The Seven Pillars of Health

I have just finished reading a fantastic book, The Seven Pillars of Health by Don Colbert. This book is considered a guideline for life. The chapters are set in days, and there are 50 “days.” Each day you are supposed to ready one chapter and do what it says and by day 50, you should have really changed your life. Each day details a specific topic, and how to put it into your life. For example, Day 11 is “Planning Your Perfect Night of Sleep.” The book discusses a very wide range of topics. At first, water and sleep are the first 10 days. Then the book goes into discussing healthy foods, then transitioning into exercise. Finally the book wraps up with toxins, vitamins, and stress. Overall the book discusses your physical and mental wellbeing as the main concern.

First, I will discuss the negatives of this book. There is a lot of information to take in. This is not one of those books where you can just go through page after page. In order to absorb all the information you must read it day by day, or at least piece by piece. Apparently Don Colbert is some famous doctor, but I have never heard of him. Throughout the book and mainly in the appendixes, he endorses his “products” and gives them his personal approval, as if that will make us instantly buy whatever it is. He seems as though he is trying to get his name out there somehow, it all seems rather conceited to me. There is good information in his book, but when the author has a big picture of himself on the cover, you know something must be up. Also, the author seems to be a devout Christian. Which is fine, it doesn’t bother me at all. But others may be irritated by the many Bible verses or many references to religion in general. That could be a negative in some people’s eyes. My last negative comment is that it seems like this book was written for an older conservative white woman. It seems a little careful with words in situations and some things are really outlandish such as when he recommends yoga, “The answer is, I only promote the physical exercises of yoga, never its spiritual or Eastern meditative aspects.” If you notice the italics, he seems to stress reassurance that he is not some “crazy witch doctor” but instead a true Christian promoting the good word. It seems rather cliché to me, but enough gripes, on to the positive!

In the negatives, I said there is a lot of information to take in. I take that back, there is a TON of information to take in, which I consider positive and negative! You will learn so much from this book, that it is indescribable. Small things such chemicals used in foods, proper vitamins to take, and how tap dieting may actually hurt you are invaluable things to learn. I really like how he writes in a clear and relaxed tone. It’s almost as if he’s just having a casual conversation with you about different aspects of health; it’s really quite engaging. In the back of the book are useful appendixes detailing and organizing many aspects he has talked about earlier, and what to get, where to get it etc…(even though it is product placement, it is convenient) Overall, this book is a wealth of knowledge and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who wishes to improve their quality of life, or at least learn something they never knew before.

Colbert, Don. The Seven Pillars of Health. Wheaton, IL: Siloam, 2007. 1-295. Print.