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

by Michael Greger

After putting all the studies together, researchers concluded that there was no longer justification for the use of omega-3s in everyday clinical practice.18 What should doctors do when their patients follow the American Heart Association’s advice and inquire about fish oil supplements? As the director of Lipids and Metabolism at Mount Sinai’s cardiovascular institute put it:

“Given this and other negative meta-analyses, our job [as doctors] should be to stop highly marketed fish oil supplementation to all our patients…”19

We’ve known for nearly two decades that a single fast-food meal—Sausage and Egg McMuffins were used in the original study—can stiffen your arteries within hours, cutting in half their ability to relax normally.

In 1977, the U.S. Senate Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs tried to do just that. Known as the McGovern Committee, they released Dietary Goals for the United States, a report advising Americans to cut down on animal-based foods and increase their consumption of plant-based foods. As a founding member of Harvard University’s nutrition department recalls, “The meat, milk and egg producers were very upset.”53 That’s an understatement. Under industry pressure, not only was the goal to “decrease meat consumption” removed from the report but the entire Senate nutrition committee was disbanded. Several prominent senators reputedly lost their election bids as a result of supporting the report.54

In 2012, the American Dietetic Association changed its name to the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics but didn’t appear to change its policies. It continues to take millions of dollars every year from processed junk food, meat, dairy, soda, and candy bar companies. In return, the academy lets them offer official educational seminars to teach dietitians what to say to their clients.64 When you hear the title “registered dietitian,” this is the group they are registered through.

Within two weeks, asthma symptoms grew significantly worse. Interestingly, the low-fruit, low-vegetable diet used in the study—a restriction to no more than one serving of fruit and two servings of vegetables per day—is typical of Western diets. In other words, the diet they used experimentally to impair people’s lung function and worsen their asthma was effectively the standard American diet.

Over a two-year period, 1,800 patients were admitted into a rural Kenyan hospital. How many cases of high blood pressure did they find? Zero. There also wasn’t a single case found of America’s number-one killer, atherosclerosis.15

Enter Dr. Walter Kempner and his rice-and-fruit diet. Without drugs, he brought patients with eye-popping blood pressures like 240/150 down to 105/80 with dietary changes alone. How could he ethically withhold medication from such seriously ill patients? Modern high-blood-pressure pills hadn’t been invented yet—Dr. Kempner conducted his work back in the 1940s.

After one salty meal, not only does blood

pressure increase but the arteries actually begin to stiffen.51

The trillion-dollar processed food industry uses dirt-cheap added salt and sugar to sell us their junk.57 That’s why it’s not easy avoiding sodium on the typical American diet, since three-quarters

of salt comes from processed foods rather than a saltshaker.

By hooking you on hypersweet and hypersalty foods, your taste buds get so dampened that natural foods can taste like cardboard.

“food of animal origin was highly significantly associated with systolic and diastolic B[lood] P[ressure] after the age and weight effects were removed.”

Hydroxycut was withdrawn after dozens of verified cases of organ damage were brought to light—including massive liver failure requiring transplantation and even death.

Pink Juice:

Based on autopsy studies, as many as 39 percent of women in their forties already have breast cancers growing within their bodies that may be simply too small to be detected by mammograms.11 That’s why you can’t just wait until diagnosis to start eating and living healthier. You should start tonight.

“Diets that revolve around whole plant foods—vegetables, whole grains, fruits and beans—cut the risk of many cancers, and other diseases as well.”13

cancer-promoting growth hormone called IGF-1,16

Researchers who tested the effects of a variety of retail mouthwashes and oral rinses concluded that, although the risk is slight, it is probably best to refrain from using such products if they contain alcohol.22