Book review: Outlive by Peter Attia
Rating: 4/5
I read this book because I wanted to get a complete "tour" on how to live long and healthy. I had heard of Peter Attia and his approach from Tim Ferriss' blog, but it was Rohan Rajiv's post in A Learning a Day that made me decide to read the book.
Most people who live today will not die from a sudden accident but from one of the chronic diseases Attia calls "The Four Horsemen":
- Heart disease
- Cancer
- Neurodegenerative disease
- Type 2 diabetes and related metabolic dysfunction
Longevity is not only about how long you live but how well you live. The plan is not only to remain as free as possible from disability or disease, but to maintain and improve our physical and mental condition.
The strategy and tactics Attia proposes rest on 5 pillars:
- Exercise (strength, stability, aerobic efficiency, peak aerobic capacity). Exercise should be considered the most potent longevity "drug" in terms of lifespan and health.
- Nutrition. What you eat matters (seek chemical evidence), but the first-order term is how much you eat. Adopt or discard tactics according to your objectives.
- Sleep, which is critical to our innate physiological repair process, while poor sleep triggers a cascade of negative consequences.
- Emotional Health
- Exogenous molecules (drugs, hormones, or supplements)
This is not a book about specific recipes—it won't give you a detailed diet or exercise plan. It's a book about understanding the importance and mechanisms behind longevity, so you can devise your own plan or seek specific help to do so.
One thing I liked is that the author tries to give a complete view of the person by addressing the importance of emotional health, a concept that Attia himself admits ignoring for a long time, as he explains in the book. (A devastating chapter in my opinion, and one I'm thankful he wrote.)
Two great quotes from the book:
Longevity is meaningless if your life sucks. Or if your relationships suck. None of it matters if your wife hates you. None of it matters if you are a shitty father, or if you are consumed by anger or addiction. Your résumé doesn't really matter, either, when it comes time for your eulogy.
I think people get old when they stop thinking about the future. If you want to find someoneʼs true age, listen to them. If they talk about the past and they talk about all the things that happened that they did, theyʼve gotten old. If they think about their dreams, their aspirations, what theyʼre still looking forward to—theyʼre young.
I'm rating it 4/5 because at moments I became tired of the long stories the author uses to exemplify his points. But otherwise, I'm really happy I read this book. Now time to put it into practice.