When I first saw the title The End of Illness I feared that the contents of this book would tell me that everything that I thought was healthy is actually not. Will I just be depressed? I read the first page and couldn’t stop reading. Everything I read was fascinating and encouraging and empowering.
Dr. Agus has three goals in writing The End of Illness: to change your view of the human body; to develop practical strategies to apply to this new way of thinking; and to inform you about the state of current medical research and where the latest research is taking us. As Dr. Agus puts it, this book is about getting to know yourself. The main idea I took away from The End of Illness is a new appreciation for the complexity of the body and the need to view the body as a whole system. Similarly, I have a new appreciation for the complexity of food and the need to eat whole foods.
Some of the topics and practical suggestions included in The End of Illness: an explanation of how vitamins work in whole foods and how little evidence there is that vitamins in pill form work and how they may actually be harming the body; an explanation of inflammation of the body and how we can prevent it; how to exercise and the benefits of keeping a schedule; how three inexpensive medicines are key to our health. Some of these arguments you may be familiar with, but Dr. Agus explains why and he does so in a way that is easy to understand and enjoyable to read.
If you read one book about your health this year, read this one. Then read Food Rules by Michael Pollan.
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