This was fine. Some good advice. But a lot of the research seems unsubstantiated or needs more research and doesn’t have FDA approval yet. So it’s not very practical. The advice around nutrition and exercise, hiit etc was useful but didn’t seem groundbreaking to me.

Ageing, in the recent years, is being looked at as a disease – which can potentially be cured or at least the associated risks mitigated. The author refers to this as “Healthspan” – good health for much longer. This is a very detailed book offering a wide range of possibilities one can look at for increasing our healthspan.

The book starts with the possible reasons for aging. While the symptoms are evident – lower immunity, muscle loss, predisposition to illnesses, the underlying reasons are not entirely clear, but many possible reasons are being studied. The importance of diet, exercise and sleep are all covered, as one would expect. Where this book goes further than most other health books is the detailed coverage of drugs, supplements & procedures. This includes impact of NAD boosters, AC11 supplements, resveratrol, cat’s claw, red yeast rice, blood sugar lowering drugs such as metformin, peptides, rapamycin, nitric oxide and others. There is detailed coverage of stem cell therapy and the conditions it can help in. Since it is a new field, many stem cell treatments are still not FDA approved in the US, though more options are available in a few countries. There is also information on procedures such as cryotherapy, hormone replacement therapy, gene editing & others, and use of AI as we have more health data available.

The range this book covers is extensive. That, however, makes adopting a routine based on the information in this book complex considering the bewildering range of possibilities. Many of the referred drugs are prescription drugs, can have side effects, are expensive, and in some cases the long-term impact is not entirely clear. Nevertheless, it is interesting to learn the possibilities now available to increase our healthspan. This book would have been enhanced had it contained more information on foods and impacts.

My rating: 4.5 / 5.

This is an intriguing book about living longer and healthier lives. The author, Dr. Rand McClain established and runs the Regenerative and Sports Medicine Clinic. I didn't realize that scientists aren't sure why we age. Dr. Rand explains the various theories about the causes of aging. The rest of the book explores the many different ways we can slow the aging process and to treat diseases to make living longer enjoyable. Although Dr McClain tries to simplify, a lot of the information is too complicated to easily understand, especially when listening to it as an audiobook.

Fortunately, the book covers some simple and well-known methods for slowing aging. Exercise (especially high intensity interval training or HIIT) helps. Also, having a healthy diet is useful.

Many of the other methods for improving health and slowing aging are more complicated and, often, expensive. In addition, many of the methods have not been approved by the FDA and are illegal in the United States. Some of the interesting things he mentioned are stem cells and something like stem cells, called muse cells. But there are many more methods as well.

I listened to the audiobook version of this book. The narrator, L.J. Ganser, has an understandable and pleasant radio voice.