloved Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Joseph Gonzales, a registered dietician with PCRM, says he understands why even in an era when people are more aware than ever of diet's role in promoting chronic disease, these books hit store shelves every year: they sell.

"But we feel these celebrities like Gordon Ramsay should be able to promote high-fibre, low-fat meals as well," Gonzales told CTV.ca in an interview.

"We have such health problems -- obesity, heart disease, [type 2] diabetes -- and all these cookbooks kind of translate that trend by promoting the very foods that cause heart disease and obesity and diabetes."

Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, which has a membership of approximately 8,500 physicians, has never been subtle about the kind of diet it supports: it advocates a vegetarian, or fully plant-based, vegan diet.

Gonzales says he now full believes that there is no place for meat and cheese in a healthy diet.

"Yeah, maybe we are kind of party poopers, but I feel that in order for people to empower themselves, they need information. So we supply the information. And then it's up to people to decide whether or not they want to make the change," he says.

Even for those not interested in giving up meat, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine's cookbook blacklist is food for thought for those looking to eat better in 2011.

Here are their choices for the five worst cookbooks of 2010:

Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen: Recipes from The F-Word, by Gordon Ramsay

"Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen are Gordon Ramsay's TV shows, but they also aptly describe the recipes in his latest book," the doctors' group says in a news release.

The doctors point to such artery cloggers as Ramsay's "British Pheasant Casserole," which contains two pheasants, smoked bacon, butter, and double cream (whipping cream).

Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood, by Trisha Yearwood

Country singer Trisha Yearwood might be a Grammy winner, says the doctors' group, but this year, "she released another heartbreaking work: this collection of high-cholesterol recipes."

The doctors note that Yearwood's southern-style recipes are loaded with fat and cholesterol. "Garth's Breakfast Bowl," for example, is meant to serve four and includes eight large eggs scrambled in butter, a pound of bacon, a pound of sausage, served on cheese tortellini and tater tots, and topped with cheddar cheese.

How to Cook Like a Top Chef, by the creators of Top Chef

"The reality show Top Chef has a ruthless elimination round for contestants. Unfortunately, many of their unhealthy recipes still found their way into the program's cookbook."

The doctors point to Laurine's Bacon Donuts, which are deep-fried and packed with processed meat that's been linked to increased risk of colon cancer. Hubert Keller's Mac and Cheese is loaded with butter, heavy cream, half-and-half, Swiss cheese, egg yolks and topped by 1 pound of shrimp.

Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips, by Ina Garten

Ina Garten -- host of the Food Network's Barefoot Contessa -- has managed to turn vegetables into weapons of mass destruction, the doctors' group alleges. She "weaponizes" simple, healthy vegetables by adding in high-fat meat and dairy products."

"Recipes for meat dishes, such as Steakhouse Steaks, are pretty straightforward—and so are the heath consequences. In 2010, studies linked meat-heavy diets to increased diabetes risk, weight gain, decreased bone health, and increased bladder cancer risk, among other health problems," the group states.

The Primal Blueprint Cookbook: Primal, Low Carb, Paleo, Grain-Free, Dairy-Free and Gluten-Free, by Mark Sisson and Jennifer Meier

"The Primal Blueprint sets back evidence-based nutrition nearly 2 million years with its meat-heavy diet," allege the doctors. Along with other artery-clogging recipes, the book includes an entire section of recipes for offal: entrails and internal organs.

The book's authors say recipes like these are ideal for followers of low-carb diets. But a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that a low-carbohydrate diet based on animal food sources increases mortality risk from all causes, including cancer and heart disease.