Living Longer

“Offers a useful reminder of the role of modern science in fundamentally transforming all of our lives.” —President Barack Obama (on Twitter) “An important book.” —Steven Pinker, The New York Times Book Review The surprising and important story of how humans gained what amounts to an extra life, from the bestselling author of How We Got to Now and Where Good Ideas Come From In 1920, at the end of the last major pandemic, global life expectancy was just over forty years. Today, in many parts of the world, human beings can expect to live more than eighty years. As a species we have doubled our life expectancy in just one century. There are few measures of human progress more astonishing than this increased longevity. Extra Life is Steven Johnson’s attempt to understand where that progress came from, telling the epic story of one of humanity’s greatest achievements. How many of those extra years came from vaccines, or the decrease in famines, or seatbelts? What are the forces that now keep us alive longer? Behind each breakthrough lies an inspiring story of cooperative innovation, of brilliant thinkers bolstered by strong systems of public support and collaborative networks, and of dedicated activists fighting for meaningful reform. But for all its focus on positive change, this book is also a reminder that meaningful gaps in life expectancy still exist, and that new threats loom on the horizon, as the COVID-19 pandemic has made clear. How do we avoid decreases in life expectancy as our public health systems face unprecedented challenges? What current technologies or interventions that could reduce the impact of future crises are we somehow ignoring? A study in how meaningful change happens in society, Extra Life celebrates the enduring power of common goals and public resources, and the heroes of public health and medicine too often ignored in popular accounts of our history. This is the sweeping story of a revolution with immense public and personal consequences: the doubling of the human life span.

You are what you eat. Food and diet have an enormous influence on your health and well-being, but eating the right amount of the right things - and not too much of the wrong things - isn't easy. But, as in most walks of life, knowledge is power. This book will empower you to eat healthily, lose weight, and sort the fads from the science facts. This is the New Scientist take on a "New Year, New You" book: an eye-opening and myth-busting guide to everything from sugar to superfoods, from fasting to eating like a caveman and from veganism to your gut microbiome. Forget faddy diet books or gimmicky exercise programs, this is what is scientifically proven to make you live longer and to be healthier and happier.

Don't just live longer—live better! The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer provides a road map to a longer, healthier life, advocating key strategies for the food, supplements, and lifestyle adjustments that will keep us going stronger, longer. With these strategies, you can win the battle against aging. Living a long life isn’t only about measuring the number of years lived, but how we live them. Dr. Beth Traylor and nutritionist and weight loss expert Jonny Bowden provide recommendations that will keep you strong, healthy, energetic, and active with every decade of your life. These methods—all backed by the latest research and scientific studies—are easy, yet work anti-aging miracles. There’s no better time to start than now. You’ll learn how to rein in "The Four Horseman of Aging": Free radicals, which cause oxidative damage that wear you down from the inside out; Inflamation, the “silent killer” that is a factor in almost every degenerative disease; Glycation, a process that is implicated in many of the diseases of aging Stress, which can cause more damage to your overall well-being than you think. The book includes fitness tips for your body's "key players"—the heart, brain, bones, muscles, joints, immune system, and hormones. More and more studies are proving that we can strongly influence how long and how well we live. This fully revised and updated edition offers the smartest program for living a longer, healthier, better life.

Bestselling author Dan Buettner reveals how to transform your health using smart nutrition, lifestyle, and fitness habits gleaned from longevity research on the diets, eating habits, and lifestyle practices of the communities he's identified as "Blue Zones"—those places with the world's longest-lived, and thus healthiest, people, including locations such as Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Costa Rica's Nicoya Peninsula; Ikaria, Greece; and Loma Linda, California. With the audacious belief that the lifestyles of the world's Blue Zones could be adapted and replicated in towns across North America, Buettner launched the largest preventive health care project in the United States, The Blue Zones City Makeovers, which has impacted the health of millions of Americans since 2009. In The Blue Zones Solution, readers can be inspired by the specific stories of the people, foods, and routines of our healthy elders; understand the role community, family, and naturally healthy habits can play in improving our diet and health; and learn the exact foods—including the 50 superfoods of longevity and dozens of recipes adapted for Western tastes and markets—that offer delicious ways to eat your way to optimum health. Throughout the book are lifestyle recommendations, checklists, and stories to help you create your own personal Blue Zones solution. Readers will learn and apply the 80/20 rule, the plant slant diet, social aspects of eating that lead to weight loss and great health naturally, cultivating your "tribe" of friends and family, and your greater purpose as part of your daily routine. Filled with moving personal stories, delicious recipes, checklists, and useful tips that will transform any home into a miniature blue zone, The Blue Zones Solution is the ultimate blueprint for a healthy, happy life.

Most of us want to live a long, healthy life, but how do we do that? Drawing upon lessons from his own life, Mayo Clinic cardiologist Stephen Kopecky offers a holistic, evidence-based approach to preventing common diseases and chronic illnesses and living a longer life of pleasure and purpose. In the past century, the leading causes of death around the world have shifted from infectious diseases to long-term chronic illnesses. What’s killing us today isn’t so much flu or tuberculosis, but heart disease and cancer. In fact, more than 1.2 million Americans die from these two diseases each year. Paradoxically, these chronic diseases are a consequence of living longer than ever. But even if we’re living longer, are we living better? The overwhelming number of people now living under the burden of chronic illness indicates otherwise. After surviving two bouts of cancer, Dr. Stephen Kopecky, M.D set out to discover the behaviors people can adopt to live longer lives free of chronic illnesses and diseases. What he discovered was that the answer lies in just six habits that require small changes to your daily life, but reap big results long-term. From adopting better diet and exercise habits to managing stress and sleep, these behaviors will not only preserve your health, they can improve your quality of living and extend your life. The secret, however, lies not just in the steps themselves but in how you accomplish them. This book offers in-depth insights on: The best foods to eat and why Increasing physical activity and improving fitness Why your sleep habits matter The dangers of stress and what to do about them The true impact of alcohol and tobacco on our bodies How to make changes that will last a lifetime After 30 years of research in the field of cardiovascular disease prevention, Dr. Kopecky is sharing what he’s learned from his practice and own personal experience about staying healthy, preventing chronic illnesses, and living younger longer.

Over a decade ago, a landmark ten-year study by the MacArthur Foundation shattered the stereotypes of aging as a process of slow, genetically determined decline. Researchers found that that 70 percent of physical aging, and about 50 percent of mental aging, is determined by lifestyle, the choices we make every day. That means that if we optimize our lifestyles, we can live longer and “die shorter”—compress the decline period into the very end of a fulfilling, active old age. Dr. Roger Landry and his colleagues have spent years bringing the MacArthur Study’s findings to life with a program called Masterpiece Living. In Live Long, Die Short, Landry shares the incredible story of that program and lays out a path for anyone, at any point in life, who wants to achieve authentic health and empower themselves to age in a better way. Writing in a friendly, conversational tone, Dr. Landry encourages you to take a “Lifestyle Inventory” to assess where your health stands now and then leads you through his “Ten Tips,” for successful aging, each of which is backed by the latest research, real-life stories, and the insights Landry—a former Air Force surgeon and current preventive medicine physician—has gained in his years of experience. The result is a guide that will reshape your conception of what it means to grow old and equip you with the tools you need to lead a long, healthy, happy life.

"Pauling's simple, inexpensive plan suggests avoiding sugar, stress, and smoking, working in a job that you like, and being happy with your family. To avoid serious illness and enjoy a longer life, he recommends taking vitamins for optimum health and as insurance against disease."--P. [4] of cover.

With the right lifestyle, experts say, chances are that you may live up to a decade longer. What's the prescription for success? National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner has traveled the globe to uncover the best strategies for longevity found in the Blue Zones: places in the world where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives. And in this dynamic book he discloses the recipe, blending this unique lifestyle formula with the latest scientific findings to inspire easy, lasting change that may add years to your life. Buettner's colossal research effort has taken him from Costa Rica to Italy to Japan and beyond. In the societies he visits, it's no coincidence that the way people interact with each other, shed stress, nourish their bodies, and view their world yields more good years of life. You'll meet a 94-year-old farmer and self-confessed "ladies man" in Costa Rica, an 102-year-old grandmother in Okinawa, a 102-year-old Sardinian who hikes at least six miles a day, and others. By observing their lifestyles, Buettner's teams have identified critical everyday choices that correspond with the cutting edge of longevity research and distilled them into a few simple but powerful habits that anyone can embrace