The Longevity Book: The Science of Aging, the Biology of Strength, and the Privilege of Time

by Cameron Díaz, Sandra Bark

Cameron Diaz follows up her #1 New York Times bestseller, The Body Book, with a personal, practical, and authoritative guide that examines the art and science of growing older and offers concrete steps women can take to create abundant health and resilience as they age.

Cameron Diaz wrote The Body Book to help educate young women about how their bodies function, empowering them to make better-informed choices about their health and encouraging them to look beyond the latest health trends to understand their bodies at the cellular level. She interviewed doctors, scientists, nutritionists, and a host of other experts, and shared what she’d learned—and what she wished she’d known twenty years earlier.

Now Cameron continues the journey she began, opening a conversation with her peers on an essential topic that that for too long has been taboo in our society: the aging female body. In The Longevity Book, she shares the latest scientific research on how and why we age, synthesizing insights from top medical experts and with her own thoughts, opinions, and experiences.

The Longevity Book explores what history, biology, neuroscience, and the women’s health movement can teach us about maintaining optimal health as we transition from our thirties to midlife. From understanding how growing older impacts various bodily systems to the biological differences in the way aging effects men and women; the latest science on telomeres and slowing the rate of cognitive decline to how meditation heals us and why love, friendship, and laughter matter for health, The Longevity Book offers an all-encompassing, holistic look at how the female body ages—and what we can all do to age better.

Without sugarcoating the hard facts—a sixty-year-old body is different than a thirty-five-year-old body, no matter how much yoga you do—or romanticizing the upside—wisdom comes with age, if you live your life wisely—Cameron offers women a compassionate, informative, and intimate tour through the next stage of life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Health, Self Help, Audiobook, Science, Adult, Education

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 5, 2016

About the author

Cameron Díaz is an American actress and former model. She rose to prominence during the 1990s with roles in the movies The Mask, My Best Friend's Wedding and There's Something About Mary. Other high-profile credits include the two Charlie's Angels films, voicing the character Princess Fiona in the Shrek series, Any Given Sunday, Knight and Day, The Holiday, The Green Hornet and Bad Teacher.

Díaz has received four Golden Globe Award nominations for her performances in the movies, Being John Malkovich, Vanilla Sky, Gangs of New York, and There's Something About Mary for which she also won the New York Film Critics Best Lead Actress Award. She is also a BAFTA Nominee. In 2013, Díaz was named the highest paid actress over 40 in Hollywood

Reviews

[Sher❤ The Fabulous BookLover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally a book that celebrates aging! As I’m nearing my mid-thirties I’ve been thinking a bit about the process of aging. I’m not afraid of aging, possibly because my 60 year old mother doesn’t look a day over 32. So I think about aging not in a bad way, but in a “OMG-I’M-ALMOST-40 way!”

Aging will happen whether we like it or not, but decisions we make early on can decide just how well we age. I’m a sucker for health info and I loved all of the information in this book. There’s a famous scripture “The people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge.” I feel those words are the essential truth when it comes to aging and taking care of ourselves. The more you know, the better the possibility of living a long, healthy abundant life.

”Longevity is a gift we should all be celebrating. The more years you have enjoyed, the more time you have lived, the more chances you have been given. Chances to take on possibilities and create your own life story. Instead of dreading midlife, instead of fearing forty or fifty, or whatever the magic number is to you, decide how to honor it and own it.”

[Tan Markovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was actually fully invested in this and really didn't expect to be! Rtc

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

posted here: https://entertainmentrealm.com/2016/0...

How does Cameron Diaz start every day? She brushes her teeth, drinks one liter of water, meditates, eats breakfast and works out. I didn’t read The Body Book. I know that her discussion of poop and body hair received lots of press. Both important and I was glad that her book encouraged discussion. I’m quite in touch with my body, its functions and the body-mind connection. One has to be with mental illness. That doesn’t mean I look or feel perfect or that my body isn’t showing and feeling signs of aging. There’s more gray hair at 46 at more creaks and cracks. The Longevity Book focuses on aging—what happens to our body as we age, how we can feel good in our aging bodies and how we might increase our lifetime longevity. Cameron Diaz and her writing partner Sandra Bark conducted thorough research on the subject. They spoke to scientists, researchers, educators and doctors throughout the country at universities and research centers, including National Institutes for Health [NIH]. If you’ve taken a biology or Anatomy and Physiology class some details will be familiar. Definitely worth a review. Throughout these pages the authors effectively explain stem cells, disease risk factors, genes, cells, the immune system, nutrition and menopause.

The Longevity Book is divided into three parts—The Scenic Route: Living in the Age of Longevity; Steep Grades, Sharp Curves: The Biology of Aging; and You are Here: The Art and Science of Living Longer. The book reads quite conversationally. It’s packed with useful information, reminders and facts. Here’s the truth on how women age, what’s expected of women in our society and how changing dynamics and life expectancy combined with new technologies will change the way we live and live long. As someone looking for work and being interviewed by many twentysomethings, I could relate to this: “Traditional hierarchies may be overturned. Many older people may find themselves taking lower-level positions, reporting to people who are actually their junior in age but their senior in authority.” The Longevity Book serves as a handy reference guide for women. Kudos to Cameron Diaz to get women talking about their health. It’s such an important and integral topic.

received this from Harper Collins for review purposes.

--amy steele

[Roxanne Meek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally!!! A book that celebrates women aging. Not an anti-aging beauty book- not just a celebrity preaching nutrition and exercise ( although that is in it- it has to be to age well and she doesn't preach), but a book that makes me glad to be almost 55. A book that explains the science of aging and most of all celebrates the journey we've made to get here and the unexpected places we have yet to discover. What a privilege it is indeed to be a woman in my fifties and to be inspired to live my best life now, or 10 years from now. A must read for women of every age but especially for women in their 40's and beyond!!!

[Katy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through GoodReads FirstReads.

I'll admit to skimming parts of the book. Not a bad book, but not a great book either. I may not be the right audience either. She talks about aging at 40 -- been there, done that. Some good, some fads, some true science, but nothing new here for me. But it may be a book that helps others as they near 40 to not stress about aging.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it :) Feels like you're sitting down with Cameron Diaz and she really cares about your well being and wants to help you. I imagine us sitting in her chic apartment overlooking New York with a glass of red wine in our hands and she's teaching me a million things about ageing. (Inspired vision from the movie The Other Woman haha).

She discusses the social and psychological impact of growing older as well as biological statistics and biological scientific facts and explanations on why and how we age and what can go wrong and what to watch out for. She gives great tips all along the way to stay healthy.

The beginning was all about really accepting your age, don't be focused on being vain and how you look because it's all about how you feel and what you radiate into the universe that others find beautiful. You can't compare the beauty of a 60 year old to a 20 year old because it's not apples to apples. Everyone is beautiful in there own way and at their own age.

Stem cells is the future of regenerative health in the future! Stem cells can transform themselves into any cell the body offers! Whichever cell is needed! This is so interesting haha maybe one day we can actually be Shape Shifters and change ourselves into someone or something else. Or at least slow or stop the aging process.

A positive attitude in general increased your life expectancy, especially if you're positive about the ageing process.

Zygotes and cellular respiration and cell duplication and antioxidants oh my..

This book shows all the possible degenerative diseases (osteoporosis), cancers (breast cancer), etc that women are specifically at risk for and at what age.

Ultimately if you eat balanced nutritious meals, exercise, don't smoke, get restful sleep, don't stress too much, and are socially connected on a daily basis you'll live a healthy long life :) If you have a nice genome too :P

This book is like a textbook and I'm a student in Mrs. Diaz's class haha This past chapter was all on menopause. 99% of the chapter on menopause I had no idea about so that was really interesting.

STOP SMOKING

Manage stress by meditating daily. There's many types of meditation and it's important to find the one that suits you. Clear your mind from the constant chatter about past and future and just be in the now.

Learning and new experiences help the brain to grow, develop and to prevent Alzheimer's and dementia. So go learn a new language, go travel, try axe throwing lol keep that brain actively creating new neurons and neurotransmitters and synapses. Oh and listen and play music too ;P

[Adrienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Superb. A book to explain the aging process. A plain language guide to understanding what happens as we age. How best to maximize the time we all get.
The National Institutes of Health was the university for Diaz and Bark. They spent a year doing their investigations aided by specialists in the various Institutes.
Superb Notes and Index sections.
So easy to read and understand.
Unputdownable.

[Tracy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable audiobook about a topic near and dear to my heart, aging. As I get older, I find that I want to better understand the science behind what is happening to my body. I realize that seeking out an actress as a source may seem odd, but I felt like the science was researched and meshed with what I knew from some of my other readings on the topic. If nothing else, this book will ensure that you know that smoking is not good for your health, at any age!

[Ashley Haley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every woman needs to read this book and learn about aging and enjoy aging 👌🏻

[Brooke — brooklynnnnereads · Rating 3 out of 5]

After reading, The Body Book by Cameron Diaz and Sandra Bark, I knew I wanted to read this book.

I really enjoyed reading The Body Book but I feel like the focus in that novel was largely on nutrition and fitness. With this novel, as much of both of those do have a huge component on longevity in life, I found the information provided was expanded to a more holistic outlook of the whole body.

This book was very informative, scientific, and I believe well-researched (I'm not a researcher so I can't be sure how well researched). The content was serious but I did not find it overly intimidating or scary which can be a possibility at looking at the discourse that can come with aging.

Overall, I really liked this book and I would recommend it to others who are aware and try to look after their health. Even others who are making that first step in trying to now make better changes.

I really liked the fact that this book wasn't about "anti-aging". Society as a whole can sometimes focus on youth and superficial beauty and look down at the aging process when in reality, aging is gift. You have been given the gift to live more. Some do not have that gift so it seems silly to me that we can become so obsessed on superficial beauty and get upset about wrinkles or the visual changes to show your age. This was a good book to read to encourage others to accept and embrace their age and look at the beauty in the experiences that they have had.

I'm hoping that this dynamic duo (Cameron Diaz and Sandra Bark) have more books in the works because I certainly will read them!

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

mostly skimmed yuck

[Lisa Burrington · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very fast and easy read. I unfortunately did not learn anything new. The information here is probably things you already know I was hoping for new research or things outside the box.

[Deacon Tom F. (Recovering from a big heart attack) · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book. I learned much about the woman’s body and men’s as well.

[Genevieve Cote · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this way more than I thought I would - I love that it celebrates aging and looks at it through a scientific lens (without being overly complex)

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m back. With another review of a celebrity book: Cameron Diaz’s The Longevity Book that follows on the heels of her The Body Book.

It doesn’t go on sale yet. It’s on an embargo at the library so it can’t be checked out until a certain date. As with all these embargoed books I read them before they go on sale and before they’re able to be checked out by library patrons.

The one good point about Cameron Diaz’s book is that she talks about menopause. I’ll be 51 this spring. She goes into an overview of what happens like hot flashes and cold sweats.

Ladies: I tell you: that accounts for why suddenly at nine o’clock at night I’m heated up and ten minutes later I’m breaking out in a cold sweat.

To be honest: there was nothing exceptional about the new Cameron Diaz book as compared to Christiane Northrup’s bible The Wisdom of Menopause. And the Mayo Clinic has a great DVD on menopause that I’m going to buy instead of reading the Northrup book (which I tried to read straight through and ended about 100 pages short of the end. The book clocked in at near 900 pages.)

I hear–you can ask your doctor to be safe–that taking two 400 mg Vitamin E pills helps with hot flashes. A woman who’s a few years older than me told me this.

Again: I do wish ordinary woman who want to speak their mind for others to hear would get book deals not just celebrities and other famous people.

Yes: I skimmed only the sections of The Longevity Book that interested me. What I read was impressive in its own way.

The book reports on–and I’ve reported elsewhere on–how maintaining social connections and friendships and other relationships as we head into our sunset years accounts for having better health and happiness.

Right now I’m reading sentence-by-sentence an utterly fascinating memoir that I’ll talk about early next week after I’m done reading it.

Right now I just want to crawl under the covers with a tub of Ben & Jerry’s.

[Becki Iverson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, once again I was pleasantly surprised by a Cameron Diaz book. Obviously she didn't write and research this entirely herself, but she did still put in a lot of effort. The tone is very conversational and accessible. Most importantly for this particular book is that Diaz has found a true niche, which is rare in this age of the internet.

How often do we really think about aging, aside from worrying about our looks? It's a really good question to ask, because short of an unexpected death almost all of us will encounter it. Diaz argues that rather than fear aging and refuse to acknowledge it, we are all much better off if we embrace it and learn to age as healthfully as possible. I am 100% on board with her philosophy and she does an awesome job of informing us in this book. There is a treasure trove of real information in here, and it's a fun read to-boot.

The Longevity Book is a book the health conscious world has been waiting for. It's geared towards women, but women and men can both learn a lot from Diaz's level headed approach to the relatively new science of longevity. It's a good reminder to take care of ourselves at every age and an impressive offering from a movie star usually categorized as rather shallow. I'd love to see more from Cameron- keep bringing it girl!

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cameron Diaz writes in her introduction that this isn't an anti-aging book, it's a book written to examine the aging process and how it affects women physically and emotionally. She aims to demystefy the aging process and make it something that is natural, rather than something to be feared. The book is kind of like an encyclopedia of aging. It goes through the different body systems and organs and explains how they change with time. She gives common-sense advice but nothing that you don't already know. It's not a book that will offer you something new or creative. It is a reference guide on the female body and how it changes with age, written in a positive way. Thanks to Goodreads and the publisher for the review copy.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Cameron Diaz is beautiful and I thought that she might describe how she ages so gracefully, but as the title indicates, it really is the scientific description of how we age. I ended up skimming through the majority of medical explanations and just reading the bolded highlights.

Obviously, time has been better to Cameron than it has been to me, but I was grateful that I haven't experienced all of the effects of aging that she has. The overall summary of the book is that there are 3 major factors contributing to how we age: diet, sleep, and exercise. Now tell me something I didn't already know.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the way Cameron Diaz writes these scientific books in an approachable way. I also really enjoyed the little vignettes about her life and how she's put into practice what she has learned.

However, this book was not as good as The Body Book. I felt that it got a little repetitive. The main theme (that rest, exercise, and eating right will make you live longer) was nothing I hadn't heard before.

Still, I enjoyed this, especially Cameron's narrative voice.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finished this book in the library parking lot by skimming the last 50 pages. This may have been because it was overdue or I had lost my interest - I'm going with a mix of both. I really admire Cameron Diaz as an actress and an author. I liked the basis and content of the book. I think she is making good use of her platform to encourage embracing your body.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The positive outcome of reading this book is that it has reminded me of the simple things that I can do that will increase my odds of greater longevity. The downside is that I didn’t learn a lot of new things. I have started “How Not to Die” and so far, this appears to have a deeper level of content that I have not read before.

[Kathy Heare Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look into the science of aging by Cameron Diaz.

Part I: The Scenic Route
Part II: Steep Grades, Sharp Curves
Part III: You Are Here

I won a copy of this book during a Goodreads giveaway. I am under no obligation to leave a review or rating and do so voluntarily. So that others may also enjoy this book, I am paying it forward by donating it to my local library.

[Diane B · Rating 3 out of 5]

The parts I enjoyed were where the tone turned more personal, but mostly this was a very factual read. It also seemed as though it were written by two different people, and maybe it is. I was hoping for inspiration and insight, but what was there was fleeting.

[Jaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

No she will not tell u about the next miraculous night cream to use. She tells you about how your body works and how to take care of it to age well. Albeit the book nearly turned into a biology text book, it is good to revise some old concept and add some newer ones to our knowledge bank.

[Tiffani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ingredients for healthy aging: fitness, (healthy food), seven hours a sleep a night, and social interaction. This was quite good. It's a good reminder of the importance of exercise, food, and the rest.

[Maria Chiper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely, lovely book! Very informative and educational. It's an essential reading for every girl and woman out there!
Even if you are young and know all of these informations, you could find something to help other women around you and consolidate your knowledge!

[Pinar G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acikcasi bildigimiz seyleri sarlatanlik yapmadan tekrar anlatiyor kitap. Orjinal degil ama okunabilir ozellikle kadinlar okusun.

[Jennie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Um no.

Poorly written and badly organized, I just felt like this was all unnecessary.

Too many other books on my to-read list.

Fun movie actor, not much of an author.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A quick and interesting read...

[Christy · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5. I loved the first chapter and the last chapter/epilogue. The rest confounds me on why Cameron Diaz felt she should be the author of a scientific book on aging.