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Aging well
REVIEWS BY AMY SCRIBNER Expert advice on turning back the clock Comedian Lucille Ball once said, "The secret of staying young is to live honestly, eat slowly and lie about your age." After reading the latest batch of books dedicated to preserving the mind and body over the years, fibbing may no longer be necessary.
By Andrew Weil Knopf, $27.95 320 pages ISBN 0375407553 Uncovering a younger you
By Chris Crowley and Harry Lodge Workman, $24.95 356 pages ISBN 0761140735
By Steven Masley Broadway, $23.95 240 pages ISBN 0767921410 Fit at any age
By D. Cristine Caivano Barron's, $19.95 160 pages ISBN 0764158120 Just for fun
By Judith Viorst Free Press, $16 80 pages ISBN 0743267745
By Corinne L. Gediman Rutledge Hill, $16.99 256 pages ISBN 1401602231
By Gary Null New American Library, $24.95 336 pages ISBN 0451216733 Amy Scribner writes from Olympia, Washington.
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With his white beard and twinkling smile, Andrew Weil bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain North Pole denizen. As a doctor, Weil delivers gifts in the form of health and nutrition books, including the best-selling The Healthy Kitchen with former Oprah Winfrey chef Rosie Daley. In Healthy Aging, Weil presents a fascinating, compassionate argument for changing the way we view getting older. In addition to tips for eating well and staying active, he also explores the spiritual side of aging, borrowing ideas from cultures that seem to have discovered the fountain of youth. Okinawans, who have the highest life expectancy in the world (81.2 years), revel in aging and believe that a second childhood begins at 97. In fact, senior Okinawans often proudly introduce themselves by their age. Their secret (which is no surprise) is healthy eating, and staying physically and socially active. Weil combines the best of modern medicine with intriguing ideas, and he delivers a powerful new way of thinking about aging.
How's this for confidence? Authors Chris Crowley and Harry Lodge begin their new volume on helping women age well by declaring, "This is a book that can change your life." Turns out, they can back up that claim, as they demonstrated in their 2005 bestseller Younger Next Year. This year, they return with a follow-up that specifically targets feminine concerns about aging, Younger Next Year for Women. By dispensing advice on how to live a fit and healthy life (rather than how to beat the clock and erase the wrinkles), Crowley and Lodge are doing the women of America a big favor. Their basic premise is that women get better and more powerful with age, and they should take care that their bodies do as well. The vibrant advice about the best physical activities for women (biking and swimming rank high) may actually inspire you to dust off that bike helmet, and the common-sense approach to moderation in eating is spot-on. It's hard to imagine a more fun, smart and compelling book on the subject of women and aging. If implementing the wisdom in Younger Next Year for Women is half as entertaining as reading it, getting older is about to get a lot easier.
Look and feel 10 years younger in 10 weeks. Sound too good to be true? It's not, and you don't have to resort to plastic surgery or fad diets to achieve it, says physician Steven Masley in his new book, Ten Years Younger. His sensible, easy-to-follow plan is based on a healthy diet, skin rejuvenation, plenty of exercise and stress reduction. Masley argues that the fast-paced and unhealthy lifestyle many Americans choose leads to accelerated aging. That is, the waistline grows and the memory goes. The solution, he says, is to counteract the one-percent average reduction in overall fitness level each year. Masley breaks his plan down into phases, and includes appropriate meals, exercise, skin and dietary supplements, and relaxation routines for each day. Turning back the clock never sounded so simple.
Humans lose up to 30 percent of muscle mass by age 70, and without some work, it goes even further downhill from there. An expert in movement therapy, author D. Cristine Caivano offers a thorough and well-illustrated guide that makes strength training seem (gasp!) fun. Strength Training Over 50 is suitable for men and women, those who are already physically fit as well as those who are out of shape, injured or just plain not motivated. The book is divided into lower- and upper-body exercises—some incorporating light weights or an exercise ball—and offers concise, detailed instructions for each sequence. Added bonus: the models used in the how-to photos are over 50 themselves and look quite fabulous, providing just the motivation to get started.
Please note that the subtitle of I'm Too Young to Be Seventy is "And Other Delusions." Yes, Judith Viorst is well aware that she's a septuagenarian, and in her hilarious and poignant new collection she has written a stellar set of poems to . . . celebrate? Commiserate? Whatever her motivation, Viorst's verses are whip-smart and will ring true to anyone entering this decade of their lives. (A noted children's book author whose latest volume for kids is reviewed elsewhere in this issue, Viorst also wrote collections to acknowledge her 40s, 50s and 60s.) In one of the funniest pieces, Viorst firmly insists that her middle-aged children still need her advice—even though it's now about periodontal disease and tax-free bonds. In one of the sweetest, she writes, "Still married after all these years? / No mystery. / We are each other's habit, / and each other's history." Readers don't need to be anywhere near 70 to appreciate such sentiments.
While staying physically fit is important, so too is preserving mental fitness. Two new books explore ways to keep your mind as healthy as your body. In Brainfit: 10 Minutes a Day for a Sharper Mind and Memory, Corinne L. Gediman prescribes daily mental exercises designed to slow age-related mental decline. Good brain exercises challenge the brain to think in new ways and may also include a component of physical exercise and social interaction. The majority of Brainfit is dedicated to dozens of fun, easy memory exercises. For example, to remember all the items on a shopping list, visualize each item, then pair it with the next item on your list. If you need to pick up sand and candles at the hardware store, Gediman advises visualizing a sandcastle at dusk with candles glowing in the windows. Follow her program, and you will soon be bowing to the goddess of memory, Mnemosyne (try remembering that name).
If you seem to be losing your keys with unsettling regularity, Mind Power might be the book for you. Gary Null, who wrote the bestseller Power Aging, is urging Baby Boomers to take control of their mental acuity by understanding—and taking better care of—their brains. Null encourages regular exercise, spiritual health through meditation and regular social contact and a nutritional plan packed with complex carbohydrates, soy products and organic produce. Null also examines the symptoms of several specific brain conditions, from depression to mental fatigue to Alzheimer's Disease, and shows how they can be combated. He includes a chapter of Mind Power Meals, or as he calls them, "recipes for the mind."