Dr. Mieres takes us through understanding our own heart disease risks as individuals rather than as averages. As the title suggests, she does assume a female readership, so if you are a man and have no female loved ones, this might not be the book for you. But aside from that, she walks us through examining risk in the context of age, other health conditions, lifestyle factors, and so forth—including not turning a blind eye to factors that might intersect, such as for example if a physical condition reduces how much we can exercise, or if there’s some reason we can’t follow the usual gold standard of heart-healthy diet.

On which note, she does offer dietary advice, including information around recipes, meal-planning, and what things to always have in stock, as well as what things matter the most when it comes to what and how we eat.

It’s not all lifestyle medicine though; Dr. Mieres gives due attention to many of the medications available for heart health issues—and the pros and cons of these.

The style of the book is very simple and readable pop-science, without undue jargon, and with a generous glossary. As with many books of this genre, it does rely on (presumably apocryphal) anecdotes, though an interesting choice for this book is that it keeps a standing cast of four recurring characters, each to represent a set of circumstances and illustrate how certain things can go differently for different people, with different things then being needed and/or possible. Hopefully, any given reader will find themself represented at least moderately well somewhere in or between these four characters.

Bottom line: this is a very informative and accessible book, that demystifies a lot of common confusions around heart health.

Click here to check out Heart Smarter For Women, and take control of your health!

We’ve reviewed mobility books before, so what makes this one stand out?

We’ll be honest: the illustrations are lovely.

The science, the information, the exercises, the routines, the programs… All these things are excellent too, but these can be found in many a book.

What can’t usually be found is very beautiful (yet no less clear) watercolor paintings and charcoal sketches as anatomical illustrations.

There are photos too (also of high quality), but the artistry of the paintings and sketches is what makes the reader want to spend time perusing the books.

At least, that’s what this reviewer found! Because it’s all very well having access to a lot of information (and indeed, I read so much), but making it enjoyable increases the chances of rereading it much more often.

As for the rest of the content, the book’s information is divided in categories:

1. Pain (what causes it, what it means, and how to manage it)
2. Breathing (yes, a whole section devoted to this, and it is aligned heavily to posture also, as well as psychological state and the effect of stress on tension, inflammation, and more)
3. Movement (this is mostly about kinds of movement and ranges of movement)
4. Mobility (this is about aggregating movements as a fully mobile human)

So, each builds on from the previous because any pain needs addressing before anything else, breathing (and with it, posture) comes next, then we learn about movement, then we bring it all together for mobility.

Bottom line: this is a beautiful and comprehensive book that will make learning a joy

Click here to check out The Modern Art and Science of Mobility, and learn and thrive!

There are lots of books on “happy chemicals” and “how to retrain your brain”, so what makes this one different?

Firstly, it focuses on four “happy chemicals”, not just one:

• Serotonin
• Dopamine
• Oxytocin
• Endorphins

It also looks at the role of cortisol, and how it caps off each of those just a little bit, to keep us just a little malcontent.

Behavioral psychology tends to focus most on dopamine, while prescription pharmaceuticals for happiness (i.e., most antidepressants) tend to focus on serotonin. Here, Dr. Breuning helps us understand the complex interplay of all of the aforementioned chemicals.

She also clears up many misconceptions, since a lot of people misattribute the functions of each of these.

Common examples include “I’m doing this for the serotonin!” when the activity is dopaminergic not serotoninergic, or considering dopamine “the love molecule” when oxytocin, or even something else like phenylethylamine would be more appropriate.

The above may seem like academic quibbles and not something of practical use, but if we want to biohack our brains, we need to do better than the equivalent of a chef who doesn’t know the difference between salt and sugar.

Where things are of less practical use, she tends to skip over or at least streamline them. For example, she doesn’t really discuss the role of post-dopamine prolactin in men—but the discussion of post-happiness cortisol covers the same ground anyway, for practical purposes.

Dr. Breuning also looks at where our evolved neurochemical responses go wrong, and lays out guidelines for such challenges as overcoming addiction, or embracing delayed gratification.

Bottom line: this book is a great user-manual for the brain. If you’d like to be happier and more effective with fewer bad habits, this is the book for you.

Click here to check out Habits of a Happy Brain, and get biohacking yours!