When I was in grade school, I lived for six years in a small town in Texas.  My mom worked in the town library, so naturally I developed a love of reading.  I have suspected that this hastened along the development of my KC; although it has also resulted in me being to able recommend a lot of good books.

NUTRITION

1.  Eat to Live

Joel Fuhrman

http://www.drfuhrman.com/

If I could give you the single most important book to read that would change your health and your life, this would be the one.  This is the diet I am following right now and most closely resembles what I was doing when my KC first started regressing in 2002.  This was written by a doctor in New Jersey who has seen irreversible diseases reverse and has gotten people off their medications through this diet.  I have some quotes from his book in the diet section.

Any health books by Paul Bragg.

http://www.bragg.com/

The Bragg books are written in layman terms and easy to understand.  You can pick any topic that interests you, and the last six chapters of the book usually cover nutrition, water, exercise, fresh air, rest, and sunshine.  I must caution you that the Braggs are devout Christians and tend to include many biblical quotes on their pages.  Paul Bragg was born in the early 1900’s, and his family put on many “health crusade” events over the years.  Jack Lalane attended one of the events as a young boy and later went on to become a household name with his exercise TV show in the 1950’s.  Paul Bragg enjoyed excellent health and lived until age 96.  Unfortunately, though he was in good health, he passed away from a swimming accident.

Any books by Norman Walker  (Become Younger is a good one.)

He is more scientific than the other books on this list and a little more difficult to understand.  (However, some people prefer to see the science behind the suggestions.)  He describes in great detail the function of various organs in the body.  Norman Walker lived to age 99 and passed away peacefully in his sleep. 

Mad Cowboy

Howard Lyman

http://www.madcowboy.com/

This is a good book on vegetarianism.  Howard Lyman was a farmer for most his life until he almost died and made a pact with God that he’d do something worthwhile with his life if he lived.  He became a vegetarian, and when I heard him speak a few years ago, was dabbling in veganism.  This book describes in detail what happens to the animals on a commercial farm and can be quite disturbing.  It is an easy read, and oddly enough, the author is quite funny.  

The Origin Diet

Elizabeth Somer

http://www.elizabethsomer.com/

I read this book many years ago, and it was the catalyst for me to start making some changes to my diet.  The author’s point is very simple- We can be healthier if we eat a diet more in line with what we evolved on.  She does a nice job of promoting consumption of produce.  However, by my standards today, this book is not strict enough for me because it still includes grains and meats.  However, I probably couldn’t be where I am today if I hadn’t found this book. 

www.mercola.com

Many of things Dr. Mercola recommends I have already done, and they worked for me.  I watch his site with great interest and also have his Total Health recipe book.  He has a 50,000+ page site that outlines his whole dietary plan for free.  I think it is pretty good, but he is a very strong proponent of eating organic, animal products.  This did not work for me, but I still think he has many great ideas. 

www.vitacost.com

This web site has incredibly cheap prices on vitamins, supplements, body care products, and dry organic foods.  I save on average 40% of what I would have paid in the store.  They are also very fast, and I usually receive my shipment within a few days of placing the order.

www.fitday.com

Track your calories and macronutrients (protein, fats and carbs) for free.  You can look up the nutritional value and calories associated with the foods you eat.  It will store your own personal diary.  You can run a variety of reports, including a report to see if you are consuming the American recommended daily allowances for vitamins & minerals.  It will also track calories burned through exercise.

www.fatfreevegan.com

This is a fantastic blog about vegan cooking.  It also serves as a clearing-house for vegan, low-fat recipes.  This has tremendously helped me stay on my diet because I love the food I eat.

EXERCISE

www.freetrainers.com

This is wonderful site that I love to lurk.  It has a series of message boards designed to help people for free with weight-lifting.  You can even get free work-out plans and track your progress.  My only grievance is that sometimes bodybuilders tend to promote things that help vanity but do nothing for your health.   

www.joycevedral.com

Joyce Vedral is the bomb.  She is double my age, and maybe I look half as good as her.  She worked as a freelance writer and helped write articles on champion body builders and also assisted them in writing books.  At about age 40, she decided to apply their techniques to herself with quite remarkable results.  I have read several of her books, and they are extremely easy to read.  She also has an extensive line of DVDs, though I prefer to go to the gym when I work-out.  In all her products, she claims she will answer personal email.  One of my friends emailed her questions, and sure enough, Joyce responded promptly.  Aside from being very knowledgeable on weight lifting, she seems like a very nice person.  Most her books are written to women as the target audience, though the concepts are similar between the sexes anyway.

New Rules of Lifting

Alwyn Cosgrove and Lou Shuler

http://www.alwyncosgrove.com/

A lot of times I read weight lifting books, and don’t see anything I haven’t heard before.  This one had many new concepts.  The best nugget I obtained from the book was that compound movements are more efficient to exercise the body.  On top of having a lot of good information, the book is actually entertaining.  The work-out’s I write for myself are usually a combination between this and Joyce Vedral. 

VISION

www.kcglobal.org

www.kcfreedom.org

This site is run by KC patients.  If there is anything good that comes out for KC, chances are that this site will catch it and cover it first.  It also has a neat forum for patients to interact with each other.

http://www.naturaleyecare.com/pub_index.asp

http://www.visionworksusa.com/eye-sample.htm

Dr. Grossman says that KC is a reflection of the condition of the body.  In other words, improve your health, and you’ll probably improve your eyes.  I found it very interesting that many of the things he recommends doing (diet and juicing) were the same things I was doing when my KC reversed.  I wish I had just found this site years ago instead of trying to muddle my way through it.  Dr. Grossman has an interesting write-up on KC and recommends some specific products.  I’m currently experimenting with a couple of them to see if I get better.  He also has a free guide to eye exercises available on his site.

http://www.magiceye.com/

When I first started working in public accounting, 3D pictures were popular at the time.  I noticed during busy season, that my eyes felt better if I stared at the pictures at the end of the day.  Therefore, I was very interested when Dr. Grossman wrote a book in conjunction with Magic Eye, claiming that they can help your vision.  I asked my doctor about it, and he said that these pictures require the eye to see far-sighted.  This was great for someone like me who does near-point work hours upon hours each day.  I actually keep one of these books at my desk.   

www.self-healing.org

www.VisionsOfJoy.org

These are a couple of sites from practitioners that teach vision improvement techniques.  The vision improvement movement had its roots from William Bates.  He was an opthalmologist in the early 20^th century that wrote books and taught courses on how to improve your vision naturally.  My doctor always told me that KC is nothing more than extreme myopia.  If this is true, I would think that the Bates Method could potentially help KC.  Some day, when I have more free time, I will explore this possibility.

http://dictionary.laborlawtalk.com/Keratoconus

There is nothing special about this web site except that it says most people who have KC have an IQ over 130.  Finally, something good connected with this damn disease.

FOR FUN

Attitude is Everything

Keith Harrell

http://www.keithharrell.com/

I could be in the worst mood, and this book always makes me feel better.  The author is a great storyteller and incorporates many personal experiences of fledgling in his own career prior to becoming a personal motivator.

http://www.louisyagera.com/

I can’t stop reading this guy’s blog on mind expansion techniques.  I was struggling for a year to accept that my son is mildly disabled, but after I tried some of things on this site, I am happy again.  I must admit that this is my favorite site right now. 

The Messenger

Klaus Joehle

I found this book through Louis.   I don't even think I can do it justice by description.  It is a book about sending love to others (not necessarily romantic love).  I tried it, and it was ten times stronger than I thought it would be.