Product Description

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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13438 in Books
• Brand: PBS
• Published on: 2007-01-02
• Released on: 2007-01-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 7.98" h x .93" w x 5.14" l, .88 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Amazon.com Review
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

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. America's best-known complementary care physician offers a convincing portrait of aging as a natural part of life that can be active, productive and satisfying. Using the examples of his mother, who died at age 93; centenarians from Okinawa and Sardinia; and myths and legends, Weil (Eating Well for Optimum Health) explores common Western beliefs and attitudes about aging and urges readers to develop healthier perspectives. The 60-year-old author assesses the growing and lucrative field of anti-aging medicine, takes the position that aging is not reversible, and offers many ways for readers to prevent conditions and illnesses that limit mortality and ensure well-being into the later years. He provides scientifically based information on why and how the body ages and advice on key components of good health at every age: exercise, nutrition, vitamins and herbs, and stress-relieving activities. Much of this advice is available in Weil's previous works as well as on his Web site. The real value is Weil's courageous stand, one likely to meet resistance in a culture devoted to external indicators of eternal youth. Refreshingly, Weil embraces the notion, popular in Eastern cultures, that age brings wisdom, peace and prosperity of a different kind.
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From Booklist
"Weil's most important and far-reaching book to date," Knopf gushes, and insofar as the book addresses issues of longevity, it is definitely the latter. Its importance, however, is of a piece with that of his Natural Health, Natural Medicine (rev. ed., 2004), Eight Weeks to Optimum Health (1997), and other best-sellers. No other health-maintenance adviser manages authoritativeness and moderation quite as Weil does. He goes off no deep ends, neither endorsing scientifically dubious nostrums nor dismissing what many scientists discount as "folk medicine." He comes on as an open-minded observer who persistently studies and tests, often with himself as subject, the diet and supplements, exercises, stress-reduction measures, and spiritual practices (which generally partake of what Buddhists call mindfulness) that he recommends. Much of his specific advice in the second part of this book will be familiar to users of his previous books, though he modifies and extends some of his earlier counsel. What is new here is the first-part discussion of aging and longevity. In chapters entitled "Immortality," "Shangri-Las and Fountains of Youth," and "Anti-Aging Medicine," he considerately, firmly discourages getting caught up in the quest for extended rather than fuller life. He then explains what is scientifically known about the processes of aging and argues against denial of aging and for appreciating its benefits. Ray Olson
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