Dr. David's First Health Book of More (Not Less)
More Food, More Sex, More Faith and Everything Else You Need for Health, Happiness and Longevity
As people age, it can seem like every visit to the doctor results in more limitations—on food, on mobility, and on time, thanks to medication schedules and more. Dr. David Lipschitz, director of the Longevity Center at St. Vincent Medical Center in Little Rock, says it doesn’t have to be that way. Dr. David and his daughter, Riley, lay out the argument for healthy aging that focuses on abundance in Dr. David’s First Health Book of More (Not Less).
“Health is, far too often, too prescriptive, too limiting, and too structured,” Lipschitz writes. “If you can determine the details of what it takes to live a healthier, happier life, then your chances of success are much greater than any specific recipe someone else could give you.”
This book aims to cover those basic details without getting into the specifics about what to eat or which exercises to perform, for example. It covers ten basic steps for increasing longevity and quality of life: more passion, more peace (and less stress), more love, more (and better) sex, more faith and more prayer, more self-love, more food, more exercise, more empowerment in navigating the health care system, and more freedom.
These concepts are explored in separate chapters that include scientific studies and tips on living life to the fullest at any age.
The book’s advice is dispensed without judgment on readers’ current state of health. It doesn’t advise, for example, that people try to get their weight into the medical definition of normal. Instead the authors suggest they strive to find the size is healthy for them.
“If you incorporate all of these steps to living a healthy life—eating more of the right foods, for the right reasons, and in the right way—your body will find its own healthy weight,” the authors write. “We are not all meant to be the same size and dimension…You cannot develop a healthy relationship with food, without simultaneously cultivating a healthy relationship with your body image.”
Perhaps the most useful discussion in the book is the section on navigating the health care system, which urges readers to become advocates for their own health, to find a great doctor before any major health problems arise, and to always seek a second opinion, second-guess any medical conclusions, and question the assumption that a new treatment or diagnostic tool is always better than an old one.
For baby boomers looking to approach the last chapters of their lives with health and abundance, Dr. David is a helpful guide and thoughtful partner.
Reviewed by
Sarah E. White
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book and paid a small fee to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. Foreword Reviews and Clarion Reviews make no guarantee that the publisher will receive a positive review. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
