Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being [Hardcover]

Dr. Weil is a pesco-lacto vegetarian. He is the author of a number of books on health, and he is a graceful writer. He is a physician who has one foot firmly planted in the scientific community and another in the world of alternative medicine. He is a man who believes in the scientific method but also believes in intuition and the spiritual nature of human beings.

Here is his point of departure for this book:

"So please forget about antiaging and avoid obsession with life extension. Instead, let's focus on preventing or minimizing the impact of age-related disease, on separating longevity and senescence, on learning how to live long and well, on how to age gracefully." (p. 85)

He is now about 65 years old and much mellowed since the days when he wrote the bourgeois-shocking The Natural Mind: A New Way of Looking at Drugs and the Higher Consciousness (1972), a book that helped to persuade a generation of Americans to question the establishment's anti-drug mentality. The theme of that book was that human beings have a natural drive to explore other states of consciousness.

Here he wants to guide us toward not only the acceptance of aging, but to help us make this magical time of our lives fulfilling and as free from illness as possible. To this end he recommends supplements and vitamins, exercise, meditation, etc. He warns us that there is no immorality likely to come our way, and he gives the argument from evolutionary biological and of course the evidence of history. This is the fourth book of his that I have read, and I can tell you that if there were a way to immortality, Weil would have discovered it! He is an expert in all things consumable, from exotic plants and herbs to mainstream medicines to hormonal substances to exotic cuisines from many parts of the globe. He has traveled widely and he reads the journals. He has practiced medicine and he has done research. He is a man I greatly admire.

There are two parts to the book: "The Science and Philosophy of Healthy Aging," and "How to Age Gracefully." In the first part Weil explains why we age and warns against the kind of charlatans who would tell us that we can cheat death and avoid growing old. He emphasizes the positive aspects of aging and works to counter our culture's youth bias. In the second part he presents his agenda for aging gracefully. Prevention is emphasized, right habits, right attitude, living in harmony with an older body sensibly while making the most of our acquired wisdom and knowledge to help ourselves and others. He has a 12-point program beginning on page 239. There is a glossary, two appendices, one on "The Anti-Inflammatory Diet," and the other on suggested reading, resources and supplies.

I couldn't find anything I would disagree with in the entire book, and I tend to the critical when evaluating books by physicians. But of course Dr. Weil is no ordinary doctor. He is an immensely learned man who is careful, and is himself the best advertisement for his program. He lives gracefully with style and verve.

Here are some things I learned reading this book:

For some reason I used to think that a high fever helped the body to fight disease because the heat killed the microbes or at least made life more difficult for them. However as Weil points out on page 80 what fever does is increase the efficiency of immune system cells that fight germs--which is why it is not necessarily a good idea to take medicines that artificially lower our temperature.

Like Dr. Weil I enjoy the traditional teas from China, Taiwan, and Japan. However most of these teas are not decaffeinated and that's a problem since caffeine tends to give me vertigo. He writes, "You can remove most of the caffeine from tea leaves by steeping them in hot water for thirty seconds and draining off the water. Then steep the leaves as you would normally. This will not detract from the flavor or antioxidant activity...." (pp. 158-159)

And here's something he got from Rubin Naiman, an expert on dreaming: "REM is not equivalent to dreaming...We're probably dreaming all the time; REM is a window through which we can observe dreaming." (p 197) Some years ago as I gradually became more aware of my own mental states, it seemed to me that I was dreaming even before I fell asleep, and that I was even dreaming while awake sometimes, and I began to question the idea that we only dream during the rapid eye movement stage of sleep. I am happy to see my experience confirmed!

And here's a speculation that I find intriguing: "...most North American and Europeans are deficient in omega-3s, a dietary imbalance that may account for the rise of such disease as asthma, coronary heart disease, many forms of cancer, autoimmunity, and neurodegenerative disease." (p. 147) To this he might have added autism which has also been rapidly on the rise in recent decades.

My sister recommended this book to me. I am a 60 year young lady and finding it hard to adjust to retirement and aches and pains. This book helps you understand the changes and accept that life goes on. Quite simple really