This book starts with the preface that “this is not a diet book”, but all the diet books nowadays say that, even when the title is “The Such-And-Such Diet”. So, is this one a diet book?

No, it isn’t. It’s rather an informational explanation of how metabolism works, and the very many things that can affect it, ranging from genes and epigenetics to diet and exercise to stress and sleep, and more.

Where this book most excels is in the personalization aspect; it describes how to assess your own system inputs and outputs (which are a lot more things than just calories in, calories out), and read your own body’s cues in terms of what’s going on with you metabolically.

Because the truth is, we’re all a bit different (aside from, perhaps, identical twins etc living identical lifestyles in all respects, down to having the same meals and the same schedule), and while there definitely are some universal truths of metabolism (e.g. whole fruit is always going to be better than high-fructose corn syrup), when it comes to the finer details on the other hand, what goes for one person genuinely may not go for another, and there can be a multitude of reasons why. This book helps identify those, and go with what actually works for you.

The style is half pop-science, half pep-talk. The book could have been a lot shorter without all the pep talk, but for those who like that sort of thing, that is the sort of thing they like.

Bottom line: if you’d like to understand your metabolism (as opposed to some clinically standardized average of metabolism), then this book can help you do that.

Click here to check out Next-Level Metabolism, and level-up your understanding of it!

Maddy Dychtwald, herself 73, has spent her career working in the field of aging. She’s not a gerontologist or even a doctor, but she’s nevertheless been up-to-the-ears in the industry for decades, mostly as an organizer, strategist, facilitator, and so forth. As such, she’s had her finger on the pulse of the healthy longevity movement for a long time.

This book was written to address a problem, and the problem is: lifespan is increasing (especially for women), but healthspan has not been keeping up the pace.

In other words: people (especially women) are living longer, but often with more health problems along the way than before.

And mostly, it’s for lack of information (or sometimes: too much competing incorrect information).

Fortunately, information is something that a woman in Dychtwald’s position has an abundance of, because she has researchers and academics in many fields on speed-dial and happy to answer her questions (we get a lot of input from such experts throughout the book—which is why this book is so science-based, despite the author not being a scientist).

The book answers a lot of important questions beyond the obvious “what diet/exercise/sleep/supplements/etc are best for healthy aging” (spoiler: it’s quite consistent with the things we recommend here, because guess what, science is science), questions like how best to prepare for this that or the other, how to get a head start on preventative healthcare for some things, how to avoid being a burden to our families (one can argue that families are supposed to look after each other, but still, it’s a legitimate worry for many, and understandably so), and even how to balance the sometimes conflicting worlds of health and finances.

Unlike many authors, she also talks about the different kinds of aging, and tackles each of them separately and together. We love to see it!

Bottom line: this book is a very good one-stop-shop for all things healthy aging. It’s aimed squarely at women, but most advice goes for men the same too, aside from the section on hormones and such.

Click here to check out Ageless Aging, and plan your future!

We know that chronic stress is bad for us because of what it does to our cortisol levels, so what is the rest of this book about?

Dr. Gabor Maté is a medical doctor, heavily specialized in the impact of psychological trauma on long term physical health.

Here, he examies—as the subtitle promises—the connection between stress and disease. As it turns out, it’s not that simple.

We learn not just about the impact that stress has on our immune system (including increasing the risk of autoimmune disorders like rheumatoid arthritis), the cardiovascular system, and various other critical systems fo the body… But also:

• how environmental factors and destructive coping styles contribute to the onset of disease, and
• how traumatic events can warp people’s physical perception of pain
• how certain illnesses are associated with particular personality types.

This latter is not “astrology for doctors”, by the way. It has more to do with what coping strategies people are likely to employ, and thus what diseases become more likely to take hold.

The book has practical advice too, and it’s not just “reduce your stress”. Ideally, of course, indeed reduce your stress. But that’s a) obvious b) not always possible. Rather, Dr. Maté explains which coping strategies result in the least prevalence of disease.

In terms of writing style, the book is very much easy-reading, but be warned that (ironically) this isn’t exactly a feel-good book. There are lot of tragic stories in it. But, even those are very much well-worth reading.

Bottom line: if you (and/or a loved one) are suffering from stress, this book will give you the knowledge and understanding to minimize the harm that it will otherwise do.

Click here to check out When The Body Says No, and take good care of yourself; you’re important!