Book Review: *The Seven Pillars of Health by Dr. Don Colbert*

I first saw this book during the holiday season. I began asking if anyone had read it and no one had. Then, Dr. Colbert came to a local church one weekend. His wife hosted a seminar the next day. Church leaders were invited. My friend Tricia and I went. (*Note Tricia is not Trish and doesn't like to be called Trish either - ah my confusion). Advanced copies of this book were given to everyone who attended.

I read this book to "keep the conversation going", as my dietitian says. She explained that it is important for me to keep the principles of healthy eating in the forefront of my mind...otherwise I tend to skip meals, cut portions, fast for 3 or 4 days on end....that sort of thing. Many of you have read my journey.

I started this book - but certainly wasn't making the expected progress in it. ::snort:: Until I put it on my Spring Reading Thing List.

My views expressed in this review about some of the theology I caught glimpses of hold true.....BUT there is a lot of great info in this book. I didn't find as many annoying references to "read this book I wrote" in this book - but it could be because it is a bigger book and so they were more spread out - or it could be because I simply let my eyes bounce when I saw a recommendation coming. ::snort::

Dr. Colbert says that if we have two pillars out of whack - we'll be "ok". When we get 3 or more out of sync we end up ill and such. The pillars are: Water, Sleep and Rest, Living Food, Exercise, Detoxification, Nutritional Supplements, and Freedom From Stress.

The chapter on Nutritional Supplements was FULL of information. I really don't do supplements. After reading his thoughts I see WHY the person eating the SAD (standard American diet) would need supplements. However, over and over he says that this is found in perfect balance in fruit, this is found in green veggies...and it seems to me that if you are following the principles in *What the Bible Says About Healthy Living* you may not need such a full range of supplements. AND if your dietitian has you eating 10 - 13 servings of produce a day to lower your cholesterol I'm quite sure you're getting all the phytonutrients, antioxidants and etc that you need. Of course, Dr. Colbert would say that eating so much non-organic produce is actually going to make me ill because of the pesticides. ARGH. (Note on that above link- I know longer follow the principles of Thin Within to a tee - because I was never eating for days on end and killed my metabolism).

Dr. Colbert makes a big push for organics. I get it - in my mind. It's the pocket book that isn't getting it. LOL Well - there are a lot of little things that he may be right on, but I'm not quite ready to implement...

However, this is an easy format - one chapter a day for 6 weeks. This book also has a DVD series and is meant to be used in a small group format.

The statistics here were eye-opening. Statistics show that for the first time in our history our children (statistically) have a lower life expectancy than their parents because of diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes that young, young children are getting.

One of my favorite lines goes something like this.....if you have a headache you don't have a "Tylenol deficiency"....if you can't sleep you don't have a "sleeping pill deficiency"....I think of that often and it has helped me to evaluate choices I make....except I still think Benadryl is a wonder. ::snort::