About book Healthy At 100: The Scientifically Proven Secrets Of The World's Healthiest And Longest-Lived Peoples (2006)
Enjoyable reading, solid research, good end-notes, great book.I like how he put Weston Price in perspective. Either people revere him or discredit him. Robbins acknowledges that he made great observations, but had rather limited exposure to the peoples he visited, so it's not completely solid "science." Dr Price's suggestions are great ideas, but should be balanced with other great ideas. Use what works for you.The chapter that blew me away was "Breaking Free from the Cultural Trance, or the real news on this planet." The real news is that love makes all the difference. His information on wealth distribution, what that tells you about a culture's values, and the effects on health were staggering to me. Of course, it makes sense now. "The larger the gap between rich and poor, the less health will prevail." p. 265What that means is that in a culture where the rich are *much* richer than the poor, that means that having wealth is a more valued trait than sharing wealth. It also means that the rich hold onto their wealth (generally speaking, I mean we all know of at least one generous rich person), which means that the poor have to work all that harder for the very basics (or give up and try to subsist on welfare), which means they have very little time for relationships (and then all the evils that occur from fragile or falling apart families will follow), which means that health suffers greatly.No matter how "wealthy" or "poor" a nation, the greater the gap between rich and poor, the poorer health is in general. The smaller the gap between rich and poor, the better the health generally: for rich and poor. Huge implications. (Do I sound like a socialist? I don't think government has the duty to "fix" this; after all, it's a reflection on the people and their values, so government's not gonna change that. It's what we teach and value in our homes that filters up to results like this.)Bhutan, which admittedly has its problems, has actually instituted Gross National Happiness as a measure of national prosperity, rather than Gross Domestic Product. Revolutionary! It may sound fru-fru, idealistic and a little hippy-ish, but it means healthier people. Happiness and love really do make a considerable difference. A funny image just came to mind. Once science begins to acknowledge the effects of love, can you image a roomful of scientists trying to decide how to "control" for "love" in a study on health? They'll try it, I'm sure. I won't go on right now. Terrific book.
Pre-reading thoughts:I enjoyed John Robbins' talk at the Green Festival, which is a huge environmental conference held in San Francisco, Seattle, and D.C. In his book and talk, he explored the lifestyles of indigenous people known for their longevity and good health. I agreed with just about everything he said: that it is important to accept and honor the aging process and to practice the art of relationships. However, I don't agree with his notions of what a healthy diet is. I certainly don't support environmentally destructive factory farm practices or animal cruelty, but I'm not convinced that veganism or vegetarianism is healthy for everyone. * * * * * * *Post-reading thoughts:I absolutely loved reading this book. I find many books advocating healthy lifestyles rather dry and discouraging. In comparison, Robbins' stories were compelling and energizing: -His father, one of the founders of Baskin Robbins ice cream, after being diagnosed with diabetes gave up ice cream and sugar altogether. As a result, his health improved. -In Japan, a nearly 100-year-old martial artist defeated a man in his 30s by dodging the young guy's punches and knocking him out with a single punch, which startled him but didn't seriously harm him.Like all self-help books, it's a sales job, and Robbins doesn't present all the facts. For instance, his descriptions of the four model societies sound like fairy tales. However, this book's strength is Robbins' vision of a vibrant, rich life -- which makes that bag of potato chips much less tempting. I'm still not convinced that a strictly vegan diet is healthy for everyone, but Robbins did inspire me to eat less meat.
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This is one of the most beautiful and positive books I've ever read. Anybody and everybody should read it - I think there is something in it that will appeal to each person on this planet. The theme of the book comes down to this: getting old should not be scary, and should nt be treated as something to fear. Each one of us can prevent the mental and physical deterioration that is often associated with getting old by simply eating well, exercising, and surrounding ourselves with people we love and who love us back.Robbins examines four cultures who are known for their longevity: the Abkhasians, the Vilcabambans, the people of the Hunza region, and the Okinawans, and then spends the rest of the book laying out exactly what we can do to extend our own longevity AS LONG AS we are healthy in doing so. Who wants to live to be 100, but become a vegetable or suffer from any number of diseases associated with advanced age? The point is not to extend one's life - it's to extend one's health.Read this book TODAY! It will change your life. Honestly.
—Dawn
I really wanted to like this book. John Robbins 'Diet for a New America' was very influential on my journey towards being Vegan. Healthy at 100 does have its heart in the right place. The problem is that it probably would have made a better magazine article than book. Robbins repeats himself over and over and over again. Sections end with long 'to do lists' which feel like brainstorming notes and the end takeaway is pretty simple: eat veg, connect with the community, get exercise, find purpose and be happy. I know John had a better book in him and so I really lay blame with the editor of this book. Healthy at 100 is a fantastic first draft, and in the right hands it could have been a very significant book, getting people to look at how we live and how our society deals with aging. Instead we get a bloated and repetitive book that meanders, never quite finding its way.
—Geoff
This is one of the few books I come across that deserves 5 stars. I am happy that Robbins mentioned the village of Vilcabamba in Ecuador. I've known about the longevity of their people for a long time. The differences among cultures is astounding. With regards to stress, (and the fact that so many people in my industrialized culture are overfed, overmedicated, and overstressed) my favorite passage from the book is as follows:Pages 34-35: ...a mystic from India who was introduced to New York City. His guide took him to the Times Square subway station at the peak of morning rush hour. The visitor was appalled at what he saw--people with briefcases pushing hard and driving madly. Not understanding what was causing people to behave so frantically, he asked, "Is there a wolf behind them?" "No," said the guide, "there's a dollar in front of them."Taken from the book:-Fat in food cause high cholesterol, especially saturated.-Stay away from tuna! It has lots of mercury.-Stay away from cheese!-Eat more whole grains.-Omega 3 is good-Flax seed is good-Wheat germ is goodI couldn't believe that Robbins is the son of the co-founder of the ice cream chain Baskin-Robbins! Robbins reminds me of Thom Hartmann, in both his political views and happiness with his wife and family.Robbins mention of the increasing gap between the rich and poor was pretty intense and interesting. It's even more so that the book was written in 2006, shortly before the economic crash and Wall Street exposure. Page 265: "And it's certainly true that worldwide today, those nations whose annual per capita income is below about $5,000 to $10,000 often suffer from poor sanitation and malnutrition and have the poorest health. But studies have consistently found that above that threshold, the health of nations is no longer a matter of absolute income, but is actually more a matter of the gap between the rich and the poor. Above that point, the larger the gap between rich and poor, the less health will prevail."
—Kevin
