How to Live Longer and Feel Better

The OSU Press is proud to introduce Linus Pauling's How to Live Longer and Feel Better to a new generation of readers interested in achieving excellent health. A New York Times bestseller when it was first published in 1986, Pauling's seminal work proposes taking vitamins and minerals to prevent disease and live a long life. Eminently readable and challenging on many levels, the book compiled for a popular audience a generation of scientific knowledge and helped to revolutionize the way Americans think about nutrition.

Pauling's simple, inexpensive plan suggests avoiding sugar, stress, and smoking; working in a job that you like; and being happy with your family. To avoid serious illness and enjoy a longer life, he recommends taking vitamins for optimal health and as insurance against disease.

Pauling greatly influenced subsequent research regarding the role of nutrition in healthy living, coining the term "orthomolecular medicine" to describe the practice of using vitamins and other substances normally present in the body to improve health and fight viruses, cancer, cardiovascular disease, allergies, arthritis, and other illnesses. Since 1986 the scientific community has paid renewed attention to the field of nutrition; clinical and longevity studies have examined the links between vitamin C and health, for example. Some of Pauling's findings have been challenged, but the essential tenets of his thesis on the importance of nutritional supplements remain undisputed.

A new historical introduction by Melinda Gormley details Pauling's life and his fascinating intellectual growth, from his formative years as a molecular chemist to his peace activism and his later interest in nutrition. His extraordinary ability to cross disciplinary boundaries (specifically, using his knowledge of molecular structure to rethink the role of micronutrients in disease) combined with his accessible writing for a lay audience, make How to Live Longer and Feel Better a classic. This new edition includes information on additional resources from the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University.

Whether one reads Pauling's book for his prescription for healthy living, for an understanding of his impact on nutritional science today, or for its historical importance, one cannot escape the conclusion that diet and lifestyle are the key to disease prevention.