The Longevity Strategy: How to Live to 100 Using the Brain-Body Connection

Ever wish there were a simple way to extend your life? That someone would just lay out a plan that could help you live longer? Well, David Mahoney and Richard Restak, M.D., do just that in The Longevity Strategy: How to Live to 100 Using the Brain-Body Connection. This isn't the same old self-help book telling you to get out and exercise and eat right--although the authors do acknowledge these are a necessary part of long, healthy life. Instead, readers are advised to use planning and positive mental processes in order to become centenarians.

Using the latest neuroscience research, Mahoney and Restak delineate 31 steps to keep your brain sharp and active, which they claim can help you to live to be 100. Restak, a practicing neurologist and neuropsychiatrist as well as bestselling author of The Brain, and Mahoney, chairman of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, break down the complex science of the brain for the nonscientist while laying out a plan for achieving the three goals necessary for longevity: "an optimally functioning brain in a sound mind; favorable social support systems; financial security." Some of the advice is commonsense ("Learn to handle stress") while some offers wisdom that may not have occurred to you ("Build in a backup plan; diversity your career from the very beginning"). Each chapter starts with a specific strategy, which is expounded upon in short, readable chapters.

The judicious advice offered by the authors may not only help you lead a longer, healthier life, but is certain to give you the tools to allow you be more contented and optimistic in the meantime. --Jenny Brown