A Lifestyle of Fitness & the Surprising Roseto Effect

In the 1950s and 1960s, researchers studied a mostly Italian community in Roseto, Pennsylvania. These residents ate high-fat foods, consumed pasta, bread, and wine, and tended to be sedentary. They should have been dying of heart disease. They weren't.

Dr. Bravata writes: "In essence, the power of human connectedness promoted a sense of happiness and contributed to their overall well-being."

The key was their social structure — multigenerational households, community participation, and taking care of each other.

BMI Is a Flawed Metric

Dwayne Johnson and John Cena both have BMIs in the 33–34 range — technically "obese" — but their bone and muscle mass contribute greatly to these numbers. Don't let a single number define your health.

Make Your Diet Your Way of Life

"Make your personalized diet your new way of life. Life is easier when you implement permanent lifestyle changes than when you are constantly fighting urges to fight the temporary restrictions you have imposed on yourself." — Live Free or Diet

Be the Best You Can Be

"Being mediocre is actually the most selfish thing you can do, because it means that you avoided hardship at the expense of becoming all that you could be. Every life matters. You matter."

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Read Chapter 17 in full: Live Free or Diet by Dr. Kurt Bravata, M.D. is available at [livefreeordietbook.com](https://livefreeordietbook.com) and on [Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/9798385040568).