Lifelong Health: Achieving Optimum Well-Being at Any Age

by Anthony A. Goodman

18 hrs and 15 mins

We all want to discover the secret to a long and healthy life. But how do you incorporate the secrets of personal wellness into the unique demands of your own schedule? What information would a knowledgeable and compassionate family physician offer someone looking for a reference guide to healthy living?

These 36 comprehensive lectures offer you practical and expert advice that allows you to make your own personalized choices about healthy living, as well as ways to apply that knowledge to your lifestyle. With this course, you'll nourish your body, strengthen your mind, and forever change the way you think about and live your life. Professor Goodman teaches you about the six fundamentals of personal well-being: aging, nutrition and whole foods, movement, mental health, specific health issues, and general health choices. These fundamentals offer a well-rounded and engaging survey of the concepts, issues, and lessons of lifelong health.

Professor Goodman's advice is rooted in scientific information and proven results - without bogging you down in complex terminology or theories. More importantly, it is flavored with commonsense tips, helpful advice, and inspirational stories that make lifelong health both appealing and achievable.

Crafted with the concerns of everyone in mind, whether you're in adolescence or advancing age, this wonderful resource is the perfect way to take those first steps on the road to becoming a better, healthier you.

Disclaimer: Please note that this recording may include references to supplemental texts or print references that are not essential to the program and not supplied with your purchase.

©2010 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2010 The Great Courses

Genres: Health, Audiobook, Nonfiction, Nutrition, Science, Self Help, Fitness

19 pages, Audio CD

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Anthony A. Goodman is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine in the Medical Sciences and the Microbiology departments at Montana State University in the United States. He was a general surgeon for nearly thirty years, specializing in the surgical treatment of cancer. He is also a lecturer for The Teaching Company, and a historical novelist.

Goodman currently divides his time between teaching surgical anatomy at the medical school, The Biology of Human Cancer to undergraduates in microbiology and writing historical fiction. He is currently researching and writing the sequel to The Shadow of God, which follows the Knights of St. John to their new home on the island of Malta, and the rise of the Ottoman Empire to its apogee under Suleiman the Magnificent through its ultimate decline and fall under the reign of his heirs.

Dr. Goodman is a professor Lecturer for The Teaching Company. His courses include "Understanding the Human Body: An Introduction to Anatomy and Physiology", "The Human Body: How We Fail, How We Heal" and "Lifelong Health: Achieving Optimum Well-Being at Any Age"

Reviews

[Clif Hostetler · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are thirty-six lectures, each 30 minutes long, covering a broad range of subjects, including aging, diet, mental health, lifestyle choices, and exercise. I intentionally try to expose myself to literature such as this at least once per year to keep myself informed and motivated. I am well enough informed on the subject of health that at times I wondered if I was learning anything new from these lectures. But even if I've heard much of this advice before, it's alway good to review this material and consider ways to improve my current living patterns.

These lecture were published in 2010, so there may be a few points where the material is a bit dated. But I didn't detect any main points of emphasis in the lectures that have been changed by recent research findings. After all the advice to eat healthy foods, exercise, sleep, and remain socially active are not likely to ever change.

Some major themes of these lectures include:

Small changes make big difference.
All things in moderation.
Bodies seek balance (homeostasis)
Goldilocks Rule: Use what's good fit for you.
Can't fool mother nature.

The knowledge of how to achieve optimum well-being is apparently not widely practiced by the American population at large. This is attested to by indications that for the first time there has been a reduction in average life expectancy because of poor nutrition (i.e. obesity), reduced physical activity, suicide, and drug abuse. Problematic medical conditions such as metabolic syndrome are now frequently appearing in children, an ominous indicator of type 2 diabetes in their future. Indeed, some predict that diabetes will be the pandemic of the 21st century.

List of Lecture Titles
1 A Personal Path to Lifelong Health
2 The Cellular Biology of Aging
3 The Physiology of Aging
4 Myths of Aging—Magical Times and Places
5 Myths of Aging—Magical Substances
6 Optimizing Health—Tests and Procedures
7 Optimizing Health—Prevention
8 How We Look—Surgery and Skin—Care
9 The End of the Journey—Death and Dying
10 Health Advances on the Horizon
11 Nutrition—Choices for a Healthy Life
12 The Physiology of Nutrition
13 The Role of Vitamins
14 The Role of Supplements
15 Whole Foods for Optimum Health
16 The Good Fats
17 Sugar, Salt, Allergies, and Additives
18 The Physiology of Weight Management
19 Healthful Eating versus Fad Diets
20 Movement and Recreation—a.k.a. Exercise
21 The Physiology of Muscle
22 Resistance Training and Weight Training
23 Aerobic and Anaerobic Exercise
24 Exercise in Dealing with Injury and Disease
25 Joy in Movement—Sports and Exercise Options
26 Martial Arts and Yoga
27 Mental Health and Stress Reduction
28 Brain Physiology, Alzheimer‘s, and Dementia
29 Maintaining Your Mental Edge
30 Focus on Women's Health
31 Focus on Menopause
32 Focus on Men's Health
33 Focus on Children's and Adolescents' Health
34 Healthy Choices in Your Daily Life
35 Becoming an Educated Patient
36 Here's to Your Healthy Life!

[Illiterate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goodman offers the standard (and correct) advice with some discussion of the science. I like his outlook.

[Kaila · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was my first Great Courses lecture. I liked the narrator; a lot of the info went right over my head, though. That may be a product of not having much of a background in health or maybe a product of listening to the information via audiobook. A few things stuck out:

1. The best thing you can do is be active. It helps EVERYTHING.
2. Eat in moderation, and mostly eat plants
3. Don't bother with vitamins except for Vitamin D and Calcium (especially as a woman)

I wonder how much of the other information will stick with me.

[Eugene · Rating 5 out of 5]

great lectures covering health, health of your kids, suggesting things to do on daily basis and overall. Also, great thing that the author talks about popular beliefs and stereotypes.

[Anastasia · Rating 3 out of 5]

No new information, very basic and anecdotal. Talks a lot about own experiences.

[Corey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary:
This is a good insight into health and well-being from the perspective of a surgeon with a wealth of medical knowledge and experience. There's nothing super groundbreaking in the book, but lots of cool facts about our bodies, disease and prevention. It's all stuff you hear a lot, but don't do: balance, exercise, eat plants and meditate!

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in health and longevity.

The main message I took from this book is that we are in control of our health.

Some notable points:
- Many common diseases such as cardiovascular heart disease, cancer and arthritis are often byproducts of lifestyle patterns and are established early in childhood.

- You can be very fit and strong in the second half of your life, even if you take care of yourself poorly in the first half.

- Low meat, preservative and chemical consumption is associated with good health.

- Our individual choices denote our health, we are not beholden to our genes and biology.

- Nutrients have complex interactions with other nutrients and often operate in synergy, so isolating nutrients is not as beneficial as combining nutrients.

- Low carbohydrate diets simulate diabetes. While they may burn fat in the short term, the long term effects are largely detrimental.

- All 10 essential amino acids are synthesised by plants so all our protein requirements can be met by them.

- There was a study where aboriginal people with various lifestyle related illnesses patterned their traditional diet and showed marked improvements in health.

- You are what you eat eats too.

- You can get adequate calcium through diet, even without dairy which comes with other health problems.

[Elwin Kline · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I really liked it." - 4 out of 5 star rating.

Dr. Goodman did an outstanding job with this Great Course. He is a great speaker, in his 70's at the time of the original recording (80's at the time of this review), was a college athlete (rowing), breast cancer surgeon, and a professor at the prestigious University of Montana. Definitely an individual with strong credentials and experience with the relevant topic(s) in scope of this course.

What I also was very thankful for is that he opens this serious of lectures with the ground rules of all of his research is sourced from peer reviewed academic documents with good reputations and also with the mandatory criteria of being double blind studies. Couldn't ask for a more fair and impartial information source, and I do feel like he stuck true to his claim and maintained this integrity throughout the entire course.

I took about four (4) pages of notes during this course and had a lot of really great conversations at the breakfast table with my wife about this one. Very informative read on how to live a healthy life, backed by ethically sourced studies, and wonderfully explained with the right amount of detail by Dr. Goodman.

The big three (3) pillars of this book are:

1- Diet/Nutrition
2- Fitness/Exercise
3- Mental health/wellbeing

If you want to actively strive to focus on lifelong health, this great course clearly outlines a realistic path the achieve this pursuit of positive well-being.

Highly recommend.

[Br. Luke Thomas Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

As someone who is not particularly versed in fitness and nutrition, Dr. Goodman does a fantastic job of systematically presenting useful information about human health and well-being. Dr. Goodman is extremely knowledgeable, but also humble: he is clear where the science is now–both what we know and do not know. Mercifully, he gives his detailed information in an engaging and winsome manner. You feel like you get to know him and can trust him. He is not pushing fad diets, pills, or miracle fruits; Dr. Goodman keeps to the basics that actually work. Two key themes for him are the Goldilocks principle of moderation and the image of health as a large ship–incremental, tiny changes that one is faithful to now can yield powerful changes over time.

[Kaq Kaq · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good guide for a healthy life by looking at various angles such as physical and mental health and stressing on the need for a life-long practice of eating well, physical and mental exercise and being mentally and social active. Also examining various issues such as diseases and medicines. This is a good audio book guide especially for ppl in their golden years!

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like his method, 1 degree of change using the goldilocks method. Do what works for you! There were 36 lectures that offered practical advice. He is very well rounded Mind, Body, etc. He focuses on whole foods and movement (not gimmicks and pills). He doesn't include anything that is not validated with multiple double blind studies - I really liked it!

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extremely educational, very clear explanation of aging at the cellular level. This isn't a diet/exercise self-help book, but fact-based research presented in a powerful and frequently surprising way. I'm very glad I read it, especially as a parent.

[Andrej Kamenský · Rating 4 out of 5]

Velmi vhodne ako začiatok, ked clovek chce zacat zdravo zit. Dozviete sa vela principov v oblasti starostlivosti o telo a dusu - vyziva (jedlo), metabolizmus, cvicenie, mindfulness, spanok, budovanie vztahov, choroby a ako im predchadzat, tajomstvo dlhovekosti (ktore neexistuje) a mnoho, mnoho inych veci. V bibliografii je mnoho overenych zdrojov, ako pokracovat vo vzdelávaní sa v týchto podoblastiach dalej ak clovek chce ist hlbsie. Hodnotny kurz.

4* davam len preto, ze tam bolo viacero tem, ktoré ma nezaujimali a podla mna nie úplne suviseli s nazvom kurzu. Avsak jento velmi subjektivne.

Aj prof. Goodman - vyzera to byt uzasny clovek. Velmi, velmi mudry a skuseny. Ma 70 rokov (v case nahravky, teraz už 77), no je celkom ciperny :)

[Biblioworm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Очень взвешенный, здравый взгляд на здоровье от бывшего хирурга.

Лекция производит впечатление научно обоснованной.
В связи с форматом, конечно, нет библиографии, но лично я бы доверял автору, что он не придумывает из головы, а излагает доказанные факты.

Очень много информации, всем рекомендую послушать. Там нет неожиданных откровений, но зато систематично изложено современное представление о вопросе и лишний раз сказано о глупости большинства того, что пишут в популярных журналах\сайтах о здоровье.

Типа упражнений "для талии" или "что бы сьесть, чтобы похудеть" и подобного.

Изложение интересное и в комфортном для меня темпе.
То что лектору уже за 70 сказывается только на тембре его голоса, но не на динамике лекции.

[Marcos Carmo filho · Rating 4 out of 5]

(PT-BR/EN-US)

Cirurgião-geral experiente e já nos seus 70 anos, o autor aponta o que a ciência sabia ou supunha a respeito de uma vida longa e prazerosa muito além do fim da idade reprodutiva.
A maior parte do conteúdo permanece válido, mesmo já tendo uma década de idade. Ainda rende vários “tapas na cara”.

A seasoned general surgeon, now in his 70s, the author highlights what science knew or assumed about living a long and pleasurable life, well beyond the end of the reproductive years.
Most of the content remains valid, even though it is now a decade old. It still delivers several slaps in the face.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This course takes a deeper dive into the simple behaviors and changes that will extend and enhance my lifespan: eating habits, exercise, social interactions, mindfulness. He spells it out in an engaging, memorable and rational way.

[Kaleb · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this great courses series of lectures. I don't know that there was anything super new/groundbreaking to me but some interesting pieces here and there. Overall probably worth reading for everyone.

[Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Goodman did an outstanding job with this series. Yes, you might already know some of it, but it is presented by someone who you get to know and trust of the session. I wish I had a doctor like him, who actually could give some advice and took the time to talk to their patients.

[Maxine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting book, learnt lots :-)

[Heidi · Rating 4 out of 5]

to sum up...exercise!!

[Allan Laal · Rating 5 out of 5]

extremely thorough and unbiased information about everything you need to know for a healthy life. A good starting point atleast

[Lisa Burrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

these lectures were interesting and I di learn a few new things

[Doug · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some of the information is outdated.

[Nela · Rating 3 out of 5]

My trusted companion on my daily morning walks for the past 3 weeks or so. Decent advices, some of them are outdated, as the lectures are from 2010. All in all, a nice audiobook.

[Andrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

No-nonsense evidence based overview of how to make optimal choices to reduce health risks

[Stefan Andrei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great moderate advice, backed by scientific studies, from an ex-doctor to build better life habits. Great narration too! I listened to this on Audible.

[Jeff J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good content here, especially the lectures on exercise. I'm a bit more pro supplements than Professor Goodman, but we both agree the end result should be good nutrition.

[Dennis Gudger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic book for lifelong living, great advice.

[Jeff Keehr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very sensible overview of current research on how to live a healthy life. He does not recommend supplements except in one or two rare cases. Otherwise, he recommends avoiding the usual vices of smoking and fast food and over indulging in alcohol. In 36 lectures, he leaves few stones unturned. Above all else, Goodman recommends exercise of all kinds. Like Covert Bailey before him, he sees no silver bullet for disease, no panacea for all the ailments we are susceptible to except exercise. So I joined a gym for the first time since I was 17. You're never too old to pump iron.

[Madina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Haven't really learned anything new, but it's a systematized review by a great lecturer, and I'd strongly recommend it to anyone, who wants no-nonsense rules of thumb, along with some condensed data on the "how" and "why" of human health. That said, any professional in the field or someone who happens to have good recollection of high school biology is unlikely to come across something new to them.

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much of the info were what I already knew or what I wasn’t interested in learning about, like the stuff typically taught in basic science courses, and I'm a science major. Despite lots of basic info, the course was clear and well-organized and occasionally had some useful suggestions that were new to me. Dr. Goodman was also an excellent speaker, clear and engaging.