Book Review - You, The Owners Manual

I’ve had the link to You, the Owner’s Manual up on 60 in 3 for a while now, and recently, someone asked me why. Why do I recommend this book to my readers? Well, here’s my answer.

Overview

What do you know about your car? Do you know what the brakes do? How about the transmission? Do you know how your engine works in theory? Most people, even non mechanically inclined ones like myself, know the basics about cars. We might not know the specifics of how the transmission works or what the carburetor does, but we do in general understand the workings of our car. So it’s a bit ironic when you ask the same people how their body works and they don’t have a clue. If you had asked me four years ago how an internal combustion engine works, I could have answered you in good detail. If you had asked me how my own metabolic engine worked and how it kept my body supplied with energy, I would have been clueless. That’s where You, The Owner’s Manual comes in.

Authors

You, The Owner’s Manual was written by two doctors, Michael F. Roizen and Mehmet C. Oz. Dr. Roizen created the Real Age concept which you can learn more about on his webpage while Dr. Oz is a professor at Columbia University.

Purpose

The purpose of You, The Owner’s Manual is to provide you with the basic guide to your body. It’s not an encyclopedia or a detailed medical text. Instead, it is a high level overview of every system in your body along with tips on how to improve its performance. Just like a car manual, it will explain the basics, cover day to day use and provide you with maintenance recommendations.

Contents

The book is divided into 12 chapters listed here:

1. Chapter 1 - Your body, Your Home: Super Health
2. Chapter 2 - The Beat Goes On: Your Heart and Arteries
3. Chapter 3 - Do You Mind: Your Brain and Nervous System
4. Chapter 4 - Motion Control: Your Bones, Joints, and Muscles
5. Chapter 5 - To a Lung and Healthy Life: Your Lungs
6. Chapter 6 - Gut Feelings: Your Digestive System
7. Chapter 7 - Sex Marks the Spot: Your Sexual Organs
8. Chapter 8 - Common Sense: Your Sensory Organs
9. Chapter 9 - Sick Sense - Your Immune System
10. Chapter 10 - This Gland is Your Gland: Your Hormones
11. Chapter 11 - Hells Cell: Cancer
12. Chapter12 - The Owner’s Manual Diet

As you can tell by some of the awful puns in the chapter titles, the authors have a low sense of humor and aren’t afraid to use it. This is one of the reasons I liked this book so much and recommend it to everyone. Somehow, the authors managed to make a medical text that’s actually fun to read. I never had to force myself to keep on reading this book, I simply enjoyed every chapter.

Chapter Basics

Each chapter begins with some myths about the topic it will discuss. It then provides information about the system in question and answers basic questions. It also provides tips on how to better care for the specific system discussed in the chapter. The tips are straightforward and easy to follow. Best of all, the authors explain each tip in detail, providing you with the “why” and not just the “what to do”.

Recommendation

This is the first book I would recommend reading if you’re interested in learning more about your body. It provides you with all the basics you need to understand other, more detailed reference sources. It also gives you the foundation to living a healthy life. So if you’re interested in health and how to better maintain your body but you’re not quite sure what to do, start with You, The Owner’s Manual.

Summary

If you’re going to improve your health, you need to better understand your body, and You, The Owner’s Manual is the place to start. If you’re interested in it, check out the link on the left hand side of 60 in 3 or click the following link:

YOU: The Owner’s Manual: An Insider’s Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger.

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