★ Professor Kim Kwang-jun of the Department of Geriatrics at Yonsei University and Professor Emily Chang of the Department of Geriatrics at UCLA ★
★ Highly recommended by Professor Philip Choi, former geriatrician at Stanford University ★
Must-read health books recommended by top doctors from home and abroad

“If you want to live longer and younger, open this book right now!”
A Stanford University geriatrician shares tips for slowing aging.
A comprehensive guide to diet, exercise, sleep, and skin care, as revealed by cutting-edge medical research.

With growing interest in slow aging, Dr. Youngbin Lim, a geriatrician who has treated patients at UCLA and Stanford University Hospital, has published a book detailing scientifically-based methods for slow aging.
Thanks to advances in medicine, we have moved beyond simply judging someone's age based on their appearance to an era where we can objectively measure the rate of aging.
There are people whose actual age is 60 but whose biological age, which indicates their health and degree of aging, is 40, and there are also cases where it is the opposite.
We all want to live a life that is younger and healthier than our actual age - that is, to age slowly and live a vibrant life for as long as possible.


Director Lim Young-bin, who says that what geriatrics deals with is not simply 'aging', but the choices and directions within that process, presents specific and practical methods in this book that lead to a life of 'extended vitality' rather than simply extending lifespan, based on scientifically verified medical knowledge.
He first suggests a treatment plan through lifestyle changes and the cause of chronic inflammation, which is the root of all diseases and the main culprit of accelerated aging.
Furthermore, it explains the importance of maximal oxygen uptake (VO2), which represents physical fitness, and how to improve it. It analyzes the impact of muscle on aging and quality of life, and provides practical guidelines for improving both.
It also covers a wide range of daily routines for living a long and healthy life, including the eating habits and sleep methods of long-lived people that many people miss.
By understanding the aging process, anyone can not only slow down the aging process but also feel younger than yesterday.
If you dream of a healthier and more vibrant life, open this book now.

I approach my patients the same way.
For example, an 88-year-old woman was able to walk without a cane in just three months, and a 71-year-old woman's HbA1c level dropped from 6.5% to 5.6%, clearing the criteria for diabetes, after adjusting her diet and exercise habits.
Another 68-year-old woman was able to get a good night's sleep after stopping the sleeping pills she had been taking for 10 years.
The patients I met at the Stanford Senior Clinic are still vivid in my memory.
They were a vivid example of 'slow aging,' and if I hadn't met them, I would never have realized the potential of treatment designed to counter the flow of age.
He always came to the clinic with clear eyes and in sportswear, and he always put into practice any new health habits he heard.
Behind these changes was the delicate and continuous care of Stanford University faculty.
Rather than a drug-centered prescription, it helps change the very structure of life through listening and guidance.
Through them, we have seen that it is possible to go beyond simply 'living longer' and to age with maximum energy and function.

--- From the "Prologue"

Using cutting-edge technology to analyze molecular-level changes in their bodies, the researchers discovered that there are two major turning points in the aging process, around ages 44 and 60.
At each of these turning points, dramatic, invisible changes occur in our bodies.
For example, around age 44, the way your body processes things like fat and alcohol, and the way it maintains and regulates cardiovascular function, begins to change.
Also, as we reach age 60, the focus shifts to the function of our immune system and how our body handles sugar.
These changes didn't happen overnight, but they're significant enough to explain why health risks are skyrocketing right now.
The important message this study conveys is that aging is by no means a random process.
Aging follows a specific pattern, one we are only just beginning to understand.
By studying these changes, scientists hope to develop ways to prevent or even reverse age-related diseases.
Imagine this.
A future where 60 is not a time of accelerated aging, but rather a starting point for maintaining a vibrant and healthy life for the next several decades.

--- From "Chapter 1: How We Grow Old"

Over time, as this damage accumulates, the body's ability to heal or respond to new threats gradually diminishes, eventually leading to the immune system becoming "overworked."
Just as workers who don't get enough rest become increasingly inefficient, an overloaded immune system also becomes less effective, weakening its ability to defend against infections and increasing the risk of autoimmune diseases.
Chronic inflammation also negatively impacts gene expression, accelerating aging.
When inflammation persists for a long time, immune cells continuously produce inflammatory molecules, which spread throughout the body and disrupt DNA methylation patterns throughout the body.
It can also negatively affect enzymes that regulate DNA methylation, pushing cells into a more aged state.
This kind of small but persistent inflammation puts cells in a constant state of stress, which ultimately accelerates aging over time.
Furthermore, chronic inflammation that begins at the cellular level gradually leads to organ-specific diseases.

--- From "Chapter 2: People Who Live Long Without Disease: Start by Addressing Chronic Inflammation"

So why is Zone 2 training so beneficial for health and aging? The biggest benefit of Zone 2 training is that it regenerates mitochondria.
Mitochondria are well known as organelles responsible for energy production in eukaryotic organisms.
The reason why the field of longevity medicine focuses so much on mitochondria is that as we age, the number of mitochondria decreases and their function declines, which is closely related to aging.
Additionally, abnormal mitochondria can release large amounts of reactive oxygen species, damaging cells and damaging telomeres at the ends of chromosomes in cells, leading to premature aging.
Telomeres are called the 'clock of life' and are attracting attention as a key to suppressing aging.
Mitochondrial abnormalities can affect brain cells, leading to dementia or Parkinson's disease; the pancreas, to diabetes; and the heart, to cardiovascular disease.
Such mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with functional decline in all organs, and recently, mitochondrial dysfunction has been identified as a cause of cancer and various autoimmune diseases.

--- From “Chapter 3: A Vibrant Life Begins in the Heart”

Living in Los Angeles, I spend at least an hour a day sitting in the driver's seat, and I also sit when I'm doing medical procedures or organizing charts.
What's interesting is that when you treat patients with hip amnesia, they all say that their calves are stiff and cramp up easily.
Among these people, there are those who walk 7,000 or 10,000 steps a day as part of their walking exercise, but since they walk without activating their hip muscles, they only end up straining their calves.
If you have a cramp in your calf at night, it will keep you awake and your sleep quality will also suffer.
Small hip muscles are also strongly associated with diabetes.
If the gluteal muscles, which should be the largest in our bodies, are not large enough, errors in sugar metabolism can occur, leading to insulin resistance and pre-diabetes. Weak gluteal muscles not only reduce our quality of life, but can also affect our lifespan.
A 2020 study found that for every 1cm increase in thigh circumference, the risk of all-cause mortality increased by 4% and the risk of cardiovascular disease mortality increased by 6%.
This study was conducted as a result of an epidemiological survey of 20,000 people over 15 years to find a correlation between thigh circumference and mortality.
Thigh circumference is closely related to the buttock muscles.
It's rare to find someone with thick thighs and a small butt, and these two muscles are always worked together.

--- From "Chapter 4: Habits for Building Muscle Assets"

Professor Justin Sonnenburg and his team at Stanford University School of Medicine began testing stool in California and gradually expanded the scope of their study, collecting stool samples in Peru, Tanzania, and Nepal.
As a result, while the guts of Californians who lived in cities and followed a Western-style diet contained about 250 types of microorganisms, the guts of hunter-gatherers in Peru and Tanzania contained a whopping 750 types of microorganisms.
Meanwhile, the guts of partially urbanized Nepalese farmers contained approximately 450 microorganisms.
Professor Sonnenberg likened this result to a forest.
The gut microbiome of urban dwellers is in a state of reduced diversity, much like a deforested forest, which has important implications for modern people's health and gut microbiome balance.
Authorities in gut microbiome research unanimously emphasize the diversity of microorganisms.
The more diverse the gut microbiome, the more capable and resilient the microbial community becomes, because even if a particular microbe fails to perform its role, others can compensate.
A diverse gut microbiome operates much more stably than an environment with only a small number of bacteria.

--- From "Chapter 5: Longevity Tables for Healthy People"

Finally, note the start (black triangles) and end (blue triangles) of melatonin secretion.
If you receive enough natural light, melatonin is secreted immediately when the sun sets, but if you live under artificial light, melatonin secretion is delayed as it gradually gets darker.
So when does melatonin secretion end? In the group exposed to natural light, melatonin levels decline relatively quickly after waking, while in the group exposed to artificial light, melatonin continues to be secreted for several hours after waking.
If we examine the melatonin secretion patterns of modern people living in cities, we will see a pattern similar to the group above in the graph.
Because melatonin is not completely eliminated in the morning, you feel uneasy when you wake up.
In this way, you can get good quality sleep by controlling environmental factors such as natural light without sleeping pills.

--- From “Chapter 6: Sleep Determines the Quality of Life”