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The Miracle Pill

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The Miracle Pill

By: Peter Walker
Narrated by: Peter Walker
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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.

 Exercise & Fitness Fitness, Diet & Nutrition Personal Development Health Physical Exercise Heartfelt Nutrition Mental Health
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All stars
Most relevant
A great analysis of how we have become sedentary by design. The need to move more, which lockdown has brought even more to the forefront, has become more important than ever. Great ideas on how we can change as individuals and society.

Why we need to move more

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I have already made some changes in what I do every day based on the book

Really inspiring

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Excellent introduction to the health benefits of active living, narrated by the author.
Accessible for the average listener, without being too heavy on the academic.

Interesting and accessible

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I listened to this book on my drive to work and have taken on board some of the advice that I had just not thought about before. I have a desk job but get up more often now, walk to the furthest toilets, go for a walk each evening and it feels good. Trying to get through to my gaming son who also has a desk job is not so easy! I think there will be some challenging times ahead for todays youth.
I have given 1 star for performance as I really didn't enjoy Peter Walkers narration. Too quiet, spoken too fast and he somehow made the words clipped. I have listened to many audio books and have never had this problem before.

Some Interesting Facts

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This was a really interesting listen, although I felt it could have done with a bit more edge to both the narration and the message. The author has an easy to listen to, mild, almost soporific, voice that lulls you through the chapters. The message is similar, this is no polemic or harangue, as the author, if it's alright with you, asks you to listen to what he's found out about the benefits of movement. You really should do more of it you know, but of course that's your choice. On the other hand, could the author possibly share some of the science behind what he's found? No offence meant, of course, if you're a few, or many, pounds overweight and haven't got off the couch for the last ten years. That's your choice, and who's to say it's a lesser one than, say, Usain Bolt has made. The fact that you're as big as a whale isn't your fault, you may have your reasons, and some of them may be good ones.....
After a while I began to wish the author would take a stronger stance over what he's found out about the importance of movement to health, and batter us a bit more over the head. Being fat is a disgrace! There's no excuse for it! It isn't in your genes, it isn't the fault of your job, your family, your partner, the weather, the gym or anything else. Get off your backside and take responsibility! There's a thousand positive reasons for doing so and this book lists most of them. But it's done in such a gentle, suggestive way, you might just stay on the couch.

Move It or Lose It

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