Good Stress

—

, the founder and CEO of the global wellness platform Commune Media, thought he was pretty healthy. He suffered from brain fog, chronic fatigue, and bouts of insomnia, but those symptoms seemed utterly normal in today’s society. When he learned he had diabetes, his first thought was,

Jeff's diagnosis propelled him to consult every expert at his disposal in order to turn his health around. On this journey, he began to form a larger picture of what’s wrong with our health in the modern world.

In

—co-authored with his wife, Schuyler Grant—Jeff shares what he’s learned and outlines a practical program for readers to reset their own health. We learn:

• How humans evolved with Paleolithic stressors and scarcity—which conferred health and resilience—whereas today’s comforts and conveniences actually undermine our biology
• Why modern life sets us up for diabetes, dementia, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic disease that results from our chronic ease
• How we can come back into balance by thoughtfully subjecting our bodies and minds to the stressors we’re naturally built for

Distilling the hundreds of conversations he has had with top teachers and practitioners in mind-body wellness, including Gabor Maté, Mark Hyman, Marianne Williamson, and Dr. Sara Gottfried, Jeff outlines 10 practices to extend both our lifespan and our healthspan, including:

• Time-restricted eating
• Cold and heat exposure
• Light therapy
• Eating “stressed plants”
• Building our “psychological immune system” and more

For each practice, Jeff shares his own experience (there’s a great story of how Wim Hof convinced him to get into an ice bath!); unpacks the science behind it, the place it has in our culture, and the effects it has on body and mind; and explains how to undertake it safely and mindfully.