lights out ...

joe murphy · 02-21-2007, 02:12 PM

got this book from robb's recommendation. I'm about halfway through, and I will finish it.

not too sure about the author though ... "the human body's mineral content is the same as stardust, proving our extraterrestial origin"...

any other opinions?

Frank Needham · 02-21-2007, 04:59 PM

Sounds a little "out there" to me.....sorry, couldn't resist.....

Robb Wolf · 02-21-2007, 05:32 PM

Well...I DIG this book because they throw in a bunch of obscure factoids like that...heavy elements are created in the explosions of super novae...and we tend to reflect the distribution of much of these elements throughout the cosmos in our own little bodies.

Many people HATE the book...do not like the writing style or the content. I absolutely love it but I think a stout science background helps with the appreciation...or I'm just a geek.

Taken as a stand alone comment the above sounds like a pretty hippy statement...don't let it fool you!

Steve Liberati · 02-21-2007, 07:01 PM

yeah that sentence is pretty off-the-wall but the rest of the book is nothing short of amazing. How they manage to write an entire book around one simple idea (sleep 9 hours or more for optimal health) is beyond me, but they manage to do it very well. One of my favorite books in the fitness/health category.

Greg Everett · 02-21-2007, 09:32 PM

you definitely need to be willing and able to endure some melodrama, but it's worth it. i would have loved to have ghost written that book because the pucker factor while reading it was off the charts.

Allen Yeh · 02-22-2007, 05:14 AM

I like the content of the book as a whole, but to be honest the way it was written lost me at times. I will definitely go back and reread it later this year but I have a lot of other books to get through right now.

OT starting here - > I'm currently reading "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie and I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't read this book.

Jesse Woody · 02-22-2007, 06:56 AM

Some melodrama? It's as if Geraldo wrote a book from one of his special reports!

Great content, but you can sum it up with "Sleep at least 9 hours per night, especially in the winter, and switch to a low-carb, high-fat diet during the colder months."

Rob, you're right, you have to be a bit of a nerd, but some of the info is pretty freakin' cool, like the ability of even the smallest light to warp your melatonin production during sleep, thus throwing your entire hormonal system out of whack!

If anybody here is interested in the book, I have a copy (though it might be packed up from the move) that I'd be glad to loan out for the cost of shipping. Maybe start a chain book where we pass it around until everybody on the PM forums is completely inundated by Rob's wishes for the world to have read Lights Out...hehe

Scott Kustes · 02-22-2007, 07:05 AM

I read it. Twice! I'll probably read it again come fall. Some parts that are perhaps a bit odd, but it's a solid book.

Jesse, unfortunately if they simmered it down to the bare bones, the average person wouldn't do it. Everybody wants to know why.

joe murphy · 02-22-2007, 07:09 AM

I think there was an editing process gone badly awry.

I don't think I need to have a lot of science background for the discussion of the gaia principle. but the summaries of the NIH studies make the book worth reading.

it also does a good job with the depression material; does the book ever get to SADD?

definitely worth reading; I feel tremendously guilty about my sleep habits though.

Robb Wolf · 02-22-2007, 08:42 AM

Jesse-
that is actually not a bad idea...build "library" of books and DVD's that only PM subscribers are elligible for...kinda like Netflicks....hmmm