wabmester
Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
- Joined
- Dec 6, 2003
- Messages
- 4,459
In a thread over at Raddr's board, I mentioned that I was looking for an Idiot's Guide to Health and Diet, and PainInTheAS recommended this book:
AgeLess: Take Control of Your Age and Stay Youthful for Life
It's pretty close to what I was looking for. It's written by Ed Schneider, former Dean of the USC School of Gerentology, and he tries to take a data-driven approach using what he considers the best designed studies.
He participated in, and was probably most influenced by, the Swedish twin study which followed 20,000 identical twins over 40 years.
The study's conclusion: health is 70% dependent on lifestyle, 30% genetic.
He goes on to give a fair amount of interesting data, including dose-response relationships such as:
2.5 servings of fruit/veggies decreases colon cancer risk 65% vs 1.5 servings
11-18 lbs of weight gain increases heart attack risk by 25%, while 44 lbs of gain increases risk by 250%
Many of his conclusions on diet were consistent with another book I liked and reviewed here:
The China Study
It's nice to have two world-class researchers agree on stuff using two independent large studies.
In general, I thought he was spot-on in his conclusions, he provided a fair amount of data to back them up, and he directly attacks the most difficult aspect of dealing with this data: compliance to a program of diet and exercise.
He also offers good data on what doesn't work, like supplements and calorie restriction dieting (e.g., of dieters who managed to lose >= 10% of their weight, 80% gained back every pound).
Personally, I've taken his advice. I've increased my servings of fruits and veggies to 5/day, and I'm doing a lot more exercise: about an hour a day of aerobic exercise, weight training, and stretching.
AgeLess: Take Control of Your Age and Stay Youthful for Life
It's pretty close to what I was looking for. It's written by Ed Schneider, former Dean of the USC School of Gerentology, and he tries to take a data-driven approach using what he considers the best designed studies.
He participated in, and was probably most influenced by, the Swedish twin study which followed 20,000 identical twins over 40 years.
The study's conclusion: health is 70% dependent on lifestyle, 30% genetic.
He goes on to give a fair amount of interesting data, including dose-response relationships such as:
2.5 servings of fruit/veggies decreases colon cancer risk 65% vs 1.5 servings
11-18 lbs of weight gain increases heart attack risk by 25%, while 44 lbs of gain increases risk by 250%
Many of his conclusions on diet were consistent with another book I liked and reviewed here:
The China Study
It's nice to have two world-class researchers agree on stuff using two independent large studies.
In general, I thought he was spot-on in his conclusions, he provided a fair amount of data to back them up, and he directly attacks the most difficult aspect of dealing with this data: compliance to a program of diet and exercise.
He also offers good data on what doesn't work, like supplements and calorie restriction dieting (e.g., of dieters who managed to lose >= 10% of their weight, 80% gained back every pound).
Personally, I've taken his advice. I've increased my servings of fruits and veggies to 5/day, and I'm doing a lot more exercise: about an hour a day of aerobic exercise, weight training, and stretching.