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

by Michael Greger

eating plant-based diets don’t just have lower rates of many of the leading killer diseases but also appear to have lower rates of such annoying ills as hemorrhoids, varicose veins, and ulcers; fewer surgeries; fewer hospitalizations; and only about half the odds of being on drugs, including tranquilizers, aspirin, insulin, blood pressure pills, pain medications, antacids, laxatives, or sleeping pills.12

The body metabolizes arachidonic acid into an array of inflammatory chemicals. In fact, that’s how anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen work to relieve pain and swelling—by blocking the conversion of arachidonic acid into these inflammatory end products.

Higher consumption of vegetables may cut the odds of developing depression by as much as 62 percent.

depression is caused by abnormally low levels of monoamine neurotransmitters due to elevated levels of the neurotransmitter-munching enzyme.

many plant foods, including apples, berries, grapes, onions, and green tea, contain phytonutrients that appear to naturally inhibit the MAO, as do such spices as cloves, oregano, cinnamon, and nutmeg.30 This may help explain why those eating plant-rich diets have lower rates of depression.

For your diet to have a meaningful psychological impact, though, you may need to consume approximately seven servings of fruits or eight servings of vegetables each day.32

having a carb-rich breakfast like waffles and orange juice resulted in higher tryptophan levels in those studied than did a protein-rich breakfast of turkey, eggs, and cheese.37

better moods and less anxiety among populations eating diets higher in carbohydrates and lower in fats and protein.

Such seeds as sesame, sunflower, or pumpkin may fit the bill.

even just smelling saffron appeared to have psychological benefits.

if you’re feeling anxious, perhaps wake up and smell the saffron.

Exercise, it seemed, works about as well as medication.

evidence suggests that free radicals—those highly unstable molecules that cause tissue damage and contribute to aging—may play an important role in the development of various psychiatric disorders, including depression.

A study of nearly three hundred thousand Canadians found that greater fruit and vegetable consumption was associated with lower risk of depression, psychological distress, mood and anxiety disorders, and poor perceived mental health. The researchers concluded that eating antioxidant-rich plant foods “may dampen the detrimental effects of

oxidative stress on mental health.”65

people who ate tomatoes or tomato products daily had just half the odds of depression compared with those who ate them once a week or less.67

only food sources of antioxidants appear to be protectively associated with depression.

Vegetables—including antioxidant-rich tomatoes and folate-packed greens—may be good for the body and the mind.

improvements in mood may be a result of the patient’s belief in the power of the drug—not the drug itself.74

the same diet that may prevent prostate cancer has also been shown to potentially slow it down and even reverse its progression among those already diagnosed.

cow’s milk stimulated the growth of human prostate cancer cells in each of fourteen separate experiments, producing an average increase in cancer growth rate of more than 30 percent. In contrast, almond milk suppressed the growth of the cancer cells by more than 30 percent.16

the promised benefit may be just another empty marketing ploy. A meta-analysis of cow’s milk intake and hip fracture studies shows no significant protection.

One recent set of studies involving one hundred thousand men and women followed for up to two decades even suggested milk may increase bone and hip fracture rates.22

birth defect called galactosemia, in which they lack the enzymes needed to detoxify galactose, a type of sugar found in milk. This means they end up with elevated levels of galactose in their blood, which can cause bone loss.23

Scientists actually use galactose to induce premature aging in lab animals.

neurodegeneration, mental retardation and cognitive dysfunction … diminished immune responses and reduction of reproductive ability.”

just the human equivalent of one to two glasses worth of milk a day.26

In addition to significantly more bone and hip fractures, researchers found higher rates of premature death, more heart disease, and significantly more cancer for each daily glass of milk women drank.

Three glasses a day was associated with nearly twice the risk of dying early.28 Men with higher milk consumption also had a higher rate of death, although they didn’t have higher fracture rates.29 Overall, the study showed a dose-dependent

higher rate of mortality (in both men and women) and fracture (in women), but the opposite was found for other dairy produc...

the bacteria in these foods can ferment away some...

Compared with men who rarely ate eggs, men who ate even less than a single egg a day appeared to have twice the risk of prostate cancer progression, such as metastasizing into the bones.

The only thing potentially worse for prostate cancer than eggs was poultry: Men with more aggressive cancer who regularly ate chicken and turkey had up to four times the risk of prostate cancer progression.

what cancer-promoting substance is there in eggs?

The answer may be choline,

Men who consume two and a half or more eggs per week—basically an egg every three days—may have an 81 percent increased risk of dying from

prostate cancer.

The choline in eggs, like the carnitine in red meat, is converted into a toxin called trimethylamine

by

bacteria that exist in the guts of those who eat meat.41 And trimethylamine, once oxidized in the liver, appears to increase the risk of heart attack, stroke, and premature death.42

The blood of those eating the standard American diet does fight cancer—if it didn’t, many of us would be dead!—but the blood of people eating plant-based diets was shown to fight cancer about eight times better.46

Even if you’re a french fry–eating couch potato, your blood may still be able to kill off 1–2 percent of cancer cells. But the blood of those who exercised strenuously every weekday for fifteen years killed 2,000 percent more cancer cells than the control groups’.

but the blood of those in the plant-based diet-and-exercise group wiped out an astounding 4,000 percent more cancer cells than that of the first group.

the cancer kept growing, but even a part-time plant-based diet appeared to be able to significantly slow down their tumors’ expansion.

a full-time plant-based diet allowed for an apparent reversal in cancer growth:

eggs and poultry may be the worst offenders:

if you were to add only one thing to your diet, consider cruciferous vegetables.

an increase in animal protein consumption of just 3 percent was associated with a 15 percent increased risk of bladder cancer. On the other hand, an increase in plant protein intake of only 2 percent was associated with a 23 percent decreased cancer risk.64

the soy common in many Asian diets, which contains protective phytoestrogens called isoflavones.

the other major class of phytoestrogens is lignans, found throughout the plant kingdom but especially concentrated in flaxseeds.