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

by Michael Greger

How can you tell if you’re dehydrated? Just ask your body. If you chug some water and pee most of it out soon after, this would be your body’s way of saying it was all topped off. But if you drink a bunch of water and your body keeps most of it, then your tank was running low. Researchers used this concept to develop a formal dehydration assessment tool: Empty your bladder, chug three cups of water, and then see how much you pee an hour later. They determined that if you drink three cups and urinate less than one cup within that hour, there’s a good chance you were dehydrated.

A randomized trial of the effects of sparkling versus still water found that drinking carbonated water may improve symptoms of constipation and dyspepsia, including bloating and nausea.28

Coffee is not for everyone. For example, be careful if you have gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). While a population study found no link between coffee consumption and subjective symptoms of GERD, such as heartburn and regurgitation,33 scientists who actually stuck tubes down people’s throats to measure their pH found that coffee does seem to induce significant acid reflux, whereas tea does not. Caffeine does not appear to be the culprit, since caffeinated water doesn’t cause a problem. However, the coffee decaffeination process seems to reduce the level of whichever compounds are responsible, since decaf coffee appeared to cause less reflux. The researchers advised that people who suffer from GERD should consider switching to decaf or—even better—drink tea instead.

Moderate caffeine consumption in healthy, nonpregnant adults is not only safe but has been found to increase energy and alertness and enhance physical, motor, and cognitive performance.

drinking a few cups of coffee a day may actually extend your life a bit54 and even has the potential to slightly lower your overall cancer risk.55 I cannot recommend drinking coffee, though. Why? Because every cup of coffee is a lost opportunity to drink a potentially even healthier beverage—a cup of green tea.

Drinking tea may protect against gynecological malignancies, such as ovarian cancer59 and endometrial cancer,60 as well as lower your cholesterol,61 blood pressure,62 blood sugar,63 and body fat.64 It may protect the brain from both cognitive decline65 and stroke.66 Tea consumption is also associated with decreased risk of diabetes,67 tooth loss,68 and up to half the risk of dying from pneumonia.

I now just throw whole tea leaves straight into my smoothies

More than two-thirds of American adults are overweight.1 Think about that. Fewer than one in three people maintain a healthy weight. What’s more, by 2030, more than half the country’s population may be clinically obese.

Just to make up for the extra calories Americans are taking in compared to a few decades ago, as a nation, we’d need to walk an extra two hours a day, every day of the week.

As we’ve learned, diet is by far our greatest killer, followed by smoking.

men who sit for six hours or more per day have a 20 percent higher overall death rate compared to men who sit for three hours or less, while women who sit for more than six hours have a 40 percent higher death rate.

Sitting for six or more hours a day appears to increase mortality rates even among people who run or swim for an hour a day, every day, seven days a week.

simply standing for three hours a day at work equates to about thirty thousand extra calories burned per year—the equivalent of running ten marathons.

Eating a whole-food, plant-based diet and returning your brain’s dopamine sensitivity to its healthy, normal levels can help you live life to the fullest and allow you to experience greater joy, satisfaction, and pleasure from all the things you do—not just what you eat.

a long and healthy life is largely a matter of choice. In 2015, Dr. Kim Williams became president of the American College of Cardiology. He was asked why he chose to eat a strictly plant-based diet. “I don’t mind dying,” Dr. Williams said. “I just don’t want it to be my fault.”19 That’s what this book is about: taking responsibility for your and your family’s health.

Given modern sanitary standards, a regular, reliable source of vitamin B12 is critical for anyone eating a plant-based diet.

For adults under age sixty-five, the easiest way to get B12 is to take at least one 2,000 mcg supplement each week.

getting enough vitamin B12 is absolutely nonnegotiable for those centering their diets around green-light foods.

I recommend that people unable to get sufficient sun take one 2,000 IU vitamin D3 supplement each day,18 ideally with the largest meal of the day.

won’t make any vitamin D.22 Above 50° latitude (around London, Berlin, Moscow, and Edmonton, Canada), this “vitamin D winter” may extend for as long as six months of the year. Vitamin D supplements are therefore recommended for people at higher latitudes during the winter months

Ninety-three percent of Americans don’t get enough vitamin E. Ninety-seven percent of American adults don’t get enough fiber.52 Ninety-eight percent of American diets are deficient in potassium.