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Saturday, December 31, 2011

Doc: Dr. Andrew Weil's Healthy Aging

Dr. Andrew Weil's Healthy Aging may not have been what I expected, but in the end, that was a good thing.

I'll be honest, I kinda thought this doc would be about growing old gracefully - avoiding winkles, gray hair, packing on the pounds, etc.

In reality, this doc has substance!

Weil's starts out by dispelling the popular myths of aging, then he goes into diet & lifestyle changes that facilitate aging well.

He reminds us that age and disease do not go hand in hand.  That cognitive decline, heart disease, etc. are not natural aspects of aging.

That our goal is to live long and well; not reverse the aging process, which is in opposition to nature.

And the biggest lesson I took from this doc is that our number one goal is to have the shortness period of disability into the decline of health just before death.

This last point makes me think of my two grandfathers.  One suffered a long, tedious illness that left him bed ridden, robbing him of his quality of life until his eventual death.  Suffering that took a toll on the entire family - a toll, which my father never got over.  The other died peacefully in his sleep at age 99.  I can only imagine how different the lives of these two men were.

A doc definitely worth watching, check it out!

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