The Miracle Pill

Written by:
Peter Walker
Narrated by:
Peter Walker

Unabridged Audiobook

Ratings
Book
7
Narrator
3
Release Date
January 2021
Duration
7 hours 58 minutes
Summary
'This book is pretty life-changing – encouraging, optimistic, rich with information. It got me off the sofa.' Jeremy Vine
'This is such a lovely, ambitious, fascinating book. Essential lockdown reading. It allows us to reimagine our world and our bodies: we can move more.' Dr Xand van Tulleken, TV presenter
'Truly uplifting' Chris Boardman 

What is the 'miracle pill', the simple lifestyle change with such enormous health benefits that, if it was turned into a drug, would be the most valuable drug in the world? The answer is movement and the good news is that it's free, easy and available to everyone.

Four in ten British adults, and 80% of children, are so sedentary they don’t meet even the minimum recommended levels for movement. What’s going on? 

The answer is simple: activity became exercise. What for centuries was universal and everyday has become the fetishised pursuit of a minority, whether the superhuman feats of elite athletes, or a chore slotted into busy schedules. Yes, most people know physical activity is good for us.  And yet 1.5 billion people around the world are so inactive they are at greater risk of everything from heart disease to diabetes, cancer, arthritis and depression, even dementia. Sedentary living now kills more people than obesity, despite receiving much less attention, and is causing a pandemic of chronic ill health many experts predict could soon bankrupt the NHS.  

How did we get here? Daily, constant exertion was an integral part of humanity for millennia, but in just a few decades movement was virtually designed out of people’s lives through transformed workplaces, the dominance of the car, and a built environment which encourages people to be static.

In a world now also infiltrated by ubiquitous screens, app-summoned taxis and shopping delivered to your door, it can be shocking to realise exactly how sedentary many of us are. A recent study found almost half of middle-aged English people don’t walk continuously for ten minutes or more in an average month. At current trends, scientists forecast, the average US adult will expend little more energy in an average week than someone who spent all their time in bed. 

This book is a chronicle of this very modern and largely unexplored catastrophe, and the story of the people trying to turn it around. Through interviews with experts in various fields - doctors, scientists, architects and politicians - Peter Walker explores how to bring more movement into the modern world and, most importantly, into your life. Forget the gym, introducing quick and easy lifestyle changes can slow down the ageing process and even reverse many illnesses and increase mental wellbeing.
 
 
Reviews
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Kat Suter

I really enjoyed this book. it really emphases that we must keep moving our bodies to remain healthy. we all know this but it was filled with great statistics, interesting stories and the authors self 'exercise' experiments. the only downside is that the author also reads the book. his accent is very pleasant but he whistles some of his letters/sounds throughout. it sounds quite shrill like fingers on a chalk board every now and then. BUT the book is worth listening to. it will make you more conscious of sitting still too long!

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Osman Raidhan

Wow an eye opening book and must read for everyone. The impending crisis of health is too dangerous to ignore. Although my only complain is the narration/audio was too quiet, I had my volume at full just to hear clearly.

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Patricia S.

Very informative and gives a good insight into how things are and how they could be changed.

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