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.

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.

In this companion to the number one New York Times bestseller The Blue Zones Kitchen, Dan Buettner offers a four-week guide and year-long sustainability program to jump-start your journey to better health, happiness, less stress, and a longer life. Get started on the path to a longer, healthier, happier life with this quick start to building your own Blue Zones lifestyle. Dan Buettner, founder of the Blue Zones and author of the New York Times number one best-selling Blue Zones Kitchen, offers the challenge of a lifetime: Build a foundation for better nutrition, more exercise, and a stronger social life that will extend your lifetime by years. In this easy-to-implement guide, you'll start with the rules of the Blue Zones Challenge, including tips and tricks from the five Blue Zones--locations around the world where people consistently live to 100--advice for setting up a successful kitchen and pantry, and resources for expanding you support network. Then, follow week-by-week prompts to Change your diet Increase your activity Update your living spaces Build your social life. After four weeks--and with the help of journaling tips and delicious recipes--you'll see results in your weight, your well-being, and your general health. From there, follow the Blue Zones challenge through the rest of the year with an 11-month sustainability plan that will continue to encourage you and build upon the foundation you've already started. What you'll find is living to 100 is easy--it just takes following the Blue Zones way!

“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.

What’s the average human life span...72 years...78 years? Actually, science has determined that humans were designed to live 120 years, and that, until now, most people died too soon. It’s also now clear that most of the maladies we commonly associate with aging, such as frailty, senility, and arthritis aren’t part of nature’s plan, but the result of other factors such as bad nutrition, disease ,and disuse. Best of all is the news that, no matter how old you are or what shape you’re in, you can take steps to reverse the aging process that has already occurred in you and to slow your rate of aging in the future. You’re never too old–or too young–to begin living a longer, healthier life, and Living Longer For Dummies can show you how. Written by a leading national expert on aging, it’s packed with life-changing tips on nutrition, exercise, attitude and behavior, that can help enhance and sustain your physical and psychological well- being to age 100 and beyond. You’ll discover how to: Slow your rate of aging Reverse many of the effects of aging Avoid maladies associated with age Keep your mind and senses sharp Maintain limberness and muscle tone Keep your energy level high Rebound from illness Stay sexually active Dr. Bortz shatters common myths about aging and explains, in plain English, what science now knows about the normal aging process in humans. And he explores a wide range of life-prolonging topics, including: Getting good health care Exercising to stay healthy for life Eating right for a long life Getting adequate rest and relaxation Using alternative medicine and exercise techniques Maintaining brain-power Having sex to prolong your life and coping with sexual difficulties Handling health crises The number of people age 100 and older increases a whopping 8 percent every year in the United States? If you choose to, you can become one of them someday. Let Living Longer For Dummies show you how.

Aimed at those who strive for optimal long-term health and the maximal functioning of their hearts and minds, 'Living Longer' sifts through the often conflicting information available on the vast number of possible health promotion changes. It isolates five key steps to promote long-term health benefits for the heart and mind.

Positive Ageing and Learning from Centenarians evaluates the mechanisms of positive ageing in a uniquely interdisciplinary way to explore the question of how we age and how some people age successfully. Drawing together the findings of recognised longevity researchers from around the world, the book applies an integrated vision to educational and social aspects of human ageing. It examines research into centenarians, and considers most of the disciplines related to longevity and healthy aging and aspects such as education, psychology, philosophy, anthropology, demography, sociology, economics as well as those related to nutrition and biological factors of longevity. The book examines how the results of these scientific investigations could improve the well-being of the oldest olds in the future, especially in the context of ageing societies. It provides an answer to the question of what we can learn from centenarians and what lessons we can from their lifestyle, which can contribute to live longer, better and happier. Based on cutting-edge research, the book will be highly relevant reading for researchers, academics and students in the field of ageing and longevity, mental health research, health science, gerontology and psychology.