Spring Chicken

I'm fascinated by the prospect of extending lifespan (and healthspan - hoping it'll happen well within my own time on the planet), so when I saw a reference to Spring Chicken in an article on longevity, I knew I had to read it. And I was not disappointed. The book is written with humor and warmth and explains in easy-to-understand terms much of the research going on today, as well as the history of the pursuit of "the fountain of youth." Mr. Gifford's research seems very up-to-date, and he interviews or references some of the leading lights in the field today. To his credit, while much of the science is exciting and positive, he doesn't paint a completely rosy picture, giving honest thought to the downsides of greatly extended lifespans. It is short on scientific detail, but I don't think that was the purpose of the book. It's more of a primer into what's happening in longevity research today. I really enjoyed it, and I would recommend it highly to anyone interested in this topic.

This is an engagingly written overview of the fascinating history of the science of ageing. The author deserves credit for maintaining a broad, comprehensive perspective and clearly shows the evolution of thinking in this realm. Unfortunately, as he points out, he is an English major trying to explain physiology and medicine. This explains the clear, readable prose. But there is a tendency to oversimplify and interject sophomoric asides (yikes!) that make the reporting seem less professional. Even the opening scene, which makes the eminent physician Brown-Sequard look like a buffoon in a story that has nothing to do with ageing research, made me wonder if the priority was to entertain or to explain. Then there are the factual errors that are obvious even to a casual reader, raising doubt about the overall accuracy of the content. “A young Elvis Presley” wasn’t being broadcast in the 1920’s; he wasn’t even born. Coronary arteries do not “come off” the heart; they supply it. Anti-inflammatories are not “safer” than Tylenol; they cause many more deaths, mostly from gastric bleeding.I’ll still give it four stars as a stimulating update on a topic that fascinates and affects us all. At least there are source notes to follow up on some of the more interesting strategies, like intermittent fasting and metformin. The references will come in especially handy when you read about someone suggesting transplant immunosuppressants for age extension!

The title is a tipoff. Even though Gifford, by necessity, has to introduce technical terms -- and he explains them well I might add -- " Spring Chicken" in the title tells you that this is not going to be a dry recitation of facts. A feature that makes Spring Chicken an enjoyable read are the short stories in which the author himself becomes one of the characters. In one chapter Gifford goes for a cold plunge into the frigid (sub 50°) waters of Half Moon Bay with a biochemical engineer who is referred to by Gifford as "the World's Toughest Nerd". Trooper that he is Gifford manages to stay in the water, but -- and this is a direct quote from the text:"...My heart pumped furiously, trying to keep my core warm, while robbing blood from my extremities. Like my testicles, which ached fiercely, as if in the grasp of a vengeful girlfriend. 'My ba**s hurt!' I blurted. 'Yeah," said the World's Toughest Nerd, with a knowing nod. 'That happens.' "Rather than rely on journal articles, Gifford goes right to the sources and interviews the people who have lived a long time, or who have aged well, or are doing life extension research. As a result I felt I had almost met them myself.My Kindle Paperwhite is pretty well stocked with diet and exercise books and I even own a copy of CALORIE RESTRICTION, AGING AND LONGEVITY, but in Spring Chickena I found information which was heretofore unknown to me. What a bargain! I count myself lucky to have had my car radio on when Gifford was being interviewed on NPR. Thank you NPR and thank you Mr. Gifford for making me laugh.

The sense of humor displayed in this book’s title is present throughout the book. I really learned a great deal about longevity, and I enjoyed the reading while I was at it.How rare is that? I highly recommend the book.

If you’re a sports fan, there are few things worse than watching a chair-sitting, flabby “journalist” who has never laced up anything besides a wing tip try to school a former NFL/NBA/NHL/MLB/World Cup etc player on “what it all means.”What does that have to do with “Spring Chicken”? A lot.Because in his many years reporting for Outside, Wired, in his first book Ledyard and elsewhere, Bill Gifford’s enormous credibility has come from his commitment to getting out there and playing the game, bringing the best investigative reporting methods to subjects that rarely get such treatment. When covering Lance Armstrong at Lance’s height of popularity, for example, Gifford trained, too, riding the merciless Colombian mountains with Armstrong’s “hill guys,” racing in the Tour d’Afrique, packing his empirical arsenal all the while and ultimately bringing it to his readers.Readers will be happy to know that Gifford brings that commitment to his work, and his readers, to Spring Chicken – and so much more.One reason why this book is such a corker is something I’ve appreciated in his previous work: the skill to make the complex - even terrifying - easier to understand. And if anything qualifies as complex and terrifying, it’s how long we might live, based our genetics and our behavior.Spring Chicken: I laughed out loud, learned about myself, raised my eyebrows, mumbled "really?", laughed out loud again, read passages aloud to others, learned more about myself, missed my bus stop, nodded my head, shook my head, took notes so that I could try certain examples myself. I flat out loved it.

The stories and researches were compelling. Page turner. The prints are much better than my old medical textbooks! One of 100 books that inspired me to write our book " ALIVE OR NOT ALIVE" also available on AMAZON.comNiran Ojomo, MD ( Author of ALIVE OR NOT ALIVE)Physician & Coach focusing on Wellness, Resilience, Human Performance & Longevity.

OK

What a great read! Gifford has put his research into a very digestible and readable format. Best of all his is game to try and writes humbly about his experiences - a quality I greatly admire in a researcher. It is inspirational, will get you moving and have you thinking about life choices that hope to lengthen your health span. That's what it is really all about, feeling your best while living your life. I feel better already!

Bill Gifford is a skilled writer, but it is clear from the start that his view on age research is skewed to the negative. He barely mentions figures like Aubrey de Grey that are doing concrete and revolutionary work and instead focuses much more on the quacks and shills like Suzanne Somers and Dr. Life. I understand he wants to warn people and keep realistic about aging, but I kept waiting for some sense of hope on the subject that never came. He brings up "issues" with longevity that would have been easily put to rest by listening to some of his research subjects. I enjoyed the extensive Appendix more than I did many of the chapters. That said, I'm glad that I read the book as Gifford's research introduced me to subjects and topics that I haven't come across on my own. Read it, but keep in mind he's a bit of a wet blanket. A book that covers the same material, and then some, in a more optimistic way would be "100 Plus" by Sonia Arrison.*Note for Kindle edition: Be prepared for the usual grammar and transposition errors that come from a machine scanned OCR with minimal editing.

Good read but gets into the the weeds in parts on the science of aging.