World facts & your health

This book starts with the question "Is the key to successful aging, genetic make-up, lifestyle or both?" and by the end has presented compelling data to show how, why and when each is important. The book is written in two sections in a chatty and engaging style. The first part considers the world incidences of the common (non-infectious) diseases that kill, and by looking at the lifestyle and habits of the people who live in the countries with the highest and lowest rates of each disease, Dr Ford discovers many surprising facts that are very different from what we usually hear. In it you will learn - for example - about the protective roles of Vitamin K2 in Kimchi, Natto and (some) Cheeses against cardiovascular disease and how Maple Syrup probably accounts for why Canadians have the lowest rates of Stroke in the world. But there are many more lessons to be learnt from the World Data that are currently overlooked and possibly none more important than the likely roles of 'bad plumbing' as a cause of Alzheimer's and of the overuse of air-conditioning in adding to the risk of Diabetes. The analysis presented in this section encourages us to think more broadly about public health and to really examine the facts to gain valuable insights. The second section of the book, which is about lifestyle and health starts with 'telomeres'. These ends of our chromosomes that act as our cellular 'life clock' are effected by many aspects of lifestyle and the research data is summarized. The remainder of the second part of the book outlines a range of actions we can take to reduce our rate of aging and reduce age-related diseases - in particular why you need a high intake of olive oil, sulfur and phenols - as well as of course K2 - and why your dentist and optician might be your most important practitioners. Dr Judy Ford is a geneticist who has worked extensively in chromosome analysis, cell biology and lifestyle. Her early work focused on reproduction and cancer but as she became engrossed in the roles of lifestyle and age on each of these, her work has broadened to look at the interactions of the three elements - genes, age and lifestyle on all of health.