The New York Times bestselling book coauthored by the Nobel Prize
winner who discovered telomerase and telomeres' role in the aging
process and the health psychologist who has done original research into
how specific lifestyle and psychological habits can protect telomeres,
slowing disease and improving life.
Have you wondered why some sixty-year-olds look and feel like
forty-year-olds and why some forty-year-olds look and feel like
sixty-year-olds? While many factors contribute to aging and illness, Dr.
Elizabeth Blackburn discovered a biological indicator called telomerase,
the enzyme that replenishes telomeres, which protect our genetic
heritage. Dr. Blackburn and Dr. Elissa Epel's research shows that the
length and health of one's telomeres are a biological underpinning of
the long-hypothesized mind-body connection. They and other scientists
have found that changes we can make to our daily habits can protect our
telomeres and increase our health spans (the number of years we remain
healthy, active, and disease-free).
The Telemere Effect reveals how Blackburn and Epel's findings,
together with research from colleagues around the world, cumulatively
show that sleep quality, exercise, aspects of diet, and even certain
chemicals profoundly affect our telomeres, and that chronic stress,
negative thoughts, strained relationships, and even the wrong
neighborhoods can eat away at them.
Drawing from this scientific body of knowledge, they share lists of
foods and suggest amounts and types of exercise that are healthy for our
telomeres, mind tricks you can use to protect yourself from stress, and
information about how to protect your children against developing
shorter telomeres, from pregnancy through adolescence. And they describe
how we can improve our health spans at the community level, with
neighborhoods characterized by trust, green spaces, and safe streets.
The Telemere Effect will make you reassess how you live your life on a
day-to-day basis. It is the first book to explain how we age at a
cellular level and how we can make simple changes to keep our
chromosomes and cells healthy, allowing us to stay disease-free longer
and live more vital and meaningful lives.
