My wife and I bought three books recently to help re-charge our health and fitness motivation. They were: Slow Burn by Fredrick Hahn, and then two books recommended by a health guru friend, Joe X by Avery Hunicutt, and this book, Healthy Aging by Andrew Weil. To make a long story short we gave thumbs-down to the Slow Burn workout (too painful) and thumbs-up to the Joe X workout(something we enjoy doing). As for Healthy Aging, with some embarrassment, I highly recommend this book. I say with embarrasment because, while I had never read any of Dr. Weil's previous books, I used to think he was some kind of a new-age nut & berry quack. I'm guilty of judging books by their cover; not used to associating a portly, bearded, bald guy with fitness. I was wrong and now publicly appologize for my pig-headedness. He may eat nuts and berries, but he's definitely not a quack, and now I wouldn't be surprised if he out lives all of us.
The book is much more grounded on hard science than I expected. And though there is a good amount of science in the book, there is nothing to fear. Dr. Weil has an engaging and polished writing style. He not only makes it easy for the lay person to follow along, but he makes medical research an interesting story, an enjoyable read. I now understand why his books have become so popular: he knows how to communicate. The first hint that my opinion of him was all wet was his discussion of the battle going on behind the scenes between the hard core medical researchers and the "fountain of youth" profiteers (my term, not his). I expected the author to side with those that believed the aging process could at least be suspended if not reversed. To my surprise he did not. In fact the underlying theme of the entire book is that people are making a mistake if they lead their lives as if life extension and age reversing technology are upon us. He makes a strong technical case and almost a desperate plea to not succumb to the snake oil. His recommendation is to forget about anti-aging schemes and avoid obscesing about life extension. Instead he says to focus on preventing or minimizing the impact of age-related disease and how to age gracefully. It may not be the message we want to hear but I suspect it is the more correct choice. In any case, I found Dr. Weil's telling of the political battle taking place fascinating, and it makes it easier to understand what's going on with the sensationalizing headlines and sales pitches I see in the popular press and TV.
I next expected the book to be all generalities with few specifics my wife and I could actually do to help us "age gracefully." I was wrong again. The second half of the book is filled with actionable specifics, much having to do with diet, but many other non-diet matters as well. Some times he would get very specific, e.g. not just any olive oil but what kind of olive oil, that kind of thing. Throughout the book I was impressed by how the author always gave both sides of an argument in seemingly unbiased fashion before giving his recommendation and why. And I learned quite a few things I didn't know. One small example: I've noted how popular press diet doctors have steered folks away from carrots because of their higher glycemic index number. Dr. Weil explains why this doesn't make a lot of sense (better to make choices based on glycemic load number, not glycemic index number).
Finally, there is another underlying theme in this book that I think has a lot of merit: Dr. Weil puts much faith (based on science of course) in the concept of minimizing and managing inflammation in the body. As always he explains what it is, why it happens, the good, the bad, and then why he recommends what he does with regard to diet, medication, and exercise. My wife and I also now understand why our guru friend recommended the two books he did, as they are very complimentary. For all I know we are the last two people that had never read an Andrew Weil book, and all this is old news to you. If not, order yourself a copy or get to the library now.
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