Very good book. I share the authors' views about the relentless march of technology and the end result of gaining total biological control over our bodies. More specifically, over my lifetime I can expect to see massive steps forward and finally see age related death and illness stopped entirely. They all I have to worry about is soccer moms talking on the phone in the Suburban at 80mph and TERRORISTS.

My nutritional and medical knowledge was pretty limited before reading this book. The book is filled with detailed scientific explanations of how various processes in the body work. I have a much greater understanding about nutrition and the role of different nutrients. I feel like I have an in depth understanding of the causes of the most dangerous diseases (e.g. Heart Disease, Cancer, Alzheimer's) and I understand what I can do to keep my body in optimal condition to delay the onset of said diseases. Building an understanding of these things provides the motivation necessary to make the correct nutritional and lifestyle choices. Reading this book caused me to drastically re-align my diet to eliminate or limit all the common components which are essentially poisons (sugar, simple carbs, saturated fats, cholesterol, etc...). Understanding how everything works makes it easy to choose the right things and stick with it.

The time is certainly coming soon when aging and age-related diseases are a thing of the past. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure I live long enough to see it. It would be a great tragedy to die of old age only a few years before aging is obsolete.

This book was just what I hoped it would be.
Excellent recommendations, summaries to make it simple for me, as well as loads of technical info to satisfy my scientific mind. Plus, as Kurzweil always does, lots and lots of references for me to do my own research if I choose.

Filled with scientific and medical information, no hocus pocus or mysticism. It's all information that's out there already, but it's really nice to have someone put it all together in one place for me and explain it in plain english.

If you liked his books on The Singularity and want to be there when it happens, then this is a "must read". See you then!

A few months back, there was a lot of hype in the media about Reseveratrol. That's the miracle compound in red wine that explains why French people don't get heart attacks, despite having a very unhealthy diet. Being one with an interest in healthy living, or more accurately, diet and nutrition with the aim of enhancing performance (mental and physical), I picked this book up because it includes information on recent developments. You wanna know what it says?

Eat right, exercise often, reduce stress and buy tons of crap from them. The former three are pretty common sense, and I think you'd have to have been in a coma for the last 40 years not to know what they mean. The latter is a bit... off-putting.

Whenever I see a statement as obscenely hyperbolic as "Live Long Enough to Live Forever" I usually take that as a flashing red sign with 12 foot letters glaring "We are completely full of sh**". However, most of what's in here is sound advice and with an interest in marketing, perhaps the ludicrous sub-title will help this book find it's way into the hands of someone who needs it.

Those of us not taken in by such cheap sales tactics would be better served by college level nutrition and exercise physiology books - both of which will be available at your local college bookstore.

Unsuitable for anyone with a basic understanding of nutrition, but that's not the target demographic anyways.

This is a awesome book! Well written and easy to understand.
It is a must read for everyone who wants to live a long and healthly life.

I heard about this book on NPR a few years ago and decided to buy it. I enjoyed the book so much I bought 10 more paperbacks to give to friends and family. What is most interesting about this book and the genre of books I have since purchased is the life extension concept and how early we are, medically speaking, in understanding this important medical field.

The author explains in non-technical ways how proper nutrients, mineral, vitamins, and fatty acids interact with peoples genetic code to help promote better health. There is some self-diagnosing and treatments that the author explains using clinical trials and other studies as support for his conclusions.

Overall, the author is very convincing and intreprets extremely well the studies and findings into a wealth of information for you and me to use as a life extension medical book. The book is now over 4 years old and other books have come out supporting this authors conclusions and recommendations.

If you want to be healther, live longer, and train yourself on what proper eating and supplements augmentation can do, read this book.

I've determined that the word "dieting" is not your friend, however if you learn to eat the proper foods and avoid the foods that cause your body the most problems like inflamation, diabetes, and arthritus then you'll never diet again, ever. Even overweight people can live to be 100 hundred years old. Google it. It's all about the proper nutrition and NOT medicine!!!

I actually enjoyed this quite a bit.

There is a Three Bridge system to health that is suggested. Current preventative medicine (supplementation, and alternative, among others), new and soon to come drugs, and future nanotechnology and genetic engineering, respectively.
Throughout the book there are small breaks in the text where ideas for reaching these three bridges are discussed. Some of it seems very schifi-ish but, if you're like me you will enjoy the read anyways (food belts, tissue replacement, nanotechnology enhanced bone repair, nanobot blood cells, etc.).

The main downside to the book was it's length (I tend to be a slow reader) and extensive discussion of facts and studies and lots of numbers. Often times the things have no relevance to my current life situation. Being a young, fit and healthy man made the paragraphs on menopause rather dry and boring.

My favorite part of the book was the discussions it inspired. Many bioethical topics which I could bring up with friends and coworkers which resulted in very stimulating conversations. Along with that I really enjoyed the last two chapters; exercise and stress reduction. Especially towards the end of the book things get more philosophical as he discusses how important it is to your health to have meaning in your life.

I think the overall goal of the book is great. That being, to inspire the reader to better themselves. Very Buddhist.

I also enjoyed the occasional hint of humor.

I am reading Ray's Singularity book, where he makes a convincing case that tech is moving forward so incredibly fast that there's a good chance that if you can only make it to 2020 still alive & functioning, you might live a much longer life than we do now, and in a much better state of health.

I know Ray eats lots of health pills and stuff, and wanted to get his recommendations for what exactly to do to actually live to 2020 (when I will be 80). The book does a good job of methodically working through all aspects of a healthy life, from exercise and stress to diet, with a heavy emphasis on diet. It is certainly "actionable" since he tells you what you need to do.

Problem is, what you need to do is give up anything you've ever liked to eat in your life, and spend the rest of your life (or until 2020) eating stuff that has no flavor, no taste, no fun, no jazz. Give up sweets, simple starches like potatoes, macaroni, spaghetti, bread other than whole-wheat with pebbles in it, ice cream and milk and all other dairy products, and every form of meat except salmon -- not even tuna and swordfish because they have high mercury levels. No gravies or sauces, no mayo, only olive oil--and only certain specific expensive olive oils, too.

Instead you are to revert to your hunter-gatherer ancestral dietary load of raw everything, fatless everything, little meat, little sweet, little tasty -- if it's tasteless, dry, chewy, and flavorless, then good. If you find yourself smiling after you take a bite--then spit it out, it's killing you!

Kiss off mealtime and snacktime as joyful enterprises in your life. Eating is something you will from now on do for fuel only, not for pleasure.

To be fair, Ray and his partner make two points: First, if you really do try to reduce yourself to this level of eating, after a while you will get somewhat used to it -- it's supposedly true that, for example, if you eat a lot of sweets you become addicted to sweet tastes, whereas if you forgo sweets, after a while your sweet tooth diminishes. So it's not torture forever--just for the months (or years?) it will take your body and your taste buds to adjust. I suppose that might have some truth to it. God knows if I have chocolate milk for breakfast (so shoot me!), my sweet tooth for the rest of that day becomes more like a sweet fang.

Second, he says that by the time we reach 2020, medical technology breakthroughs will make it likely that we'll be able to go back to abusing our digestive tracts somewhat, since medicine will be able to offset or compensate for our poor choices and we'll have sin without guilt once again. Ah, Eden!

But for now, I just get depressed every time I look in the fridge, or walk the aisles of the grocery store, knowing that every single thing that catches my eye will kill me outright, or at least before I reach 2020. It will be really, really annoying if I am the last man to die from 20th century body malfunctions! But if I had that much discipline and self control, I'd be a much better person than I have ever been. And how likely is that?

I am impressed by the number and quality of customer reviews this book has spawned, many with which I largely agree. To wit:

- This book is chock full of good health and nutritional advice backed by solid research
- It starts to get dicey when it talks about new drugs, technologies, and treatments that are as of yet unproven.

In general, buy it for the great health advice, and leave it at that.

Beyond what is written on the page, there is another underlying thread that I must say I found troubling. I first sensed it when Ray described his own health regimen. He talked about going to a clinic once a week where he gets hooked up to IVs for several hours to receive supplements. Yikes, Ray, that sounds just a little obsessive to me. You get the feeling that Ray doesn't do anything half way, and that's probably why he has been so successful in life, but it seems very narcissistic. And the number of pills these guys must take is enormous, and expensive. Have you priced something as prosaic as, say, CoQ-10 lately? This living-forever business is not cheap.

Looking at the bigger picture, I can't help but feel that the authors are blithely ignoring the elephant in the room: living forever sounds great, but the consequences for the world as we know it are profound and unknown. Would we start handing out ration tickets for baby production? Do we understand the psychological implications for a population that is 1,000 years old? I don't think we can even begin to imagine what the world would be like, but I don't think too many people alive today would like it very much.

I'm sure Terry and Ray would say that that is a whole different discussion; that they want to solve the whole pesky dying thing first, then we'll worry about the consequences. But those nagging questions about the desirability of their purported end-game prevent me from recommending this book more highly.

If you don't think too hard about their ultimate goal, and use their advice to make your time on this earth more productive and pleasant, you'll do just fine.

The greatest benefit of this book is that it really forces you to think about all aspects of your body, as well as some of your mind. You learn once and for all--often in excruciating detail--that we very much are what we eat. Likewise, on the mental divide, we learn that we become what we think.

There are several sections defined as "bridges" (Scientology antagonists, flee!)--obviously more from the pen of Mr. Kurzweil than Mr. Grossman, and more typical of the Futurist side of him that we have come to meet in books like "The Age of Spiritual Machines"--that sometimes border on the ridiculous. But it's always entertaining, in good spirit, and again, it makes you think. So many times during our recorded history has science fiction crossed over into real life, that we should be very careful dismissing anything simply based on what we personally consider ludicrous today.

Even so, take everything in this book (especially the dosages of food, nutrients, drugs, etc) together with a healthy dose of skepticism--and don't forget to consult your physician before you swallow.

I've begun implementing Ray and Terry's program in stages, and it has definitely improved my life in the short term. I can only imagine what good it will have in the long run...

This book is fascinating! It is so full of great information. In fact it is so good I visited Dr. Grossman in Denver, Co. and I am from Los Angeles! If you are into Longevity, this is the book for you. I thought it was so good that I have bought 6 copies for friends and family.

This book discusses something pretty simple your doctor generally won't . . . what you eat day after day WILL have a significant effect on your health years from now.

dry and very hard to read, let alone combine the thoughts. Read it to get to sleep.

A Great Book and a Great Read. I have been following Ray Kurzweil for many years, and was so impressed about his life-changing Live Long Enough to Live Forever, that I purchased several copies of the book, and then gave them to dear friends who I would like to live a long, long time. The book takes us easily through the 3 bridges - the current one which emphasizes diet, exercise, and correct mental attitude to allow us to live long enough for the 2nd and 3rd bridges - which are biotechnology and nanotechnology. [...]Yes - Ray got me hooked on emerging technologies years ago, and got me interested in living a long life, as well as interested in seeing to it that the world stays safe for ourselves and our children. [...] wishing you a long life and peace in the world. Ted Stalets

Hmm. Interesting, but im not sure about all of it. Worth reading if it improves ones health though.

I really liked this book, its a good introduction into the subject. I recommend it!

A review of Fantastic Voyage appeared in my Oakland (Oakland County, Michigan) Press early in 2005. As a longtime enthusiastic advocate--though not necessarily the most ardent practitioner--of life extension technology, I was ecstatic!

Here was a book about radical life-extension appearing in a ho-hum review geared to (what some say is) the cultural-literary wasteland of Detroit suburbia. The vitalist movement had just achieved a major breakthrough into common humanity... at least the branch of common humanity who reads.

Note: Terminology is still a bit tenuous in this transhumanist era we're coming upon. But a vitalist is sort of a practical immortalist, someone who wants to extend life (with youthfulness and vigor) indefinitely, and generally thinks it can be accomplished in our natural lifetimes.

I'll use the term vitalist to identify the movement Kurzweil, Grossman, and many others are pushing. The significance of their book is enormous: Just as Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw (with Life Extension: A practical, scientific approach (1982)) were to health supplements, Kurzweil and Grossman are to the universal prospect of living well for a long time.

The authors break down our pursuit of effective vigorous immortality into three phases:

* Bridge 1: Ray and Terry's Longevity Program: present-day
nutrition, exercise, and wellness strategies that can get you
to the next bridge.

* Bridge 2: The biotechnology bridge, where we learn how to
turn off the bad genes and turn on the good ones, and
figure out the biochemical clues for keeping body and mind
the best.

* Bridge 3: What they refer to as the nanotechnology-AI
(Artificial Intelligence) revolution, where we can rebuild our
bodies and brains at the molecular level.

The prediction: generally effective Bridge 2 vitalist technologies begin 2010, with the beginnings of Bridge 3 technologies in 2020... with full flowering of those technologies a decade following those inception points.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

A review of Fantastic Voyage appeared in my Oakland (Oakland County, Michigan) Press early in 2005. As a longtime enthusiastic advocate--though not necessarily the most ardent practitioner--of life extension technology, I was ecstatic!

Here was a book about radical life-extension appearing in a ho-hum review geared to (what some say is) the cultural-literary wasteland of Detroit suburbia. The vitalist movement had just achieved a major breakthrough into common humanity... at least the branch of common humanity who reads.

Note: Terminology is still a bit tenuous in this transhumanist era we're coming upon. But a vitalist is sort of a practical immortalist, someone who wants to extend life (with youthfulness and vigor) indefinitely, and generally thinks it can be accomplished in our natural lifetimes.

I'll use the term vitalist to identify the movement Kurzweil, Grossman, and many others are pushing. The significance of their book is enormous: Just as Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw (with Life Extension: A practical, scientific approach (1982)) were to health supplements, Kurzweil and Grossman are to the universal prospect of living well for a long time.

The authors break down our pursuit of effective vigorous immortality into three phases:

* Bridge 1: Ray and Terry's Longevity Program: present-day
nutrition, exercise, and wellness strategies that can get you
to the next bridge.

* Bridge 2: The biotechnology bridge, where we learn how to
turn off the bad genes and turn on the good ones, and
figure out the biochemical clues for keeping body and mind
the best.

* Bridge 3: What they refer to as the nanotechnology-AI
(Artificial Intelligence) revolution, where we can rebuild our
bodies and brains at the molecular level.

The prediction: generally effective Bridge 2 vitalist technologies begin 2010, with the beginnings of Bridge 3 technologies in 2020... with full flowering of those technologies a decade following those inception points.

...

For my complete review of this book and for other book and movie
reviews, please visit my site [...]

Brian Wright
Copyright 2007

I love this book. Inwardly, I laugh at Ray Kurzweil for including an endosement from Dean Ornish in a book that focusing on controlling blood sugar by eating low carb and including enough fat, but it is great nonetheless. The book is very positive and contains a lot of practical suggestions. It also presents some complex topics very well.

The one real flaw in the authors' approach is that it contains no sense of proportion. For example, in the seciton on environmental toxicity, it advises that you not shower with chlorinated water, but, in the section on exercise, it advises lap swimming as great exercise... well, if your 15 minute shower has too much chlorine, you can't get in a pool for 2 hours every day!!

The other problem with the book is that new research is coming out so fast now that the book must be out of date by now. But I think it's a great start anyhow.

I thought my lifestyle was very healthy, but I learned a number of practical and reasonable ways to improve my health immediately. The book has footnotes with authoritative references for all points covered which is extremely helpful in evaluating the merit of each suggestion. The book covers diet, diagnostic tests, exercise, supplements and mental health. I have read this book twice and taken notes on areas of most interest. I strongly recommend this book, it is the best book on overall health that I have come across. I also recommend another book called the T_r_u_t_h about C_a_f_f_e_i_n_e. It's a shocking look at how destructive the drug can be to one's health.

I thought my lifestyle was very healthy, but I learned a number of practical and reasonable ways to improve my health immediately. The book has footnotes with authoritative references for all points covered which is extremely helpful in evaluating the merit of each suggestion. The book covers diet, diagnostic tests, exercise, supplements and mental health. I have read this book twice and taken notes on areas of most interest. I strongly recommend this book, as well as another book called the T_r_u_t_h _A_b_o_u_t _C_a_f_f_e_i_n_e.

It's the best book on overall health that I have come across.

This is actually the 2nd copy of this book I've owned. The first left me to live with a friend.

I look at this book as a fantastic time saver. Instead of reading hundreds of scientific reviews to find out the latest scientific information is available in nutrition, I leave that up to Ray, and 99% of the time he's right on the mark.

I'm a bit suspicious about his "healthy alkaline water" thing, as I don't see the scientific research backing him up on this point. I know Tony Robbins is very enthusiastic about that...but Tony's research is suspect too... so I'd leave that to other readers to decide what they think about that.

The rest is brilliant, "must know" knowledge for anyone who wants to live a long life.

People who like this book, will likely also be interested in "NO More Heart Disease: How Nitric Oxide Can Prevent--Even Reverse-- Heart Disease and Stroke" - Louis Ignarro. One warning - if you play with L-Arginine, read the research and don't use it unless you know what you're doing and read enough to know where it can actually help you and where it's being sold as a panacea.

This is actually the 2nd copy of this book I've owned. The first left me to live with a friend.

I look at this book as a fantastic time saver. Instead of reading hundreds of scientific reviews to find out the latest scientific information is available in nutrition, I leave that up to Ray, and 99% of the time he's right on the mark.

I'm a bit suspicious about his "healthy alkaline water" thing, as I don't see the scientific research backing him up on this point. I know Tony Robbins is very enthusiastic about that...but Tony's research is suspect too... so I'd leave that to other readers to decide what they think about that.

The rest is brilliant, "must know" knowledge for anyone who wants to live a long life.

People who like this book, will likely also be interested in "NO More Heart Disease: How Nitric Oxide Can Prevent--Even Reverse-- Heart Disease and Stroke" - Louis Ignarro. One warning - if you play with L-Arginine, read the research and don't use it unless you know what you're doing and read enough to know where it can actually help you and where it's being sold as a panacea.

Kurzweil and Goodman's book helps the reader approach what can be a very diverse and complicated series of topics centering around personal healthcare. They do not provide a new (read: yet another) super diet, but rather provide a general health-conscious framework composed of a number of practical tips. The result is that the reader is much better informed when making health decisions, and can make choices that work for them.

Some of the options suggested can be rather expensive and time-consuming, such as personal genetic profiling and extensive supplementation. But they explore the reasons behind each suggestion, so the reader may add one or more of the steps to their personal plan as they are able or desire.

Most Americans may not be able to immediately switch to a low carb, low fat diet, and take hundreds of supplements per day. But gaining the knowledge this book provides will allow nearly anyone to formulate a plan by which they can attain as much or as little of this state as they wish.

Kurzweil and Goodman's book helps the reader approach what can be a very diverse and complicated series of topics centering around personal healthcare. They do not provide a new (read: yet another) super diet, but rather provide a general health-conscious framework composed of a number of practical tips. The result is that the reader is much better informed when making health decisions, and can make choices that work for them.

Some of the options suggested can be rather expensive and time-consuming, such as personal genetic profiling and extensive supplementation. But they explore the reasons behind each suggestion, so the reader may add one or more of the steps to their personal plan as they are able or desire.

Most Americans may not be able to immediately switch to a low carb, low fat diet, and take hundreds of supplements per day. But gaining the knowledge this book provides will allow nearly anyone to formulate a plan by which they can attain as much or as little of this state as they wish.

Great book. Author is well know and well respected in scientific world.
Before publishing he did detailed research in human health and present technology. Worked with several medical doctors. He beleive everyone can live long in good health. That what he is talking about in this book. How to manage our body. What is right food for you? Which vitamins are good for us and why? He also talks about nanotechnology and biotechnology ... GNR will help us to rebuild our bodies against deadly diseases.

This book is extraordinary because Ray Kurzweil is extraordinary. How often can you say that somebody is the real thing, but that's exactly what Kurzweil represents? This man operates on the outer edge of human knowledge. I am reminded years ago of a science fiction writer named Lester Del Rey, a mind so gifted that MIT hooked up a microphone to his neck. Everything he verbalized was recorded because it was felt that he was a hundred years ahead of his time.

People like Kurzweil come along only rarely, and when they do, we are the lucky ones who find out about their existence and can learn from them. This is not to say that Kurzweil is right about everything he says, and thinks. He's not John von Newman, the Hungarian mathematician and advisor to the Manhattan Project during World War II. It was said about von Newman that once he thought about something, and gave an opinion there was no need to think about the subject anymore. He was that thorough in his thought processes.

Forgive my digression, but it's a story you will tell your friends. While von Newman was lecturing one day on mathematics at the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton, Einstein asked if he could sit in on the lecture. During the lecture, Einstein looks at von Newman and says in German, "Johnny, slow down, I can't keep up with you." Now there's a brain.

What Kurzweil and von Newman have in common is their ability to convey their thinking to the rest of us. Richard Feynmann the physicist was also like this. It is a rare gift among any group of advanced intellectuals when they can take topics, and break them down into language that the layman can deal with. It is a trait that is also vitally necessary if they are to have influence, and in Kurzweil's case, he does have influence.

Kurzweil was given the National Medal of Technology, and is a member of the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Being an entrepreneur, he doesn't want for money, those needs were taken care of by the sale of his inventions, ideas, and companies that he started.

The premise of this book is that our technology is exploding at such a rate that the authors believe that in the next several decades we will have the knowledge via nanotechnology and others that will allow us to live for hundreds of years. His personal objective is to bridge the gap (his words) in time from now, until this new technology becomes available. Kurzweil wants to live FOREVER, don't we all? What about sex though, will we have sex when we are 200 years old, or will we have to be satisfied reading Plato.

When you consider the amount of energy that each of us has that's put into anxiety concerning our future deaths, Kurzweil is really talking about the ultimate revolution, and the freedom from death. It's nice work if you can get it, and certainly will drive classically trained psychoanalysts up a wall, if they have to give up their anxiety in this yet unrealized future.

As for me, I love the book for other reasons. This fabulous author is able to condense the contents of hundreds of books, thousands of articles, and who knows how many scientific relationships. He then takes the sum total of this knowledge bank, and distills it down into a highly readable book considering the material, of almost 400 pages.

If you want to know about your health, and what you can and should be doing about it, than this is the book for you. Kurzweil goes through the vitamins, and the supplements. He tells you the real deal. In my own world of stock investments, and managing billions of dollars for international entities and families, I get to research and study just about anything I want. Kurzweil has followed a parallel track. Where we cross paths, I can see that he really has mastered a wide assortment of topics.

You just aren't going to find this information anywhere else, unless you can make a full-time commitment to do the research yourself, and who can do that. I go to nanotechnology conferences in California, Kurzweil shows up. I go to Futurology conferences in Washington DC, Kurzweil shows up. I attend seminars at the Media Lab at MIT, and sure enough, there's Kurzweil. Does the man sleep; has he already crossed himself with nanotechnology, and the robotics that he swears is coming? All I know is that he's probably living at a rate of three times the rest of us.

Let's look at just a few chapters and you will see how important this book is:

Chapter 9 on "The Problem with sugar and Insulin" is vital if you want to have an understanding of Diabetes which Kurzweil was diagnosed with at a young age, and now states that he has completely eradicated from his body. Half of the American population is pre-diabetic, and you need to have this information to help yourself, and your loved ones.

Chapter 10 is Kurzweil's personal program. His father had a massive heart attack when he was 51, so the author has a direct interest in heart disease. He's had his genes tested, and he goes into remarkable detail as to what exactly he is doing for himself to bridge the distance in time between now, and when these remarkable life-sustaining technologies are going to come into existence. What's beautiful about the book is that you can read it on many levels. You don't have to strive to understand the whole thing. Take what YOU NEED out of this book, and forget the rest. For those that have an interest however, he takes you to depths that you can't imagine going to in any other way.

Chapter 12 on "Inflammation - The Latest Smoking Gun" is once again a gem of a chapter. Half the people who get heart attacks in this country are walking around with normal Cholesterol levels and normal LDL (bad) Cholesterol levels as well. If Cholesterol is so bad, how can this be? Kurzweil takes you through the latest research on Inflammation, where much of the answer may reside. This is complex stuff the man is tackling, and he makes it a JOY TO READ.

Chapter 15 on the "Real Cause of Heart Disease and How to Prevent It" is worth its weight in gold. He tells you in detail exactly where cutting edge medical technology is today and I know from my own work that maybe 2% of the doctors out there are practicing what Kurzweil already knows to be true.

He covers cancer, the power of your brain, hormones and aging. His chapter on exercise is a grand slam homerun. Perhaps only 1% of the books and literature out there ever talks about what evolutionary biology has to teach us about our bodies. Kurzweil covers the topic better than anyone, and it's worth talking about here.

Our ancestors take us back maybe 5 million years. Human beings broke off from other chains several times during that period. Everything we are however has been shaped over that very long biological period of time through random mutations. Now think about it, for five million years, we have basically been hunter-gatherers, necessitating severe body movement. We probably walked, ran 10 miles a day, maybe more. We are in trouble now because our heritage is 10 miles a day of movement, and we are currently fighting each other to get to a parking space closest to the store we want to go to at the mall. This is a SURE-FIRE RECIPE for the breakdown of our bodies. Kurzweil is right; we need to GET MOVING AGAIN.

Read the book; learn from a true genius what you could be doing, what you should be doing to maximize this beautiful gift that nature gave us, our bodies and our minds. Don't hesitate, click the box to order this book, and get excited in anticipation of taking yourself on a journey that may lead to immortality. If it doesn't, at the very least, you will begin to take control of your body. You will be in the driver's seat. You will take back control of your world from a culture that has led us to obesity, and Diabetes. You NEED to read this book.

Richard Stoyeck

The authors present an interesting, futuristic vision of the medicine, its influence at our health, and ultimately, at our longevity. It is an interesting, easily understandable read with a lot of information from the fields of genomics, biotechnology and other sciences. The authors present optimistic views on fighting and conquering such modern plagues as cancer, heart diseases, etc.

An interesting comparison to the "Fantastic Voyage..." are books by Tombak ("Cure the Incurable", "Can We Live 150"), with its similar focus on longevity. Tombak offers a totally new view at cancer and future ways of treating it. I highly recommend all these books. Get them in one package and safe on shipping cost.

I saw Ray Kurzweil give a speech recently on C-SPAN. In addition to looking his age (late 50's), he also displayed a tic-like squinting of his eyes that he didn't have several years ago. I have to wonder whether he has seriously deceived himself when he claims he hasn't "aged" biologically since 1990 or so.

Ever since Ray's Age of The Spiritial Machine book came out, I've been a great fan of Kurzweil and a believer in his message. This old book, as well as his new book on the singularity have a point, and this helps the writing seem nature. On the other hand, though there is plenty of good stuff scattered here and there in this co-authored book, it's not so easy to find. I'm sure that if you want to live long enough to live to the Singularity there is a 80/20 rule. Be healthy: as in excercise your body and brain, eat right, don't abuse your body with tobacco, get regular physicals, keep your weight down and so on. As for supplements, which is one of the things this book concentrates on, I think we have to be careful. The research vaciliates quite a bit. NSAIDs are supposed to be great for you: they are anti-cancer, anti-Alheimer's and so on, but only recently has the media started reporting that seriously bleeding of the stomach is not uncommon with these OTC drugs. Soy is great for you, but not, if you believe the research, if the soy is from Alaska and if you are a man: you might get Alzheimer's because something in the soil of Alaska (I forget what exactly) leads to misformed proteins in the brains of men. I'm sure that as the years go on we will be able to identify what exactly in wine or beer or broccoli is really good for you, but we are not there yet.

Alex Alaniz Ph.D.

1. Please see the reviews of my own strong science fiction book: Beyond Future Shock about the near-terms perils and promise of advanced bio/nano technology in a world still roiled with Middle Age religious conflict and ever growing extreme wealth gradients.

2. I have REVIEWED many books from undergraduate to graduate in: PHYSICS, MATH, ECONOMETRICS, and HISTORY among other areas.

Ray and Terry have truly performed a service to humankind in compiling this detailed, authoritative resource on how to stay healthy. The book is jam-packed with useful information on how to achieve OPTIMAL health. I have been frustrated in reading many health books because they seem geared to what they expect their audience will find acceptable. These are the folks who take the coward's way out by telling you that anything is okay so long as it's done in "moderation." Not Ray and Terry. They give it to you straight -- do this if you want optimal health, do less than this and you won't have it.

I bought a book 20 years ago -- The Paleolithic Prescription -- that says essentially the same thing. Lots of veggies and lean meats are what the cavemen ate, and it's what our bodies are designed for. This book motivated me to give up sugar, and I feel great.

I had previously read the Kurzweill other book "10% fat solution" and was more impressed with that book than with this new one.
It now appears that Kurzweill has possibly been somehow negatively influenced or somewhat possibly brainwashed by Grossman.

This book now has assertion that are highly misleading.
For example: (p.64)
"We are not aware of any adverse reactions reported from the use of stevia"
Yet stevia has been rejected not only by the US FDA but also the canadian equivalent and also the European Union equivalent because of concern about reproductive damage (In animal studies, stevia reduce sperm production and testis weigh when given to males and reduce the number and birth weight of offstrings when given to females).
The authors therefore either want to mislead or are ignorant. Indeed the problem with stevia is a matter of public debate.
I suspect that part was written by Grossman. In his previous book (the baby boomers guide to living forever), he views it as a form of conspiracy of the holder of aspartame and saccharin patent and the sugar industry. Funny because public defense groups such as cspinet.org are impressed that the FDA resisted the powerful industry lobbies (that wanted stevia to be approved) and rejected stevia until safety is better established. Doesn't the authors realise that the soft drink industry would love to have a commodity product such as stevia to replace patented alternative? Didn't he care to know exactly why 3 different pannels of experts rejected it?

Same thing about the glycemic index: selective disclosure of information again. There is no mention that the whole idea is still very theoretical and experimental. Among the facts not disclosed in the book that a reader would have certainly been interested to know is this:
- the glycemic index is calculated using a single food on an empty stomach
- when researchers examined a more common situation, they discovered that adding plain SUGAR (an ultra-high glycemic index food) to a meal did NOT (suprisingly) change the glycemic index of the meal !

On an another subject, it is easy to see the (unfortunate?) influence of Grossman (a "chelation" doctor) over Kurzweill in this: Mr Kuzweill has regular INTRAVENOUS chelation therapy to "detoxify" his body, not on a yearly basis, not every 6 months, but... every WEEK ! 52 intravenous infusions per year is probably more dangerous (risk of septicemia among other) than any possible elusive benefit.

Bottom line: at this time there is no scientific studies (with random assignment of groups) that establish that such extreme program actually improve life expectancy (as opposed to simply beneficially affecting some biochemical markers).


On the positive side for the book, there are highly stimulating and interesting information on the latest research in different medical field that should give hope to many.

I love Ray Kurzweil ever since his wonderful tome, "The Age of Spiritual Machines." He is among an elite group which constitutes my favorite edition of philosopher/scientist, the "Futurist." I love to imagine what life will be like in the far future, but also am filled with curiosity as to what will happen in the near future. In this, his latest book, Kurzweil states that we are embarking upon a new revolution in medical science. His book is quite exhaustive and does a good job of distilling much of the latest research into three basic pillars or "bridges" as he calls them.

1. We are now in the process of understanding what supplements are necessary for life extention and what we must eat (how we must eat) in order to live longer.
This is where we are now and I'll not bore you with these particulars.

2. We are about to cross a bridge of wildly new Bio-technology. This will meld genetics with medicine. For decades Doctors understood that certain medicines worked better on some and less well on others. They are now beginning to understand that minor variations in body chemistry (which is largely dictated by our genes) is to blame for this phenomena. Kurzweil states that within 10-15 years, you will have your personal genome sequenced. This will be fed into a computer. When a diagnosis is made, a tailor-made medicine for that particular ailment will be manufactured on-sight (or at your local pharmacy). This will allow for more efficient medicines. Secondly, because of the advances in gene-sequencing, the first truly broad spectrum anti-viral medication will be developed. He states that it took us over 12 years to sequence the genome of the HIV virus, while it took only 30 days to sequence SARS virus (which is why he claims it was contained and a vaccine developed so quickly). Additionally, stem cells will be tailored to your own bodily ailments. For example, say you have a heart condition, you'll take several stem cell injections designed to turn into heart cells over a years time. Over that time, the stem cells will replace your damaged heart cells. Soon, your heart will be that of a 20 year old, even if you have a 80 year old body.

3. The last bridge he talks about is Nano-technology, which is every sci-fi fans dream. He states that nano-tech will arrive fully within 20-30 years. Imagine microscopic machines able to rebuild your cells from the inside out or detect cancer before it can spread. Nano-tech will enable you body to regenerate constantly, daily. It will enable you to regenerate severed limbs within minutes after an accident. What if your brain is damaged? Since you will "upload" your memory patterns into a computer daily for safe keeping, the nano-tech can access the back-up of your memories and download them into your newly repaired brain. Very wild.

My one question is of a psychological nature. If we live forever, will it inhibit growth in ourselves or others? I can see a profound change in my Father (for the better) since his dad died in '99. My Father has grown up, taken on responsibility, increased his self-worth, and seemed to find new meaning in his life. When his Dad was there holding the reigns (and purse strings) he had no reason to move out of a delayed adolescence he had been trapped in for decades. If we live forever, will we just be caught in the same complexes and same emotional triangles forever? Of will an entire new age of psychological/emotional complexity be born?

This is an amazing book. I appreciate the in depth writing of Mr. Kruzweil on a very complex subject. I won't pretend to fully understand everything he's discussed in his book, but I now have a reference to turn to. Some of the ideas I won't be taking advantage of, but it certainly gives some practical things that anyone can reassess in their diet/supplement and exercise habits. You'll not only learn what to do/eat, but why you should do it. I found the areas of future biotechnology absolutely fascinating and highly recommend this book to everyone. Katie Snell

This is unquestionably a book that advances human thinking about a topic that everybody since the dawn of humans has had an opinion about - health and how to maintain it, perhaps for ever. The fact that the authors have opinions, as well as presenting a very impressive volume of scientific evidence, seems to upset some reviewers but it does not phase me at all. One critic says that unlike Kurzweil's other books 'this is not science'! - I disagree that it is any less scientific for being polemical - the authors throw up many challenging ideas which are already well summarised [eg see review by Vandevenne] but some of which the astute reader will want to research further. In one of many such examples "the importance of being alkaline" p43, the authors explain why health is extremely sensitive to the slightest variation in pH and mount a very convincing case for reducing ones intake of Colas and soft drinks [I have not had a Coke since reading it!]. Their second suggestion that everybody invest in an alkaline water machine [see discussion on their web site http://fantastic-voyage.net/ReaderQandA.htm] is less well substantiated but challenging.
This book has exposed me to a wealth of new [albeit contentious] 'facts' about my own body and some 'fantastically' interesting ideas about how various exponentially growing technologies may keep my kids alive for a lot longer than I will live. I will read this book again and again and be sceptically inspired by it hopefully for many more years.

Kurzweil is one of my favorite authors. I enjoyed his book on the future of evolution titled The Age of Spiritual Machines, and I highly recommend that book to you as well. This book is a must read for all who are interested in personal health. Even if you do not believe it is possible or desirable to live a VERY long life, you will likely agree that as you do age, you would prefer to be healthy right up to the end. If you do agree, then this book about the science behind radical life extension will be of interest to you. I hope you take the opportunity to get a copy of Fantastic Voyage to learn how to control through life style and eating habits all those things that concern us from heart disease and cancer to Alzheimer's disease.

My criticism of the book is only that the authors are a bit "over the top" on what they are doing to extend their own health, and it is very expensive. Not everyone will be able to afford DNA analysis, weekly injections of supplements and 250 pills per day. Other actions that Ray takes are to drink six to eight cups of green tea per day and even more water on top of that. He walks every day and limits what he eats. All of this adds up to a self disciplined routine that the average person will not undertake to accomplish. Still, we can take from this what we can reasonably do while at the same time understanding that we could always do more to make our lives healthier and therefore happier.

The book is written in a clear and conversational tone. The science is explained in terms that I, as a lay person, can understand. And the authors seem honest about the efficacy of the supplements they are recommending - meaning that they state whether or not "clinical testing" has been done or whether the information is more anecdotal.

All in all, this is an excellent reference for those interested in enjoying a healthier life style and to improve their health as they approach senior years.