March 26, 2025 • 35 mins
Whether you’re a member of the GenX generation – or a ‘youthful’ Baby
Boomer – research studies now confirm you could live to be 100 – and
beyond! Join wellness expert, Dr. Jim Polakof, as he explores the
transformative journey of aging with Dr. Debra Whitman, Public Policy
Officer of AARP.
Dr. Whitman is the author of the new, best-selling book, “The Second Fifty”
in which she addresses society’s misconceptions about getting older and
how you can thrive in life – regardless of your age!
IMPORTANT LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE:
“The Second Fifty” Book page: www.aarp.org/secondfifty
AARP’s Living Learning and Earning Longer Collaborative: https://www.aarpinternational.org/initiatives/future-of-work/living-learning-and-earning-longer
AARP’s Employer Pledge Program: www.aarp.org/employerpledge
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Welcome to a new episode of Live Healthy Longer.
Do you wonder what's ahead inthe next 50 years of your life?
Well, we have the answers foryou.
This podcast is supported inpart by Amazon Books.
Their slogan is everything fromA to Z.
I'll have some great readingrecommendations for you at the
(00:29):
conclusion of this episode.
So here's our host healthcarespecialist author and very
popular podcaster, dr JimPolakoff.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, I'm Dr Jim Polakoff and I've got an
important question for you.
If you happen to be a member ofthe Gen X generation, somewhere
in the 44 to 59 age range, orperhaps a baby boomer interested
in preserving a youthfullifestyle, have you wondered
what's going to happen duringthe second 50 years of your life
(00:59):
?
Whether you consider it to begood or bad news, studies reveal
there's a good chance you'regoing to live to 100, or perhaps
even beyond, but what does thismean to you in terms of your
health and lifestyle?
My guest for this episode ofLive Healthy Longer is Dr
Deborah Whitman.
She's a leading health experton aging issues, as well as
(01:23):
chief public officer of AARP.
There, she helps lead globalpolicy and research to help
communities, lawmakers and theprivate sector improve our lives
as we age.
Dr Whitman also serves as anAARP spokesperson on such issues
as long-term health care andcaregiving, financial security,
(01:46):
health and even longevity.
But in this episode, we'regoing to focus on findings that
are published in Dr Whitman'snew dynamic book, the Second
Fifty Answers to the Seven BigQuestions of Midlife and Beyond.
So let's get into my manyimportant questions and answers
that are going to impact yourlives as we age.
(02:08):
Welcome, dr Whitman.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Thanks for having me today.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It's my pleasure.
I think this is going to be avery interesting interview.
In just a few years, Deb, onein five Americans will be 65
years of age or older.
So what do you feel are themost pressing issues that are
actually facing aging adults?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I have been working on aging issues for the last 25
years, throughout my career, andit covers so many different
areas, from our health to ourfinancial security, our
cognitive health, our livingsituations, our need for care
(02:51):
and end-of-life issues, and soone of the reasons why I wrote
the book was to cover all of thebreadth of things that affect
us in later life.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
All right, but if you were to pick one or two issues
that seniors and I'll just labelthem as seniors as opposed to
aging adults what would you saythey were?
What's really pressing rightnow?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I wish I had just one , because I think we have a
struggle for financial security.
There's a lot of people thathave nothing saved for
retirement and worry about thelong-term viability of Social
Security.
There's a lot of people thathave physical health or
cognitive health issues, so Icount that as a bucket.
(03:40):
We have a care crisis in thiscountry where care is really
expensive, even though most ofus will need it as we age.
So I'm going to dodge youranswer a little bit, because I
don't think it is just one thing.
I think that we have an agingsociety that we haven't prepared
for, and we really need tothink comprehensively about how
(04:00):
we build a society that makesaging easier for everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh boy, I think you hit the nail on the head,
because I don't think we areprepared for that.
I've done a little bit ofresearch in the field as well,
and I have to tell you we aredefinitely unprepared, and it's
good to have someone likeyourself involved.
Now, I was very impressed withyour book, the Second Fifty.
We're going to talk a littlebit more about it a little later
, but it's not only well-written, but I found it to be very
(04:27):
well-organized.
You've pretty much broken allof the comprehensive information
down into eight chapters, veryeasy to read, very well-read.
The first magic question, ofcourse, being how long will I
live?
And, of course, the second part.
I mean I have to say, per mypodcast theme, it's important to
live.
If you're going to live longer,it's important to live healthy.
So that's something that Ithink we need to touch on.
(04:51):
But, as you state in your book,in the early 1900s Americans
only lived to about 47 years ofage, but then, by 2016, I
believe, the number is thatnumber jumped to 81 years for
women and 76 for men.
So today there's evidence thatgood, healthy habits, eating,
living right, etc.
(05:12):
Many people can even live to100 and beyond.
I've had some guests on whocontend they can live to 100.
But the question is in yourfirst two chapters of the book
you address how long will I liveand will I be healthy as long
as I live?
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah well, thank you, James, for talking about the
book.
I'm really excited that thishas just been launched.
I wanted to start with kind ofthe basic questions that people
had about their second 50.
Is it going to be 50, I thinkis one of them and will they be
healthy?
And so I really looked at thedata, talked to researchers and
(05:51):
tried to break apart whatinfluences our lifespan, how
long we're going to live, andmost of it, most of us think
it's our genetics.
We're going to live as long asour parents or grandparents did,
but our genes play only about20% of the role influencing our
longevity.
Healthcare is another 20%, butmost of it is what we call the
(06:14):
social determinants of health orsocial drivers of health.
These are the things like oureducation, our income level,
where we live, all of the thingsthat go into having huge
differences across this countryin life expectancy.
So just a couple of facts thatwomen, as we know, live longer.
(06:36):
I actually spent a month tryingto figure out why.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
That's a good question.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
We live six years longer and the vast majority of
that is behavioral differences.
So men are less likely to go toa doctor, You're more likely to
go to war, You're more likelyto engage in risky behaviors and
drive too fast.
But our biological differencesalso protect us.
I found an interesting study ofmonks and nuns in Bavaria who
(07:08):
lived very similar lifestyles socutting out the lifestyle
differences and the women stilllived two years longer than the
men.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Even though the famous adage live like a monk.
I mean, that doesn't help youthat much.
Then you gain a few years andthat's about it.
Women still have the edge.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Women still have the edge, and it's true.
You know from animals and youknow in much of the natural
world, and this differencebetween men and women has held
for quite a while, althoughwomen used to die more in
childbirth.
So we also know that you knowthings like our education level
plays a role.
College graduates live aboutseven years longer than those
(07:50):
without college graduates, andwe're coming now to a point
where our zip code really pushesdown the relevance of our
genetic codes, right?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
That's one of the questions I'm going to get to a
little bit later, because Ithought that was very
interesting in your book aboutthe zip code.
But I mean, you bring up somegood points, some facts that I
think most of us aren't aware ofand, as reading through your
book, you go into far moredetail than what you've just
outlined now.
So again, I'm encouraging ouraudience definitely to pick up a
(08:24):
copy of your book.
I found it very intriguing,compelling, to use the right
word, I think.
Now, unfortunately, more andmore aging adults are facing
different forms of dementia,with Alzheimer's disease, of
course, being the mostsignificant your book mentions.
I found it interesting thatdementia in general was about
(08:47):
13% in terms of the aging adultsin 2011.
But by 2019, that had decreased, actually to 10%, which that
number kind of amazed me.
But in doing a little furtherresearch, alzheimer's disease,
(09:08):
which is now just under 7million in the United States, in
the next 25 years or so isprojected to almost double to
about 13 million.
That's pretty scary.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, so we have a growing aging population, so the
number of people who havecognitive decline, dementia,
Alzheimer's will increase, butthe risk of getting it is
actually going down, largelybecause the higher education of
the baby boom.
There are things that you cando to lower your risk factor for
(09:43):
cognitive decline and dementia.
In the same way it affects yourregular health and longevity,
things that probably won'tsurprise your listeners.
Sort of the five healthy habitsof eating right, exercising,
not smoking, not drinking andmaintaining a healthy body
weight can add over a decade toyour longevity but also lower
(10:07):
your risk factor for cognitivedecline and dementia by up to a
third.
And so we know that personalbehavior can affect the rates of
cognitive decline and dementia,but also public policies.
So if we had less air pollution, for example, that would lower
rates of dementia andAlzheimer's as well.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
So your climate change has a great deal to do
with actually how we age, andmany people don't take that into
consideration.
Of course, now we're beginningto realize quite significantly
what impact climate change hasin our country and the world.
But in terms of Alzheimer's inparticular, for example, are
(10:53):
there any programs and talkabout how you get into it in
your book?
In terms of how do we preventreally succumbing to this
disease to where it overtakes us?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So I can't prevent it .
I can just talk to you abouthow to lower your risk.
As you know, people havegenetic predispositions and we
don't have a cure forAlzheimer's.
At this point to do is toreally take um, take stock of
(11:33):
their cognitive health, do thosehealthy habits that I was
talking about.
Um.
In addition, watch your sleep.
Um, make sure that you'resocially connected.
Um, we know that isolation isthe same as smoking 15
cigarettes a day.
Oh, my goodness, make sureyou're using your brain so, um,
(12:03):
do cognitively stimulatingactivities oh my goodness yours.
But we should also look andhave assessments over time and
particularly talk to yourprimary care physician if you
think that things have changed.
I talk in the book.
You know.
I often will walk into a roomand forget what I was there for.
That is normal.
Forgetting If I forget where myhouse is as I'm driving home
(12:29):
that's not normal.
And those are the types ofconversations that you should
have with your doctor, becauseit could be not even dementia.
Recently, my father wasprescribed a new medication and
started to see trees growing outof the wall.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
And we were very worried about him until he
stopped the medication and hewas fine.
And so you know you want tomake sure that the cause of your
memory issues can't besomething simple that can be
easily treated.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Good advice.
I want to get to something thatI know is important to our
listeners understanding who theyare.
Many of them want to remainactive even though they've
obviously aged quite a bit.
Many of us, including myself,want to work beyond the once
(13:24):
typical retirement age.
In some cases, it's a questionof making ends meet.
In my case, I still believe Ihave more to contribute.
So we all have differentreasons.
But in your estimation and I'llget into the second part of
this question as well yourestimation how long can men and
(13:45):
women who are in their 60s and70s work effectively, who are in
their 60s and 70s workeffectively?
And there's so much emphasis onyouth that I'm uncertain that
major corporations reallyunderstand the value of
experience and wisdom thatseniors offer, not to speak of
the work ethic of many olderAmericans that the youth,
(14:05):
today's youth, do notnecessarily share.
So does AARP, getting back toyour AARP hat host job
opportunities for seniors?
And, as important, has yourorganization identified
companies that understand thevalue in hiring seniors?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So, absolutely, we have employer pledges that
employers pledge not todiscriminate against older
workers and to look at the value.
But, more importantly, we'vebeen working with over 100
companies to really look at thevalue of a multi-generational
workforce.
So we've done some researchwith the OECD that shows that
(14:45):
companies are more productive ifthey have an age diverse
workforce.
So if you have older workerswho can mentor and have
experience and contacts, mixedin a team with younger workers
who have maybe new ideas or waysof doing things, you are more
productive than if you just havesingle age teams.
(15:06):
And when we actually interviewedemployees, they want to work
with people of all generationstoo, and you know, as you said,
james, people want and need towork as they age.
So there's a number of peoplewho get lots of joy, like I do,
out of my, out of my job.
There are other people thatjust need the money, and so we
(15:30):
need to make sure that we don'thave age discrimination in the
workplace that is pushing peopleout unnecessarily.
One study we did shows that agediscrimination cost our economy
$850 billion in losses.
So age discrimination doesn'tjust affect the individual, it
affects our entire society.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Boy, that's an important point.
I was not aware of that.
But in terms of, for example,you say you've been working with
like 100 companies AARP has,are those identified?
So if someone wants to more orless, shall we say, get into
finding out which companiesmight be more appropriate or
interested in hiring them, arethose companies identified on
(16:14):
your website or somewhere withinAARP?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
They are.
There's a program called LivingLearning Earning Longer L-L-E-L
in shorthand, living LearningEarning Longer and if you type
that in, and it's a globalprogram.
So we have multinationalcompanies that have millions of
workers behind them that havebeen participating in this for
the last several years.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
All right, good, good information.
Many, of course, seniors I meangetting to the other aspect of
this many seniors who are unableto work or not in position to
work for whatever reason.
One of the main concerns andyou bring this up in your book
is financial security.
So let's face it oftentimessocial security falls short of
(17:01):
meeting an ends meet.
Unless you have a greatretirement pension plan of some
type, it can be very, verydifficult for aging adults in
terms of financial security.
Can you hit on that, mention acouple of points that might be
helpful or interesting?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, so work is becoming a key part of most
people's retirement plans,particularly if they haven't had
a chance to save their wholelife.
So one of the issues I talkabout in the book is only half
of all American workers can savethrough their paycheck on a
regular basis.
That's through a 401k or anothersimilar program, and it's
(17:40):
really hard to do on your ownconsistently every year, day in
and day out, to put money aside.
It's a lot easier if it's justtaken out before the money even
hits your checking account.
So we're trying to expandprograms across the country.
In fact we have 20 states thatare setting up savings programs,
retirement savings programs forworkers who employers don't
(18:03):
offer them, and we've seen we'redoing that because the
traditional pension is becomingmore and more rare and fewer and
fewer people sort of retirewith that and it will track.
The move towards havingretirement savings accounts has
really shifted to help peopleremain financially secure when
(18:25):
they retire.
And you're right, socialSecurity while it's the bedrock
of financial security as we age,it was never intended to be the
only thing that you live on,the only source of income.
So people generally need alittle extra from somewhere, if
it's not their savings than fromwork.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, Just out of curiosity and you don't have to
answer this directly because Idon't want to put you on the
spot, but you know we're in themidst, obviously, of a political
election Different thoughts,different philosophies and ideas
.
Does AARP take any position onwhat's going on politically or
(19:05):
is this something you attempt tostay neutral on?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
We are fiercely nonpartisan.
We don't endorse any candidate.
What we try to do is ask thecandidate the things that matter
to our members, including onSocial Security or Medicare.
So in our magazine and onlinewe'll be publishing questions
that we've asked them aboutthings like Social Security and
(19:29):
Medicare and caregiving all ofthose issues.
So we try to educate people onwhere, when and how to vote, but
not who to vote for.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
And I think that's an excellent position.
Can I presume, then, that ourlisteners can go to the AARP
website and somewhere in therefind the position of the
different candidates tounderstand where they're coming
from and what's at stake?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
They can, and we have great information about where
to find polling places in yourarea, how to vote, all of those
types of things.
So that's a huge priority forus as an organization to empower
people with their civic abilityto vote.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
All right, good to hear.
Now I'm going to get to thiszip code issue that you had
brought up a bit earlier at thebeginning.
Of course, we're well aware, aswe age, that our living
environment is very important.
Unfortunately, there are a fewseniors who can afford
beachfront or lakefront livingand just to kick back and enjoy
(20:33):
life wherever they might want tolive.
So I understand you found thatyour zip code, the actual zip
code that you live in, is justas important as your genetic
code.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, so we're seeing huge differences in life
expectancy across the countryand even within cities.
The shortest-lived county inSouth Dakota it's the
Ogallala-Cota County, home ofthe Pine Ridge Reservation.
(21:17):
There's 20 years differences inlife expectancy.
My goodness, and it's notbecause the people who live in
Breckenridge and the people wholive on the Pine Ridge
Reservation are biologicallydifferent.
It's the type of experiencesthat they've had their whole
life, the access to healthcare,the ability to have good jobs
(21:41):
all of those things affect howlong we live and we're seeing,
jim, differences huge acrossstates, and some of that
difference is due to publicpolicy, is differences in the
states.
Do we provide broad health care?
What's our minimum wage?
Those types of things canactually affect how long we live
(22:02):
and we always think that that'seither due to our genetics or
due to the activities that we do.
But I was really shocked at howmuch they vary based on the
policies and programs that arearound us.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Well, I know you go in depth on this in your book,
but, just as some highlights, Imean are there any particular
places once you consideredliving over others states
communities?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So I want to be clear .
It's not like I moved toBreckenridge and suddenly my
life, I will live longer.
It's the behaviors of thepeople within that area, as well
as the access to health careand things, that make us live
longer.
Same way, if if I move to ablue zone, I don't necessarily
(22:55):
live longer if I still maintainmy diet and exercise levels of
wherever it was that I left, um,so so I I want to push that
just to make sure that thelisteners understand um, but it
does mean that we could haveprograms everywhere that make
people live longer.
Right, if it's not our biology,if it is access to health care
(23:15):
or the ability to have enoughincome to help support ourselves
to buy healthy food, then thosethings can be changeable across
the country and we could haveeverybody living longer and
healthier lives.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Well, big issues.
Among seniors in particular,loneliness is a significant
issue I'm aware of.
Obviously, depression certainlyfalls into a category of
concern when you think aboutsocial interactions, how
important do you think that is?
For example, should peopleconsider living in a mobile home
park where they have tons ofsocial activities and everyone
(23:53):
is interlinked with everyoneelse?
Are things like that answersthat people should look for?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Social connection is huge in our health span and our
lifespan.
I talked to Bob Waldinger, whohas run the Harvard Study of
Development, which looks atpeople over the course of their
lives, for many, many, manydecades, and he looked at what
was the difference betweenhealthy people in their 80s and
(24:21):
unhealthy people, and he lookedback to their 50s and what the
difference was was healthyrelationships.
So, yes, I would say havinglots of connections is key.
I grew up in a small town andwhile my dad only practices one
of the healthy habits, hestopped smoking when my brother
(24:42):
was young, he is reallyconnected to his community.
So in our town mail isn'tdelivered to our house and so he
goes up to the post office andhe'll be up there for an hour
just talking to every singleperson that comes in.
That he's known for years andso you know the relationships
can't be need to be a part ofour health behaviors.
(25:06):
And let me tell you one otherthat really came out in the
research and that's our mindset.
So if you have a positive viewon aging, you see aging as a
time of connection and wisdomand the ability to give back.
You live seven and a half yearslonger.
(25:26):
Not only do you live longer, butyou have lower rates of heart
attacks and cardiovasculardisease and even your brain
volume is great.
And this comes out of Dr BeccaLevy's research at Yale and you
know it holds up acrossdifferent countries.
It holds up through multiplestudies that your mind is as
(25:49):
powerful as anything else inkeeping you healthy and living
longer.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Well, and that's important.
That's the theme, of course, ofmy podcast, live Healthy Longer
.
There's a chapter in your bookthat I found to be very
interesting.
So let's face it regardless oftechnology, advanced medications
, even in good health, therecomes a day we're going to pass
(26:17):
on.
In your book, the Second Fifty,you address how will I die?
Can you tell us about this?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, and that was a learning opportunity for me.
Again, writing the whole bookwas even though I'd worked on
these issues.
I talked to some expertsbecause, again, this is an area
that I haven't personallytouched and then I talked to an
expert who is a palliative careexpert and has done the research
and she said actually, theadvanced directives, most people
(27:01):
don't have them followed.
And sometimes when you're youngand healthy and you check a box
that says I don't ever want tobe on a ventilator, you don't
realize that COVID could comeand you could be put on a
ventilator to save your life fora period of time and then you
could come off it being healthy.
And so she recommends and Irecommend, you know, finding
(27:23):
somebody that you can talk toabout what is meaningful to you
in case you become incapacitatedand can't make decisions for
yourselves.
That's the making decisionsabout the situation, not about
what type of equipment you wouldwant to be on or off is a far
better way to plan for yourfinal days.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Well, that makes sense.
And, of course, getting youraffairs in order.
I would imagine so many of ussay, oh, it's not going to
happen to me, but then it doeshappen and you're not prepared
for it.
So I imagine having everythingin order, being prepared, is
important.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yeah, only half of Americans have a will, and that
leads your heirs to either fightwith courts or with each other,
rather than be able to givethem the gift of transferring
your wealth in a way that issomething that matters to you.
So I encourage people to dothat and even have conversations
(28:25):
about what they would like attheir funeral.
Just writing this book, I wouldask my parents every question
in every chapter, and we hadsome really open conversations
where I learned things aboutthem that I wouldn't have, that
were meaningful to them fortheir funeral.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Good suggestions.
Now, Deb, the final chapter ofyour book deals with a better
second 50.
Can you describe the highlightsso we can make the remaining
years of our life better?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Yeah, so I wrote all the questions and people,
hopefully, will learn bothsomething about themselves and
things they can do.
But I also want to engage thereaders to be frustrated of why
the systems aren't better andsupporting them in a better way
as they age.
So the last chapter is reallyhow do we need to fix the
(29:21):
programs and policies thataffect us all, like making
social security solvent withenough income so that we can be
secure in retirement, both forcurrent retirees and future
generations?
I also propose what's called anational plan on aging, a plan
for aging better in America.
(29:42):
That would address a lot of theissues that I bring up.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
You actually have highlights of that plan in the
book, correct?
Speaker 3 (29:50):
I do, and many other countries have thought
comprehensively aboutdemographic change and what they
need to do and how they can putthings in place to help people
work longer, to help people stayhealthy, to make sure that they
have housing as they age all ofthe things that I talk about in
(30:10):
the different chapters and weneed to do that too, and I'll
say the good news is unbeknownstto me as I was writing, as this
was being published.
A strategy is being puttogether by the administration
and they put out their firstsort of a roadmap, and so AARP
(30:31):
and others are commenting on it.
They're doing listeningsessions across the country to
get input on what a plan shouldentail.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, that's good news, and I think there's you
mentioned one thing that filledin, I think, the last blank, and
that is, in addition to aging,seniors should remain proactive,
in other words, gettinginvolved with these issues.
They just don't happen bythemselves.
There's a force of nature and aforce of humanity that's
required to really make ithappen.
(31:01):
So I'm sure my listeners willagree that it's been a very
enlightening interview.
We're just about out of time atthis point, but since we've just
touched on the surface of somany issues, I'm going to
encourage my listeners, please,to get a copy of your book.
I mean, I found it again verycompelling.
(31:22):
It's something that anyonecertainly midlife on, gen Xers,
baby boomers and those beyondneed to read your book.
So we're going to haveinformation about your book on
our website.
Fortunately, many of mylisteners visit our website on a
pretty regular basis, so we'regoing to have links on how to
get it.
But just to make sure thateveryone understands that, I
(31:46):
want to get your input.
Your insightful book is theSecond Fifty Answers to the
Seven Big Questions of Midlifeand Beyond.
So, deb, where can ourlisteners find your book?
Speaker 3 (32:01):
So they can go to their local bookstore or if they
want to find other places tobuy it, they can come to aarporg
slash second 50.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
All right, and we're going to have those links on our
website.
So that's something I thinkvery, very important and, of
course, you can also get it onamazoncom.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
You can get it through all kinds of different
booksellers.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
So many, so many are going to Amazon these days for
books.
Dr Deborah Whitman, deb, as weknow you, thanks for sharing
your time, your knowledge, andagain we're going to encourage
our listeners.
Please pick up a copy of yourbook, but thanks for sharing
time with us.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
It's been a great conversation.
Thanks, Jim.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
More information about Dr Deborah Whitman and her
book the Second Fifty.
Dr Deborah Whitman and her bookthe Second Fifty Answers to the
Big Seven Questions of Midlifeand Beyond can be found at our
informative website,jamespolikoffcom.
Also at our website, you canfind many excellent, lively
podcasts, as well as discoversecrets of living to 100 and
(33:07):
beyond in Dr Polikoff's new book.
Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim.
Dr Jim's new book provides youwith insights to preventing
heart disease, cancer andAlzheimer's.
You will also discover ways tolose weight for good, eliminate
back pain and arthritis andmanage stress.
Since there is now proof, withintimacy and sexual fulfillment
(33:31):
you can live longer andhealthier.
Dr Jim has devoted threeexciting, stimulating chapters
to these subjects.
Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jimis now available on Amazon.
For further information, visitour website information.
(33:56):
Visit our website,jamespolakoffcom.
That's.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
James P-O-L-A-K-O-F dot com.
Now back to Dr Jim.
Thanks again to Dr DeborahWhitman from AARP for joining us
and be sure to get a copy ofher book the Second Fifty
Answers to the Seven Bigquestions of midlife and beyond.
But now it's time for my healthtips.
As a certified nutritionist, Iheartily recommend you consider
(34:19):
a pescatarian Mediterranean diet.
Now.
Portions of this diet includeschoosing whole foods over
processed foods, eating fish twoto three times a week, using a
heavy dose of olive oil whencooking or even when eating some
foods and forget the butter ormargarine.
(34:40):
Instead, use nut or seedspreads on whole grain toast or
on an apple.
Now, these are just a fewcomponents of a healthy
pescatarian Mediterranean dietand, as stated earlier, you can
discover numerous health eatingtips in my new book Live Healthy
Longer with Dr Jim.
(35:01):
It's now available on Amazoncomand be sure to tune in to new
podcast episodes of Live HealthyLonger.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
This is Dr Jim Polakoff, wishing you a long,
healthy life.
Welcome to a new episode of Live Healthy Longer.
Do you wonder what's ahead inthe next 50 years of your life?
Well, we have the answers foryou.
This podcast is supported inpart by Amazon Books.
Their slogan is everything fromA to Z.
I'll have some great readingrecommendations for you at the
(00:29):
conclusion of this episode.
So here's our host healthcarespecialist author and very
popular podcaster, dr JimPolakoff.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Yes, I'm Dr Jim Polakoff and I've got an
important question for you.
If you happen to be a member ofthe Gen X generation, somewhere
in the 44 to 59 age range, orperhaps a baby boomer interested
in preserving a youthfullifestyle, have you wondered
what's going to happen duringthe second 50 years of your life
(00:59):
?
Whether you consider it to begood or bad news, studies reveal
there's a good chance you'regoing to live to 100, or perhaps
even beyond, but what does thismean to you in terms of your
health and lifestyle?
My guest for this episode ofLive Healthy Longer is Dr
Deborah Whitman.
She's a leading health experton aging issues, as well as
(01:23):
chief public officer of AARP.
There, she helps lead globalpolicy and research to help
communities, lawmakers and theprivate sector improve our lives
as we age.
Dr Whitman also serves as anAARP spokesperson on such issues
as long-term health care andcaregiving, financial security,
(01:46):
health and even longevity.
But in this episode, we'regoing to focus on findings that
are published in Dr Whitman'snew dynamic book, the Second
Fifty Answers to the Seven BigQuestions of Midlife and Beyond.
So let's get into my manyimportant questions and answers
that are going to impact yourlives as we age.
(02:08):
Welcome, dr Whitman.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Thanks for having me today.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It's my pleasure.
I think this is going to be avery interesting interview.
In just a few years, Deb, onein five Americans will be 65
years of age or older.
So what do you feel are themost pressing issues that are
actually facing aging adults?
Speaker 3 (02:31):
I have been working on aging issues for the last 25
years, throughout my career, andit covers so many different
areas, from our health to ourfinancial security, our
cognitive health, our livingsituations, our need for care
(02:51):
and end-of-life issues, and soone of the reasons why I wrote
the book was to cover all of thebreadth of things that affect
us in later life.
Speaker 2 (03:02):
All right, but if you were to pick one or two issues
that seniors and I'll just labelthem as seniors as opposed to
aging adults what would you saythey were?
What's really pressing rightnow?
Speaker 3 (03:16):
I wish I had just one , because I think we have a
struggle for financial security.
There's a lot of people thathave nothing saved for
retirement and worry about thelong-term viability of Social
Security.
There's a lot of people thathave physical health or
cognitive health issues, so Icount that as a bucket.
(03:40):
We have a care crisis in thiscountry where care is really
expensive, even though most ofus will need it as we age.
So I'm going to dodge youranswer a little bit, because I
don't think it is just one thing.
I think that we have an agingsociety that we haven't prepared
for, and we really need tothink comprehensively about how
(04:00):
we build a society that makesaging easier for everybody.
Speaker 2 (04:04):
Oh boy, I think you hit the nail on the head,
because I don't think we areprepared for that.
I've done a little bit ofresearch in the field as well,
and I have to tell you we aredefinitely unprepared, and it's
good to have someone likeyourself involved.
Now, I was very impressed withyour book, the Second Fifty.
We're going to talk a littlebit more about it a little later
, but it's not only well-written, but I found it to be very
(04:27):
well-organized.
You've pretty much broken allof the comprehensive information
down into eight chapters, veryeasy to read, very well-read.
The first magic question, ofcourse, being how long will I
live?
And, of course, the second part.
I mean I have to say, per mypodcast theme, it's important to
live.
If you're going to live longer,it's important to live healthy.
So that's something that Ithink we need to touch on.
(04:51):
But, as you state in your book,in the early 1900s Americans
only lived to about 47 years ofage, but then, by 2016, I
believe, the number is thatnumber jumped to 81 years for
women and 76 for men.
So today there's evidence thatgood, healthy habits, eating,
living right, etc.
(05:12):
Many people can even live to100 and beyond.
I've had some guests on whocontend they can live to 100.
But the question is in yourfirst two chapters of the book
you address how long will I liveand will I be healthy as long
as I live?
Can you talk a little bit aboutthat?
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Yeah well, thank you, James, for talking about the
book.
I'm really excited that thishas just been launched.
I wanted to start with kind ofthe basic questions that people
had about their second 50.
Is it going to be 50, I thinkis one of them and will they be
healthy?
And so I really looked at thedata, talked to researchers and
(05:51):
tried to break apart whatinfluences our lifespan, how
long we're going to live, andmost of it, most of us think
it's our genetics.
We're going to live as long asour parents or grandparents did,
but our genes play only about20% of the role influencing our
longevity.
Healthcare is another 20%, butmost of it is what we call the
(06:14):
social determinants of health orsocial drivers of health.
These are the things like oureducation, our income level,
where we live, all of the thingsthat go into having huge
differences across this countryin life expectancy.
So just a couple of facts thatwomen, as we know, live longer.
(06:36):
I actually spent a month tryingto figure out why.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
That's a good question.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
We live six years longer and the vast majority of
that is behavioral differences.
So men are less likely to go toa doctor, You're more likely to
go to war, You're more likelyto engage in risky behaviors and
drive too fast.
But our biological differencesalso protect us.
I found an interesting study ofmonks and nuns in Bavaria who
(07:08):
lived very similar lifestyles socutting out the lifestyle
differences and the women stilllived two years longer than the
men.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Even though the famous adage live like a monk.
I mean, that doesn't help youthat much.
Then you gain a few years andthat's about it.
Women still have the edge.
Speaker 3 (07:26):
Women still have the edge, and it's true.
You know from animals and youknow in much of the natural
world, and this differencebetween men and women has held
for quite a while, althoughwomen used to die more in
childbirth.
So we also know that you knowthings like our education level
plays a role.
College graduates live aboutseven years longer than those
(07:50):
without college graduates, andwe're coming now to a point
where our zip code really pushesdown the relevance of our
genetic codes, right?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
That's one of the questions I'm going to get to a
little bit later, because Ithought that was very
interesting in your book aboutthe zip code.
But I mean, you bring up somegood points, some facts that I
think most of us aren't aware ofand, as reading through your
book, you go into far moredetail than what you've just
outlined now.
So again, I'm encouraging ouraudience definitely to pick up a
(08:24):
copy of your book.
I found it very intriguing,compelling, to use the right
word, I think.
Now, unfortunately, more andmore aging adults are facing
different forms of dementia,with Alzheimer's disease, of
course, being the mostsignificant your book mentions.
I found it interesting thatdementia in general was about
(08:47):
13% in terms of the aging adultsin 2011.
But by 2019, that had decreased, actually to 10%, which that
number kind of amazed me.
But in doing a little furtherresearch, alzheimer's disease,
(09:08):
which is now just under 7million in the United States, in
the next 25 years or so isprojected to almost double to
about 13 million.
That's pretty scary.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah, so we have a growing aging population, so the
number of people who havecognitive decline, dementia,
Alzheimer's will increase, butthe risk of getting it is
actually going down, largelybecause the higher education of
the baby boom.
There are things that you cando to lower your risk factor for
(09:43):
cognitive decline and dementia.
In the same way it affects yourregular health and longevity,
things that probably won'tsurprise your listeners.
Sort of the five healthy habitsof eating right, exercising,
not smoking, not drinking andmaintaining a healthy body
weight can add over a decade toyour longevity but also lower
(10:07):
your risk factor for cognitivedecline and dementia by up to a
third.
And so we know that personalbehavior can affect the rates of
cognitive decline and dementia,but also public policies.
So if we had less air pollution, for example, that would lower
rates of dementia andAlzheimer's as well.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
So your climate change has a great deal to do
with actually how we age, andmany people don't take that into
consideration.
Of course, now we're beginningto realize quite significantly
what impact climate change hasin our country and the world.
But in terms of Alzheimer's inparticular, for example, are
(10:53):
there any programs and talkabout how you get into it in
your book?
In terms of how do we preventreally succumbing to this
disease to where it overtakes us?
Speaker 3 (11:06):
So I can't prevent it .
I can just talk to you abouthow to lower your risk.
As you know, people havegenetic predispositions and we
don't have a cure forAlzheimer's.
At this point to do is toreally take um, take stock of
(11:33):
their cognitive health, do thosehealthy habits that I was
talking about.
Um.
In addition, watch your sleep.
Um, make sure that you'resocially connected.
Um, we know that isolation isthe same as smoking 15
cigarettes a day.
Oh, my goodness, make sureyou're using your brain so, um,
(12:03):
do cognitively stimulatingactivities oh my goodness yours.
But we should also look andhave assessments over time and
particularly talk to yourprimary care physician if you
think that things have changed.
I talk in the book.
You know.
I often will walk into a roomand forget what I was there for.
That is normal.
Forgetting If I forget where myhouse is as I'm driving home
(12:29):
that's not normal.
And those are the types ofconversations that you should
have with your doctor, becauseit could be not even dementia.
Recently, my father wasprescribed a new medication and
started to see trees growing outof the wall.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
Oh, my goodness.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
And we were very worried about him until he
stopped the medication and hewas fine.
And so you know you want tomake sure that the cause of your
memory issues can't besomething simple that can be
easily treated.
Speaker 2 (13:04):
Good advice.
I want to get to something thatI know is important to our
listeners understanding who theyare.
Many of them want to remainactive even though they've
obviously aged quite a bit.
Many of us, including myself,want to work beyond the once
(13:24):
typical retirement age.
In some cases, it's a questionof making ends meet.
In my case, I still believe Ihave more to contribute.
So we all have differentreasons.
But in your estimation and I'llget into the second part of
this question as well yourestimation how long can men and
(13:45):
women who are in their 60s and70s work effectively, who are in
their 60s and 70s workeffectively?
And there's so much emphasis onyouth that I'm uncertain that
major corporations reallyunderstand the value of
experience and wisdom thatseniors offer, not to speak of
the work ethic of many olderAmericans that the youth,
(14:05):
today's youth, do notnecessarily share.
So does AARP, getting back toyour AARP hat host job
opportunities for seniors?
And, as important, has yourorganization identified
companies that understand thevalue in hiring seniors?
Speaker 3 (14:23):
So, absolutely, we have employer pledges that
employers pledge not todiscriminate against older
workers and to look at the value.
But, more importantly, we'vebeen working with over 100
companies to really look at thevalue of a multi-generational
workforce.
So we've done some researchwith the OECD that shows that
(14:45):
companies are more productive ifthey have an age diverse
workforce.
So if you have older workerswho can mentor and have
experience and contacts, mixedin a team with younger workers
who have maybe new ideas or waysof doing things, you are more
productive than if you just havesingle age teams.
(15:06):
And when we actually interviewedemployees, they want to work
with people of all generationstoo, and you know, as you said,
james, people want and need towork as they age.
So there's a number of peoplewho get lots of joy, like I do,
out of my, out of my job.
There are other people thatjust need the money, and so we
(15:30):
need to make sure that we don'thave age discrimination in the
workplace that is pushing peopleout unnecessarily.
One study we did shows that agediscrimination cost our economy
$850 billion in losses.
So age discrimination doesn'tjust affect the individual, it
affects our entire society.
Speaker 2 (15:51):
Boy, that's an important point.
I was not aware of that.
But in terms of, for example,you say you've been working with
like 100 companies AARP has,are those identified?
So if someone wants to more orless, shall we say, get into
finding out which companiesmight be more appropriate or
interested in hiring them, arethose companies identified on
(16:14):
your website or somewhere withinAARP?
Speaker 3 (16:17):
They are.
There's a program called LivingLearning Earning Longer L-L-E-L
in shorthand, living LearningEarning Longer and if you type
that in, and it's a globalprogram.
So we have multinationalcompanies that have millions of
workers behind them that havebeen participating in this for
the last several years.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
All right, good, good information.
Many, of course, seniors I meangetting to the other aspect of
this many seniors who are unableto work or not in position to
work for whatever reason.
One of the main concerns andyou bring this up in your book
is financial security.
So let's face it oftentimessocial security falls short of
(17:01):
meeting an ends meet.
Unless you have a greatretirement pension plan of some
type, it can be very, verydifficult for aging adults in
terms of financial security.
Can you hit on that, mention acouple of points that might be
helpful or interesting?
Speaker 3 (17:18):
Yeah, so work is becoming a key part of most
people's retirement plans,particularly if they haven't had
a chance to save their wholelife.
So one of the issues I talkabout in the book is only half
of all American workers can savethrough their paycheck on a
regular basis.
That's through a 401k or anothersimilar program, and it's
(17:40):
really hard to do on your ownconsistently every year, day in
and day out, to put money aside.
It's a lot easier if it's justtaken out before the money even
hits your checking account.
So we're trying to expandprograms across the country.
In fact we have 20 states thatare setting up savings programs,
retirement savings programs forworkers who employers don't
(18:03):
offer them, and we've seen we'redoing that because the
traditional pension is becomingmore and more rare and fewer and
fewer people sort of retirewith that and it will track.
The move towards havingretirement savings accounts has
really shifted to help peopleremain financially secure when
(18:25):
they retire.
And you're right, socialSecurity while it's the bedrock
of financial security as we age,it was never intended to be the
only thing that you live on,the only source of income.
So people generally need alittle extra from somewhere, if
it's not their savings than fromwork.
Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yeah, Just out of curiosity and you don't have to
answer this directly because Idon't want to put you on the
spot, but you know we're in themidst, obviously, of a political
election Different thoughts,different philosophies and ideas
.
Does AARP take any position onwhat's going on politically or
(19:05):
is this something you attempt tostay neutral on?
Speaker 3 (19:08):
We are fiercely nonpartisan.
We don't endorse any candidate.
What we try to do is ask thecandidate the things that matter
to our members, including onSocial Security or Medicare.
So in our magazine and onlinewe'll be publishing questions
that we've asked them aboutthings like Social Security and
(19:29):
Medicare and caregiving all ofthose issues.
So we try to educate people onwhere, when and how to vote, but
not who to vote for.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
And I think that's an excellent position.
Can I presume, then, that ourlisteners can go to the AARP
website and somewhere in therefind the position of the
different candidates tounderstand where they're coming
from and what's at stake?
Speaker 3 (19:54):
They can, and we have great information about where
to find polling places in yourarea, how to vote, all of those
types of things.
So that's a huge priority forus as an organization to empower
people with their civic abilityto vote.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
All right, good to hear.
Now I'm going to get to thiszip code issue that you had
brought up a bit earlier at thebeginning.
Of course, we're well aware, aswe age, that our living
environment is very important.
Unfortunately, there are a fewseniors who can afford
beachfront or lakefront livingand just to kick back and enjoy
(20:33):
life wherever they might want tolive.
So I understand you found thatyour zip code, the actual zip
code that you live in, is justas important as your genetic
code.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
Yeah, so we're seeing huge differences in life
expectancy across the countryand even within cities.
The shortest-lived county inSouth Dakota it's the
Ogallala-Cota County, home ofthe Pine Ridge Reservation.
(21:17):
There's 20 years differences inlife expectancy.
My goodness, and it's notbecause the people who live in
Breckenridge and the people wholive on the Pine Ridge
Reservation are biologicallydifferent.
It's the type of experiencesthat they've had their whole
life, the access to healthcare,the ability to have good jobs
(21:41):
all of those things affect howlong we live and we're seeing,
jim, differences huge acrossstates, and some of that
difference is due to publicpolicy, is differences in the
states.
Do we provide broad health care?
What's our minimum wage?
Those types of things canactually affect how long we live
(22:02):
and we always think that that'seither due to our genetics or
due to the activities that we do.
But I was really shocked at howmuch they vary based on the
policies and programs that arearound us.
Speaker 2 (22:16):
Well, I know you go in depth on this in your book,
but, just as some highlights, Imean are there any particular
places once you consideredliving over others states
communities?
Speaker 3 (22:29):
So I want to be clear .
It's not like I moved toBreckenridge and suddenly my
life, I will live longer.
It's the behaviors of thepeople within that area, as well
as the access to health careand things, that make us live
longer.
Same way, if if I move to ablue zone, I don't necessarily
(22:55):
live longer if I still maintainmy diet and exercise levels of
wherever it was that I left, um,so so I I want to push that
just to make sure that thelisteners understand um, but it
does mean that we could haveprograms everywhere that make
people live longer.
Right, if it's not our biology,if it is access to health care
(23:15):
or the ability to have enoughincome to help support ourselves
to buy healthy food, then thosethings can be changeable across
the country and we could haveeverybody living longer and
healthier lives.
Speaker 2 (23:29):
Well, big issues.
Among seniors in particular,loneliness is a significant
issue I'm aware of.
Obviously, depression certainlyfalls into a category of
concern when you think aboutsocial interactions, how
important do you think that is?
For example, should peopleconsider living in a mobile home
park where they have tons ofsocial activities and everyone
(23:53):
is interlinked with everyoneelse?
Are things like that answersthat people should look for?
Speaker 3 (24:00):
Social connection is huge in our health span and our
lifespan.
I talked to Bob Waldinger, whohas run the Harvard Study of
Development, which looks atpeople over the course of their
lives, for many, many, manydecades, and he looked at what
was the difference betweenhealthy people in their 80s and
(24:21):
unhealthy people, and he lookedback to their 50s and what the
difference was was healthyrelationships.
So, yes, I would say havinglots of connections is key.
I grew up in a small town andwhile my dad only practices one
of the healthy habits, hestopped smoking when my brother
(24:42):
was young, he is reallyconnected to his community.
So in our town mail isn'tdelivered to our house and so he
goes up to the post office andhe'll be up there for an hour
just talking to every singleperson that comes in.
That he's known for years andso you know the relationships
can't be need to be a part ofour health behaviors.
(25:06):
And let me tell you one otherthat really came out in the
research and that's our mindset.
So if you have a positive viewon aging, you see aging as a
time of connection and wisdomand the ability to give back.
You live seven and a half yearslonger.
(25:26):
Not only do you live longer, butyou have lower rates of heart
attacks and cardiovasculardisease and even your brain
volume is great.
And this comes out of Dr BeccaLevy's research at Yale and you
know it holds up acrossdifferent countries.
It holds up through multiplestudies that your mind is as
(25:49):
powerful as anything else inkeeping you healthy and living
longer.
Speaker 2 (25:54):
Well, and that's important.
That's the theme, of course, ofmy podcast, live Healthy Longer
.
There's a chapter in your bookthat I found to be very
interesting.
So let's face it regardless oftechnology, advanced medications
, even in good health, therecomes a day we're going to pass
(26:17):
on.
In your book, the Second Fifty,you address how will I die?
Can you tell us about this?
Speaker 3 (26:26):
Yeah, and that was a learning opportunity for me.
Again, writing the whole bookwas even though I'd worked on
these issues.
I talked to some expertsbecause, again, this is an area
that I haven't personallytouched and then I talked to an
expert who is a palliative careexpert and has done the research
and she said actually, theadvanced directives, most people
(27:01):
don't have them followed.
And sometimes when you're youngand healthy and you check a box
that says I don't ever want tobe on a ventilator, you don't
realize that COVID could comeand you could be put on a
ventilator to save your life fora period of time and then you
could come off it being healthy.
And so she recommends and Irecommend, you know, finding
(27:23):
somebody that you can talk toabout what is meaningful to you
in case you become incapacitatedand can't make decisions for
yourselves.
That's the making decisionsabout the situation, not about
what type of equipment you wouldwant to be on or off is a far
better way to plan for yourfinal days.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Well, that makes sense.
And, of course, getting youraffairs in order.
I would imagine so many of ussay, oh, it's not going to
happen to me, but then it doeshappen and you're not prepared
for it.
So I imagine having everythingin order, being prepared, is
important.
Speaker 3 (28:02):
Yeah, only half of Americans have a will, and that
leads your heirs to either fightwith courts or with each other,
rather than be able to givethem the gift of transferring
your wealth in a way that issomething that matters to you.
So I encourage people to dothat and even have conversations
(28:25):
about what they would like attheir funeral.
Just writing this book, I wouldask my parents every question
in every chapter, and we hadsome really open conversations
where I learned things aboutthem that I wouldn't have, that
were meaningful to them fortheir funeral.
Speaker 2 (28:44):
Good suggestions.
Now, Deb, the final chapter ofyour book deals with a better
second 50.
Can you describe the highlightsso we can make the remaining
years of our life better?
Speaker 3 (28:59):
Yeah, so I wrote all the questions and people,
hopefully, will learn bothsomething about themselves and
things they can do.
But I also want to engage thereaders to be frustrated of why
the systems aren't better andsupporting them in a better way
as they age.
So the last chapter is reallyhow do we need to fix the
(29:21):
programs and policies thataffect us all, like making
social security solvent withenough income so that we can be
secure in retirement, both forcurrent retirees and future
generations?
I also propose what's called anational plan on aging, a plan
for aging better in America.
(29:42):
That would address a lot of theissues that I bring up.
Speaker 2 (29:46):
You actually have highlights of that plan in the
book, correct?
Speaker 3 (29:50):
I do, and many other countries have thought
comprehensively aboutdemographic change and what they
need to do and how they can putthings in place to help people
work longer, to help people stayhealthy, to make sure that they
have housing as they age all ofthe things that I talk about in
(30:10):
the different chapters and weneed to do that too, and I'll
say the good news is unbeknownstto me as I was writing, as this
was being published.
A strategy is being puttogether by the administration
and they put out their firstsort of a roadmap, and so AARP
(30:31):
and others are commenting on it.
They're doing listeningsessions across the country to
get input on what a plan shouldentail.
Speaker 2 (30:40):
Well, that's good news, and I think there's you
mentioned one thing that filledin, I think, the last blank, and
that is, in addition to aging,seniors should remain proactive,
in other words, gettinginvolved with these issues.
They just don't happen bythemselves.
There's a force of nature and aforce of humanity that's
required to really make ithappen.
(31:01):
So I'm sure my listeners willagree that it's been a very
enlightening interview.
We're just about out of time atthis point, but since we've just
touched on the surface of somany issues, I'm going to
encourage my listeners, please,to get a copy of your book.
I mean, I found it again verycompelling.
(31:22):
It's something that anyonecertainly midlife on, gen Xers,
baby boomers and those beyondneed to read your book.
So we're going to haveinformation about your book on
our website.
Fortunately, many of mylisteners visit our website on a
pretty regular basis, so we'regoing to have links on how to
get it.
But just to make sure thateveryone understands that, I
(31:46):
want to get your input.
Your insightful book is theSecond Fifty Answers to the
Seven Big Questions of Midlifeand Beyond.
So, deb, where can ourlisteners find your book?
Speaker 3 (32:01):
So they can go to their local bookstore or if they
want to find other places tobuy it, they can come to aarporg
slash second 50.
Speaker 2 (32:12):
All right, and we're going to have those links on our
website.
So that's something I thinkvery, very important and, of
course, you can also get it onamazoncom.
Speaker 3 (32:21):
You can get it through all kinds of different
booksellers.
Speaker 2 (32:24):
So many, so many are going to Amazon these days for
books.
Dr Deborah Whitman, deb, as weknow you, thanks for sharing
your time, your knowledge, andagain we're going to encourage
our listeners.
Please pick up a copy of yourbook, but thanks for sharing
time with us.
Speaker 3 (32:40):
It's been a great conversation.
Thanks, Jim.
Speaker 2 (32:42):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (32:45):
More information about Dr Deborah Whitman and her
book the Second Fifty.
Dr Deborah Whitman and her bookthe Second Fifty Answers to the
Big Seven Questions of Midlifeand Beyond can be found at our
informative website,jamespolikoffcom.
Also at our website, you canfind many excellent, lively
podcasts, as well as discoversecrets of living to 100 and
(33:07):
beyond in Dr Polikoff's new book.
Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jim.
Dr Jim's new book provides youwith insights to preventing
heart disease, cancer andAlzheimer's.
You will also discover ways tolose weight for good, eliminate
back pain and arthritis andmanage stress.
Since there is now proof, withintimacy and sexual fulfillment
(33:31):
you can live longer andhealthier.
Dr Jim has devoted threeexciting, stimulating chapters
to these subjects.
Live Healthy Longer with Dr Jimis now available on Amazon.
For further information, visitour website information.
(33:56):
Visit our website,jamespolakoffcom.
That's.
Speaker 2 (33:57):
James P-O-L-A-K-O-F dot com.
Now back to Dr Jim.
Thanks again to Dr DeborahWhitman from AARP for joining us
and be sure to get a copy ofher book the Second Fifty
Answers to the Seven Bigquestions of midlife and beyond.
But now it's time for my healthtips.
As a certified nutritionist, Iheartily recommend you consider
(34:19):
a pescatarian Mediterranean diet.
Now.
Portions of this diet includeschoosing whole foods over
processed foods, eating fish twoto three times a week, using a
heavy dose of olive oil whencooking or even when eating some
foods and forget the butter ormargarine.
(34:40):
Instead, use nut or seedspreads on whole grain toast or
on an apple.
Now, these are just a fewcomponents of a healthy
pescatarian Mediterranean dietand, as stated earlier, you can
discover numerous health eatingtips in my new book Live Healthy
Longer with Dr Jim.
(35:01):
It's now available on Amazoncomand be sure to tune in to new
podcast episodes of Live HealthyLonger.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
This is Dr Jim Polakoff, wishing you a long,
healthy life.
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