The Big 5

The Big 5: Five Simple Things You Can Do To Live a Longer, Healthier Life by Dr. Sanjiv Chopra with David Fisher          Audio Book: 5hours, 41 minutes   Hardback Book:  224 pages     

Yes, the author is the brother of Deepak Chopra.    He points out his findings on how to improve your life, your health, your metabolism virtually everything by implementing these 5 things in your daily routine:   Meditate 15 to 30 minutes daily whether that means being in a religious meditation or tuning into your own breathing and letting your mind rest from all the daily stress - it will tune you in to your most calm self.    He says if you can mediate twice daily like he does, you will be in an even better place.    Take Vitamin D3 supplements as American tend not to get enough sunshine in their lives so his recommendation is go out into the free sunshine and soak up all those delicious rejuvenating rays of pure Vitamin D or if that is not your favorite thing to do, then go for Vitamin D3 supplements.   He says Vitamin D is good but Vitamin D3 is like turbo charging your system.   Exercise at least 30 minutes 4 times a week though every day is even better,  and last but not least – Eat Nuts.    Any kind of nuts.   Peanuts, cashews, pecans, walnuts, almonds, pistachios – if it is a nut it is going to do good things to your body.     He said often diet gurus will tell you if you are hungry to eat a handful of nuts – and this is why – nuts contain the good fat your body needs, not the transfat in a bag of chips or cookies, etc.   Also, nuts are like little engines that will rev your energy level once you eat them.    A natural energy boost.    And number 5 is in the Big 5 is drink coffee daily.    I know, it’s like Whaaaaat?    Coffee is o.k.?    Not only that, but he recommends up to 6 cups a day.    He goes in to all the great attributes of coffee and how it helps the body fight the major cancers,  Breast, liver, pancreatic, etc.    He cites examples from world-wide studies done over the years and builds a very convincing case for his theories though he has been laughed at over the years by various colleagues for promoting free cures (sunshine, etc.) rather than pharmaceutical ones.   There are some truly amazing findings to be considered here.  Dr. Chopra says these five things especially when done together will keep you mentally, spiritually and physically in tip top shape and help you to be able to focus, to de-stress, to feel better in general and to be able to take all this good feeling from home to work then home again and still be feeling at your optimum level and if you do it right, none of it is going to cost you much at all– sunshine is free, walking is free, meditating is free, o.k. you have to buy the coffee and nuts but that is still cheaper than buying pharmaceuticals.    As an extra bonus he adds toward the end of the book that the reader should take an aspirin a day if your system can tolerate it or at least carry one with you at all times in case of a medical emergency such as a heart attack.   Aspirin thins the blood keeping it from clotting so that blood clots can’t form, break off lodge in your brain and cause massive strokes/heart attacks and possibly death.    He didn’t add it to the Big 5 because some people are allergic to aspirin or their systems just cannot tolerate taking lysergic acid diethylamide (aspirin).   For some individuals depending on your biological makeup aspirin could prove hazardous, but, he recommends checking with your doctor to find if it is doable for you – he thinks aspirin is a real miracle cure in its life saving properties.    Very good book.  

Head Strong

Head Strong by Dave Asprey                Audio book: 10 hours, 41 mins    Hardback Book:  352 pages                                         

Dave Asprey plans to live to be 180 years old and says it is totally realistic to believe he can by following biohacks to upgrade his brain power and his total overall body fitness and health and it all is done through food.   Dave is one of the tech savvy Silicon Valley guys hired as a teenage computer hacker now he is following up by bio hacking his body to find the perfect hack for his own and all people’s biology.    He explains how in two weeks anyone can boost their brain power to work faster to get out of that morning fog to think clearly and to have thoughts rapid firing through all those neurons in our heads.   Not only that but he explains how people can save themselves from what he calls kryptonite – the stuff that zaps our bodies just like kryptonite depletes Superman of his strength and life force.     He talks a lot about mitochondria – the cellular level engines we can supercharge to gain precise focus, eliminate cravings and turbo charge the way we feel and go through life instead of slogging along on the S.A.D. (standard American diet) we do now.   He tells how to eliminate mood swings, temper tantrums and malaise.    And all this great buzz can last from when you begin to carry you to a healthier far later age than currently thought possible (he cites the oldest person known to have lived to 256 with documented proof.)   He says there is no reason Alzheimers has to happen to anyone.   Joint pain, arthritis, osteoporosis does not have to happen to people if they heed his findings through neuroscience basically learning how your brain actually works and adapting lifestyle modifications to aid the brain instead of harming it like we currently do.   He offers solutions for everyone from neurobiology.   He also cites environmental poisons that affect our brains and how we can eliminate this factor from destroying our brains and bodies by causing inflammation in our cells that we until now have not recognized as inflammation.     He basically tells you how to hotwire your brain by telling what to eat what foods to avoid and how to give your body a detox through the proper kind of physical activity, meditation, proper breathing techniques even to how to enhance your home environment through simple adjustments in lighting and in your work space to enhance brain activity.    He is the author of two other books on the subject and I am impressed enough with his ideas to check those out, too.    He does go a bit extreme at times but it is because he has done his research and found what works.    An enlightening read.