June & July Book Round Up

It seems a little odd to be posting a book round up (or any kind of round up for that matter) before the month is actually over, but since I’m only sharing the health/fitness related books I’m reading and I know I’m going to be reading what I lovingly refer to as “fluff” for the next few weeks, I think it’s safe to post this a bit early. 😀

The first book I read was The Complete 1-Day Detox Diet Plan & Cookbook by Karen Barnes, MSc, ND.

I’ve read a lot of different detox plans and books over the years, including those with a lot of scientific merit, to those which sounded more like a good way to make yourself ill than anything else, and I’m glad to say this book falls in the scientific category.

Even if you have no interest or intention of completing a “detox” this is a fantastic resource for learning about environmental toxins – what they are, how we are exposed, and what they can do to us, food allergies and sensitivities, and then the detox plan itself as well as 150 recipes (which take up approximately one half of the book).

I found the section on food allergies and sensitivities particularly interesting. I have a serious intolerance for MSG, something that many people scoff at and say that it hasn’t been proven that such a thing exists. Those are the people who haven’t witnessed me writhing on the floor in pain and then vomiting all over kingdom come after unknowingly eating MSG. In this book Karen has a whole section on MSG Toxicity Reactions and even sites research proving that it IS a thing (I don’t know why I seem to be diagnosed with so many health issues that people disbelieve actually exist, luck I guess…).

She even mentions a study that suggests MSG and aspartame (another substance my body reacts pretty negatively towards) may be linked to fibromyalgia pain, and that eliminating both from your diet has some potential for results with those with fibromyalgia. Interesting. Now I can’t really tell you if I feel an increase in fibromyalgia pain when I consume MSG or aspartame, but that I only because I’m too busy feeling like someone has ripped my entire abdomen into pieces and replaced it with an evil hot air balloon to notice. I do find it very interesting that two things I know to be an issue for me are thought to also disrupt fibromyalgia.

The other section I really enjoyed was the section talking about Oral Allergy Syndrome. I’m sure I’ve talked about my mysterious oral allergy here before. The one that pops up from time to time swelling up my lips and leaving me with a very sore rash all around my mouth? This has been going on for a few years off and on, and last summer I noticed it happened immediately after eating a raw zucchini and wondered if I could possibly be suddenly allergic to zucchini. Well, according to this book “Oral Allergy Syndrome is a reaction to certain fruits, vegetables and nuts that occurs due to a cross-reactivity between proteins in fresh fruits or vegetables and pollens in trees, grasses and weeds. In 50-75% of adults in the US who are allergic to birch pollen, oral allergy syndrome is present.” And the symptoms? An itchy mouth or swelling in the mouth when eating an uncooked food. Sounds familiar.

More interestingly is that I was diagnosed with seasonal allergies as a teenager, but was never sent for testing to find out what exactly I was allergic to. Under the heading for Late Summer and Fall Ragweed Pollen Allergy – zucchini. There are also foods in that list I’m not aware of causing me any issues (like watermelon and potatoes), so whether or not I have Oral Allergy Syndrome or not it was a very interesting read about something I had never heard of previously.

I don’t think you need to be interested in detox plans or recipes to find this book really interesting. I’ve already told you two small sections of this 300+ page book that I found interesting, and neither are things you would expect to find in a 10-Day Detox Book. I highly recommend this one, especially if you have food issues that you are still trying to sort out as it goes over many different types of allergies and intolerances.

You can purchase The Complete 10-Day Detox on Amazon here.

The second book I want to talk about today is The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga by Amy Ippolitit & Taro Smith, PhD

It’s not often you find a book that talks specifically about the business of teaching yoga – or fitness in general, so I was really interested to see what this title had to offer. I know that I am part of a minority as someone who started off with a strong business background who moved into the work of teaching fitness.

It’s nice to have my business training to fall back on, knowing how to do accounting and marketing and all of that have been really helpful for me over the years, and then when I moved into blogging that gave me hands on experience with web design, social media, etc. That’s not to say that I went into this book thinking I know it all, I generally like to assume I know nothing, that way I am always ready and looking to learn. And I can honestly say that I did learn form this book. Teaching yoga is such an individual thing that I believe every instructor who reads this will take different things away from it, but I do think that anyone who teaches fitness classes could benefit from reading it. While there are certainly parts that direct specifically to yoga, much of the book can be used as a guideline for any type of fitness instructor.

What’s more, is I feel like the ideas presented in The Art and Business of Teaching Yoga helped me to reconnect with the reason I started teaching yoga in the beginning. It is so easy to lose your why in the daily shuffle of life, so I really appreciated that I was able to bring that back to the surface and the forefront of my mind moving forward.

If you are an instructor – especially of yoga – whether you run your own classes or teach through a gym or studio, I feel certain there is still a take away for you to be found within these pages, or through the offerings on their website 90Monkeys.com, I definitely suggest checking out at least one or the other!

That’s it for my reading roundup for June & July. Summer tends to be when I do more “enjoyment” reading versus learning reading, so I wouldn’t be surprised if this was my last round up until fall when I get back to the book learning 😉

Disclosure: I received both of these titled from their publishers free of charge. The above reviews are honest and entirely my own.