The World's Best Book Summaries
Do you sometimes feel energized in the morning but struggle to wind down at night? What if you could get better sleep and sustained energy by leveraging your body’s natural hormone cycles? According to neuroscientist Andrew Huberman, cortisol gets a bad rap. In an episode of Huberman Lab titled “How to Control Your Cortisol & Overcome Burnout,” he explains how cortisol actually serves as your body’s sophisticated energy management system.
Does going for a run feel like you’re fighting against your deepest instincts? What if the natural resistance to exercise isn’t a character flaw but an evolutionary feature? Daniel Lieberman’s Exercised: Why Something We Never Evolved to Do Is Healthy and Rewarding tackles these puzzles. The Harvard evolutionary biologist reveals how our ancestors conserved energy for survival while explaining why modern humans must actively pursue fitness to stay healthy. Keep reading to discover how understanding humans’ evolutionary past can transform your approach to staying active and well.
How has tuberculosis shaped human history? Why is tuberculosis—a completely curable disease—still killing over 1.6 million people annually? Best-selling novelist and YouTube educator John Green’s Everything Is Tuberculosis confronts this troubling paradox, revealing how social inequality, stigma, and systemic failures allow a preventable tragedy to continue. After meeting a teenage TB patient in Sierra Leone, Green embarked on a mission to understand and combat humanity’s deadliest infectious disease. Read more in our overview of Everything Is Tuberculosis.
What’s The Song of the Cell by Siddhartha Mukherjee about? How can cell biology change the way we think about the human body? Siddhartha Mukherjee’s The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human dives into cell biology—examining its history, its use in modern medicine, and its radical possibilities for the future. Mukherjee considers the all-encompassing role cells play in our understanding of illness and the body. Read more in our overview of The Song of the Cell: An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human.
What are the three Ds of insurance? What do insurance companies gain by slowing down the payment process? How are these tactics exploitative? In his book Delay, Deny, Defend, legal scholar and insurance expert Jay Feinman argues that major US insurance companies are profit-seeking entities that systematically avoid paying legitimate claims. He explains the tactics they use, and how and why they often work. Continue reading to learn about the three Ds insurance strategy.
What’s the difference between functional medicine and traditional medicine? What can functional medicine do for autoimmune disease? In her book The Autoimmune Solution, functional medicine physician Amy Myers asserts that a functional medicine approach is required to treat autoimmune disease. She insists that modern lifestyles are more to blame than genetics. Keep reading to learn what’s causing the autoimmune epidemic.
Do you want to understand autoimmune diseases better? How does the human immune system work? Before anyone can learn how to prevent or reverse autoimmune diseases, it’s important to first understand what they are and how they originate. Amy Myers, a functional medicine physician and former emergency room doctor, explains this in her book The Autoimmune Solution. Continue reading for an explanation of how your immune system can turn autoimmune.
What does your digestive system have to do with your immune system? What changes can you make to improve your digestive system? In The Autoimmune Solution, Myers argues that because your digestive and immune systems overlap, healthy digestion helps balance your body’s immune responses. In addition, a healthy digestive system helps your body absorb the nutrients from the food you’re eating, which supports your overall health. Here are the two changes you should make to improve your gut health.
Is your lifestyle stressing your immune system? What lifestyle changes can you make to reduce immune system stress? The book The Autoimmune Solution recommends five lifestyle changes to improve your body’s immune responses. These changes can reduce your risk of developing an autoimmune condition. Keep reading for an overview of each change and why it’s important.
What is The Myers Way? Is it possible to reverse autoimmune disease? What lifestyle changes does Myers suggest? In The Autoimmune Solution, Amy Myers shares her method for preventing or reversing autoimmune disease, which she calls The Myers Way. The method includes several lifestyle changes and strategies for improving your immune system. Below, we’ll discuss Myers’ method in detail.