5 of the Best Books to Help You Live a Healthier and Longer Life

January 10, 2023

Did you really know what to expect as you got older? I’m not sure I did. In Honest Aging, Dr. Rosanne M. Leipzig, a top doctor with more than 35 years of experience, helps us plan physically, psychologically, functionally and emotionally for our upcoming years.

Leipzig, an expert in evidence-based geriatrics, offers guidance for common health concerns, including problems with memory, energy, mood, sleep, incontinence, mobility and falls. There are even tips on gastrointestinal problems, weight and sex — you know, all the things we think about but are sometimes too embarrassed to ask.

Honest Aging includes helpful checklists to bring to your doctor, advice on how to make medical decisions and resources for support. “I think of it like a travel guide for the aging process, something only the lucky ones who make it there get to experience,” said Dr. Diane E. Meier, Director Emeritus and Strategic Advisor, Center to Advance Palliative Care, Professor, Department of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Mayo Clinic on Healthy Aging: An Easy and Comprehensive Guide to Keeping Your Body Young, Your Mind Sharp and Your Spirit Fulfilled

Dr. Nathan K. LeBrasseur and Dr. Christina Chen 

Mayo Clinic Press

January. 9, 2024

While aging itself is inevitable (if we're lucky!) we can exert some control over how we age. This guidebook is chock full of advice from a range of specialists from the Mayo Clinic on how to slow the process. The authors offer evidence-based tips on how to challenge your brain and your body, as well as exercise and diet advice to help you feel your best, find a deeper sense of purpose and become more resilient.

Much of the information comes from Mayo Clinic’s Kogod Center on Aging, which is focused on the goal of increasing human “health span” — the number of years we spend living independently and remaining free of age-related diseases and disabilities. I love the idea of having access to a compendium of experts at my fingertips.

Younger Next Year for Women: Live Strong, Fit, Sexy, and Smart — Until You're 80 and Beyond Paperback — Illustrated

Chris Crowley, Dr. Henry S. Lodge, Dr. Allan J. Hamilton

Workman Publishing Company

December 24, 2019

The Younger Next Year series of books have been go-to sources for solid information on diet, fitness and emotional well-being for, well, years. Now, this volume has been updated with the latest information specifically for older women.

This edition details how a program of exercise, diet and maintaining emotional connections can improve memory, cognition, mood and more. In two new chapters, prominent neurologist Allan Hamilton explains how the program directly affects your brain health. Choose this for easy-to-follow information backed by science.

Chatter: The Voice in Our Head, Why It Matters, and How to Harness It Paperback

Ethan Kross

Random House

February 1, 2022

Chatter is relevant for all ages, but I think it is particularly useful for women entering, or in, their senior years. While age does bring a certain degree of wisdom, it can also undermine confidence, especially in a world where we are bombarded by messages that tell us youth is all that matters. It is all too easy to internalize those (misguided!) bromides. The book, written by a noted psychologist, offers up research on behavioral science to examine how negative self-talk can harm our health and details ways to rewrite our story through the lens of positivity. I am going to use some of the tips to tell my own inner critic to shut up while I concentrate on all the healthy behaviors — and foods — I just read about.

Also, from AARP, "The Whole Body Reset" is a book with a weight-loss plan for a flat belly and a body you'll love at midlife and beyond.

What healthy habit have you adopted — or tried to adopt — in 2024? Let us know in the comments below.