The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer: The Surprising, Unbiased Truth About What You Should Do to Prevent Disease, Feel Great, and Have Opt

by Jonny Bowden

Author Jonny Bowden looks at what he calls "The Four Horsemen of Aging"--free radicals, inflammation, glycation, and stress--and shows how they can harm your health and shorten your life. Bowden then unveils an arsenal of anti-aging strategies culled from cutting edge research and lessons learned from the longest lived people on the planet. He examines how the major organs, such as the heart and the brain, age and how you can prevent damage to these vital parts of the body. In total, readers learn what they can eat, do, and take to feel great, avoid illness, and live a long life.

Genres: Health, Self Help, Nonfiction

292 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Jonny Bowden, PhD, CNS, also known as “THE ROGUE NUTRITIONIST” is a board-certified nutritionist with a master’s degree in psychology and the best-selling author of thirteen books including “The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth”, “Living Low Carb”, and “The Most Effective Natural Cures on Earth”. He has appeared on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, NBC, and CBS and Dr. Oz’s XM Radio and television shows as an expert on nutrition and weight loss, and has written or contributed to articles for dozens of print and online publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Us Weekly, “O” The Oprah Magazine, The Daily Beast, Vanity Fair Online, Time, Oxygen, Marie Claire, Diabetes Focus, GQ, US Weekly, Cosmopolitan, Self, Fitness, Family Circle, Allure, Men’s Heath, Prevention, Natural Health, and many other publications. Dr. Jonny is a consultant to the Natural Products Industry and serves on the scientific or medical advisory boards of several companies, including Barlean’s Organic Oils, Resverage and EuroPharma. His latest book, “The Great Cholesterol Myth”-- co-authored with renowned cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, MD.

Visit him online at www.jonnybowden.com or follow him: twitter.com/jonnybowden

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book with some solid advice that is straightforward and relatively easy to adapt if committed. Bowden emphasizes diet, supplements, and lifestyle, with the most important factor being lifestyle choices and attitude and supplements playing the smallest role. Diet falls somewhere in the middle as research indicates there is correlation between reduced risks of various diseases and certain foods and reduced calorie consumption has been strongly correlated with longevity, but beyond that it can individual and depend on the person. He advocates for keto and intermittent fasting, though he doesn't necessarily push it, and it doesn't work for everyone, so it is important for each individual to find what works for them. He does also advocate for the Mediterranean diet, which while lower in carbs than the standard American diet, does not demonize carbs the same way keto does and seems to have the best research correlating it with longevity and health. I feel better about that recommendation as it relies on healthy food, does not exclude main food groups with health benefits, is not extreme, and easier to maintain. While some things are a bit hyped up, it is still very informative.

It is written in a way that you could read single sections that apply or the whole book. I chose to read the whole book and found the flow to be natural with pretty low rates of repetition. Overall, a great read!

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bowden breaks down aging into four major causes: Inflammation, Glycation, Oxidative Damage and Stress. He gives a nice short chapter on each to start with and then in the rest of the book he covers the strategies that can slow or even reverse the effects of these four. He also reports on the tests that can show how these processes may be affecting you (inflammation is something you might have in a damaging form without realizing it and standard blood tests may not always reveal it).

Despite the subtitle, you will probably not be surprised by a lot of what is in this book. For example, diet, exercise, and stress relief are top strategies explained. But Bowden does explain them very well.

Some things were surprising to me though, and depending on your familiarity with the latest health information, perhaps to you too. For example, sleep habits impact so many bodily systems that it's amazing. Another remarkable surprise was simply his statement that there are no isolated 100 year-olds. That was in his section about social connection. I didn't know until reading this book that social activity can have a deep impact on your physical health.

I really appreciated the information sprinkled throughout about diet supplements. I was looking for current science on what I would need in a multivitamin (if I even needed one), which is how I discovered this book, and this was the best of the ones I came across. I had previously been under the impression that vitamins are an old technology that is not the best way to deliver nutrients but Bowden had great current science and a logical explanation of how they can help people.

The organization of the information is exactly how I like it. There is the right combination of updated science, inspirational stories of people aging well, choices of solutions, and nice short summaries here and there of the information in each chapter. Then in the back of the book, he summarizes all of the solutions into what he calls the 7 x 3 plan, which are all of his crucial takeaways. You could actually start there if you wanted and then dive into the particulars earlier in the book of anything that might interest you more.

[Myra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book easy to read and go through over the course of a year. I made a lot of notes on the contents. I feel like it's hard to do 'everything' advised by the book....For instance when he makes recommendations on how much fish or servings of xx veggie to eat, I don't see how it's possible to eat that much food in one day. Especially when he also talks about the hachi-bu 'eat until you are 80% full' idea. BUT if you adjust the advice to fit what actually fits in with your life, it's helpful. I found most of the advice approachable. Good information to have also. I am not exactly the target audience (a little younger) but you have to start out understanding some of these basics of health and longevity in order to make good habits.
The chapters are split clearly, the information is clear and readable, there are some images although they are completely ornamental, I feel like the book was well done and I got some valuable things out of it.

[Hugo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book to be quite insightful, particularly from a holistic perspective. It effectively emphasizes the importance of not only physical health but also mental health and emotional intelligence in our quest for longevity.

However, I did have some reservations. There seems to be an over-reliance on supplementation, which can feel excessive at times. Additionally, I noticed a fair amount of self-promotion throughout the book, especially regarding the author's other works. Some of the assertions made are based more on personal opinion rather than scientific studies, which detracts from the overall credibility.
Despite these critiques, I still believe the book offers valuable insights and is worth a read for anyone interested in enhancing their health and well-being

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is very complex and unlike many diet and nutrition books full of a lot medical facts to back to their findings which is a nice change. This book feel authoritative and has many tricks and changes you can easily make to improve your health. Well worth a read Oh and watch the YouTube link!.

[Volgyesi Giorgio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many great tips! 👍👍👍

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I saw the opportunity to review this book I knew immediately that it was right up my hubby's alley. He tries to work hard at living a very healthy lifestyle and wants to do everything he can to not just live longer but to live longer healthy. He's got good genes; his mother is 96 and still going strong!

We have both enjoyed going through the book but I have to admit he has implemented more of the concepts than I have. He is a dedicated man! The book is broken down into three sections each dealing with a specific goal. The first section deals with "Reining in the Four Horsemen of Aging." These include Free Radicals, Inflammation, Glycation and Stress. There is also a chapter on what role genes play on these "horsemen." I had known a bit about three of these four by glycation was new to me. I now know that this is when - and this is a direct quote from the book - "when sugar molecules glom onto protein (or fat) molecules." I, for one, tend to eat too much sugar in the form of chocolate.

The second section deals with "How to Keep the Key Players in Your Body Fit" and goes into The Seven Pillars of Longevity. These are the areas over which one can exert some control; food, supplements, detoxification, exercise, sleep, stress reduction and a category the author calls emotional intelligence. The section goes on to give tips and advice on how to exert that control to better benefit.
I am all about eating healthily - we haven't bought a vegetable in two years. We grow them all here on the farm. Well, except for garlic. The gophers keep eating the garlic. We grow the chickens and eggs too!

The third section goes further into the Emotional Intelligence and offers a plan for Healthy Aging. This is something everyone can use. There is a workbook and journal guide for you to use to create your own going forward. While I know I won't be following everything in the book - it's the chocolate that calls my name, hear it? - my husband is very intrigued and if I know him he will be using the exercises listed and adding them to his current walking regime. He already meditates so he is far ahead of me.

The book is full of good information and I think it's a good addition to any healthy living library.

[Andreea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was sent a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I am pretty sure this book is not going to be for everyone (as layout, pictures, structure, words), but it should definitely be read by everyone because it is full of facts and lessons on how to life a better life.

I wanted this book to be more attractive - to make you want to read it for more than just the facts (because it is hard to get people to read health books), but even so, if you push through it, it's definitely worth it!

[Richard Balbuena · Rating 5 out of 5]

probably the best source of information on aging in a single book. Full of details on how and why we age and a detailed program to slow the aging process. Small, brilliant. If you want live a long healthy life, this book is for you.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm going to buy this book it was great.