How Not to Die
Michael Greger · 2015
Physician Michael Greger distills thousands of studies into a clear case that most premature deaths are not inevitable but largely cooked up in our kitchens, and shows, killer by killer, which everyday foods can help prevent, arrest, and even reverse the diseases most likely to take us.
Widely read evidence-based guide on foods that prevent the leading causes of death, highly actionable.
Three of the ideas you’ll keep
The Clif summary of How Not to Die pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.
- Roughly 80% of your risk for the leading killers comes from diet and lifestyle, not genes, which means most premature death is something you can act on, not just inherit.
- Build your plate around whole plant foods using the Daily Dozen: beans, berries, other fruits, cruciferous vegetables, greens, other vegetables, flaxseeds, nuts, herbs/spices, whole grains, plus water and daily exercise.
- Treat your LDL ('bad') cholesterol like it belongs under 70 mg/dL by cutting trans fats from processed food and saturated fat from animal products, a diet shift, not just a pill, can reverse artery plaque.
The other 4 — and the full 8-minute summary — are in the app.
What’s inside: 9 chapters
The whole summary runs about 8 minutes, read or listened to.
- Why Greger Wrote This Book
- Your Diet Is the Real Risk Factor
- Heart Disease: The Killer You Can Reverse
- Cancer: Eating to Lower the Odds
- Diabetes and Weight: Calories Aren't All Equal
- High Blood Pressure: Beyond the Salt Shaker
- Brain, Mood, and the Foods That Protect Them
- Whole Foods Beat Supplements
- The Daily Dozen: Your Everyday Checklist
Finish How Not to Die tonight.
Read or listen to the full summary in about 8 minutes, then keep the ideas with a minute of review a day. Start with the 2-minute quiz — no card required.
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How Not to Diet Michael Greger Evidence-packed, highly practical guide to sustainable weight loss from a well-known author. -
In Defense of Food Michael Pollan A modern classic distilling eating into simple, memorable rules that summarize perfectly. -
The China Study T. Colin Campbell Hugely influential, well-known argument for whole-food plant-based eating backed by large-scale data. -
The Emperor of All Maladies Siddhartha Mukherjee The rare science epic that reads like a novel, with cancer itself cast as the doomed, brilliant, endlessly adaptive protagonist.