How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease

I placed an order for this book back in September; rarely do I wait three months for a book to come out...especially a non-fiction health related topic but after reading a couple of advanced chapters (available for free via a web search), this was at the top of my list for upcoming released books. Greger is not only a highly readable author but goes to great lengths to provide the science behind the information...something sorely missing among many other health and fitness guru's. Professionally, my Phd was in closely related topic so I might tend to be a bit more critical than the average reader...on the other hand, my interest in this book is purely personal. As a mature but active couple, we try to eat right and stay fit but but after a serious illness and subsequent hospitalization and health scare, felt the need to really sort out the hype from the hope. There are few things more sobering than a diagnosis of a serious illness - and very few things more frightening than trying to make healthcare decisions for your loved one while dealing with conflicting information. Fortunately the initial diagnosis was wrong - but that scare started us down a path toward building up our health to the greatest extent possible starting with food and exercise. Of course, as everyone knows, there is a great deal of conflicting information out there. As a college instructor and writer, there are few things I appreciate more than ample references and well researched data...and that is what truly sets this author apart from the competition. Now, unlike a lot of readers, I found this book on pre-order before finding the actual authors blogs/other writings. However, after ordering the book in Sept, I've since watched or read many of his video blogs and other information...by and large, he puts out easy to understand, well documented snippets that are both informative and interesting. This book follows that plan of action but with greater depth and insight into the "do's" and "donts" of good health. The author starts out by way of personal explanation of how he became interested in nutrition during medical school - a topic that we have since learned, most physicians are ill prepared to deal with or even overtly hostile toward. The book is divided into the "Why" and "how" beginning with how diet prevents, treats and reverse many common conditions and then going into the how of healthy eating. Now, make no mistake about it, this is not going to cover every topic or condition...especially very elusive or rare ones. On the other hand, readers could spend weeks or even months tracking down much of this information on their own. Even if you have access to research publications and academic databases, locating the specifics is time consuming. Instead, this author has done the leg work for you...he's found the research, compared the results, studied the outcomes and narrows down the information into useful nuggets of what to do and what not to do. Each chapter is basically a different commonly encountered condition such as Heart Disease, Lung Cancer, Diabetes etc... Additional information on the role - and conflicts - inherent to big pharma and even big medicine - are scattered throughout this book. Corporate influence on everything from the ADA to the FDA is mentioned but falls short of adopting the all to common conspiracy theory. Instead, this is a realistic observation on the potential influences and bias inherent in the current system as with lung cancer and the associated cover-up of the risk of tobacco. Sadly, many such health risks are still alive and well today yet not out in the open...vigilance is required to maintain one's own health. Now, this book is not perfect...there are many areas where much more information could have been included. However, for the sake of clarity and consistency, not every topic can be covered in depth. This is more of a "biggest bang for your buck" approach where some of the leading bits of information for the most commonly encountered conditions are provided...it's a "big picture" approach. At our age, we know people who are actively fighting cancers, lung disease, heart disease and more...sadly, we also know far too many people who have already lost that battle. If adding a bit of turmeric and exercise to the diet of my in-laws...who have now had three family members pass away from colon cancer...would save someone then it is a small price to pay. Or what about switching to a plant based die to help alleviate the pain of arthritis and fibromyalgia suffered by another family member for years? Still another who was able to eliminate the toxic effects of steroids and other drugs via diet and exercise for treating a long term autoimmune disorder and yet another able to avoid heart ablation by adding potassium, magnesium and other minerals to the diet to help regulate heart rhythm. The tragic reality is that each of these people were never told about these options by their physicians. Bottom line - this book is not a cure all nor will it fix everything or every body but it does provide a terrific overview of how to prevent, treat and sometimes reverse many of the most commonly encountered conditions. Chances are you know and love someone who is actively suffering from one or more of these conditions - this book provides clear, concise and relevant information in an easy to read format - backed by the research and science. For those who normally do their own research, this saves a huge amount of time and effort while still providing access to relevant followup resources. For those who just want to get results as soon as possible, skip ahead to the most relevant chapters. For those who are watching as someone suffers...give them this as a gift. All in all, well worth the time and effort to read.

I'm from a meat and potatoes family but rebelled as a teenager and have been a vegetarian for almost 30 years. This book is packed with page after page of study-based dietary knowledge that you will want to re-read and share with others. It presents a vast and undeniable body of research in a way that is straightforward and humorous enough that I could imagine it influencing folks who link meat eating with their personal identity and social life... because in the end one's health trumps all of that, right? I'm an environmentalist (buy most everything second hand, urban homesteading with chickens and a big veggie garden, buy raw milk from an ethical small Amish farm), but I've never really wanted to be a vegan. My vegetarian husband loves good cheese, whole milk and real butter. He was actually critical of veganism (as being unnecessarily radical). But lately I'd begun thinking seriously about a plant based diet and bought him Greger's book, and he did a complete turnaround. Now we're sprinkling milled flax on everything, maxing out on fresh berries, experimenting with vegan products, cutting out oils and minimizing salt and sugar. Our 8 year old daughter complains that she has no interest in giving up milk, cheese, and eggs. We're respecting that, but are nonetheless scaling back and introducing more fully plant based dishes, with the aim of becoming mostly plant based. The real problem is that our healthy diet is so different from the greasy, meat-and-pasta based meals her friends eat at her Catholic school. Her classmates had never seen humus before she brought it in. I talked with the school about perhaps finding a healthier lunch vendor, or applying for a salad bar grant, but acted annoyed and dismissed the offer. The kids at her school share the same diet as my own blue collar family. My younger brother (at 39) is on blood pressure and several other meds. He and his wife and three children are all overweight. Everyone in their family is on at least one prescription drug. They talk all the time about making changes. I wonder if I gave them Greger's book, would they read it and try to make some real changes, or just make me feel awkward ... the PhD, tree hugging vegetarian who became estranged from her working-class family's food traditions? Greger's story about his grandmother who was rescued from life-threatening heart disease by a plant based diet hit home. My mother died a few years ago from a heart attack (at the age of 63), and my father died two days later from a stroke. She actually had two heart attacks. Following the first one she fell down the stairs and broke her ankle. The percocet pain meds and hobbling in a cast also put stress on her heart. She came to stay with us and we prepared lovingly made, largely unprocessed vegetarian meals, such as my mother's favorite sweet potato dish made from sweet potatoes grown in our backyard. But after about two weeks my mother called my younger brother and asked to visit his family for awhile. Later he told me she complained that we "didn't have any junk food in the house" and she needed comfort food. He went out and bought her burgers and fries and topped the meal off with an ice cream sundae... That night she had a second heart attack, and died. I never spoke about it, but the truth is we'd been feeding her healthy food on purpose to help her clogged arteries heal (she refused to consider surgery until her heart doc returned from vacation) ... and I believe it was that that last meal of burgers, fries, and ice cream that did her in. Michael Greger lays out how a plant-based diet can transform your health and substantially decrease disease risks. It's an amazing book. The dilemma for me is how to introduce this knowledge to friends or family who have health problems but also have strong identity ties with their current diet. Even when on the verge of a heart attack ... most people seem unable to make the dietary changes they need. I laud Greger for trying to get his message out. It is scandalous that most medical doctors have no understanding of nutrition. Doctors are always impressed by my low blood pressure. However, they'll dismiss it when I tell them "it's because I'm a vegetarian." Our society has become so unhealthy, the unhealthy foods are so addictive, and health experts/educators are mostly ignoring the elephant in the room. It's difficult to imagine a mainstream reversal of this trend.

Excellent. Excellent. Read this book and prepare to fall in love with fruits and vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and whole grains. Love spices: turmeric, cinnamon, oregano, cumin, cardamom, saffron. How could you not? "You should eat more fruits and vegetables as if your life depended on it, because maybe it does," writes Dr. Michael Greger. And not just a few more — a lot! In How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease, Dr. Greger dives into nutrition science providing overwhelming compelling evidence for food as medicine. He takes the reader through numerous well-conducted scientific studies that show how foods nourish and protect us. He points the eater to foods (like flaxseeds) proven to be more powerful and beneficial than medicine — if only we will eat to live. Dr. Greger became interested in nutrition science because of his grandmother, Frances. She was put on hospice due to a heart condition and told there was nothing more doctors could do. Instead of dying, his grandmother found Nathan Pritikin, changed her diet and lived 31 years longer. She was featured in Pritikin's biography: Pritikin: The Man Who Healed America's Heart. Greger was inspired to study medicine, became interested in nutrition science and changed his own diet after reading Dr. Dean Ornish's 1990 landmark Lifestyle Heart Trial study which showed how heart disease could be reversed with a plant-based diet and other lifestyle changes (no drugs, no surgery). Greger repeatedly points out that a whole-foods, plant-based diet can prevent and reverse heart disease — and he doesn't stop there. In part one of the book, Greger goes through the 15 leading causes of death and systematically shows how a plant-based diet may prevent or even reverse each of these ills. "It turns out a more plant-based diet may help prevent, treat, or reverse every single one of our fifteen leading causes of death," he writes. He makes the case that there's an opportunity cost to food. At every meal, we can choose lifesaving nourishment, which builds our strength and resilience — or we can eat junk. Eating is about so much more than satisfying a craving or indulging a taste — it's about truly satiating hunger and sustaining and fortifying our bodies. Dr. Greger takes issue with silent doctors and watered down dietary guidelines. Rather than assuming what people can or can't do, Greger recommends providing people with the evidence and letting them make their own choices about their health, "First, it shouldn't matter what I or anyone else eats, says or does. The science is the science." "That one unifying diet found to best prevent and treat many of these chronic diseases is a whole-food, plant-based diet, defined as an eating pattern that encourages the consumption of unrefined plant foods and discourages meats, dairy products, eggs, and processed foods. In this book(How Not to Die), I don't advocate for a vegetarian diet or a vegan diet. I advocate for an evidence-based diet, and the best available balance of science suggests that the more whole plant foods we eat, the better—both to reap their nutritional benefits and to displace the less healthful options." How Not to Die reads a lot like The China Study to start. It systematically goes through a bunch of horrible, chronic diseases and presents scientific studies, which conclude that the disease is preventable with a plant-based diet. It becomes a familiar refrain — and increasingly frustrating. Why is this not more widely known and practiced? Dr. Greger has been talking about plant-based diets and food as medicine for 25 years (and he's certainly not a lone voice in the wilderness - see pairs well with below). Still, when the International Agency for Research on Cancer (22 experts from 10 countries) of the World Health Organization, after considering more than 800 studies on cancer in humans, showed a causal link between processed meat and colorectal cancer and declared bacon a known carcinogen and red meat a probable carcinogen, people who would on any other day say, "F* cancer!" were suddenly defending it. Eating death and suffering— for the love of bacon! How bizarre. What if there is already a cure? "Diets that revolve around whole plant foods — vegetables, whole grains, fruits and beans—cut the risk of many cancers, and other diseases as well." — American Institute for Cancer Research Dr. Greger points out that agribusiness is big business and that U.S. dietary recommendations are mixed in with the Department of Agriculture's goals of promoting consumption. There is money to be made in processed foods, whereas watermelons, sweet potatoes, kale and turmeric are inexpensive health solutions. Then, people claim they would not enjoy life if they had to give up certain foods. Again, Dr. Greger looks to the science. On the contrary, studies show people feel better and enjoy eating plant-based diets. For diabetic patients, for example, a plant-based diet is less restrictive, easier to follow and more enjoyable than other options. It's a particularly great choice for people who love to eat. Following a plant-based lifestyle, you are encouraged to eat a lot of healthy, tasty, colorful, flavorful foods at every meal. Despite the sad state of the average American diet today, How Not to Die remains upbeat. Throughout the book, Greger amply employs wit, humor and silly puns (my favorite of which is "Them's some block-rockin' beets!" in reference to the benefits of beets for athletic performance.). The second part of How Not to Die talks about how to make those food choices — it's about eating a lot of certain fruits, vegetables, legumes and spices every day. Dr. Greger talks about his favorites and how much to eat. Again, lots! "One of their (World Cancer Research Fund) summary cancer-prevention recommendations is to eat whole grains and/or legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas, or lentils) with every meal. Not every week or every day. Every meal!" To be clear, How Not to Die is not a book about immortality. It is a book about preventative medicine and living well — how not to die prematurely and how not to suffer from chronic disease. As the president of the American College of Cardiology, Kim Williams, MD said in advocating for and adopting a plant-based diet as written in "Heal Thyself," in the University of Chicago Magazine (Jan./Feb/ 2015), "Unlike those who find enjoyment or comfort even in foods they know are unhealthy, Williams takes solace in the belief that, with each bite, he’s doing no harm. 'I don’t mind dying,' he says, 'I just don’t want it to be my fault.'" The book ends on a sweet and loving note as Dr. Greger acknowledges the transience of life: "And we need to make each day count by filling is with fresh air, laughter, and love—love for ourselves, for others, and for whatever we are doing with our one precious life."

Co-authors of this indispensible book - Michael Greger, MD, a physician, author, internationally recognized speaker on nutrition, food safety and public health issues and responsible for the website NutritionFacts.org, serves as the Director of Public Health and Animal Agriculture at the Humane Society of the United States and Gene Stone, a former Peace Corps volunteer who is an author of books and is involved in community organization – have created a resource that belongs in the hands of every person concerned with self-care of health issues. The book is very accessible, offers a significant amount of both history of nutrition and how to learn about this medical school ignored subject and of the many scientists who have nurtured the concept of eating right to help our bodies get and stay healthy. Michael states, ‘When I started this work more than a decade ago, I thought the answer was to train the trainers, educate the profession. But with the democratization of information, doctors no longer hold a monopoly as gatekeepers of knowledge about health. When it comes to safe, simple lifestyle prescriptions, I’m realizing it may be more effective to empower individuals directly. In a recent national survey of doctor office visits, only about one in five smokers were told to quit. Just as you don’t have to wait for your physician to tell you to stop smoking, you don’t have to wait to start eating healthier. Then together we can show my medical colleagues the true power of healthy living.’ ‘Most deaths in the United States are preventable, and they are related to what we eat. Our diet is the number-one cause of premature death and the number-one cause of disability. Surely, diet must also be the number-one thing taught in medical schools, right? Sadly, it’s not. According to the most recent national survey, only a quarter of medical schools offer a single course in nutrition, down from 37 percent thirty years ago.’ So step into the self-sufficient arena with Michael and learn how to live a healthy life through proper nutrition and care of the body. The book is in 2 parts – Part 1: HOW NOT TO DIE FROM HEART DISEASE, LUNG DISEASES, BRAIN DISEASES, DIGESTIVE CANCERS, INFECTIONS, DIABETES, HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE, LIVER DISEASES, BLOOD CANCERS, KIDNEY DISEASE, BREAST CANCER, SUICIDAL DEPRESSION, PROSTATE CANCER, PARKINSON’S DISEASE, and IATROGENIC (physician/medicine related) CAUSES. Part 2 – deals with specifics of nutrition with ‘Dr Greger’s Daily Dozen – BEANS, BERRIES, OTHER FRUITS, CRUCIFEROUS VEGETABLES, GREENS, OTHER VEGETABLES, FLAXSEEDS, NUTS AND SEEDS, HERBS AND SPICES, WHOLE GRAINS, BEVERAGES, and EXERCISE. One of the finest attributes of this book is the manner in which the information is relayed – well documented with facts, easily accessible to everyone’s reading level, and a coaching session that creates the desire to immediately get up and get with it. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, February 17

The book is good, the whole-food-plant-based diet is great, but if you don’t have the time and resources to research how to properly eat WFPB you may get yourself deficient in some nutrients and cause more damage than good over time. It took me months of additional reading and lab testing to feel comfortable adopting some of the advice in this book. It’s not just eat WFPB, take B12, D and you’re good, there are complex interactions between minerals (e.g. Ca and Fe) the author fails to make the audience aware of. It also assumes you only have one (or more) of the "affluent diseases" and there are no other health issues. well many people have auto immune conditions (so you can’t eat cruciferous vegetables as much as you want if you have a thyroid disfunction), so there should be a section for other common health conditions. Much of the advice is repeated in his other books How not to Age, How not to Diet.. so in general, the author's style is to singe out a plant/nutrient and cover all benefits it offers for a certain health condition, but mentions little of its side effects. I had to research each plant/nutrient individually before incorporating it because most do have other effects (e.g. nitric oxide and barberries may slow down gut motility, so you may want to reconsider them if slowing down metabolism is not your goal). This book was just a start for me, it intrigued me to read other similar authors (M. Pollan, T. Colin Campbell, D. Ludwig, etc), and ultimately helped me improve my blood parameters and lose weigh easily. I was 150lb and couldn’t get rid of some “covid weight”, but after following the diet I dropped 20lb in 7 months without almost any trouble, in fact it was fun to try new types of food and I have just so much energy. The food isn’t super delicious I have to admit, but I’ve accepted that it shouldn’t be since processed food is made hyper-tasty and that’s just not normal, it’s likely engineered that way to make us prefer it. I definitely don’t see myself going back to eating much processed food or animal products, although I do eat meat a bit a couple of times a month. Unfortunately, i haven't been able to get on board any friends or family with the WFPB diet. again, not everyone has taken a research class is college to know how to find genuine info online (or to use ChatGPT). Food-combing rules that you have to follow as part of the WFPB diet to increase nutrient absorption, protein formation, prepare grains/legumes in a way to reduce anti-nutrients, etc are complex and inconvenient. Maybe the author can summarize them in a future book :)

How Not to Die is a fantastic read and reference book. Fans of Dr Greger's popular website, nutritionfacts.org, will not be disappointed. Having worked with him closely for the last 4 years, I will assure you his search for as he calls it, an evidence-based diet, trumps any ideology labels that might be tossed his way. Make no mistake about it, he is an advocate of increasing whole plant food in the diet, but he's in no way blinded by it. On more than one occasion we've exchanged new journal articles only to step back and question - do we believe this because it is true or because it is a beautiful story? He is driven to seek out the evidence no matter where that answer might lead. The book is stuffed with references (148 pages!) for the person that wants to dig deeper, but in a style that has become uniquely his, Dr Greger uses quoted language from the papers to give an unitimidating explanation of the science contained within. He has a knack for picking out key sentences and graphs that strike at the very heart of the journal article relavence. He stands almost alone in a mass media that can't seem to get past the catchy titles, abstracts, and carefully worded, often misleading conclusions. HNTD is not an academic tome or textbook. Not only does it read with ease it is pushed along with his witty examples. The first 15 chapters (how not to die from..cancers, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, etc..) are arranged based on easy to recognize conditions and though they are related can be read completely independent from one another. The reader will get a more complete picture from the often conflicting issues of business, government and food marketing, but it's presented in a language that is anything but activist. Within each chapter there are practical examples of how to get the benefits seen in the literature into your daily routine. The book doesn't follow a chronology, so I found myself flipping through an early review copy reading small sections at a time. I often was so caught up in the section that reading would continue past what I originally had searched. I find it refreshing that he's not afraid to take on all the alternative cleanse, detox, blood type, etc... popular narratives that seem to come along with any alternative to traditional pharmacological/surgical/symptom mitigating popular approach. He doesn't give in to gluten or coconut oil just because it is popular or profitable and while some might find it frustrating, he sticks to the entire body of evidence not the latest single study. His appendix on supplements is completely on point. There is no evolutionary perfect diet and if one chooses to limit certain elements, like animal products, there are necessary steps that should be taken to avoid issues down the road. Finally, his "Daily Dozen" is a great place to begin implementing the message of bountiful health he enjoys teaching to anyone that will listen. These chapters begin with a summary box (exercise, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, berries, etc..) of exactly what to do and how often. These are daily habits that can get one moving in the right direction. Diet is habit not genetic and his simple steps aret a great way to make new habits stick. There are a couple of good recipes (the back of the book isn't cooking - it's science references). I made Eight Check Mark Pesto when first flipping through the book. I liked his version of Dr Klaper's caesar. I am 6 years into this life experiment and I've never felt better. The standard western diet and the cyclic fad repackaging of the last century's food of affluence dominates most discussion, funded research, restaurants, and food advertising. There's more money spent than ever on wellness and yet we've never been more overweight or sick. Those contradictory facts don't lie. In spite of all the economic momentum for more profitable and popular food, each year hundreds of articles surface on the benefits of adding more plant-based nutrition to one's diet for health and Dr Michael Greger seems to find them all. For that we should all be grateful. You won't be disappointed in this book. Everyone will learn something.

Undeniably and completely life-changing! Don't wait until you're facing some type of medical dilemma to read this book. Stop it from happening in the first place by following Dr. Greger's advice right now. First off, I wasn't paid or compensated in ANY way to write this review or read this book. I bought it with my own money and read it because I was sick of being overweight, depressed, and feeling tired all the time. I've suffered from a number of medical issues for most of my life and have had my life and my ailments completely turned around by following Dr. Greger's advice! I now use Greger's Daily Dozen app (free) and frequent Dr. Greger's site, nutritionfacts dot org (also, free). I wish every person - especially those that have struggled with *any* kind of health issue - would read this book and followed its advice. It's hard for me to not be obnoxious and spout off all the things I've learned from this book when people start talking about diets and eating plans. I just want to show them the hundreds (thousands?) of randomized double blind placebo controlled (RDBPC) scientific journal published studies (which are considered the "gold standard" when it comes to scientific studies) that blow their theories and suppositions away with actual science (go figure). But, because I don't have the time or energy to get into multiple debates on a daily basis and still want to be invited to social gatherings, I'm writing this review. Otherwise, I think that I might burst. I have to share this book! Since following the advice that Dr. Greger gives, I have lost over 60 pounds without ever being hungry or feeling like I'm missing out by filling up on plant-based whole foods. As an unexpected but amazingly awesome side effect, I was able - with my doctor's supervision - to go off of my antidepressant meds! No more depressive episodes!! Not one. Not even when a couple of really bad life events happened and, in the past, would have left me unable to cope. I also have a ton more energy which is really saying something when you're a 40+ elementary school teacher that used to be - like most people would understandably be - ready to drop from exhaustion at the end of a 10 to 12-hour workday with 5 to 11-year-olds. Dr. Greger takes the aforementioned studies and explains them in easy to understand, digestible bites (pun intended). Not only does he explain the studies, he gives references to every single study he mentions. I was skeptical about some of the studies he referenced when I started reading the book and wanted to see if he was manipulating information. He wasn't. Not at all. I have looked up several of these studies and I can assure you that he is not twisting study findings/conclusions or skewing results to fit his advice. Since completing the book and sharing info with others (that asked) I have been able to pull up the research that supports a whole foods, plant-based (WFPB) diet. Although, not everybody is willing to change to this lifestyle - even though I can't stop raving about how easy it is and how amazing I feel - they can't argue with the thousands of independent scientific research studies that show, time and again, that eating a WFPB diet is the key to all but eliminating the world of the biggest killers: heart disease, various cancers, diabetes, Parkinson's, and high blood pressure. I now have, "How Not to Die," as a hardcover, audiobook, and Kindle edition. I have also purchased several copies, in various formats, for a few people that expressed an interest. Every one of them have transitioned to a WFPB diet and are thrilled with how they feel.

This book is about how diet can prevent the most common causes of death, at least that's the first part. The second part, which i started first, is an in depth analysis of the 12 most nutritious foods (with the exception of herbs & spices and exercise) and how to get them into our diet every day. I've been a long time viewer of Dr. Greger's videos on nutritionfact.org so i've already been convinced of the benefits of a plant based diet but i wanted a resource that could synthesize all that information in one place so that i may act on it more easily. The thing I love about this book and his site is that all of the recommendations are based off of the latest nutrition research, not his random ass opinion, not an appeal to nature, nor an appeal to "spiritual" reasoning, nor even the ethics angle, none of that. Instead, he gives us the science on it. I've read a ton of other diet books, and while some of them will cite their sources, nothing comes close to the 200 pages of studies cited in the back of the book. Now the volume of research cited is no indicator of truth or clear reasoning. He could, as many people have claimed, cherry pick his studies to confirm his preformed conclusions but there are enough meta analyses and individual threads of evidence that support the benefits of some given food over another that i'm convinced it would take quite a lot of evidence to refute as any nutritional claim should. Besides everyone pretty much agrees that fruits and vegetables are healthy, even the paleo people. One thing that also removes vegan ideology from this book is the concept of good and bad foods. The doc says that such categories must be defined in terms of "good compared to this" or "bad compared to that." So when one asks "are eggs good for you?" more context is needed, that is, good compared to what? Compared to a potato and it's influence on cholesterol, it's pretty bad but if you're in a state of starvation eating anything will help you. My favorite part about the book is that it's not really a diet book, it's really just a super informative checklist about what we should try to get into our gullet every day and the reasons/research behind it.I knew beforehand that eating greens or broccoli was good for me entirely off of hearsay, which means that my motivation to eat something like that was pretty low or just kind of fuzzy. But if I get in-depth information about why I should eat something, it's effects on my body, and why I can't get the benefits of a certain plant anywhere else,i'm likely to eat such things. I don't know, i guess I'm just weird like that. Don't get me wrong, I haven't really always been reasonable about what I have been eating before. Eating has been 90% chance discoveries/happenstance/culture while 10% had some sort of objective reasoning, for most of my life. All of those variables still play a role now despite taking a deep gander at the science, but now my food choices are filtered by that scientific understanding along with the implications for my future death. Ok that's a bit morbid, but seriously, eating poorly is a slow, stupid way to kill yourself. Stated another way regarding a plant based diet, dr. Greger quotes the president of the american college of cardiology, "I don't mind dying, i just don't want it to be my fault." That said, i think people can get away with eating a ton of crap but I know it can catch up to you. Great, informative book, and fairly cheap too!

Este fantástico livro nos mostra, com bases científicas, como melhorar a saúde, evitando alimentos de origem animal, alimentos refinados e altamente processados e dando preferência ao consumo de verduras, legumes, cereais integrais, feijões, frutas, nozes, sementes, enfim: comida de verdade. O autor é um médico americano que se dedica a análises de artigos científicos buscando evidências do poder da alimentação na promoção da saúde. Diariamente ele posta vídeos em seu site sobre suas mais recentes descobertas, explicadas de uma maneira simples e até humorística. Na primeira parte do livro ele nos ensina como não morrer das doenças mais comuns do mundo civilizado como diabetes, câncer, problemas cardíacos, hipertensão, depressão etc, com mudanças na alimentação e no estilo de vida. Na segunda parte ele trata de alimentos poderosos. Leitura obrigatória para nutricionistas, profissionais de saúde e para todos que desejam melhorar sua qualidade de vida. Nota 1000!

💯 Voto: Merita un 8.5 💵 Rapporto Qualità Prezzo: 📈 Prezzo di Acquisto: EUR 11,66 Questo è un libro fantastico. Ne sono veramente rimasto sorpreso. Lasciatemi spiegare. Questo libro è diviso in tre parti principali. Nella prima parte ci sono 15 capitoli, uno per ciascuna delle principali malattie che causano la morte delle persone. In ciascuno dei capitoli, il dottor Greger spiega la malattia o il malessere, quindi descrive gli alimenti che sono stati trovati per ridurre il rischio, prevenire, invertire o curare la malattia. La seconda parte del libro dedica i capitoli a una serie di gruppi di alimenti sani. Il dottor Greger spiega quali sostanze chimiche, elementi, enzimi o antiossidanti sono particolarmente utili per prevenire o curare una malattia. In ciascuna delle prime due parti del libro, sembra che ogni altra frase abbia un riferimento a un documento scientifico che descrive la ricerca e le prove per le dichiarazioni del dottor Greger. L'ultimo terzo del libro è un elenco di tutte le note, che si ricollegano alle ricerche scientifiche, i papers. E' difficile criticare il dottor Greger per le sue conclusioni, dal momento che sono supportate da un'enorme quantità di ricerche. Ovviamente si nota anche il suo atteggiamento un po' "Biased", che incentra il tema principalmente su una dieta Vegana, quale porta con se una serie di atteggiamenti, che per carnivori come me, sembrano sermoni di qualche religione esotica. La raccomandazione nutrizionale del dottor Greger è di mangiare solo cibi integrali e vegetali. Riduce il rischio di tutte le 15 principali cause di morte, almeno negli stati uniti. Consiglio vivamente questo libro a chiunque desideri migliorare la propria alimentazione e salute. Questo è il miglior libro sulla nutrizione che abbia mai letto. Se hai intenzione di smettere di leggere la mia recensione qui, non ti biasimo. Ho preso molti appunti. Eccoli. I medici non sono formati in nutrizione e non vengono pagati per fornire consigli nutrizionali. La California Academy of Family Physicians si è opposta a un disegno di legge della California che impone dodici ore di educazione alimentare per tutti i medici. Nel dibattito, è stato ridotto a zero ore. Si ritiene che la diminuzione della lunghezza dei telomeri nei propri cromosomi provochi l'invecchiamento. Il dottor Greger presenta le prove che uno stile di vita sano può aumentare l'attività della telomerasi e effettivamente far crescere i telomeri in lunghezza. È la qualità del cibo che conta, non la quantità. Cos'è uno stile di vita sano? Uno che utilizza cibi integrali, non integratori o uno che cerca di enfatizzare una singola sostanza chimica o nutriente. Questo libro fornisce molti esempi di singoli nutrienti che hanno dimostrato benefici per la salute, ma solo se consumati in un alimento intero, non quando isolati in una pillola. Ad esempio, gli integratori antiossidanti non riducono il rischio di cancro, ma gli antiossidanti presenti naturalmente negli alimenti riducono il rischio. La curcuma è un'erba che si trova nel curry in polvere e nella senape. Può avere notevoli proprietà anti-cancro. Ma non sono stati condotti studi in doppio cieco; nessuno vuole pagare per qualcosa che non può essere brevettato. È vero, tuttavia, che l'India soffre molto meno di cancro del colon-retto, reni, polmoni, vescica e prostata e melanoma. Ma la domanda è se ciò sia dovuto alla curcuma o che solo il 7% della popolazione mangia carne regolarmente? Non mi rendevo conto che per certi versi il pollame è più malsano della carne. Mangiare pollame aumenta il rischio di cancro al pancreas più della carne rossa! I vegetariani ottengono un'assunzione più elevata di quasi tutte le calorie nutritive per le calorie rispetto ai mangiatori di carne. Anche i mangiatori di carne aumentano di peso, anche dopo aver aggiustato le calorie! Le calorie non sono tutte uguali, forse perché i vegetariani hanno un tasso metabolico a riposo più elevato. Molti diabetici possono invertire la malattia dopo aver seguito una dieta a base vegetale per sedici giorni. Non devono perdere peso o ridurre il consumo di calorie. Il superbatterio difficile infetta 250.000 americani ogni anno, uccidendone migliaia. Si pensava che fosse stato raccolto negli ospedali. Tuttavia, solo un terzo dei casi è collegato a pazienti infetti. Potrebbe invece essere dovuto alla carne infetta. Circa il 42% delle carni vendute nelle catene di negozi di alimentari nazionali è infetto. Gli Stati Uniti hanno i livelli più alti al mondo. Si trova anche nel pollo, nel tacchino e nel manzo, ma la concentrazione più alta è nel maiale. Di solito, non infastidisce le persone; si trova nell'intestino senza causare danni. Ma gli antibiotici possono scatenarlo ed è mortale. Può sopravvivere a due ore di cottura a 71 gradi C (la temperatura di cottura consigliata). I disinfettanti per le mani non aiutano. Gli antibiotici si trovano nelle urine dei mangiatori di carne, anche quando non li hanno presi. L'agrobusiness alimenta enormi quantità di antibiotici agli animali da allevamento. L'ipertensione è una delle afflizioni descritte dal dottor Greger. La cosiddetta dieta DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) è stata progettata specificamente per abbassare la pressione sanguigna. È prevalentemente vegetariano, ma consente un po 'di carne, in modo da rendere la dieta più appetibile ai non vegetariani. Il dottor Greger afferma che mangiare pochi cucchiai al giorno di semi di lino induce un effetto di abbassamento della pressione sanguigna molto potente. Un manuale da conservare e leggere con la giusta mente critica.

Je l'ai commencé et il est très instructif On voit que greger a fait un vrai travail de recherche

A lot of great advice and it’s an easy to follow guide.

I've spent the first two decades of my life pretty much ignoring nutrition. I seemed to have a metabolism that allowed me to eat as much junk as I pleased and never gotten overweight. Since a young child, my family could never get me to take an interest in food, and I ate very little of anything healthy. However, I was raised as a vegetarian and I've only ever eaten meat by accident. Three years ago I went vegan due to ethical reasons regarding the suffering of non-human animals. However, I continued to eat complete junk. In the last few years, my diet seemed to be catching up with me. I moved to Japan and practically lived off nothing but rice, chips, beer, green tea and edamame. My health declined. I went to the doctors with my 8th case of common cold or flu or tonsillitis in 9 months and asked if there was any lifestyle adjustments I could make. Can I get a blood test to see what nutrients I may be deficient in? The doctor reacted quite nastily, and having read this book, now I know why. Japan has a healthcare system unlike the NHS and more like the private American system. I was shocked at how much crap I was prescribed for a single cold (much of it Traditional Chinese Medicine that is unproven by science) and how much it cost. The pandemic came. I got a particularly nasty bout of tonsillitis that left me doling out the rest of my money on a week long hospital stay because I couldn't swallow food so needed it intravenously. I had to pack my bags and come home to UK, where my health has continued to deteriorate. I discovered I have a mental condition, a symptom of which is poor diet, poor exercise and poor sleeping patterns. It's defined my life thus far and I have decided not to let it define me any longer. So, I came across this book - the book that would help me get my baked beans and veggie sausage diet into a leafier shape. I always thought nutrition would be so difficult, but not only does Greger simplify everything without coming off as patronising, he also provides ample motivation to get you to eat more healthily. The motivation is right there in the book. Since following this diet, including the portion of exercise he recommends, I have felt such an extreme difference in energy. I now seem to float between rooms of the house, apparently not losing any energy as I move up and down stairs. My posture has become more erect along with other body parts. I can see my abdominal muscles for the first time ever. I have not fallen ill. This book is a gripping read, but also functions as a reference book with a very useful index. It's full of practical advice that is easy to follow and based on studies that are all from pretty good sources. Greger is completely transparent and analytical about each study he mentions, including in his summary the limitations of each study, how it might be improved for more accurate or enlightening results and other very interesting bits and bobs. I have started recommending this book to everyone - including buying an extra copy and sending it to my vegan-nutrition-sceptic scientist brother, as the scientific evidence based manner in which the information here is presented makes a compelling argument not only to defend vegan nutrition, but also to promote a whole food plant based diet as being nutritionally superior to any carnistic diet, provided it is eaten as prescribed by this book. It's impossible to be unbiased when it comes to veganism. Either your vegan or you're not. It's easy for me to see the negative reviews as being biased in favour of carnism, as someone might read my review as being bias because I'm quite clearly a staunch vegan. But the truth is that since adopting a whole food plant based diet, I've felt better and more healthy than I ever remember being. I recommend this to any junk food vegans (like I was) who want to learn how to eat healthily and to any carnists (people who consume animal products) who are sceptical that it's possible for a vegan diet to be nutritionally adequate. What you find in this book might surprise you.