Transcend: Nine Steps to Living Well Forever

Note: I read an advanced uncorrected proof. My copy was not entirely finished - it was missing a lot of diagrams, and had some notes from the authors to the publishers. However, the content (actual text) was entirely done. See below for the review. ***** It's nice to see that while the authors of the book both have products and services that they sell in conjunction with the topics in the book, they barely mention those - there is no upselling like in a lot of other books. If you're worried about that, rest assured it is not an issue. The first thing to note about this book is that in the first part, a lot of it is repetitive from "Fantastic Voyage". Where "Fantastic Voyage" was filled with technical detail and a thousands of scientific data points to back up the claims, this book does not have that level of thoroughness. However, in many instances that's no longer necessary; a lot of the data points from "Fantastic Voyage" have already been proven in the ensuing years - most of the information is available online from independent sources. There is enough new information to make it worth reading, but those who've read "Fantastic Voyage" will find that they recognise a fair amount of the material. Of course, if you haven't read "Fantastic Voyage", you will find it all new, and well worth the introduction to the science behind physiology, nutrition, and medicine. The second part of the contains action steps that people can take to actually improve their lives. There are nine - the book's title, "Transcend", is a mnemonic for remembering the steps: Talk with your doctor, Relaxation, Assessment, Nutrition, Supplements, Caloric restriction, Exercise, New technologies, and Detoxification. With regards to each, there are practical steps that you can take (ideally in cooperation with your doctor). The items are useful - they discuss tests you can ask your doctor for (and how to interpret them); supplementation and how it improves well-being; healthy recipes that you can make with reasonable ingredients in your kitchen; and even exercises you can do using resistance bands in your living room. It's the second part of the book that really separates this book from the last one. It was highly interesting to read the last one, and provided a lot of scientific information. This one provides that, as well as practical information, and can be used to put into place steps that you can use to extend your life significantly.

Transcend: Nine steps to Living Well Forever is an overall well written and thorough guide to changing ones lifestyle for the better. I really liked the way the book was written and the content is very well organized and thorough. The authors really explain how the body works and what you can do to maximize your lifespan through their version of the food pyramid (which concentrates more on vegetables and greens rather than grains as a basis of a healthy diet), exercise plan, and supplement guide. The book is efficiently organized into two main parts: the problem and the plan. The first part (the problem) consists of chapters dedicated to problems that arise in individual body systems due to aging, including the neurological, cardiac, gastrointestinal, endocrine, and metabolic systems. These chapters also include information on the tests and actions you can take to help prevent and/or monitor these problems. The second part (plan) delves further into the actions you can take to maintain vitality and well being, which includes chapters on talking with your doctor, nutrition, supplements, and exercise. One particular aspect of the writing that I enjoyed was that it did not talk down to the reader. Instead the authors respected the fact that people buying their book were those who were serious about wanting to live long and functional lives (and possibly forever) and in my opinion found a good balance between presenting the information without getting too complicated for those with little to no science background. Please note though: this is compared to some other general health books which take an overly basic approach to nutrition and health; Transcend is still aimed at a broad audience, which might make it a bit too general for more scientifically minded readers who might like to know the evidence used to arrive at their conclusions or more thorough mechanisms of factors described in the book that contribute to aging. Another interesting feature of the book is that it discusses the latest news in scientific research on life extension and gives you estimates on how far we are from technologies that will effectively allow us to live forever. It primarily discusses these in a conversational format where the reader is talking to the future authors who tell him/her what life is like in the 2020s and 2030s. I found this a little weird and would have preferred if they had just written what they predict life would be like and how they came to that conclusion. All in all this is an excellent book and the book's thorough nature serves as an excellent introductory text to healthier living.

First of all, this is definitely a book worth reading for anyone who is interested in improving or maintaining good health as they age. The authors are correct when they state that most doctors are unaware of the benefits of supplementation; in fact this is an understatement: many doctors are totally clueless with regards to maintaining health. Doctors are trained to diagnose diseases from manifest symptoms - all the talk of preventive medicine is, for the most part, empty noise. So this is a valuable guide to supplementation and rudimentary physical exercise. Where the book falls down, in my opinion, is when it mixes in a "view from the future" that is oriented around whizzy new technologies. The idea is that we'll develop tools to compensate for many of the side-effects of aging and these will, ultimately, permit us to live forever. Aubrey de Gray is well-known for promoting this mechanical view of longevity - the idea being that we only need to live long enough to reach the next breakthrough, which in turn will enable us to live long enough to reach the subsequent break-through, and so on. This is the "car repair" view of health whereby worn-out parts are replaced sequentially so as to maintain the car, even though over time no original parts remain. Problem is, biochemistry is far more complex than auto repair. We know so very little about the human body that the assumptions made by all futurists are essentially risible. At best we might be able to prolong life into the second century but the fact is that neurodegeneration would remain a major problem. Visions of Swift's Struldbruggs flash immediately to mind. Perhaps the real focus should not be on life extension but on the extension of function throughout life. In other words, instead of living to 80 with the last 15 years increasingly unpleasant and infirm, live to 80 with all your functions and faculties performing near peak. It's quality of life that matters, not just duration. The authors' recommendations about the importance of exercise, good nutrition, and good lifestyle habits are all spot-on. Sad thing is, of course, that so few people will follow these recommendations.

Transcend is a work by the futurist Ray Kurzweil and a medical doctor, Terry Grossman who claim that technology is changing medicine at a rapid pace to the point that humans will be able to live much longer in the near future. The trick, they say, is to slow the aging process until that future arrives. The basic idea they say is to live long enough to live forever. Part one of the book states the problem, which includes the risk factors for various diseases and body areas such as the brain and heart. Part two provides their plan that is based on prevention and early detection. To achieve this objective the Transcend program contains nine steps. These include: talk to your doctor, learn how to relax and get proper sleep, get a large number of medical assessments, eat a healthy diet, take appropriate supplements, limit your caloric intake, do regular exercise, take advantage of new technologies and detoxify your body. Each point is spelled out in detail. The book also contains some references including their website. In particular they suggest finding a doctor “you can talk with” and list several sites to find doctors trained in complementary, alternative and integrative medicine. Dr. Grossman also has a clinic where you can get a comprehensive medical examination. The Mayo Clinic also offers such an exam. The idea of living forever, especially in a state of high health, is not a reality now and probably not in the near future. However it is likely that humans will be able to live longer than the current life span. More to the point, by following their ideas you can live a healthier life now, regardless of what the future brings. Thus I recommend this book highly even if you do not agree with their basic premise. I especially like the idea that you are responsible for your own health and not relying on medical doctors but rather taking the initiative to get assessments and understand their meaning. I am preparing now for an annual physical exam and am organizing a set of assessments that I want to have done, which are more than my doctor will routinely suggest. They make an interesting point. An airplane pilot has a checklist he goes over before starting every flight. Every pilot in the world does this. Doctors, typically do not have such a list. The difference being that the doctor is not on the flight with you! In regard to your health you are flying solo.

This book is the more practical version of "Fantastic Voyage", the duo's previous work. Practical in that it provides specific recommendations for a wide array of activities that are all required to live well (exercise, eating right, vitamins and supplements, etc). When I say "practical", I mean they've dedicated many, many pages to things like how to strength train with resistance bands, and how to cook specific healthy food entrees. I would say it's not quite as detailed in the treatment of vitamins and supplements as the previous book, but more mainstream in that regard. And there are enough words around the "why" so you feel comfortable making the investments in time and money to implement the advice. The book uses an interesting "talk from the future" technique which I found increased readability. Periodically a reader/author dialog is presented where the authors might answer the reader from a perspective that is 25 or 35 years in the future! I was a bit puzzled by the persistent name dropping of Dean Ornish in this book, since he was (is?) basically wrong about eliminating nearly all fat from the diet. This book says 40% fat is okay as long as it's the right kind of fat. Of course these authors have zero tolerance for trans fat. And in alignment with Gary Taubes ("Good Calories Bad Calories"), these authors agree that refined carbs are addicting and about as close to poison as you can legally sell. There's a lot more in this book that I have not mentioned; it touches lightly on basic things, like cutting glycemic load to loose weight, all the way to caloric restriction, and of course vitamins and supplements and how they can help. And there are many other topics to round-out the current thinking on practices that enhance longevity. If you want a basic guide for what you can do now to live a healthier life, I'd say you can take pretty much everything in this book without worrying too much about wasting your time and money on hype and things that won't help you reach that goal.

This is a good introduction to longevity medicine, and the view of future technology is insightful. Truly a bold and unique vision of what is to come in medicine. That said, the authors did not do their homework with their medical advice, but pretend that they have- this is troubling at best and dangerous at worst (this is coming from a practicing physician). Their advice to the reader is additionally tainted by their potential profit by the sale of supplements. I found this disappointing. For example, they recommend vitamin E, saying with confidence that it will reduce the risk of heart attack by 3/4. This advice is based on a single study that was published in 1996. There have been dozens of studies on cardiac risk and vitamin E, and it still isn't clear if it helps at all... And if it does the benefit is likely small, and there actually may be some risks to taking it which offset the benefits. The emphasis on supplements seems problematic in general. A healthy diet is the best medicine and should come first- and we know now that low sugar and high nutrition is the way to go. A pile of supplements without getting diet right is pointless. The advice the book gives regarding diet is partially correct, but they push low fat hard and this is not clearly supported by modern research either. A good number of studies support healthy high fat diets- fats are necessary to keep people healthy and help to stabilize blood sugars and weight. There are a number of excellent ideas in this book along with bad/false ideas. I could forgive false ideas proposed with caution and no secondary gain- but these ideas are given with a confidence that makes the whole work feel inauthentic and poorly validated. Sifting the good from the bad is hard work, and I wish they did more of that for us before publishing.

I think that everyone should read this book. The concepts are fascinating and the health advice is mostly sound. The most important thing to keep in mind is that Ray and Terry also sell the supplements they recommend. You can buy all of them much cheaper from a variety of sources (just do a Google shopping search for the things you're interested in & you'll find several reputable online stores). Their premise about the upcoming biotech revolution seems pretty sound to me, though I expect that it won't go as smoothly as predicted. Their thoughts about the upcoming nanotechnology revolution seems a lot shakier to me. If you find this as interesting as I do, I urge you to do more reading and research on the subjects. I'm not an authoritative source on either subject. Ray Kurzweil *is* an authoritative source, but he is one voice among many. I think he's probably right about the basic premise that we see significant increases in lifespan in the next 10-20 years. I'd certainly like to live to be a vigorous and healthy 100-year-old. The idea of living "as long as you want to" might be further away than he hopes by a factor of 10 (i.e., maybe people born in 2100 will live to see it), though I do think it might eventually happen if we avoid destroying ourselves as a species. Like I said, fascinating stuff. I can't recommend this book strongly enough.

if not forever. I stressed over what grade to give Transcend and ultimately gave it an Amazon **** grade (say, B+). Why that high? Why only that high? First, I'm an MD, PhD with 30 years of clinical practice and 10 years of medical research. (Google bobblum.com or just "Bob Blum") Ray Kurzweil was a classmate of mine at MIT in the sixties. I just met Terry at the Foresight Convergence Conference in 2008. I had read Fantastic Voyage, their first joint effort, several times and always had a hard time deciding whether to recommend it to friends and colleagues. 80% of Fantastic Voyage was first rate information. 20% was highly controversial, fringe medicine (alkaline water and obscure supplements). I complained to Ray in a letter expressing concern about his personal health - 250 pills a day is just too many, portending too many interactions - and also to Terry. My advice was to please label or rate the scientific evidence that forms a basis for each of their drug recommendations. Terry told me that their forthcoming book TRANSCEND would solve the problem. It DOES. Most of that controversial 20% has been surgically removed. Gone is much of the pseudoscience. What's left follows closely (and expands) the world according to Drs. Dean Ornish, Andrew Weil, and many other admirable health writers. The book summarizes the best of current medical advice on how to stay healthy. If you're not a health professional and have not read many books like this I would strongly recommend it. So, for most of you that's my advice... buy the book (and live by it). Now, I'll be more specific. TRANSCEND is a mnemonic for their health recommendations: Talk to your doctor, Relaxation, Assessment, Nutrition, Supplements, Calorie Reduction, Exercise, New Tech, Detoxification. That's a worthy list. In re: Talk to your doctor and Assessments. Much of this is a list of tests to request, and as they rightly state, many of these tests will not be covered by insurance. This means you will have hundreds of dollars in unreimbursed expenses for tests of unproven efficacy. During my meeting with Terry at Convergence he emphasized the importance of carotid ultrasound and coronary calcium scoring for men over 45 or women over 55. I totally concur. There is nothing like seeing the calcium plaque in your arteries to put the fear of the Lord into you. However, for many of the other tests (neurotransmitter levels, mineral analysis, digestive function, eg) it is unclear how often, if ever, the tests should be done. With the country's economy in tatters and healthcare already climbing toward 20% of GDP some of these tests will always be for the well-to-do, worried well. In re: Nutrition. I bristled when I saw that 66 pages were devoted to low fat recipes, since (IMHO) this is usually a worthless page-filler. However, I've changed my mind on this. In this era when so many foods that are readily available are condemned (most fats, much of animal protein, fast carbs) readers want to know "ok, so what DO I eat?" I actually made their soy yogurt Waldorf Salad, the quinoa, and the zucchini and have lost 3 pounds from my usually cerebrotonic, ectomorphic frame. Basically, folks, this is where to get your vitamins and minerals. As Mark Bittman (NY Times Food Critic) says, "it's the carrot, not the beta carotene." I single out for especial praise their Transcend Food Pyramid - they nailed it - veggies and water are the base. In re: Supplements. This is the arena in which Ray and Terry were particularly on thin ice in Fantasic Voyage. Ray's mammoth daily consumption of supplements to "reprogram his biochemistry" is notorious. I was delighted to see that their public recommendations for supplements have been greatly toned down. Whether this reflects a change in their own personal consumption is not stated. Since I'm a great fan of Ray's proselytizing on behalf of the Singularity, I hope it does. When I asked Aubrey (Engineered Negligible Senescence) de Grey (he of the Methusaleh beard) how many pills per day he takes (in contrast to Ray K's 250), he said "none. My wife is a good cook." And now, here's the key problem - no discussion of methodology for arriving at medical truth. It's called evidence-based medicine - Wiki it - and it needs to be a core piece of every book like this. Inquiring readers want to know, "should I take Resveratrol or alpha-lipoic-acid? How about CoQ10 or calorie restriction? Should I take vitamin E even though large clinical trials indicate that it might contribute to my death? The hundreds of references that were in Fantastic Voyage were a good thing - they must be there. Furthermore, it needs to be absolutely clear that many of the supplements that are still on their recommended list have only weak, inconclusive, or contradictory evidence. That Ray and Terry (and Andrew Weil) sell supplements is an obvious conflict of interest. They owe it to their readers to present all the evidence not merely that which supports the consumption of particular supplements. Again, I recommend this book, especially for the lay reader, since I endorse the TRANSCEND plan. My key reservation is that the presentation of evidence (con as well as pro) needs to be expanded and better referenced. Addendum (February, 2012): My personal diet and nutrition recommendations have departed from what Ray and Terry recommend. Please see my essay "Optimal Nutrition: Are Fats Killers or Saviors?" on bobblum.com. That article includes scores of links to videos and pdfs on the web. Everything is free; I sell nothing. In another article on my website I also addressed the key issue of clinical evidence: how do medical scientists/ statisticians determine "Does Drug X Really Work?" Also see my short piece entitled "Transcend Drugs!" that shows exactly how the Natural Standard (THE authority on supplements) rates the supplements that Ray and Terry recommend in Transcend.

Excelente

I like it

Based on well researched sources, the book is very well structured and easy to read. It is one of the best books I read during the last years. Convincing!

This is my primary source of information about how to live longer in good health TRANSCEND – Nine Steps to Living Well Forever presents a practical, enjoyable programme to help you to live a longer and healthier life. T - Talk with your doctor R - Relaxation A - Assessment N - Nutrition S - Supplements C - Calorie Reduction E - Exercise N - New Technologies D – Detoxification

This book was recommended by a friend to me after I had suffered from an illness. This book is an excellent self-help manual to reversing the typical abuse we basically give our bodies! It covers many topics from food, sleep, nutrition and exercise. I am following the authors advice as well as i can and have found that my normal day-to-day health has improved dramatically over a short time. You need lots of motivation to follow it through, but if you do this you will realise the positive results quickly. I was especially impressed with the supplments/nutrition section and would recommend this book to anyone of any age or background.