In college, I ran against Kenyans, and wondered whether endurance genes might have traveled with them from East Africa. At the same time, I began to notice that a training group on my team could consist of five men who run next to one another, stride for stride, day after day, and nonetheless turn out five entirely different runners. How could this be?We all knew a star athlete in high school. The one who made it look so easy. He was the starting quarterback and shortstop; she was the all-state point guard and high-jumper. Naturals. Or were they?The debate is as old as physical competition. Are stars like Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, and Serena Williams genetic freaks put on Earth to dominate their respective sports? Or are they simply normal people who overcame their biological limits through sheer force of will and obsessive training?The truth is far messier than a simple dichotomy between nature and nurture. In the decade since the sequencing of the human genome, researchers have slowly begun to uncover how the relationship between biological endowments and a competitor’s training environment affects athleticism. Sports scientists have gradually entered the era of modern genetic research.In this controversial and engaging exploration of athletic success, Sports Illustrated senior writer David Epstein tackles the great nature vs. nurture debate and traces how far science has come in solving this great riddle. He investigates the so-called 10,000-hour rule to uncover whether rigorous and consistent practice from a young age is the only route to athletic excellence.Along the way, Epstein dispels many of our perceptions about why top athletes excel. He shows why some skills that we assume are innate, like the bullet-fast reactions of a baseball or cricket batter, are not, and why other characteristics that we assume are entirely voluntary, like an athlete’s will to train, might in fact have important genetic components.This subject necessarily involves digging deep into sensitive topics like race and gender. Epstein explores controversial questions such as:Are black athletes genetically predetermined to dominate both sprinting and distance running, and are their abilities influenced by Africa’s geography?Are there genetic reasons to separate male and female athletes in competition?Should we test the genes of young children to determine if they are destined for stardom?Can genetic testing determine who is at risk of injury, brain damage, or even death on the field?Through on-the-ground reporting from below the equator and above the Arctic Circle, revealing conversations with leading scientists and Olympic champions, and interviews with athletes who have rare genetic mutations or physical traits, Epstein forces us to rethink the very nature of athleticism.

    This new edition is fully updated with fresh insights and innovative training techniques from one of the sport's leading voices. Danny Dreyer teaches us how to heal and prevent injuries and also to run faster, farther, and with much less effort at any age or ability.With more than 150,000 copies in print, this groundbreaking program makes running safe and fun for beginning and seasoned runners, while also giving competitive runners the edge they seek. ChiRunning employs the deep power reserves in the core muscles, an approach found in disciplines such as yoga, Pilates, and in this case T'ai Chi. Make knee pain and shin splints a thing of the past Experience the natural efficiency of the midfoot strike Dramatically reduce your potential for injury Transform your running with our new 10-step training program ChiRunning provides powerful insight and transforms running from a high-injury sport to a body-friendly fitness phenomenon. Join the revolution!

    Becker, M.D., a pioneer in the field of bioelectric science, presents a fascinating look at the role electricity plays in healing, challenging the traditional mechanistic model of the body. Colorful and controversial, this is a tale of engrossing research, scientific and medical politics, and breakthrough discoveries that offer new possibilities for fighting disease and harnessing the body's healing powers.

    Now, a new edition addresses current developments in cancer research and offers more tips on how people living with cancer can fight it and how healthy people can prevent it. The new edition of Anticancer includes: � The latest research on anticancer foods, including new alternatives to sugar and cautions about some that are now on the market � New information about how vitamin D strengthens the immune system � Warnings about common food contaminants that have recently been proven to contribute to cancer progression � A new chapter on mind-body approaches to stress reduction, with recent studies that show how our reactions to stress can interfere with natural defenses and how friendships can support healing in ways never before understood � A groundbreaking study showing that lifestyle modification, as originally proposed in Anticancer, reduces mortality for breast cancer by an astounding 68 percent after completion of treatment � New supporting evidence for the entire Anticancer program

    When Dr. Benson introduced this approach to relieving stress over forty years ago, his book became an instant national bestseller. Since that time, millions of people have learned the secret—without high-priced lectures or prescription medicines. The Relaxation Response has become the classic reference recommended by most health care professionals and authorities to treat the harmful effects of stress and high blood pressure.Discovered by Dr. Benson and his colleagues in the laboratories of Harvard Medical School and its teaching hospitals, this revitalizing, therapeutic tack is now routinely recommended to treat patients suffering from stress, including heart conditions, high blood pressure, chronic pain, insomnia, and many other physical and psychological ailments. It requires only minutes to learn, and just ten minutes of practice a day.

    Forty-four million Americans suffer from low bone mass, and osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures annually. Drugs and surgeries can alleviate pain, but study after study has shown that exercise is the best treatment, specifically low-impact, bone-strengthening exercises—hence, yoga.In this comprehensive and thoroughly illustrated guide, Loren Fishman and Ellen Saltonstall, who between them have seven decades of clinical experience, help readers understand osteoporosis and give a spectrum of exercises for beginners and experts. Classical yoga poses, as well as physiologically sound adapted poses, are presented with easy-to-follow instructions and photographs. The authors welcome readers of all ages and levels of experience into the healing and strengthening practice of yoga.

    And certainly no one wants to overeat for years, become overweight, and end up with a high risk of diabetes or heart disease--yet two thirds of Americans do precisely that. Even though we know better, we often eat too much. Why does our behavior betray our own intentions to be lean and healthy? The problem, argues obesity and neuroscience researcher Stephan J. Guyenet, is not necessarily a lack of willpower or an incorrect understanding of what to eat. Rather, our appetites and food choices are led astray by ancient, instinctive brain circuits that play by the rules of a survival game that no longer exists. And these circuits don’t care about how you look in a bathing suit next summer.To make the case, The Hungry Brain takes readers on an eye-opening journey through cutting-edge neuroscience that has never before been available to a general audience. The Hungry Brain delivers profound insights into why the brain undermines our weight goals and transforms these insights into practical guidelines for eating well and staying slim. Along the way, it explores how the human brain works, revealing how this mysterious organ makes us who we are.

    Lieberman illuminates how these ongoing changes have brought many benefits, but also have created novel conditions to which our bodies are not entirely adapted, resulting in a growing incidence of obesity and new but avoidable diseases, including type-2 diabetes. He proposes that many of these chronic illnesses persist and in some cases are intensifying because of "dysevolution," a pernicious dynamic whereby only the symptoms rather than the causes of these maladies are treated. And finally—provocatively—he advocates the use of evolutionary information to help nudge, push, and sometimes oblige us to create a more salubrious environment.(With charts and line drawings throughout.)From the Hardcover edition.

    Qigong is an ancient practice for harnessing Qi and increasing one's vitality (Tai Chi is one of the best-known forms of Qigong). This book explains the concept behind Qigong and describes how to incorporate it into your daily life in order to awaken your life force and experience better health. The author reveals how Qigong can help you improve your health, stress management, longevity, peak performance, wellness and attainment of inner peace.

    Everywhere we turn, someone is preaching the “One True Way” to eat for maximum health. Paleo Diet advocates tell us that all foods less than 12,000 years old are the enemy. Low-carb gurus demonize carbs, then there are the low-fat prophets. But they agree on one thing: there is only one true way to eat for maximum health. The first clue that that is a fallacy is the sheer variety of diets advocated. Indeed, while all of these competing views claim to be backed by “science,” a good look at actual nutritional science itself suggests that it is impossible to identify a single best way to eat. Fitzgerald advocates an agnostic, rational approach to eating habits, based on one’s own habits, lifestyle, and genetics/body type. Many professional athletes already practice this “Good Enough” diet, and now we can too and ditch the brainwashing of these diet cults for good.

    Its authorship is attributed to the great Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, who reigned during the third millennium BCE. This new translation consists of the eighty-one chapters of the section of the Neijing known as the Suwen, or "Questions of Organic and Fundamental Nature." (The other section, called the Lingshu, is a technical book on acupuncture and is not included here.) Written in the form of a discourse between Huang Di and his ministers, The Yellow Emperor's Classic of Medicine contains a wealth of knowledge, including etiology, physiology, diagnosis, therapy, and prevention of disease, as well as in-depth investigation of such diverse subjects as ethics, psychology, and cosmology. All of these subjects are discussed in a holistic context that says life is not fragmented, as in the model provided by modern science, but rather that all the pieces make up an interconnected whole. By revealing the natural laws of this holistic universe, the book offers much practical advice on how to promote a long, happy, and healthy life. The original text of the Neijing presents broad concepts and is often brief with details. The translator's elucidations and interpretations, incorporated into the translation, help not only to clarify the meaning of the text but also to make it a highly readable narrative for students—as well as for everyone curious about the underlying principles of Chinese medicine.

    This distinctive text was developed to stand apart from all other A&P texts with unparalleled art, a writing style that has been acclaimed by both users and reviewers and clinical coverage that offers the perfect balance without being too much. Saladin's well-accepted organization of topics is based upon the most logical physiological ties between body systems. This text requires no prior knowledge of college chemistry or cell biology, and is designed for a two-semester A&P college course.

    No doctor’s appointments. No health limitations. Imagine your body to return into shape that is healthiest for it. Without your willpower. Otakara Klettke shares in her book Hear Your Body Whisper, How to Unlock Your Self-Healing Mechanism how she has learned to communicate with her body. From a sick childhood and constant health limitations, the author spent first 20 years of her life often being bound to a hospital or home in bed. When she slowly discovered that there is a way to communicate with her body her life turned around. Hear Your Body Whisper is a result of obsessive research, personal experience, and rediscovering the connection between our body and mind that naturally exists in every one of us. Otakara Klettke separates her mind and soul from her body. She explains that your body is filled with trillions of microorganisms that are responsible for the well-being of your body. By understanding your body’s inhabitants, you can guide them to address acute and chronic diseases. Your body will also settle in the body shape it is meant to be naturally. Mind-body connection has never been so clear! No doctor or healer is able to listen to your body since they do not reside in it. You can and you should! Rooted in science this book offers a mindful way to love, respect and celebrate your body. Using Hippocrates methods and combining them with modern research you can offer your body to reach its potential! Many people understand the importance of loving and respecting their bodies but they are at a loss when it comes to unconditional love. This book is your peace flag that will end the war between your body and your mind. You will not have to follow any specific diet or be prompt to turn into herbivore from an omnivore or the other way around. Hear Your Body Whisper is a positive and loving approach to gain trust in your body which results in returning your body into self-healing mode it is meant to be. In this book you will learn · How to get rid of toxins in your body. · How to switch to organic food without increasing your food budget. · How to meditate. · How to use mindfulness to understand your body’s unique language. · How to ask your body a favor and not gain any weight when you want to feast on big meals. · How to check in with your body to be aware of your health. · How to exercise a few minutes every day and be happy doing it. This book was written on behalf of your body. Nobody is a better adviser for your body than your body itself. It’s your time to hear it!

    The microbiota interacts with our bodies in a number of powerful ways; the Sonnenburgs argue that it determines in no small part whether we’re sick or healthy, fit or obese, sunny or moody. The microbiota has always been with us, and in fact has coevolved with humans, entwining its functions with ours so deeply, the Sonnenburgs show us, humans are really composite organisms having both microbial and human parts. But now, they argue, because of changes to diet, antibiotic over-use, and over-sterilization, our gut microbiota is facing a “mass extinction event,” which is causing our bodies to go haywire, and may be behind the mysterious spike in some of our most troubling modern afflictions, from food allergies to autism, cancer to depression. It doesn’t have to be this way.The Good Gut offers a new plan for health that focuses on how to nourish your microbiota, including recipes and a menu plan. In this groundbreaking work, the Sonnenburgs show how we can keep our microbiota off the endangered species list and how we can strengthen the community that inhabits our gut and thereby improve our own health. The answer is unique for each of us, and it changes as you age. In this important and timely investigation, the Sonnenburgs look at safe alternatives to antibiotics; dietary and lifestyle choices to encourage microbial health; the management of the aging microbiota; and the nourishment of your own individual microbiome. Caring for our gut microbes may be the most important health choice we can make.

    Jason Fung forever changed the way we think about obesity with his best-selling book, The Obesity Code. Now he has set out to do the same for type 2 diabetes.Today, most doctors, dietitians, and even diabetes specialists consider type 2 diabetes to be a chronic and progressive disease—a life sentence with no possibility of parole. But the truth, as Dr. Fung reveals in this paradigm-shifting book, is that type 2 diabetes is reversible. Writing with clear, persuasive language, he explains why conventional treatments that rely on insulin or other blood-glucose-lowering drugs can actually exacerbate the problem, leading to significant weight gain and even heart disease. The only way to treat type 2 diabetes effectively, he argues, is proper dieting and intermittent fasting—not medication.