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The Immunity Solution: Seven Weeks to Living Healthier and Longer
This essential guide features a simple program of practical strategies to help optimize your immune system and improve your life. Your immune system determines how well you live. In this must-read book, award-winning immunologist Leo Nissola provides a comprehensive overview of your body’s defenses, revealing what can cause problems, how to recognize the warning signs, and how to fight back. Every moment of every day, bacteria, viruses, and other germs attack you, but most of the time you stay healthy. You can’t live forever, but there’s more to fighting diseases than you might think, including diet, lifestyle habits, your environment, and the power of information. Dr. Nissola explains why enhancing your natural defenses should be your top health priority and details the cutting-edge therapies that researchers are developing to hack your immune system and bolster your defenses. Along the way, he explores the latest science on immune-boosting diets, supplements, and longevity while debunking myths about antibodies, inflammation, and why some people rarely get sick. Featuring a complete, science-backed, step-by-step, full-body, seven-week action plan, this timely, all-inclusive handbook will help you support your body’s defenses and maximize your health every day.
256 pages, Hardcover
Published January 10, 2023
19 people are currently reading
2093 people want to read
About the author
Leo Nissola
3 books15 followersDr. Nissola is an award-winning doctor, immunotherapy clinical scientist, researcher, and member of the American Academy of Immunologists. He often appears as a medical expert on BBC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, NBC, and other news networks.
Dr. Nissola built, evaluated, and designed data-driven COVID-19 epidemiological models, some of which were featured by the White House in press briefings while conducting early-phase drug discovery immunotherapy clinical trials.
Dr. Nissola was recognized as one of the " Heroes of the COVID Crisis" for his advocacy for more inclusive public health policies by Authority Magazine in July 2022.
Dr. Nissola's words and advice have influenced changes in CDC guidelines and public opinion; they have also been published by numerous prestigious American news outlets, such as The Hill, NASDAQ, The USA Today, NBC News, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, he has given over 500 TV and streaming interviews, joining Brooke Baldwin on CNN Newsroom and Alicia Menendez on MSNBC's American Voices. He is frequently seen live on CBS News with Anne-Marie Green, Vlad Duthiers, and Lana Zak.
He has led medical affairs teams and multi-billion-dollar drug assets at leading biotechnology and multinational pharmaceutical companies and is a former University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Medical Oncology Research Fellow.
Dr. Nissola is a former intern at the prestigious First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, founded in 1348, the oldest medical faculty in Central Europe and the 11th oldest medical institution in the world, regularly ranked in the top 1% of medical faculties globally. This fellowship has never been awarded to any other Brazilian national in history.
Dr. Nissola advises founders, investors, leaders, and stakeholders in the life sciences, health technology, and public safety sectors.
He is the Chief Scientific Officer at FirstBio Research in San Francisco, California.
He is the author of "The Immunity Solution" by W.W. Norton, Countryman Press, now available for pre-order.
Dr. Nissola built, evaluated, and designed data-driven COVID-19 epidemiological models, some of which were featured by the White House in press briefings while conducting early-phase drug discovery immunotherapy clinical trials.
Dr. Nissola was recognized as one of the " Heroes of the COVID Crisis" for his advocacy for more inclusive public health policies by Authority Magazine in July 2022.
Dr. Nissola's words and advice have influenced changes in CDC guidelines and public opinion; they have also been published by numerous prestigious American news outlets, such as The Hill, NASDAQ, The USA Today, NBC News, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, he has given over 500 TV and streaming interviews, joining Brooke Baldwin on CNN Newsroom and Alicia Menendez on MSNBC's American Voices. He is frequently seen live on CBS News with Anne-Marie Green, Vlad Duthiers, and Lana Zak.
He has led medical affairs teams and multi-billion-dollar drug assets at leading biotechnology and multinational pharmaceutical companies and is a former University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Medical Oncology Research Fellow.
Dr. Nissola is a former intern at the prestigious First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, founded in 1348, the oldest medical faculty in Central Europe and the 11th oldest medical institution in the world, regularly ranked in the top 1% of medical faculties globally. This fellowship has never been awarded to any other Brazilian national in history.
Dr. Nissola advises founders, investors, leaders, and stakeholders in the life sciences, health technology, and public safety sectors.
He is the Chief Scientific Officer at FirstBio Research in San Francisco, California.
He is the author of "The Immunity Solution" by W.W. Norton, Countryman Press, now available for pre-order.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 26, 2023
I won this book in a goodreads drawing.
A book that shows how your body defends itself against disease, and steps you can take to make that fight more effective.
Mostly common sense.
A book that shows how your body defends itself against disease, and steps you can take to make that fight more effective.
Mostly common sense.
March 16, 2023
Not really any life-altering information. Knowledge is pretty basic—lots of books are already out there with the same info.
March 7, 2023
interesting but not worth the money
Whilst the book was interesting and factual, l believe half of the 7 week plan to not be achievable by most regular people. The price of organic food is extortionate. Most people have never heard of a tool to check for toxins on veg/salad. The kind of meat to purchase is also expensive. Never drink tap water, bottled must be in glass. There are some things that can be done but to follow this completely you would need a lot of time to prepare the meals and lots of money. Medical stuff was interesting.
Whilst the book was interesting and factual, l believe half of the 7 week plan to not be achievable by most regular people. The price of organic food is extortionate. Most people have never heard of a tool to check for toxins on veg/salad. The kind of meat to purchase is also expensive. Never drink tap water, bottled must be in glass. There are some things that can be done but to follow this completely you would need a lot of time to prepare the meals and lots of money. Medical stuff was interesting.
November 18, 2022
Excellent. This book covers a hot topic, and provides plenty of digestible science with some suggestions along the way. It also covers things like healthy habits and allergies. I won't follow the 7 week plan, but it also includes some solid info I'll use.
Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!
Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!
May 28, 2023
Dr. Nissola has apparently done some valuable research on cancer immunology and as an immigrant from Brazil, his cultural perspectives are novel and refreshing. I'm glad this book was written, and don't regret borrowing the library copy. Perhaps his tone is more for "his" audience of recent immigrants and developing country residents (in later translation maybe), but if so, his section one explanations of the immune system are definitely not easy to understand for this audience. On the one hand, he recommends no one ever eat GMOs or conventionally grown vegetables (due to pesticides) and to be careful of tap water, yet on the other he jumps directly into his cutting edge immune research. I can't think of an audience that bridges that gap. "If nature didn't make it, don't take it" (p114) sounds pithy, but is neither honest nor practical.. even organic food is no longer completely natural... how about supplements and vaccinnes that of course he recommends. Notably nature didn't make the brilliant and magical gene editing immunotherapies in Chapter 8, but he doesn't notice the cognative dissonance.
This is just dumb, even if it is a joke: "So it turns out astrologers have been right all along. The movement of celestial bodies does influence our lives, including fertility and sleep" (p96) I mention it because it is typical of his attempts to bridge modern medicine with what most people might commonly thinks. Perhaps he does this to sound relatable or down to earth, and while he doesn't read as condescending, such pandering just rubs me the wrong way.
Section 3, the shortest third of the book intended to dole out lifestyle advice for living better, can just be skipped. Only loosely based in science, and poorly prioritiezed. He isn't completely wrong, but full of fads and contemporary trends, it reads like a summary of a fairly random selection of popular health magazine articles. Nissola knows immunology, but can't really explain it as well as the fantastic "Immune" by Philipp Dettmerr. Unfortunately, Immunology is NOT the only branch of medicine involved with living longer. He tries to combines his specific medical knowledge with his own cultural lifestyle choices, like skipping breakfast and enjoying a meat heavy diet. Soy isoflavones boost breast cancer growth do they? (p101) Of course they don't, as breast cancer specialists clearly know. The 8 pages on excercise and better sleep are so shallow that you or chatgpt could do better in a half day.
The subtitle "seven weeks to living healthier and longer" sells this section as a the reason to buy the book, and yeah, i do imagine this is why most people picked it up. For this purpose, instead read "Outlive" by Peter Attia and "Fiber Fueled" by Dr. B.
This is just dumb, even if it is a joke: "So it turns out astrologers have been right all along. The movement of celestial bodies does influence our lives, including fertility and sleep" (p96) I mention it because it is typical of his attempts to bridge modern medicine with what most people might commonly thinks. Perhaps he does this to sound relatable or down to earth, and while he doesn't read as condescending, such pandering just rubs me the wrong way.
Section 3, the shortest third of the book intended to dole out lifestyle advice for living better, can just be skipped. Only loosely based in science, and poorly prioritiezed. He isn't completely wrong, but full of fads and contemporary trends, it reads like a summary of a fairly random selection of popular health magazine articles. Nissola knows immunology, but can't really explain it as well as the fantastic "Immune" by Philipp Dettmerr. Unfortunately, Immunology is NOT the only branch of medicine involved with living longer. He tries to combines his specific medical knowledge with his own cultural lifestyle choices, like skipping breakfast and enjoying a meat heavy diet. Soy isoflavones boost breast cancer growth do they? (p101) Of course they don't, as breast cancer specialists clearly know. The 8 pages on excercise and better sleep are so shallow that you or chatgpt could do better in a half day.
The subtitle "seven weeks to living healthier and longer" sells this section as a the reason to buy the book, and yeah, i do imagine this is why most people picked it up. For this purpose, instead read "Outlive" by Peter Attia and "Fiber Fueled" by Dr. B.
April 15, 2023
This is a very rudimentary book on the immune system. I expected more because of his credentials but the only place his experience really came into play was in heavily promoting getting vaccines and taking part in experimental trials. His 7 week reset was partly just evaluation and taking up a few good habits, and then really extreme dietary changes. His sample diets are mainly skip breakfast, plain organic meat for lunch, plain organic meat for dinner, and then a snack like a handful of blueberries. Coffee (plain, organic, espresso) is fine in the morning. Drink bottled water from glass. Have a lot of tests run. Don’t drink alcohol. Meditate, exercise, consider what isn’t working in your life. And so on.
I didn’t get anything new or personally helpful from this book, but I read a lot of health books. Those new to the topic will probably find it easy to read. I’m not sure how well they’ll be able to follow the program but it offers good beginner info on these topics.
I read a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley.
I didn’t get anything new or personally helpful from this book, but I read a lot of health books. Those new to the topic will probably find it easy to read. I’m not sure how well they’ll be able to follow the program but it offers good beginner info on these topics.
I read a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley.
February 15, 2023
A rather superficial look at the immune system. The recommendation to omit most plants from your diet because even organic fruits and vegetables show evidence of pesticide residue is questionable. What about the animals that eat plants? Don't pesticides enter their bodies too, and thus our bodies when we eat the animals? This issue was not addressed, and I found myself with other seemingly obvious questions that were ignored. Not a very comprehensive book.
December 18, 2023
Not much new information. This book is a beginner's basic introduction to the immune system. The seven week program is not discussed until page 156 (well past 2/3 of the book) and it's mostly a series of checklists of a sort, and says to eat organic, watch what you eat, check for toxins, watch your body for changes and meditate.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews