Periodic Fasting: Repair your DNA, Grow Younger, and Learn to Appreciate your Food


Cristian Vlad Zot - 2015
    One of the biggest fears of fasting is the fear hunger, the false hunger that most people are afraid of while depleting their glycogen stores (the body sugar storage). Fasting has often been associated with religious customs. It is time to define a line between the two. In Periodic Fasting, I embark on a timeless journey from the very beginning of life on Earth, through early human societies, through the middle Ages and into modern days to explore the concepts and practices of prolonged fasting and intermittent fasting (IF). Periodic Fasting is about: 1. My early life encounters with fasting in the small village of my grandparents (using a high-carb diet). 2. How primitive life-forms on Earth and fasting co-evolved; fasting in the animal kingdom. 3. Early hominid species, food restriction, and meal frequency. The first organized human societies and the switch between irregular feeding to regular dietary patterns. Circadian rhythmicity and meal timing. 4. The personal story of a man from the middle Ages who started consuming less food in his mid-thirties because of poor health and lived to 102 years (narrated by himself). 5. The dozens of prolonged fasting experiments in the beginning of the 20th century; fasting as a cure to many ailments. 6. How people can live without food for 139, 236 and even 382 days (medically supervised experiments). Details of 7-40 days fasts done by lean people for rejuvenation, detoxification and increased life span. 7. The emerging science and the studies of fasting from the mid-20th century (pathological implications - diabetes, obesity, CVD, cancer, and others). 8. How fasting and semi-starvation can be totally opposite: disturbing stories from the Second World War. 9. The molecular mechanisms of fasting: what happens when your body focuses on cell repair and tissue rejuvenation, instead of digesting food. 10. How the secretion of some hormones may be widely misunderstood: especially thyroid hormones and insulin. On muscle-loss phobia, mainstream media, and bro-science. 11. The modern-day science of prolonged fasting and intermittent fasting (AMPk, SIRT, FOXO, etc). 12. My personal prolonged water-only fasting experiment; insights into refeeding and realimentation after long-term fasting. 13. My 1 year and 3 months daily intermittent fasting protocol (still on-going). My ever-adapting exercising protocol (lifting), what I eat everyday, what supplements I use and what other cool strategies help me stay consistent and compliant with the protocol. 14. How I combine intermittent fasting (IF), a well formulated ketogenic diet, and calorie restriction to immensely increase the quality of my life, and paradoxically, never feel hungry; how energy levels and mood can increase if you correctly adopt a fasting protocol. Once armed with this knowledge, you will drastically alter your perspective about your body's limits.

First Aid for the USMLE Step 2 CK


Tao Le - 1999
    Written by medical students and reviewed by top faculty, this unique book provides practical, tested advice for acing the USMLE Step 2 CK.

Darkness Visible: A Memoir of Madness


William Styron - 1990
    Styron is perhaps the first writer to convey the full terror of depression's psychic landscape, as well as the illuminating path to recovery.

Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life


Nick Lane - 2005
    Indeed, these tiny structures inside our cells are important beyond imagining. Without mitochondria, we would have no cell suicide, no sculpting of embryonic shape, no sexes, no menopause, no aging.In this fascinating and thought-provoking book, Nick Lane brings together the latest research in this exciting field to show how our growing insight into mitochondria has shed light on how complex life evolved, why sex arose (why don't we just bud?), and why we age and die. These findings are of fundamental importance, both in understanding life on Earth, but also in controlling our own illnesses, and delaying our degeneration and death. Readers learn that two billion years ago, mitochondria were probably bacteria living independent lives and that their capture within larger cells was a turning point in the evolution of life, enabling the development of complex organisms. Lane describes how mitochondria have their own DNA and that its genes mutate much faster than those in the nucleus. This high mutation rate lies behind our aging and certain congenital diseases. The latest research suggests that mitochondria play a key role in degenerative diseases such as cancer. We also discover that mitochondrial DNA is passed down almost exclusively via the female line. That's why it has been used by some researchers to trace human ancestry daughter-to-mother, to "Mitochondrial Eve," giving us vital information about our evolutionary history.Written by Nick Lane, a rising star in popular science, Power, Sex, Suicide is the first book for general readers on the nature and function of these tiny, yet fascinating structures.

Defending the Cavewoman: And Other Tales of Evolutionary Neurology


Harold Klawans - 2000
    As a sympathetic brain detective, Klawans deduced a great deal from his patients, not only about the immediate causes of their ailments but also about the evolutionary underpinnings of their behaviour.

Molecules of Emotion: The Science Behind Mind-Body Medicine


Candace B. Pert - 1997
     Her pioneering research on how the chemicals inside our bodies form a dynamic information network, linking mind and body, is not only provocative, it is revolutionary. By establishing the biomolecular basis for our emotions and explaining these new scientific developments in a clear and accessible way, Pert empowers us to understand ourselves, our feelings, and the connection between our minds and our bodies -- body-minds -- in ways we could never possibly have imagined before. Molecules of Emotion is a landmark work, full of insight and wisdom and possessing that rare power to change the way we see the world and ourselves.

Unwinding Anxiety: New Science Shows How to Break the Cycles of Worry and Fear to Heal Your Mind


Judson Brewer - 2021
    Whether facing issues as public as a pandemic or as personal as having kids at home and fighting the urge to reach for the wine bottle every night, we are feeling overwhelmed and out of control. But in this timely book, Judson Brewer explains how to uproot anxiety at its source using brain-based techniques and small hacks accessible to anyone.We think of anxiety as everything from mild unease to full-blown panic. But it's also what drives the addictive behaviors and bad habits we use to cope (e.g. stress eating, procrastination, doom scrolling and social media). Plus, anxiety lives in a part of the brain that resists rational thought. So we get stuck in anxiety habit loops that we can't think our way out of or use willpower to overcome. Dr. Brewer teaches us map our brains to discover our triggers, defuse them with the simple but powerful practice of curiosity, and to train our brains using mindfulness and other practices that his lab has proven can work.Distilling more than 20 years of research and hands-on work with thousands of patients, including Olympic athletes and coaches, and leaders in government and business, Dr. Brewer has created a clear, solution-oriented program that anyone can use to feel better - no matter how anxious they feel.

How to Drive: Real World Instruction and Advice from Hollywood's Top Driver


Ben Collins - 2016
    And an absolute must for everyone with a learner's permit. Former Top Gear Stig and professional driver Ben Collins shares expert skills culled from a twenty year career as one of the best drivers in the world, famous for racing in the Le Mans series and NASCAR, piloting the Batmobile, and dodging bullets with James Bond. Refined over thousands of hours of elite-level performance in the physics of driving, his philosophy results in greater control and safer, more efficient and fun driving for all skill levels.

Zen Mind, Strong Body: How To Cultivate Advanced Calisthenic Strength--Using The Power Of "Beginner's Mind"


Al Kavadlo - 2015
    It’s also a philosophy that’s allowed Al to sculpt a magnificent physique—while maintaining an ever-burning passion to further develop his calisthenic excellence.Al’s “secret sauce”? A Zen-like attitude to physical cultivation—which marries intense focus with a light-hearted “joy-in-the-journey.” Zen-like too, is Al’s insistence on intuitive simplicity and his celebration of personal, direct experience as the most trustworthy teacher.Zen Mind, Strong Body culls 26 of Al’s favorite articles, elaborating his position on a wide spectrum of fitness subjects from diet and supplements, to machines and free weights, to cardio options, to mental training. For Al, though, all roads finally lead to Bodyweight Exercise—as the supreme path for all-around, everyday athleticism and practical functionality.Want what Al Kavadlo has? Absorb the hard-earned, earthy training wisdom in Zen Mind, Strong Body—and you will be on your way.Discover:•How to put the fun back into your fitness—instead of treating your workouts as a chore…•How to combine “presence” and joy—for a deeper, more rewarding training experience…•How “light heart” translates to “heavy payload”—when it comes to spectacular, long-term physical gains…•How to infuse “warrior spirit” into your body-mind—and attain the calisthenic ideal of physical excellence…•How to recruit the power of the “Big 3”—Experience, Logic and Intuition—as your preferred allies in the battle against weakness, fatness, slowness and tiredness…•Why to beware of the “Tricky 3”—Dogma, Faith and Science”—when it comes to wise practice in diet and exercise…•The empowering secret of “open-ended” program design—to free you from the shackles and restrictions of one-size-fits-all fitness shibboleths…•The key differences between gymnastics and calisthenics—when considering your optimal goals for physical development…•How to make impressive gains year-after-year—while staying off the “injured reserve” list…•How to marry fun and function—for athletic longevity and enhanced well being…•How to use your mind to manifest what you choose—including the body of your dreams...•The “Specificity Principle”—and the direct approach to getting better and better and better…•The hows and whys of building strength without mass—when whipcord-functionality is your goal…•The #1 factor to consider in practicing strength as a skill—it’s the difference between longterm success and the also-rans…•What “business” you need to focus on first—if being a lean ‘n mean machine is what you want…•Why “subtle nuance” can be more important than “gross motor”—when developing supreme movement skills…•The 5 major levels of bodyweight strength—so you know where you stand in the chain of greatness…•The 4 best bodyweight drills to emulate the benefits of the traditional deadlift—when you don’t want to bother with a barbell…•The

Cure: A Journey into the Science of Mind Over Body


Jo Marchant - 2016
    Recently, however, serious scientists from a range of fields have been uncovering evidence that our thoughts, emotions and beliefs can ease pain, heal wounds, fend off infection and heart disease and even slow the progression of AIDS and some cancers.In Cure, award-winning science writer Jo Marchant travels the world to meet the physicians, patients and researchers on the cutting edge of this new world of medicine. We learn how meditation protects against depression and dementia, how social connections increase life expectancy and how patients who feel cared for recover from surgery faster. We meet Iraq war veterans who are using a virtual arctic world to treat their burns and children whose ADHD is kept under control with half the normal dose of medication. We watch as a transplant patient uses the smell of lavender to calm his hostile immune system and an Olympic runner shaves vital seconds off his time through mind-power alone.Drawing on the very latest research, Marchant explores the vast potential of the mind's ability to heal, lays out its limitations and explains how we can make use of the findings in our own lives. With clarity and compassion, Cure points the way towards a system of medicine that treats us not simply as bodies but as human beings.

The Ten Types of Human: Who We Are and Who We Can Be


Dexter Dias - 2018
    In a way, you already know them. Only you don’t – not really. In a sense, they are you. Only they’re not entirely. They inform and shape the most important decisions in your life. But you’re almost certainly unaware of their intervention. They are the Ten Types of Human. Who are they? What are they for? How did they get into your head? We want to believe that there are some things we would never do. We want to believe that there are others we always would. But how can we be sure? What are our limits? Do we have limits?The answer lies with the Ten Types of Human: the people we become when we are faced with life's most difficult decisions. But who or what are these Types? Where do they come from? How did they get into our heads?The Ten Types of Human is a pioneering examination of human nature. It looks at the best and worst that human beings are capable of, and asks why. It explores the frontiers of the human experience, excavating the forces that shape our thoughts and actions in extreme situations. It begins in a courtroom and journeys across four continents and through the lives of some exceptional people, in search of answers.Mixing cutting-edge neuroscience, social psychology and visceral true stories, The Ten Types of Human is at once a provocation and a roadmap of the hidden parts of us. It is a book to inspire; to refashion our understanding of our many selves and semblances; and ultimately to find fresh ways to be free.

Inside the Outbreaks: The Elite Medical Detectives of the Epidemic Intelligence Service


Mark Pendergrast - 2010
    When an epidemic hits, the EIS will be there to crack the case, however mysterious or deadly, saving countless lives in the process. Over the years they have successfully battled polio, cholera, and smallpox, to name a few, and in recent years have turned to the epidemics killing us now--smoking, obesity, and gun violence among them.The successful EIS model has spread internationally: former EIS officers on the staff of the Centers for Disease Control have helped to establish nearly thirty similar programs around the world. EIS veterans have gone on to become leaders in the world of public health in organizations such as the World Health Organization."Inside the Outbreaks" takes readers on a riveting journey through the history of this remarkable organization, following Epidemic Intelligence Service officers on their globetrotting quest to eliminate the most lethal and widespread threats to the world's health.

Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever


Ray Kurzweil - 2009
    Their groundbreaking book marshaled thousands of scientific studies to make the case that new developments in medicine and technology will allow us to radically extend our life expectancies and slow down the aging process. Soon, our notion of what it means to be a 55-year-old will be as outdated as an eight-track tape player.  TRANSCEND: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever presents a practical, enjoyable program so that readers can live long enough (and remain healthy long enough) to take full advantage of the biotech and nanotech advances that have already begun and will be occurring at an accelerating pace during the years ahead. To help readers remember the nine key components of the program, Ray and Terry have arranged them into a mnemonic:  Talk with your doctor Relaxation Assessment Nutrition Supplementation Calorie reduction Exercise New technologies Detoxification  This easy-to-follow program will help readers transcend the boundaries of our genetic legacy and live long enough to live forever.

How to Be Yourself: Quiet Your Inner Critic and Rise Above Social Anxiety


Ellen Hendriksen - 2018
    You might say you're introverted or awkward, or that you're fine around friends but just can't speak up in a meeting or at a party. Maybe you're usually confident but have recently moved or started a new job, only to feel isolated and unsure.If you get nervous in social situations--meeting your partner's friends, public speaking, standing awkwardly in the elevator with your boss--you've probably been told, "Just be yourself!" But that's easier said than done--especially if you're prone to social anxiety.Weaving together cutting-edge science, concrete tips, and the compelling stories of real people who have risen above their social anxiety, Dr. Ellen Hendriksen proposes a groundbreaking idea: you already have everything you need to succeed in any unfamiliar social situation. As someone who lives with social anxiety, Dr. Hendriksen has devoted her career to helping her clients overcome the same obstacles she has. With familiarity, humor, and authority, Dr. Hendriksen takes the reader through the roots of social anxiety and why it endures, how we can rewire our brains through our behavior, and--at long last--exactly how to quiet your Inner Critic, the pesky voice that whispers, "Everyone will judge you." Using her techniques to develop confidence, think through the buzz of anxiety, and feel comfortable in any situation, you can finally be your true, authentic self.

Remember: The Science of Memory and the Art of Forgetting


Lisa Genova - 2021
    You might even be worried that these lapses in memory could be an early sign of Alzheimer's or dementia. In reality, for the vast majority of us, these examples of forgetting are completely normal. Why? Because while memory is amazing, it is far from perfect. Our brains aren't designed to remember every name we hear, plan we make, or day we experience. Just because your memory sometimes fails doesn't mean it's broken or succumbing to disease. Forgetting is actually part of being human. In Remember, neuroscientist and acclaimed novelist Lisa Genova delves into how memories are made and how we retrieve them. You'll learn whether forgotten memories are temporarily inaccessible or erased forever and why some memories are built to exist for only a few seconds (like a passcode) while others can last a lifetime (your wedding day). You'll come to appreciate the clear distinction between normal forgetting (where you parked your car) and forgetting due to Alzheimer's (that you own a car). And you'll see how memory is profoundly impacted by meaning, emotion, sleep, stress, and context. Once you understand the language of memory and how it functions, its incredible strengths and maddening weaknesses, its natural vulnerabilities and potential superpowers, you can both vastly improve your ability to remember and feel less rattled when you inevitably forget. You can set educated expectations for your memory, and in doing so, create a better relationship with it. You don't have to fear it anymore. And that can be life-changing.