Books About Aging and Longevity
The other day, I asked my friend, approaching 40, who he wanted to be when he grew up. He laughed and smiled at the question and the validation that we never stop growing up. Aging, you see, has a negative connotation when it’s really a chance to live your life to the fullest because you increasingly recognize what actually makes you feel full. Better yet, if you take the right steps to increase your longevity and take care of your well-being, you can avoid some of the challenges associated with aging.
Take it from Jamie Lee Curtis, who famously said, “Getting older makes you more alive. More vitality, more interest, more intelligence, more grace, more expansion.” The below list invites you to harness your own vitality, whether you want to learn the secret of blue zones, navigate menopause, avoid Alzheimer’s, or embrace your final decades as well as final days. Many of these books challenge conventional medical thinking and give you a new perspective on the days ahead.
And they might just leave you wondering, “Who do I want to be when I grow up?”
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Add to BookshelfOutlive
by Peter Attia, MD
Plot a different path for your life that lets you outlive your genes and make each decade better with Outlive. From visionary physician and leading longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia, Outlive is a manifesto on living better and longer. This book challenges conventional medical thinking on aging and reveals a new strategy for preventing chronic disease and extending long-term health. But rather than telling you what to do, Dr. Attia teaches you how to think about long-term health to create a plan that works for you. According to Steven D. Levitt, New York Times bestselling author of Freakonomics, Outlive is “one of the most important books you’ll ever read.”
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$32.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Menopause Brain
by Lisa Mosconi PhD
Learn how to navigate menopause and come out the other side with an improved brain in his New York Times bestseller. According to the author, leading neuroscientist, and women’s brain health specialist Dr. Mosconi, menopause and perimenopause are still a black box to most physicians, leaving millions feeling frustrated and misunderstood. So, if you’re struggling with symptoms like hot flashes and brain fog and exhausted by the responses you get from clinicians, you’re not alone. Contrary to popular belief, Dr. Mosconi makes the case that menopause is not an end but a transition and shares the latest approaches and lifestyle changes to help you care for yourself during menopause and emerge with a renewed brain.
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$30.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Longevity Solution
by James DiNicolantonio
Aging doesn’t have to mean becoming less mobile, developing disease, or feeling more pain. Renowned cardiovascular research scientist and doctor of pharmacy Dr. James DiNicolantonio joins leading physician and bestselling author Dr. Jason Fung for The Longevity Solution to give you five simple and digestible steps you can take now for a longer, fuller, healthier life. The Longevity Solution explores how to adopt proven wellness traditions, including intermittent fasting and balanced diets, while avoiding trends and leaning into super-ager practices in Blue Zones to optimize health and longevity. Learn the simple dietary changes that can help you jump-start your longevity.
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$29.95Buy from Other Retailers:
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Healthy Aging
by Andrew Weil, M.D.
Discover the secrets of healthy longevity in Healthy Aging from Andrew Weil, MD, a New York Times bestselling author and internationally recognized expert for his views on leading a healthy lifestyle. Within this book, you’ll learn how to eat right by following an anti-inflammatory diet and how to separate fact from fiction about common longevity solutions, like herbs, hormones, and anti-aging “medicines.” Weil also shares exercise, breath, and stress-relief techniques to support your mind and body while unraveling the science behind the aging process.
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$17.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Menopause Manifesto
by Dr. Jen Gunter
Find practical, reassuring insights in this funny and frank guide to menopause. Dr. Jen Gunter, who you may know from her groundbreaking bestseller The Vagina Bible, is back to empower you by countering stubborn myths and misunderstandings about menopause with hard facts, real science, fascinating historical perspective, and expert advice. The Menopause Manifesto debunks misogynistic attitudes and reveals all you need to know about perimenopause, hot flashes, sex and libido, skin and hair issues, weight and muscle mass, and more. Reviewers call The Menopause Manifesto the new “it” book for women who want to prepare for or understand what menopause is (or isn’t).
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$18.95Buy from Other Retailers:
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Nothing to Fear
by Julie McFadden, RN
The end of life is a natural part of life, but what if we didn’t think of death as the worst outcome? Nothing to Fear explores this question while demystifying the end-of-life journey. TikTok star Julie McFadden (known online as “Hospice Nurse Julie”) shares the valuable lessons she’s learned in her fifteen years as an RN in the ICU and hospice in her book Nothing to Fear. McFadden compassionately covers topics like the biological process of dying, effective vs. harmful medical interventions, financial and logistical death preparations, crucial end-of-life conversations, and the grieving process before and after death. Discover how to prepare for the end of our lives with hope and acceptance.
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$28.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Grown Woman Talk
by Sharon Malone, M.D.
Have you felt marginalized or overwhelmed by a healthcare system that has become increasingly impersonal and harder to navigate? Or do you find yourself at the crossroads of aging and health, seeking solutions with a sense of urgency? Grown Woman Talk provides essential resources and real-life stories to help you take control of your well-being, age with confidence, and secure better medical care. Written by Dr. Sharon Malone, a renowned OB/GYN and expert in menopausal health, this book empowers women to recognize their inherent power and expand their ability to advocate for themselves. Even Michelle Obama calls this “a must-read for anyone who cares about their quality of life.”
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$30.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Breath
by James Nestor
Breath is one of the most essential (if not the most) factors affecting our health. Modern research shows that making the slightest adjustments to how you breathe can boost athletic performance, rejuvenate internal organs, and even stop autoimmune diseases. Yet, as a species, humans have lost the ability to inhale and exhale correctly, and journalist James Nestor has been traveling the world to figure out what went wrong and how to fix it. Nestor has tracked down wisdom into ancient breathing practices and teamed up with pulmonary tinkerers to scientifically test long-held beliefs about how we breathe. He shares his learnings in Breath, a book that’ll change how you breathe forever (for the better).
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$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer
by Dan Buettner
Understand the top foods and the behaviors to help you live to 100. The National Geographic Explorer, globetrotter, and bestselling author Dan Buettner shares the best longevity strategies from blue zones (places worldwide where higher percentages of people enjoy remarkably long, full lives). Buettner’s discoveries have been featured in National Geographic’s Blue Zones, now a documentary on Netflix. Now, The Blue Zones Secrets for Living Longer takes us back to Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Okinawa, Japan; Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula; and Loma Linda, California, where Buettner checks in on the super-agers and shares lessons learned. (Plus, Buettner reveals an all-new blue zone!)
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$32.50Buy from Other Retailers:
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The End of Alzheimer’s Program
by Dale Bredesen
Discover how you can prevent and reverse cognitive decline and maximize brain power with The End of Alzheimer’s Program by Dale E. Bredesen, M.D., bestselling author and internationally recognized expert in neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s disease. He lays out the detailed program he uses with his patients, focusing on the Ketoflex 12/3 Diet, restorative sleep, targeted supplementation, exercise, and brain training. He also examines the tricky question of toxic exposure and provides workarounds for many complex problems. According to Dr. Bredesen, you do not need to follow The End of Alzheimer’s Program perfectly, but you will see tremendous results if you can do it well enough.
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$19.00Buy from Other Retailers:
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Alive Until You’re Dead
by Susan Moon
Come alive in new ways and face your impermanence by reading Alive Until You’re Dead, a poignant and humorous book on fully embracing your life as you age from Susan Moon, a beloved Buddhist teacher and author. Moon shares stories about the joys and tragedies of being human, and illustrates how strength can come from within, sometimes unexpectedly, even as our bodies fail. Booklist‘s review details how Moon turns a tough topic into “easy-to-swallow spiritual guidance and everyday, practical tips” to provide a clear path for readers to enjoy life until they’re dead. In reading, you’ll find that aliveness can be discovered and rediscovered at any time — up to the last moment.
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$17.95Buy from Other Retailers:
