50 Secrets of the World's Longest Living People

As we age the more we search for the mythical “Fountain of Youth.” Indeed, we become aware of our own mortality the older we become. When I saw this (50 Secrets of the world’s longest living people by Sally Beare) book advertised on Amazon for a good price I immediately purchased it. This 294 page hardcover volume does not promise any cures for aging but it does provide excellent solid advice on what things you can do to achieve good health into old age. The evidence for these “50 secrets” came from studies done on the five areas of the world where people seem to live the longest. They are the island of Okinawa, the Greek down of Symi, the villages of Campodimele, Hunza and Bama. The second part of this book covers the fifty secrets in depth and includes things like fresh air, exercise, proper diet and numerous other topics. The final part puts all the information together and also has aging substances to avoid and tips for using the secrets. If you are interested in how you can be more healthy and active as you age this book is for you. Many of the tips are common sense and have been written about before; however, there is a lot of information that most people do not know concerning aging and health. This book was a good read. Rating: 5 Stars. Joseph J. Truncale (Author: Haiku Moments: How to read, write and enjoy haiku).

I first read this book not long after it came out, I guess. My mom bought it, and when I picked it up, it was hard to put it down. After that, I frequently referred back to the book to read small chunks of it. After I finished college and was out on my own, I bought my own personal copy of the book, and all these years later, I still refer to it frequently. Sally Beare did her homework with this book...traveling to various locations to find the secrets of longevity of various long-lived populations around the world. The way she explains it all makes sense. It's very practical, and very easy to read. She also has some recipes, as well as some strategies for implementing the secrets she's discussed. If you want to be healthy and increase your quality and quantity of life, this book seriously needs to be in your library. As a personal trainer, health/fitness blogger, columnist and author, I highly recommend it. I'll be referring to it myself for years and years to come, I'm sure.

If people would take the advice of this book, then we would be a much healthier and less FAT nation of sickly people. If you would eat as this book recommends or as the centenarians described in this book do, you would not have to go on a diet or take pills or even see your dr, you would naturally loose weight and feel great. The book starts with a description of 5 countries with the longest living people:Okinawa,Symi,Campodimele,Hunza and Bama. Then the author has done the homework for you. The 50 secrets are a combination of these peoples nutrition and lifestyle. The book ends with a summary, substances to avoid, and tips along with some recipes from each of the countries described in the book. You won't be disappointed. If you are serious about eating to live, not living to eat then by all means you will enjoy this book. Get one for your dr. too. This book should sit in all the waiting rooms at drs offices!

I've read most of the many favorable reviews. Hard to argue with them. But if you've already read a lot of material about how to live longer there's not much here that will be new. It's a good review of how you should arrange your life to increase the chances you will live longer. If I were asked to recommend a book on longevity this one would be fine. If I were asked to teach a class on the subject I might use this as my text. But I found myself a tad disappointed. I was hoping for some new ideas and got very few. 75-80% of the book concerns diet and that's really important. And she tells you exactly what to eat and how to prepare it. Great. But there ARE weaknesses. I'd like to see more on socialization and exercise. Some folks have no idea how to get into those things. Talk more about book clubs, taking classes in pottery or community gardening. Talk about silver sneaker exercise clubs. Tell people where to find a gym and what to look for when you get there. Talk about water-aerobics classes or where to find a pool and taking swimming lessons. Diet is important but getting out there is too and many folks I know just don't know how to do it.

Although it's impossible to be completely objective, I think this author did a great job. I felt like the data was presented objectively and clearly, and in an engaging format. I enjoy re-reading this book, and it always inspires me to be healthier. (Although, I always end up a bit depressed when I can never manage to be as healthy as they all are, lol.) I would have liked to read a bit more about how often they had treats and what they were specifically, so I could get an idea of what I should aim for. But that's a very minor complaint.

I noticed how many popular health and wellness doctors quote information from Beare's book. This is an outstandingly researched topic and very useful to have as a reference in your home. Find out why singing around the house is as good for you as favoring larger portions of vegetables at mealtime and many more secrets to a long and healthy life.

This book is amazing, and so is Sally! I have spent countless hours reading it and learning from it as I am hoping to take a similar journey of my own. It is a perfect mix of being informative (well, fascinating!) while also being incredibly pleasurable to read. Sally was incredibly helpful in answering my questions and her knowledge is clearly so deep and heartfelt. I recommend this book a thousand times over! - Sarah

A necessary book to add to the growing catalogue of health, lifestyle and longevity literature. I'm very glad Beare researched, wrote and published it. Straightforward writing that quickly gets to the point, which is just my preference for a book dealing with factual information. Interesting, packed full of information and a relatively quick read. The downside is that the book feels a bit like an expanded internet article or blog site, which is more and more common these days. Still though, at $9.00 for the Kindle version, I can't complain too much.