Tuesday Giveaway: Secrets of Longevity

I thought this week I'd feature something for adults, rather than kids. Secrets of Longevity, Hundreds of Ways to Live to Be 100, is full of health-enhancing tips, covering nutrition, herbs, environment, exercise, genetics, relationships, faith -- pretty much every angle possible.

Author Dr. Maoshing Ni is a 38th-generation doctor of Chinese medicine and co-founder/chancellor of Yo San University in Los Angeles. Many of the tips are based on Traditional Chinese Medicine, or TCM, and involve herbs or other elixirs. However, he takes from other traditions as well and manages to compile a comprehensive tome.

I say "tome," but don't expect pages loaded with tiny print. Each tip has its own page, with lots of white space and an attractive border. It's a paper back, but the publisher used quality paper. It was easy to read while nursing; I could easily hold it with one hand and read it from a distance, even in the blurry midnight hours. It's an attractive book. I left it out for a while and guests seemed to enjoy picking it up and flipping through it.

While I recognized a fair amount of the suggestions in the book, I might not be the average reader since I specialize in health writing and editing, and it's been a personal interest of mine for 14 years now. I kind of burnt myself out on the whole feng shui-mushroom brew-herbal remedy thing, so some of the suggestions I can't see myself trying. Still, I did find some new ideas, and I got the inspiration to resurrect some old ones.

If you're a person who likes to pick up Prevention or other health magazines from time to time, you'd probably enjoy this book. If you feel you need a real kick in the pants healthwise, or you have a desire to take your health to the next level, you'll get something out of it, too. I also think it would make a nice gift for that healthy/earthy-crunchy/hippy-dippy person in your life, who used to be me but, these days, not so much.

Would you like to win my review copy? Please leave a comment between now and Thursday at midnight, EST. (Regarding my copy, please note that we have loved on it a little, and it is a bit dinged. To me, it's still gift-worthy, but you may not agree.)

Please tell me, what health habit are you working on? For me, it's getting to bed earlier. I never want to go to bed. The more I read about sleep, though, the more I realize its importance to good health and, therefore, longevity. On Oprah last week, Mehmet Oz said that people not getting enough (or any) sex can make up for it through sleep (from a health standpoint). So it MUST be powerful. Maybe going to bed earlier will cancel out the French fries ...