Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers Book Summary

BookSummaryClub Blog Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers Book Summary

The Lowdown: This Summary of Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers is based on the book from Robert M. Sapolsky, and this book is geared towards those who deal with a lot of stress in their lives.

Sapolsky has spent most of his adult life around science, including being a primatologist (study of primates), as well as being a well-known neurologist and biologist.  The crossing of these three different studies has allowed him to see the effects of how people treat their own bodies, and help classify traits which are helpful and harmful to both the physical and the psychological aspects of each person.

Sapolsky believes there is nothing more detrimental to the human body than stress.  Within his studies, he shows how stress can negatively influence not only our psychological well-being, but it can also harm our most important organs, like our heart, brain, digestive system and even the organs we use for sex.

Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping - Now Revised and Updated
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Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: The Acclaimed Guide to Stress, Stress-Related Diseases, and Coping – Now Revised and Updated
  • Audible Audiobook
  • Robert Sapolsky (Author) – Peter Berkrot (Narrator)
  • English (Publication Language)
  • 12/31/2012 (Publication Date) – Tantor Audio (Publisher)

Three of the Main Lessons you’ll learn from Why Zebras don’t get Ulcers include:

  1. How Stress can Accelerate Aging
  2. The strength of your immune system is relative to the amount of stress you carry
  3. Why you should have Hope

Lesson One: How Stress can Accelerate Aging

When we think of diseases, we often times think about germs which can be carried by others, or other kinds of afflictions like MS or Alzheimer’s.  Sapolsky makes the case that Stress is a disease, and it is one that we choose to inflict upon ourselves.  Stress is something we can control based upon how we react to certain situations and how we cope with grim news.

When we hold onto stress, it can cause permanent damage to various organs.  Our bodies, when we are stressed, our body becomes weaker and is more prone to allow diseases to come in and take over.  When this happens, we don’t sleep well, which means we are always tired, which then changes our personality and temperament, which can then lead to depression.  This all leads to us aging faster, and shortens our life expectancy. 

Lesson Two: The Strength of your Immune System is relative to the amount of Stress you Carry

As discussed in the previous lesson, the longer stress is prevalent within our own body, the weaker it makes the body.  Stress can cripple the body, and our immune system can only handle dealing with so many different afflictions at once.  The more our bodies become over-loaded with stress, the more it will break down. 

When this occurs, our bodies are weaker than normal, and it is open season for various diseases to come in and take residence.  Not only this, but with your organs also being less responsive, they become less responsive as well, meaning the full and natural defense system your body has is non-existent.  Not only does stress accelerate aging, it also accelerates the possibilities of not producing the defenses necessary to keep out even the smallest diseases.  This could lead to having to supplement your body with outside resources, and the more dependent you become to those, the more likely your body will never produce enough again.

Lesson Three: Why you should have Hope

Despite all the grim warnings which Sapolsky provides within the book, he leaves his last chapter open to ensure you know there should always be hope.  By this point in the book, he hopes you have a full understanding of the negative effects stress can have on you, your loved ones and those who are closest to you. 

It can also affect your performance in a variety of ways, and once you notice you are dealing with a lot of stress, you need to deal with it right away.  There is no advantage to holding onto it, so you have to release it from your body.  There is no one sure-fire mechanism which will relieve stress from every single person, but it is vital that you find your source to release stress, so you do not have to deal with all of the negativity which stress brings into your life.  There is reason to Hope – Stress can be relieved.

My Personal Takeaway

Sapolsky lays out some very clear and concise explanations as to what stress can do to a body.  Often times, I know I tend to hold onto stress, as I felt it was a way to grow and mature.  Clearly, this was not the right tactic as all, as stress does nothing good for you or body or your well-being. 

Stress is a disease; one which can be dealt with in a very natural and systematic way.  Stress can be eradicated from each person’s life, and it is not a death sentence, unless we allow it to be.

Did this summary excite you?

Book summaries are great, but I also really believe that you will not fully understand the book or the author without trying the real thing. Learn more about this subject by listening to the full book for free via Audible.

Put into Action

Identifying the times when you are stressed and figuring out the right coping mechanisms is key to not letting stress ruin your life.  This is much easier said than done, but we all can be more pro-active in dealing with stress and ensuring we are setting our own bodies and minds and psychological needs up for success, rather than being hampered with the weights stress puts on us.

You should consider buying this book if…

You deal with stress on a consistent basis, and need help identifying what ailments it could be causing, as well as discovering ways to help decompress the stress you have currently.

Hey, I’m Erik… a Swedish university student, marketing professional, and life-long learner. Here at BookSummaryClub I summarize my favorite non-fiction books into easily digested posts. Hope you like what you’re reading!

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