My Top 5 Favorite Health and Wellness Books That Changed My Life
If you're new here, you probably don't know the story about how our family got rid of about 90% of our belongings when we moved from a moldy rental house about 5 years ago. I was ill and scared, and didn't know just what was wrong with me. What we DID know was that the house we were renting had a mold problem and that for sure wasn't helping.
Some mold experts said to just clean everything and hope for the best. Some said get rid of ALL of it and start over (not super realistic). And some said to get rid of all things you couldn't wash. Like books. :( Which meant I had to decide what I thought was worth taking the risk to keep vs. letting go of.
In this post, I’m sharing my top 5 health & wellness books that transformed my health and changed my life.
Don’t you just love books?! There’s just something lovely about holding a book in your hands and letting the beautiful words wash over your soul. So while giving up many of my things wasn't so bad (‘cause we were into thrifting and second-hand anyway), giving up my carefully curated collection of books was a sacrifice.
But honestly, it's super freeing to let go of so many things and realize you can still be happy without them. It really brought a sense of accomplishment and lightened a burden.
I sorted as best I could (remember, I was pretty sick and exhausted during that time), cleaned and sunned the belongings we planned on keeping, and packed up everything and put it in storage for the time being until we could find another home.
Three years later, we finally found a home. But during that time, we sorted 2-3 more times until we didn't have anything left in storage and could travel light.
There were very precious few books left when it was all said and done. And they were very carefully chosen as the prized ones that made it through all those critiques and purgings. They really had to be worth it for me to keep them. The ones that made the most impact on my life.
So today I'm sharing my top 5 most prized health and wellness books that I think you’ll love too. They are definitely not new books. Some of them are for sure classics. But these are the special few that brought comfort and insight, and I daresay, revolutionized my approach to health.
(Listed in no particular order.)
Alignment Matters by Katy Bowman, M.S. Biomechanics
I don't know if you've noticed, but biomechanics has gotten slammed over the past few years as being too stringent and not as important as it was once thought. And while I agree it isn't the be all and end all of health, it does still have relevance, especially for things like bone health, joint health, women's health, etc. Basically it's still an important piece of health, but just one piece. I discovered Katy Bowman, Biomechanist, back in 2011 and was immediately drawn to her approach and wittiness. She's so entertaining (both in her writing and in person)!
If you want to learn how to make daily movement work more for you, Katy Bowman is brilliant at this. And while she's done a whole ton of work since way back in 2013 when this book was published, this is still my absolute favorite of all of her books. It's such a light, yet thought-provoking read because it's a collection of 5 years' worth of her blog posts (which are no longer online btw). She's the lady who coined the phrase, "No more kegels," that sent the Pelvic PT world into an absolute uproar. (She's not totally against kegels either btw, but that phrase certainly put her on the map!)
Funny thing is, I went to school for 4+3 years to become a Physical Therapist. I got rid of all of my PT textbooks. And kept this book. Just sayin'. Find it. Get it. Read it. It's good! (P.S. My second favorite book of hers is the first one she ever wrote, Every Woman's Guide to Foot Pain Relief re-released as Simple Steps to Foot Pain Relief)
Hello Healthy by Dr. Wes Youngberg, Lifestyle Medicine Specialist & Clinical Nutritionist
This book has some excellent insights in the specifics of lifestyle medicine and how to use it to be optimally healthy.
What I love about this book is how Dr. Youngberg goes into detail about things that aren't just like, "sunlight is good for you," but more specifically how it affects each system of your body and how that translates into being healthy, how much is too much, and how amazing it really is. This line says it all, "Ultimately vitamin D (from sunlight) unlocks the code, the template that is inside your DNA library, containing the instructions on how to destroy that very virus, that very bacteria, that very cancer, that is within your body.”
And it's not just about sunlight, but all the things we can use for a healthy lifestyle that are readily available and usually FREE to use on a daily basis. And goes into great detail about just how powerful those things are for our health...not just preventively but curatively! It's really quite amazing to me the power of daily habits.
Things like diet, exercise, sunlight, digestion, stress, water, rest, and detoxification are all discussed in doable detail for immediate use in everyday life. Nothing too complicated to actually put into practice. Just an eye-opener as to what areas may need some work in your life and what a major impact small daily changes can have.
I had the privilege of being one of Dr. Youngberg's clients when I was ill and learned a lot from him about mold, blood sugar, and epigenetics and what that means for my health in particular. But what most impressed me about Dr. Youngberg was his kindness. Even though we only spoke over the phone since we live on opposite sides of the country, he was truly caring. He's definitely into supplement use, so ultimately, I went a different direction, but I did learn from him, and his book holds a lot of valuable keys to health without supplements. :) (He also has a book called Goodbye Diabetes which I have read but don't own. It's good too, and I have referred to it often!)
Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler, MPH
This is a how-to manual for understanding your menstrual cycle to either get pregnant or avoid pregnancy as the case may be. It's very detailed and is eye-opening as to what all is going on with your body at any given time during the month.
I first got this book when I came off of birth control (ignorant of my options) when I was ready to get pregnant.
Let's just say, it worked! And I haven't ever gone back on chemical forms of birth control. I'm sad that I didn't know about this sooner and wish it was an option shared with me when I was getting married and got on BC in the first place.
So even though I don't really refer to this book anymore, it was a game-changer for me, so it holds a special place in my library. Plus, I want to be able to share it with my daughter when she's ready for it. (I also got the book by Toni Weschler written for teens called: Cycle Savvy: The Smart Teen's Guide to the Mysteries of Her Body to give to my daughter in the Welcome to Womanhood Kit I gave her).
Self-Heal by Design by Barbara O'Neill, Nutritionist and Naturopath
I said I didn't have a favorite, but actually, this might be it. This truly is a game-changer to health and I keep it on my nightstand to re-read bits and pieces often.
This book is a lot about fungus and cancer. However, the principles really apply to health overall. For me personally, I followed these suggestions to a tee when I was recovering from Lyme and mold illness.
It also dives deep into how the body works and how daily lifestyle habits (see the pattern?) are key to health. Whether you're recovering from disease or trying to stay healthy. I love having a really specific plan to follow step-by-step and this book does that. It also has some good recipes in the back and gets very detailed in the best way to prepare beans for better digestion and gut health. I follow this plan to this day.
When I was ill, I contacted Ms. O'Neill for clarity and specific questions I had, and she was so gracious and helpful in answering me, even though she couldn't technically accept me as a client since she was in Australia. She really instilled confidence that I knew enough and to trust that I could do it with the Lord’s help and guidance. And that was when things shifted. We also recently had the privilege of filming her lectures and having her over to our home for lunch. She’s a super knowledgeable lady with a wealth of wisdom and it was an honor to meet her!
The Ministry of Healing by Ellen White
This one is an absolute classic and sits on my nightstand as well. If you want the secrets to health and happiness, this is the book. It's so basic on the surface, but so deep in insights. Really, of all the books I've shared, this should be the first one you read. Because it really sets a firm foundation as to how the body, mind, and soul work together and function best. This is really what Lifestyle Medicine is all about. For every body.
This is definitely a faith-based book, which is a big piece to health and healing for the long-term. So if you're looking for something to soothe body, mind, and soul, this right here.
So while the “experts” advised I get rid of ALL of my books, I definitely hung onto a few of my faves! And I still recovered fully btw. Actually, it turned out that I moved from one moldy house to another yet was still able to recover with the right tools and strategies even in a less than ideal environment. God really designed the body amazingly well didn’t He?!
What about you? What are your favorite health and wellness books? Do tell!
About Angela…
I’m a women’s health coach, writer, and Doctor of Physical Therapy. I’m also a Certified Holistic Nutritionist, Pregnancy and Postpartum Corrective Exercise Specialist, and homeschool mom of three living near Chattanooga, TN.
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