"Simple steps to live a longer, healthier life"
Reviewed by Clare O'Beara
Posted September 13, 2013
Non-Fiction | Self-Help Health
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.
SUMMARY
Once in a while, a book comes along that changes how you think, feel, and act every day. In Eat Move Sleep, #1 New York Times bestselling author Tom Rath delivers a book that will improve your health for years to come. While Tom’s bestsellers on strengths and well-being have already inspired more than 5 million people in the last decade, Eat Move Sleep reveals his greatest passion and expertise. Quietly managing a serious illness for more than 20 years, Tom has assembled a wide range of information on the impact of eating, moving, and sleeping. Written in his classic conversational style, Eat Move Sleep features the most proven and practical ideas from his research. This remarkably quick read offers advice that is comprehensive yet simple and often counterintuitive but always credible. Eat Move Sleep will help you make good decisions automatic — in all three of these interconnected areas. With every bite you take, you will make better choices. You will move a lot more than you do today. And you will sleep better than you have in years. More than a book, Eat Move Sleep is a new way to live.
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