Aging: Elderhood and Choosing Joy

Here’s a quick review with comments on two books which deal with aging:

Louise Aronson wrote ELDERHOOD in order to share her views about “Redefining Aging, Transforming Medicine, and Reimagining Life.” Aronson is a geriatrician and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco.  She freely admits that “this book doesn’t always walk a straight line from here to there” and I did find it to be rather rambling.  Plus, since I had a digital preview (with no index and limited formatting), I found added difficulty in following her flow. However, her tone is conversational and comforting as she describes embracing a universal trajectory with a “third act:” childhood, adulthood and then elderhood, “the longest, most varied period of our lives.” Aronson’s writing is absolutely filled with stories and observations from her own life, and that of her patients and others. Just a smattering of examples would be her “summer of sickness” as a nine-year-old with a ruptured appendix at a sleep-away camp or comments on Bruce Springsteen’s view of turning old despite his almost daily three hours of highly physical entertaining in his mid-sixties.  Near the end of the text Aronson presents a care paradigm with an outline of ten assumptions (e.g., medicine and healthcare, while often used interchangeably, are not equivalent). It seems that she is inviting reflection and more research. Throughout, she offers a new perspective and acknowledges “powerful thinkers [who] have created an enormous body of work on old age that should have far more influence on our aging lives and policies.” Aronson’s text is both fact- and story-based, with about ten percent devoted to notes. ELDERHOOD received starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, with the later labeling it “one of the best accounts around of the medical mistreatment of the old.”

CHOOSING JOY by Helene Berger is subtitled “Alzheimer's: A Book of Hope” and was inspired by the unanticipated positive results Berger’s husband achieved after his diagnosis of Alzheimer's. Berger says her “goal is to give hope and offer concrete suggestions.” The book is divided into sections titled Foundations (background and acknowledgment of shifting roles), Practical Approaches (Acceptance, an Active Mind, Creating a Healthy and Safe Environment) Interaction with Others (Aides, Doctors, Self-Care), and Looking Back (reflecting on the Power of Love). Berger notes that this text in no way implies similar success for other caregivers. However, reviews by caregivers are universally positive and appreciative of the helpful, hopeful insights which Berger relays. They comment on Berger’s belief, developed during her six years as a caregiver, to “fight the disease; embrace the journey” as a new perspective for being a caregiver. Her message is to regard this diagnosis as “another life opportunity to learn and to grow – to learn that we always have options, even if it’s only the attitude we bring to conditions that we would do anything to change.” She is frank and open in her writing, sharing hard-earned wisdom and saying, “CHOOSING JOY chronicles my real life experiences: the tears, the frustration, the uncertainty, the many mistakes, as well as the successes.” 

NOTE: SHIELD is the new acronym: S - Sleep; H - Handle Stress; I - Interact with Others; E - Exercise; L - Learn New Things; D - Diet

Meals that Heal by Carolyn Williams

MEALS THAT HEAL by Carolyn Williams is a fun, recently published cookbook from Simon & Schuster’s new imprint, Tiller Press. MEALS THAT HEAL contains helpful nutritional background and “100+ Everyday Anti-Inflammatory Recipes in 30 Minutes or Less.” A registered dietitian and culinary nutrition expert, Williams is further described as “known for her ability to simplify the concept of healthy eating.” This text absolutely illustrates that skill.  First, Williams provides a basic explanation of “good” and “bad” inflammation, using a chart to explain what it is, causes, immune response, signs, and health impact.  Certainly some readers will already be familiar with her list of 8 top recommended foods (leafy greens, olive oil, berries, cruciferous vegetables, green tea, gut health promoters and nuts/seeds), but Williams adds detailed examples, portion suggestions and also then emphasizes “assessing where you are” in order to best utilize her recipes.  

Williams goes on to suggest a set of refrigerator and pantry staples for recipes like Black Bean and Spinach Quesadillas, Avocado Chicken Salad, and One Pan Steak with Sweet Potatoes and Green Beans.  Appetizing, and relatively quick and easy to make, with few specialized ingredients! The numerous colorful pictures and nutrition information contribute to the quality and appeal of this cookbook. Chapter headings are pretty standard: Breakfast (with a chart on Breakfast Bowl Ideas); Lunch (plenty of salads and an emphasis on un-sandwich choices); Poultry/Meat; Fish and Shellfish (with a buyer’s guide); Meatless Mains; Sides; and Snacks and Drinks. Recipes generally include a color photo and nutritional data, plus an icon for being vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, and/or dairy free. The final section provides “Menus for Healing” so readers can begin to develop a plan which is more focused on heart health, brain health (on a related note, there is a just-released study highlighted by NBC News and others regarding lifestyle behaviors and their impact on Alzheimer’s), pain relief and so forth. Although some other charts (e.g., foods to avoid or greatly limit) were blurry and harder to read in the digital preview, I am excited to see the print version of MEALS THAT HEAL which will be on our shelves soon. Cooking and nutrition classes will find much to explore.

Diet for the Mind and Why You Eat What You Eat

DIET FOR THE MIND by Martha Clare Morris is subtitled “The Latest Science on What to Eat to Prevent Alzheimer’s and Cognitive Decline.” It is generally shelved with books about the brain’s functioning rather than with cookbooks which, given its content, is appropriate; however, I would have liked to have seen more pictures and at least a few simpler recipes. Morris has split the book into two parts, and the first, mind-healthy science, explains cognitive decline and essential nutrients. She also lists foods for everyday (leafy greens, vegetables, whole grains, and vegetable oils) and for every week (berries, nuts, seafood, poultry, and beans).  Then, in Part II she describes a mind-healthy lifestyle and provides 80 recipes.  Obviously healthy, but those seemed to have at least seven ingredients and many involved more because of an accompanying sauce. How can we make recipes simpler (for shopping and for preparing) so as to more actively encourage changes in eating habits?     

That question is indirectly addressed in WHY YOU EAT WHAT YOU EAT by Rachel Herz, a neuroscientist specializing in perception and emotion who teaches at Brown University and Boston College.  That text is filled with unusual facts, details, and summaries of studies.  I have ordered a copy because I think our Psych classes will be surprised at and fascinated by the findings that explore the “science behind our relationship with food.”  For example, did you know that eating from a red plate generally results in eating less? Or that the more often you eat a food (e.g., rice vs. potato), “the more appetite-appeasing you believe it to be – and thinking makes it so.”  

There’s an entire chapter titled “eye candy” which supports the Chinese proverb that says, “you eat first with your eyes, then with your nose and then with your mouth” and talks about how art and color influence taste and perception. Other chapters deal with “the sound and the feeling” (with experiments you can try yourself) and “comfort food.”  Herz’s text is, unfortunately, a bit too jammed with numerous tasty tidbits at times – kind of like the puns in that sentence - overwhelming the reader with information, although there is much useful self-help type, too.  In WHY YOU EAT WHAT YOU EAT, Herz herself points out that “globally, more people die today from obesity-related illnesses than from starvation” and it seems critical to learn all we can about how food impacts our mood and behavior as well as how our senses and our surroundings (labels, packaging, etc.) relate to our motivation to eat.  One last tip: artichokes (containing cynarin) make other foods taste sweeter so blend them with the often more bitter leafy greens recommended by Harris for a tastier, healthier salad. Enjoy!   

Never Coming Back by Alison McGhee

NEVER COMING BACK by Alison McGhee is a beautifully written story that deserves reflection and quiet – a perfect Boxing Day read by the fire. It’s a story about Clara Winter and her mother, Tamar, who is diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s.  For Clara, a talented young woman who loves music and writing, moving back to rural New York State and the Adirondack Mountains brings not only the need to cope with the present situation, but confrontation with questions concerning the past and glimmers of a possible future. McGhee is an extremely talented writer – I chose this title in part because of its evocative setting, but also because I remember reading and being moved by McGhee’s Snap (a middle grade novel) over a decade ago.

In NEVER COMING BACK McGhee describes dementia as: “What happens when someone close to you starts to disappear is that they aren’t always there. They are with you and then they aren’t.  This happens while their hearts still beat, while their lungs still breathe, while they look directly at you.  They talk and laugh and sing and then they don’t. They are here and they are gone, are and were, simultaneously.” NEVER COMING BACK is an emotional, yet gentle, contemplation on mothers and daughters and on the challenges we face in life.