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Healthy at 100
by author Hélène Meurer

by John Robbins
(Random House, 2006, 357 pages)

If you’re reading this magazine, you’re already on a path to better health. Sometimes, by reminding ourselves of where we’ve come from, we realize just how much progress we’ve made. By this measure, John Robbins has come further than most of us can possibly imagine.

As heir to the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire, this best-selling author was raised in a sugar-laden environment that, while every child’s dream, was the antithesis of good health. You might say his path to better health was steeper than most, and he is, therefore, an inspiration to all. His earlier books, such as Diet for a New America (Stillpoint, 1987), revealed an outspoken new champion for the cause of healthier, more responsible global and humanitarian-based eating choices. Now Robbins goes further to share recent studies of longevity and its place in today’s changing world.

At the core of this book are fascinating explorations into four of the world’s healthiest and longest-living populations. There are the Abkhasians of southern Russia's Caucasus region, whose people are healthier at ninety than most middle-aged North Americans and where beauty is measured by age. The Vilcabambans of South America keep heart disease and dementia at bay with joy and laughter. We meet the happy, healthy Hunza peoples of Central Asia, and we learn about Japan’s Okinawan centenarians. Robbins examines these four groups while correlating cultural facts with new scientific findings to discover how the unique lifestyles of these exceptionally healthy peoples can influence and improve our own.

Robbins is a pleasure to read and will appeal to a wide-ranging audience with this conversational travelogue that blends cultural interest with hard-hitting health facts. One of the most interesting revelations from Healthy at 100 is the unexpected but not altogether surprising idea that chronic loneliness poses a serious health threat to modern industrialized cultures. Robbins reports on the healing power of relationships and pushes the envelope further. He states that the medical significance of love, or rather its absence, in our lives is greater than that of smoking. In this area of research currently experiencing much growth, Robbins’ laid-back writing style allows us to enjoy learning even more about a most pertinent and timely subject. Well worth reading.

Hélène Meurer is a writer and book reviewer who enjoys choosing foods from local organic farmers on Vancouver Island.

Source: alive #296, June 2007