When your good daily decisions outweigh your poor ones, you increase your chances of growing old in better health. So Tom Rath tells us, and he's had a while to work it out, because he was diagnosed with a rare condition aged sixteen; this means that tumours continue to develop all through his body. He has been learning constantly how to reduce the chances of them growing large enough to require operations and to keep his health as strong as possible. Now he's put his lessons together in a way which aims to make us all think about our daily lives - and how we can enjoy them for longer.

EAT MOVE SLEEP are the three basic tenets of this book, and while the advice does not replace current medicine, it does appear well-researched and simple. With chapter headings like 'Save the cake for your birthday', 'Feast at sunrise, fast at sunset' and 'Look younger with each step' the book suggests positive actions we can all choose to take even occasionally. Low-fat diets or processed foods tend to be high in sugars while inactive office lifestyles and lack of sleep make body and brain processes sluggish. Professor Ericsson's study of elite performers which found that greatness in any field was achieved after 10,000 hours of practice, also found that they needed more than eight hours' sleep per night.

Rath discovered that the healthily grilled meats he enjoyed were covered in barbecue sauces that were almost pure sugar. He switched to enjoying the taste of the natural food. A shortcut for nutritional labels is to buy foods with one gram of carbs to one gram of protein. Rath wrote his books while standing, or walking on a treadmill with a self-mounted monitor and keyboard. Either raises the metabolism above the sitting rate. He encourages us to eat lunch outdoors or use a break to walk. He says that sugar is a toxin which fuels the growth of cancer cells and encourages diabetes. By contrast the value of fresh fruits and vegetables is well proven. Eat smaller and healthier servings, and cut down on processed carbohydrates. When Rath ate almost exclusively meat, his tumours grew faster. He has replaced some of that protein with fish, nuts and seeds. Bring healthier food to gatherings, he suggests, instead of chips or cakes; don't feel obliged to order a dessert because others do.

The lessons in the lengthy investigative book Salt Sugar Fat, released earlier this year, are all present, but in simpler form, easier to read, with chapter-by chapter steps or goals. Certainly there is every reason to be aware of simple lifestyle choices which can improve our long-term health. I recommend EAT MOVE SLEEP to today's busy consumers, to those who can't be bothered with diets and gyms, or who want to raise a healthy, smart family.