Standing in the echinacea fields with Francesca at Trout Lake Farm, Trout Lake, Washington, 2011.
[★ = thought-provoking]
Books
Adam P. Grouped: How small groups of friends are the key to influence on the social web. Berkeley, CA: New Riders; 2011.
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Using research from top universities and technology companies, Adams explains how businesses built around social behavior have a serious advantage, especially in today’s hyperconnected world.
For most Americans, staying “mentally sharp” as they age is a very high priority. Declines in memory and decision-making abilities may trigger fears of Alzheimer’s disease or other neurodegenerative diseases. With a rapidly growing older population, better understanding cognitive aging and identifying and promoting actions that individuals, organizations, communities and society can take to help older adults maintain and improve their cognitive health is key.
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Brockman J. Life. New York: Harper Perennial; 2016.
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Scientists’ understanding of life is progressing more rapidly than at any point in human history, from the extraordinary decoding of DNA to the controversial emergence of biotechnology. Featuring pioneering biologists, geneticists, physicists and science writers, Life explains just how far we’ve come and take an educated guess at where we’re heading.
Nine lessons for living longer from the people who have lived the longest. In this New York Times bestseller, longevity expert Dan Buettner draws on his research from extraordinarily long-lived communities—Blue Zones—around the globe to highlight the lifestyle, diet, outlook, and stress-coping practices that will add years to your life and life to your years.
In his latest book, Dan Buettner identifies pockets of the world, called “Blue Zones”, where high number of centenarians live and examines the diets and lifestyles that have sustained these individuals.
Written by the Double X land crew and former Nutrilite nutrition scientists, this book combines science and whimsy to deliver information that matters most to parents. Each monthly chapter follows the school year calendar to target pre-set goals to build a solid foundation of healthy habits for success in the classroom and in life.
The author of The China Study explains the science behind the evidence of an optimal diet being one that is whole, plant-based, with little or no added oil, salt or refined carbohydrates.
Sean Foy, an exercise physiologist, behavioral coach and fitness consultant for the Nutrilite Health Institute, tackles the number one reason people don’t exercise—not enough time— with practical steps to boost metabolic rate, exercise all major muscle groups, increase cardiovascular endurance and more in just 10 minutes.
This is a comprehensive textbook for those individuals who are seriously interested in studying and learning more about nutrition and human metabolism.
Physicist and award-winning journalist Alex Hutchinson tackles many commonly held beliefs about health and fitness and looks at just what research science has and has not proven to be true.
Marion Nestle, a major public health and food choice advocate, has written several excellent books. The most recent, Soda Politics, which is the first to address the history, politics, nutrition and health of soda, integrating while public health science with historical and cultural research.
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O’Connell J. Sugar Nation. New York: Hyperion; 2011.
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An account of one man’s struggle to regain control of his life and save himself from his father’s fate of type 2 diabetes.
Food expert Michael Pollan describes how taking back cooking as an act of enjoyment and self-reliance can not only help make the American food system healthier and more enjoyable, but can open the door to a more nourishing life.
Justin and Erica Sonnenburg, scientists at Stanford University, School of Medicine, focus on a plan for health that focuses on how to nourish your gut, including recipes and menu plans.
This easy and enlightening read is packed full of science-based information on the critical need for sleep.
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Films
Fulkerson L (director). Forks Over Knives, 2011. Virgil Films & Entertainments.
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The idea of food as medicine is put to the test as the camera follows people with chronic diseases who make changes to their diet by adopting a plant-based diet. The challenges and joys of their journey are revealed.
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Soechtig S (director). Fed Up, 2014. Atlas Films Production.
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An eye-opening documentary by director Stephanie Soechtig that looks at the politics of food and the causes of childhood obesity.
This publication contains selected papers from the Inaugural Conference ‘Healthy Agriculture, Healthy Nutrition, Healthy People’ of the World Council on Genetics, Nutrition and Fitness for Health held at Ancient Olympia, Greece, in October 2010. Topics include the relationship between architecture and agriculture, food production systems and urban agriculture, as well as physical activity, nutrition, genetic variation and other determinants of human health.
This report focuses on key issues that need to be addressed if we are to feed the nation in a sustainable way: food costs, dietary guidance that supports sustainability, research priorities, policy implications, and most importantly what drives consumer behavior.
In 2015 the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) came to the end of their term, and a post-2015 agenda, comprising 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) took their place. This WHO report looks back 15 years at the trends and positive forces during the MDG-era and assesses the main challenges that will effect health in the next 15 years. The 17 SDGs are discussed including ending extreme poverty, fighting inequality and injustice, tackling climate change and more by 2030.
This article focuses on an innovative approach to treating the root cause of countless illnesses: delay aging. Jay Olshansky, Ph.D., professor of epidemiology at the University of Illinois, Chicago, and a thought leader on aging and longevity, shares his insights.
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★ Olshansky SJ, Perry D, Miller RA, Butler RN. The longevity dividend. [The Scientist Magazine Web site]. March 1, 2006.
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This article asks a simple, yet profound, question, “What should we be doing to prepare for the unprecedented aging of humanity?”
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Olshansky SJ, Perry D, Miller RA, Butler RN. Pursuing the longevity dividend: scientific goals for an aging world. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2007;1114:11-3. PMID: 17986572.
Yang C, Boen C, Gerken K, et al. Social relationships and physiological determinants of longevity across the human life span. PNAS. 2016;113:578-583. Available at: pnas.org/content/113/3/578.
Other Resources
Dr. Sam’s Morning Routine – 30 Daily Exercises. This handout includes 30 flexibility and strength exercises that I do each morning (plus 6 bonus strength exercises). Thanks to this routine, I’m able to greet each day with the fitness I need to achieve my goals.
Dunn K and Williams L. Eating for A’s: a month-by-month nutrition and
Foy S. The 10-Minute Total Body Breakthrough. New York, NY: Workman Publishing Company, Inc.; 2009.
Simopoulos AP and Koletzko B. Healthy Agriculture, Healthy Nutrition, Healthy People (World Review of Nutrition) and Dietetics, Vol. 102. Basel, Switzerland: S. Karger AG; 2011.