15 Essential Books That Will Transform Your Health Forever

There are some health books that will transform your health forever.

You might be thinking, “uhh, why aren’t these all diet books?”

Simple: Most people don’t fail to stay healthy or lose weight because they don’t know WHAT they should be doing – it’s because they aren’t setting up systems and good habits to make it happen.

So… let’s reveal this ultimate list. Some of them fall along the lines of good habits, while others are nitty-gritty techniques and tactics.

#1 – The Slight Edge

The slight edge is a book about quite possibly the most important reason that we fail to be successful, happy, healthy, and financially free – our choices.

Picture this: imagine if next year, you could be: financially free, 20-30 pounds lighter, have insane energy, have your relationship or marriage be the best it has ever been (by far), be the happiest you’ve ever been, have the best year you’ve ever had, save $300/month, and achieve so much more. You can. And the principles in this book will help you – all at once.

Why it will transform your health:

Bottom line – you’re not failing to be healthy, happy and successful because you don’t know what you should be doing – it’s because you’re not understanding one key philosophy: the tiny choices and habits you do today create massive effects down the line.

Get it on amazon here: http://amzn.to/1mHiTiK

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#2 – Pain-Free

Pain-free is one book that I have carried with me for over 5 years, and at my worst times, used almost daily. When I was in the throes of chronic back pain, that nobody could fix, this book helped make my day-to-day manageable and survivable.

The core premise of the book is that most of us are in chronic pain not just because we sit, but more specifically because we’re inactive and in a motion-starved environment. This is the perfect setting for muscular imbalances, muscular weakness, and many other issue to occur – leading us down the road to pain.

Why it will transform your health:

It works faster than anything I’ve ever seen for chronic pain. You can get it on amazon here: http://amzn.to/1m6ZJHc

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#3 – Fiber Menace

Konstantin’s book has also saved me. In my early 20s, I was diagnosed with IBS after seeing doctors, nutritionists, and GI specialists – and no one could provide any information that even remotely helped.

His core piece of advice is this: the emphasis on eating MORE fiber, more bran, more wheat, more bread is specifically what’s leading us down the road to not only chronic constipation, diverticulitis, etc. but also obesity and other health issues.

The book lays out a very careful plan for recovering from all kinds of IBS, chronic constipation, and other GI issues. It has literally saved my life.

Why it will transform your health:

If you have chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, IBS or any other GI issue, read this book. It’s based on sound science and helped me dramatically. You can get it on amazon here: http://amzn.to/1pI3ert

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#4 – The Effortless Sleep Method

Like most other people, at one point in my life I seemed to be having a phase where I just couldn’t sleep if my life depended on it. It was starting to go on for several weeks, and was beginning to take a toll on my health (and my mood), so I began buying books on sleep.

This book in particular helped dramatically – like most health conditions, the longer you have them, the more they become “in your head” – so you’re constantly thinking, “oh I won’t sleep well tonight, I know it” and it becomes a self fulfilling prophecy. This book helps stop that cycle.

Why it will transform your health:

If you’re struggling with sleep, consider this: you naturally should be falling asleep easily, quickly, without thinking about it. You can do that again with the techniques in this book. You can get it on amazon here: http://amzn.to/TB8I8t

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#5 – The Happiness Advantage

People today seem to have life backwards -we often think that being successful (at whatever desired goal) is what leads to happiness. But this book busts that myth bigtime, and shows some research (tons of it) that success doesn’t lead to happiness – happiness leads to success.

Okay, that’s great, but how does that help you?

Shawn gives a panel of scientifically proven daily habits that you can start implementing today to begin feeling way happier. And as we know, being happier obviously makes you much more happy too!

Why it will transform your health:

Being unhappy is quite possibly one of the most damaging (non physical) situations for your health. The internal is just as important (or maybe more important) than all the food and exercise stuff – don’t forget it! You can get the book on amazon here: http://amzn.to/1z6ehN7

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#6 – The Omnivores Dilemma

There is lots of confusion about what you should really be eating to get healthy and lose weight, right?

If you ask me, this is possibly the best, simplest, most factual book on this subject. I’ll spare you reading the entire thing: “Eat [real] food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” These are along the rough nutritional lines that I give to most of my coaching clients and students in my program.

Interestingly, this is also similar to what you see in the blue zones – regions of the world where people live to be 100+ in startling numbers.

Why it will transform your health:

I’m a big believer that the simplest advice is often the best advice – and this book keeps it very simple. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1o0ooub

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#7 – The Blood Sugar Solution

One of the leading doctors I respect the most is Dr. Mark Hyman – who is one of the docs behind this real food revolution. In a world where most doctors either know nothing about nutrition, or are making things overly complicated trying to sell their own version of the “16 week shred” – this is super straightforward, legitimate health advice.

Bottom line: if you take care of managing your blood sugar, you also lose lots of weight, reverse chronic health conditions like IBS and GERD, and resolve a lot more.

Why it will transform your health:

The emphasis on fixing chronic health problems is what I love the most about this book. There is an entire panel of questions and answers, based on the condition you may have. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/TNnU2w

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#8 – The Power of Habit

If you’ve been reading Modern Health Monk for a while, you know my entire premise: the solution to your health issues as a desk worker is simple: mini habits, done daily over time. That’s the solution to fixing chronic back pain, to losing weight, to boosting energy, to beating cravings, and lots more.

But HOW do we create habits? Do we just take baby steps each day? Yeah, but there’s an actual science behind it. In other words, you can start small, but there are intelligent ways to figure out why you have cravings, or how to start exercising, or how to sleep better or be more productive.

Why it will transform your health:

At the end of the day, the people with the best health, happiness, relationships, and success all understand how to create good habits that stick around. This book will help you do that. You can get it on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1vtWOcY

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#9 – Mindfulness in Plain English

Most of us live in stress bubbles, constantly multitasking, never having enough time, always wishing we could do more.

And unfortunately, anxiety, depression, and a general feeling of being stressed are at an all-time high. I don’t need to cite a CDC study to prove to you that stress is a real killer – especially a quality of life killer. But for many people, meditation sounds a bit too esoteric for them. Despite the fact that most people that live to 100 mention some kind of stress relief or meditation being critical to their longevity.

Why it will transform your health:

It’s simple: this book is written for westerners, in super simple, plain language. It will get you started today – and I can promise that simple meditation will change your life. I’ve been doing it for over a decade, and I consider it quite possibly the most critical quality of life practice. You can get it on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1iWq3EY

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#10 – The Hormone Cure

A major reason underneath low energy, poor sleep, and stubborn weight is… hormonal imbalances! Dr. Sara in her book states that 80-90% of people have some kind of hormonal imbalance -whether that’s stress hormones or sex hormones – low testosterone , high estrogen, or something else.

Dr. Sara focuses exclusively on how to resolve health and weight loss issues from a hormonal perspective, and yes that includes men too. What I personally loved was that she includes many suggestion and techniques from alternative medical treatments in addition to her own.

Why it will transform your health:

Honestly… I see a lot of clients that are a combination of A. tired, B. overweight, C. irritable and just stressed, and D. low on energy and low on “zest” for life. Dr. Sara’s protocols are usually the first thing that comes to mind. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1rfyaPi

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#11 – The End of Overeating

If you’re finding yourself gaining weight and over eating, here’s one reason why: you’re up against a huge, billion dollar giant trying to MAKE you over eat. This book brings up some really scary ideas:

– Food companies invest in research figuring out how to get you to crave their product and eat more

– Fat, sugar, and salt are added to virtually every food in order to increase the taste and enhance the flavor

– Billions of dollars are spent figuring out how to keep you hooked.

Why it will transform your health:

It’ll make you see food, cravings, and binge eating much differently – and most importantly, help you regain control over these kinds of issues. Almost as something that has been engineered by a billion dollar junk food industry. You can get the book on amazon here: http://amzn.to/1qQJ3Vw

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#12 – Spontaneous Healing

Like many of you, I’ve suffered from my own chronic health issues that western medicine wasn’t very effective at dealing with. With many chronic conditions, the problem is that it’s not quite as simple as “take XYZ supplement, and you’ll be fine!” There are often many many factors you need to focus on.

You need dietary changes, mental/emotional changes, lifestyle changes, exercise changes, sleep changes, and so much more.

In other words – you can heal yourself, but you need to approach it from several different angles. That’s one of the core ideas behind this book, where Dr. Weil gives you some interesting case studies on spontaneous healing, herbal supplements,  avoiding environmental toxins (and a lot more), so that your boy can heal itself.

Why it will transform your health:

Honestly, for me it was just a powerful, simple reminder that if you’re suffering from a chronic health condition, it’s YOU, not your doctor, who is responsible for the healing – and here’s how you can do that. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1xh18yM

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#13 – Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life

Cancer is scary. And when you look at the statistics, almost 50%(!) of people will get cancer in the developed world. That’s terrifying to me, and also a little bit pathetic. I say pathetic because we know that most cancers are preventable.

Eating the right foods, avoiding toxins and environmental contaminants, managing our stress and emotions, sleeping enough already drops your risk of cancer dramatically.

But what specifically should we be eating, doing, believing, and how should we be living to minimize out chances of cancer?

This book will share those principles with you.

Why it will transform your health:

Primarily, the main reason is because it emphasizes good old fashioned lifestyle advice that prevent/reverse disease in general – not just cancers. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/VFqqJP

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#14 – Healing With Whole Foods

The war on chronic disease and obesity is won in the kitchen. Unfortunately, the kitchen is often the toughest part! A huge arguement I make throughout this site (And with my clients and students) is that the biggest nutritional win you can make is A. eating real, whole foods (and not worrying about carbs, fats, proteins), and B. cooking your own foods.

Those two things have consistently helped people lose 5, 20, 50 or 100 pounds, and has reversed many complex diseases all at once. Look at Amanda’s story for example – she reversed about 6 chronic conditions (cystic acne, GI issues, hypertension, and more) by shifting to whole foods.

This is the approach I teach in Dream Body and my other programs.

Why this will transform your health:

Bottom line: the emphasis on focusing on nutrition as the key to healing yourself and losing weight. Once you understand this, everything changes. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/TD9hP0

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#15 – Breaking the Vicious Cycle

For those of you suffering from Crohn’s disease, IBS (or any GI issue),  Ulcerative Colitis, or Celiac disease – this will be a godsend.

Elaine’s book is written primarily for people with severe GI issues – but there are hundreds of reviews (at this time, over 500) mostly with people sharing how this book cured them after having severe GI issues (that required hospitalization).

She gives a very specific protocal to follow, with a list of legal/illegal foods on her website.

Why this will transform your health:

GI problems have become an epidemic with people in the 21st century. This book will help get you back on the road to recovery – along with Fiber menace, this is the book that has helped the most with my own recovery from IBS. You can get the book on Amazon here: http://amzn.to/1xhheIY

What Else Would You Add to This List? Tell Me Below!

Anything else you would add?

Share below !

– Alex