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Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity

I've read dozens of health, wellness, and longevity books. There's a diet book for almost every possible dietary configuration, and additional health books to optimize fitness, lower risk of diseases, slow aging, and more. Many disagree with each other, and most are fairly extreme. Carbs are bad, carbs are okay. Animal protein is bad, animal protein is great. And on and on.

I'm also biased: Peter Attia, via some of his clients, was indirectly one of the reasons I cofounded Levels. I've listened to his podcast, off and on, since he started, and had been looking forward to his book since he started talking about it several years ago.

This is the single best book about overall health and wellness that I've read. He touches on the major diseases that plague modern Westernized society, and explores interventions and levers that can be pulled to maximize overall healthy wellbeing. Fundementally, Peter Attia is a moderate. He doesn't advocate extreme diets, and carries healthy skeptisism towards many panaceas, such as supplements. I share his skepticism, and love how he approaches many problems from an outside view. He's friendly to pharmaceutical drugs such as statins, and deeply understands the state of nutrition research. He also identifies where research clearly supports behaviors that extend healthspan, such as Zone 2 and VO2Max training. Attia concludes the book with a vulnerable chapter on mental health, because optimizing health if we're miserable is pointless.

If you're interested in having health and physical ability into old age, I highly recommend Outlive. Peter Attia is on my short list of people in the health-space that I trust.