Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Third Edition

This is an incredibly engaging and informative book. In just over 400 pages, Sapolsky covers all aspects of stress, from what exactly stress is at the chemical level, to how stress effects sleep, the immune system, and sex, to practical ways of coping with stress. This book contains a significant amount of technical discussion. For example, the author goes into detail about the release of stress hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine. That being said the writing is still clear and easy to follow, even if you do not have a background in medicine or physiology. In addition to considering the physiological aspects of stress, the author also talks considerably about the psychological aspects of stress. He writes for example about studies of attachment style, and what kinds of childhood environments lead to stress later in life. Surprisingly, another treat about this book is the footnotes. The author shares humorous and informative anecdotes here such as why JFK had a bad back, the inner working of toilet bowls, and why hormones have their names. I've tremendously enjoyed reading this book, and also Sapolsky's other book 'A Primates Memoir'. He makes science fun to read, and is world-class in his field. Granted the book is long, and the fact that the topic is stress all the way through did make it go slowly in some places. Nevertheless, if you have an interest in science, are not thrown off by technical discussions, and are looking for an eye-opening read then I'd recommend you give this book a go.

Another mentally functional book that addresses core issues related to stress and burnout.

If I got to make a list of people on this planet I'd like to meet, Robert Sapolsky would be one of them. This guy is brilliant, hysterical, accessible, and informative in thousands of different ways. His writing can be extremely technical, explaining the details of hormones and neuroscience on every page --- but then goes on to give vivid, delightful illustrations of how those "invisible" forces in our bodies show up in the real world. In us. And in baboons. Other animals. And zebras (hence, the title.) The purpose is to illustrate why we, as individuals, and a Western society, experience stress, and how it manifests as sickness in so many ways. Real sickness, with short term results and long term diseases. In our bodies, not "in our minds", not something we should just "get over". His words and proof is validating scientifically, and a call to action. Our behavior, and the structure of our society, is making us sick. It's not humane to do what we do to ourselves. And we can change this. I'd like to see this book as mandatory reading for every policy-maker in health and human services. But I certainly wouldn't stop there. Managers, top to bottom, need it to understand the pressures on their employees and organizations. Scientists who work with people, or whose work affects people. Anyone who causes, or experiences, stress. Hmmm....does that leave anyone out? Okay, not everyone will want to read this book, because it's pretty technical, not designed for an uneducated reader. But the lessons in it are for everyone. I understand Sapolsky is regarded as one of the top neuroscientists in the world, and that's no surprise. What I'm grateful for is that he shares his knowledge in something other than a scientific journal, and it's an amazing read. It will be on my reference shelf permanently, but unlike the others which I use for "reference" --- I will also read it often just because it's a great read. Imagine that.

Stress can take its toll on the human body. This isn’t a new idea- most everyone agrees that prolonged exposure to stressful situations can have negative impacts on overall health and well- being. Just how, exactly, does stress affect our bodies and is there a way to reduce its harm? These are subjects tackled in Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. This book combines social science with traditional science to explain how stress impacts our lives. The book serves up a healthy dose of science as it explains the different body chemicals that are released in response to a stressful event. It explains what these different hormones do and offers up studies and evidence that show what can happen if stress isn’t brought under control. The title of this book is one that gets your attention and convinces many to read. It’s a metaphor that continues to pop up throughout the reading. It effectively drives home many of the books key points, using a zebra being pursued by a lion as its basis. The book serves up a healthy dose of humor, too, which helps keep things interesting and keeps your attention. As I read this book, I started thinking more than usual about my own levels of stress and whether I have been negatively affected by stress to a noticeable degree. I feel like I have stress under control, at least better than I used to. I don’t overreact to things like I once did and it’s a good thing I don’t. After reading this book and discovering what stress can do to you, I was tempted to quit my job, sell my urban home, and move to a secluded part of the country. Stress is detrimental and it is something we all need less of in our lives. Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers is a highly useful book for understanding the science behind the stress and all the harm that stress can inflict. It’s a well- written book that explains the science with a dash of humor to keep it entertaining enough that you want to continue reading. I learned quite a bit and it has piqued my interest to continue pursuing more knowledge about stress and its impact on our bodies.

Such a good read!! Perfect if you’re interested in how to improve your lifestyle and better understand how stress affects our body

Although I can see how this book can be a bit difficult (especially in the beginning) to get through for someone with no science background, I still feel that it might be worth the effort, even for them. This is one of those rare books that brings the recent science findings in many different fields to life with wit and anecdotes. Sapolsky has a gift of story-telling. Do not be discouraged if you don't understand every little bit of detail when he goes into a maddening mess of interacting-hormone-descriptions! You really don't need to understand every bit of detail to continue moving forward in the book-- Sapolsky will come back to earth soon enough, and round up the basic ideas to take away for those of us with not enough background to get through the nitty-gritty stuff. I have a science background, and I have read a lot of books on science for laymen. I have to say this is one of the best-written, and best-researched books out there! Definitely a must for any life scientist interested in medical research, any medical professional, and anyone else interested to learn about how stress works, why that response is there, and how to keep things in perspective.

Although the writing is very entertaining and insightful. It paints a one sided picture of stress. There are 17 chapters on how bad chronic stress is, and one short chapter on countering stress, which even had a few 'ifs' and 'buts'. Yes he does mention short term acute stress isn't bad like long term chronic stress but I don't remember him mentioning too many studies showing stress in a positive light. i.ie. injecting stress hormones reducing PTSD, John Hopkins university finding women with greater stress having babies with better developed brains. The book titled ''The Upside of Stress' which I read after Zebras gives equally well documented scientific studies on humans that shows stress hormones can have some positive results. I was far less stressed about stress after reading it.

This book is about stress. I bought it and read it because I am a stressful guy. I wanted to know if stress was in fact that powerful representative in the congress of our bodies and therefore a moderator of our lives. After reading "Why zebras..." I know it is and I know also that it has to do with sicknesses and different states of mind. It has to do with everything involved with our perceptions, either internal or external. To let you know about all that stuff and its intermingled and complex wire clutter, Professor Sapolsky gives a comprehensive account distributed on eighteen chapters and a big corpus of notes. Everyone of them relates the stress with pain, memory, aging and death, cancer, and so on. In some cases there is a clear relationship while in some others the link is not so clear: the author is always there to let you know the difference. A caveat: this is not a self help book and I didn't buy it by mistake. I knew it was a serious work at the very extreme of a life dedicated to study this phenomenon with rats, baboons, several monkeys, and ourselves of course. To finish, the last two chapters were very impressive to me. To jump from the individual to the society in chapter seventeen and then go back in chapter eighteen to our daily experience was an extraordinary closure to a superb work. As a moral I would say that not everything is good news here but this is how it works... What can we do? The rest is noise (not silence).

Stupendous book. Every human being in the western world, and certainly every politician, should be forced to read this book (or a simplified version for the less mentally agile!), as it explains why we are slowly killing ourselves with a combination of stress and unhealthy behaviours, especially around diet and exercise. The recurring theme is how the fight or flight response to long-lasting stressful situations (for which it was not "designed", if designed it was) is now doing so much damage to 21st century human bodies and, by its effects on the HPA axis (cortisone etc), is creating virtually all the major illnesses from which we are either dying or ending up being a drain on our health care systems. It's a very long book, and, to be honest, I haven't finished it, as it is very hard going (but see below), but I know I must continue to read it, and read it again, as it is the most important and informative book I think I will ever read. I say it is hard going, but not only is Robert Sapolsky clearly a great scientist, he is also a very funny man who livens the text with entertaining anecdotes and self-deprecating comments. If you want a gentle way into the book search youtube for The Lion The Watch and The Hormones, a brief music video by Tom McFadden about the book, in which Robert Sapolsky himself makes what might be called a cameo role. Buy this book, read it and find out how to live longer.

Excellent book! This are one of those you need to go back to read from time to time

Super!

The author, Robert M. Sapolsky, has done a super job with this book. There a lot of research that was used to write it and it provides a balanced view point on stress and other subjects giving due regards to the state of the art. For a laymen like me, this book was a mouthful. Yet, the author did an excellent job to introduce the medical terminology and the concepts, gradually, as you progress, and by the time I was through the book, I was surprised as to how much I had learned. I certainly will go back to it periodically so I don't loose what I've learned. I think that this book is well worth buying and studying. It provides a lot of valuable advice that you can use to maintain and improve your health in a number of ways. Thumbs up for Professor Sapolsy!

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