RayI would like to express appreciation to my mother, Hannah, who taught me the power of ideas; to my wife of 33 years, Sonya, who lovingly shares with me all of the big and little challenges of life and gives me confidence in the future; and to my kids, Ethan and Amy, and my daughter-in-law, Rebecca, who inspire me every day.
TerryMy contribution to this book was only possible thanks to the help and support of my family: my parents, Louis and Irene Grossman, for teaching me to think for myself (and then not giving up on me after realizing what they had done); my children, Abraya and Jay Johnson and Sam Grossman, apples (and grape seed skins) of my eye; my grandchildren, Harrison and Lucette, whose growth and successes I look forward to celebrating throughout this remarkable century ahead (and beyond); and Karen, wife, best friend, muse, sounding board, in-house psychologist and more.
We would both like to thank our support team of many multitalented individuals who provided fellowship, friendship, love, and support and were instrumental in helping bring this project to fruition:
Shannon Welch, our highly skilled editor at Rodale, who helped guide this project and went well beyond the call of duty by agreeing to serve as the female model in the book; Karen Rinaldi, Rodales publisher, who provided many resources, support, and guidance; and the rest of our outstanding Rodale team: Chris Rhoads, associate art director; Andy Carpenter, art director; Mitch Mandel, photographer; Troy Schnyder, photo assistant; Beth Tarson, senior publicist; Beth Davey, publicity director; Hope Clarke, senior project editor; and Meredith Quinn, editorial assistant.
Loretta Barrett, our literary agent, who has devotedly and expertly guided this along with our other book projects.
Tom Garfield, who performed outstanding service in helping us with extensive research and wordsmithing.
Sarah Brangan, who also assisted with research and provided invaluable help in developing the recipes, including testing all of them.
Lolita Hanks, FNP, who provided valuable assistance with research.
Laksman Frank, our talented artist and graphic designer, who developed the illustrations.
Our research and communications team, who helped us find, assemble, and communicate the myriad facts in this rapidly changing field: Amara Angelica, Sarah Black, Sarah Reed, Celia Black-Brooks, Emily Brangan, Aaron Kleiner, Kathryn Myronuk, Nanda Barker-Hook, Peter St. Onge, Paula Florez, Diane Henry, and Robyn Stephens.
Our technical team, who helped us communicate with each other: Ken Linde, Sandi Dube, and Matt Bridges.
Our administrative and business team, who kept this project organized and on track: Aaron Kleiner, Denise Scutellaro, Joan Walsh, Maria Ellis, Bob Beal, Casey Beal, Mary Lou Sousa, Ardis Hoffman, Kelli Krill, and Cara Vandel.
Martine Rothblatt, whose dedication and commitment to all of the ideas in this book helped to inspire our work.
Donna Rae Smith, RN, for helping to develop and refine our fitness program.
A special thank you to our many readers who have helped us greatly over the years with suggestions, support, and corrections.
Our peer expert readers, who provided invaluable service in assuring the accuracy of the material in this book through fastidious reading of the manuscript and meticulous feedback: Michael Catalano, MD; Paul Dragul, MD; Karen Kurtak, L. Ac., Dipl. Ac.; Lee Light, MD; Joel Miller, MD; Tadashi Mitsuo, MD; Glenn Rothfeld, MD; and Kazuo Tsubota, MD. Special thanks finally to Aubrey de Grey, PhD, both for his seminal contributions to the field of longevity medicine by way of SENS (Strategies for Engineered Senescence) as well as for making time in his already overbooked schedule to read through and comment on the entirety of the manuscript. The above individuals provided many ideas and corrections that we were able to make thanks to their expert guidance. For any mistakes that remain, the authors take sole responsibility.
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All my life I have focused on being healthy, but I wanted to learn more about slowing the aging process. Your regimen is effective because I continually receive statements like: You look fantastic! What do you do to keep looking so young? I know for a fact that people think I am considerably younger than my chronological age.
SANDY (55), NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE
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P art I of this book describes the Problemthe fact that we are genetically programmed to age, to enjoy optimal health for a relatively short period of time, and then are forced to spend much of the rest of our lives dealing with the effects of aging, a process that has as its sole purpose the destruction of our health and our ultimate demise. Before we begin our discussion of the various processes associated with aging, it is important to realize that growingolder (and wiser!) is not the same thing as aging. Everyone grows older all the time, but we arent necessarily aging as we do so since, by definition, the aging process is one of deterioration.
You grew older today, but did you age as well? If you drank a few cups of green tea, had five servings of fruits and vegetables, exercised for at least 30 minutes at your target heart rate, took nutritional supplements optimized for your age and health situation, spent quality time with close friends and loved ones, consumed a glass of red wine, had a romantic (and sensual!) time with your spouse or significant other, and got 8 hours of quality sleep, then you probably aged very little if at all. If you were a coach potato, ate doughnuts for breakfast, skipped lunch, consumed an excessive amount of coffee, smoked cigarettes, and got into stressful arguments with friends, co-workers, and loved ones, then you probably aged a lot. People can look old in their thirties or young in their sixties, and the lifestyle choices you make every hour make all the difference.
Multiple processes cause us to age. Some are simple, such as the depletion of a vital substance called phosphatidylcholine in our cell membranes (which you can reverse by supplementing with that substance as we discuss below). Some are complex, such as keeping your most important organyour brainhealthy. In this chapter, well discuss optimal brain health along with sleep since sleep is so vital to brain function. Then well move down to the heart, the digestive tract, and the sexual organs and hormones. Well complete our overview of how the body works with a discussion of various metabolic processes, including inflammation, methylation, and glycation, and finally look at genomics, the new field that is unlocking the secrets of our genes, which control and regulate all bodily functions.
WE THINK, THEREFORE WE ARE
Your brain makes up only 2 percent of your weight yet receives 20 percent of the blood coming from the heart and uses 20 percent of your bodys oxygen and glucose. It also represents 50 percent of your genetic complexity. In other words, half of your genes describe the design of your brain, with the other half describing the organization of the other 98 percent of your body. Moreover, your brain is the master puppeteer: It controls every beat of your heart, every blink of your eyes, the release of your hormones, not to mention all of your willful activities. It has long been regarded as the seat of consciousness, the true you. So it makes sense to consider what you can do to keep it healthyand happy, too! As it turns out, there is a lot you can do. The ideas in this chapter can dramatically slow down brain aging and help you avoid the often catastrophic downsides of brain dysfunction.