The path to longevity : how to reach 100 with the health and stamina of a 40-year-old / Luigi Fontana.

Professor Luigi Fontana, M.D., Ph.D. is a highly skilled physician scientist who is recognised as the leading world expert on longevity. Professor Fontana recently was invited to join the University of Sydney as the Leonard Ullmann Chair of Translational Metabolic Health and Director of the Healthy Longevity Research and Clinical Program at the Charles Perkins Centre. He was for many years Professor of Medicine at Washington University, one of the four most highly regarded medical universities in the USA. Credited with conducting the foundational research that gave rise to the 5:2 diet, Professor Fontana’s revolutionary work is leading the world on longevity and the factors involved in living a long and healthy life.

Includes bibliographic references and index.

About the author -- Preface -- Where this all began -- Information is power -- part I: The beginning of wisdom -- Chapter one: Are you ready to enjoy your life? -- Are you ready to embark on the miraculous voyage that is your life? -- What do you really know about your health? Who is in charge? -- Who are you? -- Listen and learn -- Be your own light: self-awareness is key -- Chapter two: Healthy centenarians: the quest for health longevity -- Secrets shared by world's most long-living populations -- Okinawa: 'land of the immortals' -- Sardinia and south Italy: kingdom of methuselahs -- Is vegetarianism the main secret to a long healthy life? -- Facts, not myths on vegetarian diets: the results of the scientific studies -- The Seventh-day Adventist vegetarians -- Is the hunter-gatherer lifestyle the answer for a long and healthy life? -- Do elite athletes hold the key to longevity? -- Chapter three: Healthspan and the mechanisms of ageing -- Why do we age? Death is unavoidable, but a life of prolonged ill-health is not -- Can we prevent ageing? Is ageing inextricably linked with disease? -- Why do people develop chronic disease not linked to ageing itself? -- Chronic illness have common causes -- Why we need to focus first on a better lifestyle? -- The Framingham heart study -- How cancer develops? --Excess body fat and cancer risk -- Part II: Nourishing your body -- Chapter four: The science of healthy nutrition -- Belly fat: the enemy within -- Why is it important to have a normal BMI? -- Is BMI the best index to measure body fatness? -- The important of monitoring our body weight -- Watch your waist, not just your weight -- Simple ways to assess whether you have abdominal obesity -- What is a healthy waist circumference? -- Let's take action to reduce our waist circumference -- What will happen with a reduction in waist circumference? How fast should you lost weight? -- How can you stop putting the weight back on? -- Beyond weight loss: successful ageing -- Chapter five: Longevity effects of restricting calories and fasting -- Calories restriction in rodents: the foundation of youth -- Calories restriction in monkeys: age record-breakers -- Does calories restriction work in humans? -- Too much calories restriction can be dangerous --Ways to control calories, without counting -- The importance of replacing 'junk' with healthy plant-based foods -- Leave the table when you are 80 per cent full -- Intermittent fasting -- our studies on the effects of fasting different to the 5:2 diet -- Benefits of 'healthy' fasting -- Time-restricted fasting: the 16:8 diet -- Dangers of frequent eating. Don't snack. Feast! -- Eat your food slowly -- Part II: Mediterranean to the healthy longevity diet -- Chapter eight: The Mediterranean diet: where taste meets health -- The 'discovery' of the Mediterranean diet -- Health effects of the Mediterranean diet: how solid is the scientific evidence? -- Mechanisms behind the benefits of the Mediterranean diet -- Reduced oxidative and inflammatory -- Damage -- Gut health -- Chapter nine: Move to the modern health longevity diet -- The importance of healthy food diversity -- The modern health longevity food pyramid explained -- Vegetables: the staple food of the modern diet -- Wild edible weeds: a well of nutrients -- Herbs and spices: maximising flavour -- Whole grains and legumes: combining energy, fiber and proteins -- The wonders of nuts and seeds -- Fruit is the best dessert to nourish the skin -- Fish: substitute neat with fish for the good of your heart -- Extra-virgin olive oil: the healthiest condiment -- What should we drink? -- How much should we drink? -- Chapter ten: Foods to eliminate or drastically reduce -- Why are ultra-processed foods bad for you? -- Sugars: not so sweet results -- Soft drinks and sodas -- Salt: sneaky sodium -- Meat: is it good or bad for your health? -- Eat whole foods, not supplements -- Part IV: Physical exercise as a daily medicine -- Chapter eleven: Maximising health through physical exercise -- Physical inactivity: the biggest public health problem of the 21st century -- The 2,500-year history of sports medicine -- Chapter twelve: Beneficial effects of aerobic exercise -- Burning calories with endurance exercise -- Aerobic exercise and type 2 diabetes -- Endurance-exercise training improves cardiovascular health -- Aerobic exercise helps to reduce cancer risk -- Exercise training protects memory and prevents brain fog -- Chapter thirteen: Starting or improving aerobic exercise training -- Training intensity -- Training duration and volume -- Training frequency -- High-intensity interval training: how and when? -- Use it, lose it -- How much exercise is too much? -- Chapter fourteen -- Fortifying muscles and bones: the science of strength training -- Intensity, frequency repetitions and rest periods -- Make a start with 15 minutes of a body strength training program at home -- Chapter fifteen: Posture, balance and flexibility: the essential exercises -- Pain and joint degeneration -- Why good posture is vital -- What is the correct posture? -- Chapter sixteen -- Hatha yoga, tai chi and martial arts: east meets west -- Tai chi -- Yoga -- slow, deep breathing: a powerful tool to fight stress and anxiety -- Part V: Prevention -- Chapter seventeen: Take preventative action to stay health -- Smoking kills you and harms your loved ones -- Sun exposure and vitamin D: how, when, where and why? -- Alcohol: the good, the bad, and the ugly -- Brush your teeth regularly: gun disease causes systematic inflammation -- Chapter eighteen : The importance of health screening -- What test do we need and when? -- Screening for cancer -- Beyond active surveillance and watchful waiting -- Part IV: Our minds -- Chapter nineteen: Nourish your mind and train your brain -- Improving our brain function: cognitive training -- Brain plasticity can improve into old age -- Fasting and endurance exercise boost effects of cognitive training -- Preventing cognitive decline -- A healthy diet helps to prevent cognitive decline -- Physical exercise can help prevent dementia -- Quality sleep lowers the risk for dementia -- The importance of strong social relationships -- Chapter twenty: Rest and sleep quality -- What science tells us happens when we fall asleep -- Benefits of sleep -- Slow-wave sleep disruption promotes dementia -- How many hours should we sleep? -- How to improve your sleep quality -- Chapter twenty-one: Mindfulness meditation: learning to live in the present -- Mindfulness exercises: the art of now -- Mindfulness combats' constantly thinking disorder' -- Inner serenity time: how to begin -- Ten benefits of mindfulness meditation -- How negative emotions affects our wellbeing -- What is your level of mindfulness? -- Mindfulness exercises -- Mindfulness is a precious instrument to boost creativity -- Chapter twenty-two: Family, happiness and a future without fear -- The importance of family, friends and community -- Knowing ourselves: the way to do is being -- The stream of life -- Maximising our potential: living according to our own nature -- Beyond the sensory: freedom from cultural illusions -- Intuition: the highest form of intelligence -- Happiness: a plant to nurture? -- Six interventions to develop and increase your happiness -- Of life and death -- Transforming yourself on step at a time -- Part VII: Our world -- Chapter twenty-three: A healthy sustainable environment to live in -- Chapter twenty-four: Pollution is making us sick -- No 'normal concentrations of particulate matter exist -- Where do these fine particles come from? -- Livestock and environment pollution global heating -- Chapter twenty-five: Securing the future -- Chapter twenty-six: My message to the reader -- Appendix: What gets measured, gets done: track your progress -- Measuring markers of systemic health -- Measuring markers of cardiovascular health -- 'Bad' cholesterol -- 'Good' cholesterol -- Blood glucose and other markers of optimal glucose metabolism -- Blood pressure -- Maximal oxygen consumption and fitness -- Monitoring progress - other tests -- References/bibliography -- Acknowledgements

This easy-to-follow, comprehensive book outlines a lifestyle plan that integrates the principles of nutrition, diet, exercise, brain health and relationships that can help you not only live a long life but also a healthier more fulfilling life.