Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 612.67
EAN: 9780307277541
ISBN: 0307277542
Label: Anchor
Manufacturer: Anchor
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2007-01-02
Publisher: Anchor
Release Date: 2007-01-02
Studio: Anchor

In each of his widely acclaimed, best-selling books, Dr. Andrew Weil has been an authoritative and companionable guide through a uniquely effective combination of traditional and nontraditional approaches to health and healthy living. Now he gives us a book about aging that is unlike any other. Drawing on the new science of biogerontology (the biology of aging) as well as on the secrets of healthy longevity — diet, activity and attitude — Dr. Weil explains that there are a myriad of things we can do to keep our bodies and minds in good working order through all phases of life. Hugely informative, practical, and uplifting, Healthy Aging is infused with the engaging candor and common sense that have made Dr. Weil our most trusted source on healthy living.

With detailed information on:

-Learning to eat right: Following the anti-inflammatory diet, Dr. Weil’s guide to the nutritional components of a healthy lifestyle

-Separating myth from fact about the would-be elixirs of life extension — herbs, hormones, and anti-aging “medicines”

-Learning exercise, breathing and stress-management techniques to benefit your mind and body

-Understanding the science behind the aging process

-Keeping record of your life lessons to share with loved ones
Dr. Weil has raised dispensing health advice to an art form. Instead of making his audience feel inadequate or guilty about bad habits, he seems to subconsciously convince readers to do better merely by presenting health facts in a non-threatening way. Healthy Aging is his most scientifically technical book yet (you'll learn all about enzymes like telomerase and cell division and the chemistry behind phytonutrients like indole-3-carbinol, and the connection between cancer and other degenerative diseases like diabetes) yet by far his most fascinating.

His main mission here is to recommend "aging gracefully," which he considers accepting the process instead of fighting it. As the director of the country's leading integrative-medicine clinic (combining the best of traditional and alternative worlds), of course he disses Botox and the slew of $100-a-jar face creams out there. It's also no surprise that he focuses on proper nutrition, moderate exercise, and meditation and rest among his "12-point program for healthy aging." (Triathletes and exercise addicts should take special note of the research linking excessive exercise and ALS, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.) He occasionally references his earlier works, including 8 Weeks to Optimum Health. But the most eye-opening sections are those that discuss the spirituality of aging and its emotional aspects. "Aging can bring frailty and suffering, but it can also bring depth and richness of experience, complexity of being, serenity, wisdom, and its own kind of power and grace," he writes. At 63, Weil is still a bit shy of senior status, but is aging well indeed, with the legacy of his late 93-year-old mother (who’s touchingly eulogized by Weil in this book) to guide him.--Erica Jorgensen

Customer Rating:
Summary: You're not going to live for ever.
Comment: Let's get this straight, you won't live for ever if you read this book. And you won't live forever, if you don't. But you'll live better if you do. The first part of this book details both the dodgy science of immortality and the good stuff. The second part details ways to live a long, but not permanent, life healthily.
For me, the first part although interesting was a little long. I felt myself getting (or is that just feeling) much, much older as I read it. It goes into some detail about long sounding chemical names for drugs that I have no idea about. And The DNA squishy bits of why we age. Or at least why and how the boffins think we age. It gives some detail about societies that have the longest living people (Japan, and within Japan, the Okinawans -go goya!) And advice about getting old, and dealing with it. Overall, the first half is okay.

The second part deals with ways to live a long, healthy life. Generally regarding things we should know, and should do. About eating better, eating less and exercise. No surprises there. Some aspects for me were new, such as the herbal advice he gives (well, I'm just a little lazy chasing up the things that I know I should do.) The second half is also okay.

Somehow I felt that the style of the book, and the way it was written might end up being read more by the already converted (like me) and not by the need to be converted (the person I originally gave the book to.). I see colourful coffee table picture books with sexy presentation calling out to me from the same section of the book store, with easy to read formats and soothing images, such that this tome just doesn't seem to appeal so much to me. But it is the good stuff, there's a lot there to wade through but if you read the second half carefully and take notes, it will lead you onto the path of long, healthy but not immortal life.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Health
Comment: Book in excellent condition, would purchase from the seller again. Very informative book. Good to know information.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Dr. weil does it again!
Comment: One of his best books, I love learning about health and nutrition and Andrew Weil is the doctor I trust most to give me honest, balanced advice on these subjects.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: A Must-Have Resource For A Healthy life
Comment: This is a comprehensive guide that should be on everyone's bookshelf. Covering all you need to know about aging, you will find yourself referring to it over and over again.It covers everything from diet to supplements to exercise to thoughts, emotions and attitudes and the role they play in healthy aging.
Joanne Scaglione, Author Living The Secret Everyday: My Secret Workbook

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Evidence based, but not stuck to the Western medical model
Comment: Healthy Aging is an oasis of sage advice in the raucous marketplace of alternative health care literature. I appreciate that Dr. Weil's approach is science and evidence based, but isn't stuck to the Western medical model.

This book is very accessible--for the general reader, it strikes the right balance between "technical" and conversational. For me, the chapter discussing the relation between diet and inflammatory processes in the body, and the relation between these processes and age related diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer and heart disease, was a revelation. I had been vaguely aware of the dangers of poorly regulated inflammation, but Dr. Weil brings the issue into sharp focus.

Healthy Aging reinforces my admiration for Dr. Weil's work. If you want to take responsibility for your own health, read this book.

The 15 pages of Notes in the back are a gold mine.

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