Researchers are finding that genes play a smaller role in overall health than most individuals realize. More often, the life people lead in their later years is a culmination of personal attitudes, decisions made, and actions taken beginning in young adulthood. The book covers a variety of topics including responding to personal risks, how to challenge the brain and body, healthy diet, physical activity, resiliency, retirement planning, and living a fulfilling life. Listeners also will find practical tips to keep their minds, bodies, and spirits in top shape.

Dr. Martha Clare Morris’s MIND diet took the nutrition world by storm when it revealed the link between diet and cognitive health, particularly as we age. Lauded by scientists, doctors, and organizations like the Alzheimer’s Association, AARP, and US News & World Report, the MIND diet, which combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH diets, offers hope for an easy, non-invasive, and effective way to lose weight, prevent cognitive decline, reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and promote vibrant brain health well into advanced age.

acclaimed book The Gift of Caring, winner of the 2016 National Christopher Award. This new book blends frontline science with inspirational stories and insights from wise elders for aging with health, joy, and purpose. The book explains how our bodies and brains age, defining what can be expected with aging and what is unusual. It demonstrates ways we can significantly increase our chances for a positive aging experience into our eighties, nineties, and hundreds.

For those who have no support system in place, the thought of aging without help can be a frightening, isolating prospect. Whether you have friends and family ready and able to help you or not, growing old does not have to be an inevitable decline into helplessness. It is possible to maintain a good quality of life in your later years, but having a plan is essential.

In 1954, 63-year-old Maine farmer Annie Wilkins embarked on an impossible journey. She had no money and no family, she had just lost her farm, and her doctor had given her only two years to live. But Annie wanted to see the Pacific Ocean before she died. She ignored her doctor’s advice to move into the county charity home. Instead, she bought a cast-off brown gelding named Tarzan, donned men’s dungarees, and headed south in mid-November, hoping to beat the snow.