Customer Reviews

Age-Proof Your Body: Your Complete Guide to Lifelong Vitality

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I browsed through this book and found that I could not put it down. As a gerontologist, I know Somer has researched her material thoroughly. She includes interesting facts and inspirational quotes about aging that make her information easy to read and understand. I trust her research references and she gives good advice without preaching. The book also contains valuable, practical information about popular herbs and vitamins. I recommend it for anyone interested in solid information on aging as well as nutrition.

This book is better, in my opinion, than many other health books on the market right now. This is because the author focuses not only on the practical side of what to eat and so on, but focuses also on the emotional and spiritual side of health. There is more to being healthy asnd youthful than simply eating enough veggies and working out. Excellent.

This book is a comon sense wrap-up of the nutrition and diet books out today, plus a good look at our bodies and how they change as we age. Being a "zone" reader and reader of many other nutrition/diet books, this was more "mainstream" for a 40+ mother of three. I did learn alot that I can use in my life.

I was wondering-- what is the difference between the hard cover original and the newer edition in paperback? Can the author respond?

I've been following Ms. Somer's advice religiously since reading her other GREAT book, FOOD & MOOD. I bought this new book and it's even better. I've learned so much -- she dispells many health myths that will suprise you -- and I feel great. Give this book as a gift to anybody at any age. They will thank you forever.

I do not recommend this book.

Though an excellent writer, Ms. Somer is a registered dietician (RD) and the limited and conservative training these health workers receive is painfully evident in this book. For those of you who do not know, RD's are the establishment nutritionists who staff hospitals and oversee the creation of meals for larger institutions (schools, prisons, etc). In effect, it is RD's who have single-handedly created "hospital food." The overseeing body of RDs, usually a national dietetics organization, advocate and recommend the whole gamut of processed food items, from imitation eggs to artificial sweeteners. This is not difficult to understand in light of the fact that dietetics associations receive much of their operating capital from processed food companies.

In short, dieticians preach "politically correct" nutrition. For many decades, RDs have recommended that people eat margarine and avoid butter; to avoid saturated fats and consume corn oil; to trim fat off of meat; to eat more vegetarian meals; and so forth and so on.

This misinformation about nutrition permeates Ms. Somer's book. While she rightfully instructs her readers to consume as much whole, unprocessed food as possible, she recommends such highly processed and unnatural foods as non-fat dairy products, skim milk, Cheerios, granola bars, aspartame, bagels made with white flour (topped with non-fat cream cheese!), imitation eggs, packaged "pizza sauce," white flour pastas, nonfat soybean oil mayonnaise, frozen orange juice concentrate, canola oil, white sugar, tofu, soy milk, and on and on. It is truly despicable and a bit tragically humorous. I, for one, would like to know just how people can stay healthy on this array of gobbeldygook, even if fresh fruits and vegetables are included (which they are, but canned beans and frozen veggies pop up from time to time in recipes). If you want to know why Westerners are dying miserably, read the food suggestions in this book!

Somer also believes that meat is a bad food and that it should be kept to a minimum in any diet. She suggests to replace meats with whole grains, tofu, beans, and vegetables. One of the reasons for this is her ridiculous claim that meat and fat contribute to weight gain and that complex carbs do not. (Somer astoundingly does not list refined sugar as a definite factor in weight gain, but this is to be expected from an RD. She seems to have forgotten that excessive carbohydrates, whether simple or complex, are converted into fat by the body.

She also has forgotten, or more likely does not know, that all fats are not fattening. The olive and fish oils that Somer so highly recommends are primarily long chain fatty acids that definitely contribute to weight gain if used to excess. Short and medium chain fatty acids, even saturated ones like lauric acid from coconut, are used for energy by the body and are NOT stored in adipose tissue.

Somer's chapter on fat is woefully inaccurate. Her claim that low-fat diets stimulate the immune system, and that saturated fats hurt it are dead wrong. Research on coconut oil, a highly saturated fat, consistently shows it to be immune-stimulating .... Additionally, animal fats are typically rich in such immune-enhancing nutrients as vitamins A and D. Butter from pasture-fed cows is rich in selenium, a potent antioxidant.

Just what is the basis for her claim?

Without question, refined vegetable oils and trans-fatty acids are hurtful to the body and immune system, but Somer seems to treat all fats (except for olive and fish oils) the same. Dead wrong again.

Somer's book also repeats that dietary hogwash that saturated fats are unhealthy and that too much protein results in an increased cancer risk and bone loss. These claims are false. RDs typically receive little to no training in lipid biochemistry--they are hardly qualified to make such dubious pronouncements about fat. Somer also erroneously believes that dietary cholesterol contributes to serum cholesterol levels in the body and, further, that cholesterol clogs arteries and contributes to heart disease: All false. See Uffe Ravnskov's book THE CHOLESTEROL MYTHS for a thorough debunking.

While Somer recommends a "moderate dose" multivitamin/mineral supplement, you can tell that she knows little of vitamin/mineral therapy because she barely discusses it. Yet, nutritional deficiencies are a major problem for the elderly, mostly because of limited financial resources leading to poor food choices, but also because of poor digestion. While Somer acknowledges that the elderly tend to have weak digestion, she offers no solutions or strategies to resolve it. Digestive enzymes, available at any health food store, are a virtual must for the elderly. Unless the person has an ulcer, seniors need extra hydrochloric acid (HCL) for proper mineral, vitamin B12, and protein absorption.

Another thing to watch for is Somer's recommendations for soy products during menopause to ease "hot flashes" and menopausal discomfort. What she seems to be unaware of is the increasing evidence that the phytochemicals in soy (called isoflavones) are actually cancer promoters and depress the immune system. There is also little real evidence to support soy's benefit to women during menopause. She also makes no distinction among traditional fermented soy foods like miso and tempeh and hyper-processed non-fermented soy "foods" like soy "milk" and "cheese."

Lastly, in the beginning of the book, Somer amazingly asserts that life spans in times past were very short, between 30 and 40 years. We're wondering where is the proof for this claim? While it is true that city-dwellers had high rates of infectious disease (due to unsanitary living conditions) and did die earlier, the notion that peoples of earlier times lived short, disease-ridden lives is absolutely false. Numerous explorers reported great longevity among native peoples. Somer seems to state that people of earlier times lived shorter lives because of their diets--this is simply wrong. Other factors such as dangerous living conditions factored in more significantly.

...

"If I'd known I was going to live so long, I'd have taken better care of myself." ~ Eubie Blake

"Age-Proof Your Body" is mostly a book about which foods to eat and which foods to avoid if you want to live a long healthy life. Do you want to live to 120? Then this book provides many valuable suggestions. Elizabeth Somer emphasizes the need to take a multivitamin and gives guidelines so you can select the best product. She discusses the importance of antioxidants and suggests that you eat 8 servings of fruit and vegetables to prevent cancer.

"Up to 70 percent of all cancers are a result of lifestyle..." ~ pg. 161

I liked a lot of the advice in this book and especially found her information trustworthy because it is backed by scientific research. You may not agree on her food choices because she leans in favor of a mostly vegetarian diet (she suggests eating beans five times a week which might be unrealistic) and doesn't cut out white flour and sugar. While she doesn't go to the extreme she suggests a lot of healthy food choices. She also answers some important questions:

How can I avoid heart disease, hypertension, diabetes and cancer?
What exactly is happening as our bodies age?
What are the signs of a bad diet?
Which oils suppress cancer growth?
Is it safe to take aspirin daily?
What is the real reason it is important to avoid trans fatty acids?

While Elizabeth Somers spends a great deal of time telling you what to eat she doesn't include a chapter on skin creams that are effective in dealing with wrinkles. Perhaps if you eat the way she suggests you won't need to worry as much about your skin health.

In one section about aphrodisiacs she suggests eating cold watermelon with chocolate. Anyone should know that chocolate tastes better in a warm mouth. In a section about arthritis there is no mention of cherry juice as a remedy. In fact there seems to almost be a total lack of information on herbal remedies (ginseng and ginkgo biloba are mentioned briefly) for all of the conditions discussed. In each case food is the cure due to the nutrients various foods contain. I was surprised to find the author recommending "aspartame." While coffee is briefly discussed you may find more information in Caffeine Blues: Wake Up to the Hidden Dangers of America's #1 Drug.

There is a brief section on menopause (how to avoid hot flashes) and a section on being optimistic, choosing a job you love and nurturing friendships. At the end of the book there are a few recipes and a week's worth of anti-aging meals.

This book may help you if you want to improve your immunity, increase muscle strength (there is a section on exercise), look younger, conserve your energy and recover faster when ill. It was interesting to read that daily exercise is healthier than taking growth hormones and that it is more effective than antidepressants. By changing what you eat, exercising and being more optimistic you can age slower and reap the benefits of healthy lifestyle choices.

"Studies repeatedly show that people who consume diets loaded with fresh fruits and vegetables are the healthiest, with significantly lower disease rates, more energy, and less risk for weight gain than those who skip these foods." ~ pg. 92

Since this book doesn't really discuss DHEA (the 7 Keto version) I can also highly recommend that you read: The Metabolic Plan: Stay Younger Longer.

~ The Rebecca Review