The Most Effective Ways to Live Longer Cookbook

For most of us, eating is a pleasure, and it should be. However,  we really have to  understand there needs to be a limit to just how much we treat ourselves. It's not always about obesity, either. We can do a lot of harm when we don't pay attention to what we're putting in our bodies as well as how much.

Enter Jonny Bowden and Jeannette Bessinger with a book of more than 140 recipes filled with antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional ingredients that our bodies need to work effectively. Recipes target various organs: the heart, bones, brain, liver and immune system.

Bowden is a board certified nutrition specialist with a master's degree in psychology and an author with six national certifications in exercise and personal training. Bessinger is a board certified holistic health counselor, author, lifestyle and nutrition educator, and owner of Balance for Life.

As the authors point out, "We don't get heart disease…because there's not enough Lipitor in our diet. But we do get sick…when our diet doesn't provide the vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, flavonoids, phenols, fiber, protein, fat, and carbohydrates that our body needs to run smoothly."

Find out about oxidation damage, inflammation, glycation and stress and how eating the right foods can decrease these ill effects. Recipes use less meat, more omega-3-rich foods, more nuts and seeds, and lots of fruits and veggies.

The book discusses eating meals and snacks slowly and moderately, as opposed to the overeating most of us do. They look at misinformation about fat (i.e., "fat in coconut is technically a saturated fat, but the body prefers to use it for energy rather than storage, and coconut fat has antiviral and antimicrobial properties to boot."). They've looked at societies where people live to advanced ages and incorporated their diet principles into the recipes.

No surprises: stay away from processed food and overeating.

The nice surprise is that you'll enjoy all this food that is so good for you.

The authors have shared three of their recipes with us:

    Click here to enjoy Blood Orange-Scallop Salad with Feta and Macadamia

    Click here to enjoy Wake-you-up Spicy Shrimp with Thai Noodles

    Click here to enjoy Grilled chicken, tomato and pesto sandwich

Connie Adams/February 2012