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

by Michael Greger

Within just those few weeks, the flaxseed consumption appeared to have lowered their cancer-cell proliferation rates, while at the same time increasing their rate of cancer-cell clearance.69 Even better, flaxseeds may also be able to prevent prostate cancer from advancing to that stage in the first place.

flaxseed is a safe, low-cost source of nutrition and may reduce tumor-proliferation rates.72 Why not give it a try?

grind the flaxseeds first if you don’t buy them preground—otherwise, the seeds may pass right through your body undigested.

as long as we continue to eat healthfully, prostate cell-growth rates will continue to go down and stay down.80

Research has found that flaxseeds can be used to treat BPH.

Is it possible to prevent BPH in the first place? Eating garlic and onions has been associated with significantly lower risk of BPH.

In general, cooked vegetables may work better than raw ones, and legumes—beans, chickpeas, split peas, and lentils—have also been associated with lower risk.83

As you age, your risk of developing and dying from cancer grows every year—until you hit eighty-five or ninety, when, interestingly, your cancer risk begins to drop.85

It may have to do with a cancer-promoting growth hormone called insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1).86

Each year, you are reborn. You create and destroy nearly your entire body weight in new cells every year. Every day, about fifty billion of your cells die, and about fifty billion new cells are

born to keep you in...

The release of IGF-1 appears to be triggered by the consumption of animal protein.

By reducing animal protein intake, we reduce our levels of IGF-1.

After just eleven days of cutting back on animal protein, your IGF-1 levels can drop by 20 percent, and your levels of IGF-1 binding protein can jump by 50 percent.

A prostate-healthy diet is a breast-healthy diet is a heart-healthy diet is a body-healthy diet.

The number-one food source of arsenic was poultry among preschoolers and, for their parents, tuna.15 The top source for lead? Dairy. For mercury? Seafood.16

Today, most DDT comes from meat, particularly fish.

the highest PCB contamination was found in fish and fish oil, followed by eggs, dairy, and then other meats.

The lowest contamination was found at the bottom of the food chain, in plants.20

Hexachlorobenzene, another pesticide banned nearly a half century ago, today may be found mainly in dairy and meat, including fish.21 Perfluorochemicals, or PFCs? Overwhelmingly found in fish and other meats.22 As for dioxins, in the United States, the most concent...

within a year of stopping fish consumption, the body can detox nearly 99 percent of it.

the half-lives for certain dioxins, PCBs, and DDT by-products found in fish are as long as ten years.26 So to get that same 99 percent drop, it could take more than a century—a long time to delay having your first child.

a plant-based diet could wipe out about 98 percent of your dioxin intake.40

Even simply growing up in a home where your parents smoked appears protective when it comes to developing Parkinson’s.

smoking is a significant risk factor for

The neuroprotective agent in tobacco appears to be nicotine.

Tobacco is part of the nightshade family, the group of plants that includes tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, and peppers.

might eating lots of nightshade vegetables protect you from Parkinson’s after all?

Eating nicotine-rich vegetables, especially peppers, was associated with significantly lower risk of Parkinson’s disease.58

the higher certain PCB concentrations, the higher the degree of damage found specifically in the brain region thought to be responsible for the disease, called the substantia nigra.62

You can continue to be exposed to them through the consumption of contaminated animal products in your diet, including dairy.

people who eat dairy-free, plant-based diets were found to have significantly lower blood levels of the PCBs implicated in the development of Parkinson’s disease.

Parkinson’s risk may increase 17 percent for every daily cup of milk consumed.

neurotoxic chemicals like tetrahydroisoquinoline, a compound used to induce parkinsonism in primates in laboratory studies,67 appears to be found predominantly in cheese.

Those with an inability to detoxify the galactose in milk not only suffer damage to their bones but also to their brains.

higher consumption of dairy products appears to double the risk of earlier-onset Huntington’s.

milk consumption lowers blood levels of uric acid, an important brain antioxidant79 shown to protect nerve cells against the oxidative stress caused by pesticides.80

Too much uric acid, however, can crystallize in your joints and cause a painful disease called gout, so uric acid can be thought of as a double-edged sword.84 Too much uric acid is also associated with heart disease and kidney disease; too little, with Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, and stroke.

Those on dairy-free, plant-based diets appear to hit the sweet spot86 in terms of most optimal uric acid levels for longevity.87

Milk may not do a body good, at least when it comes to your bones and brain.

Researchers have “found that vegans were significantly less polluted than omnivores” when measuring levels of organochlorines in their blood, including a variety of PCBs and one of Monsanto’s long-banned Aroclor compounds.

This finding is consistent with studies showing higher levels of organochlorine pesticides in the body fat89 and breast milk90 of those who eat meat.

People eating completely plant-based diets have also been found to have markedly lower levels of dioxins in their bodies91 as well as decreased contamination with PBDEs,92 the flame-retardant chemical pollutants also linked to neurological problems.

The highest levels of flame retardants in the U.S. food supply have been found in fish, though the primary source of intake for most Americans is poultry, followed by processed meat.94

This discovery helps explain the significantly lower levels of PBDEs in the bodies of those eating meat-free diets.95 It appears that the more plant-based foods you eat and the longer you go without eating animal products,

the lower your lev...

Eating healthier can also reduce the concentrations of heavy metals in your body. The levels of mercury in the hair of those eating plant-based diets were found to be up to ten times lower than of those who ate fish.

Within three months of switching to a plant-based diet, the levels of mercury, lead, and cadmium growing out in your hair appear to drop significantly (but build back up when meat and eggs are added back into the diet).

some organochlorine pollutants can stick around for decades.100 Any DDT in your KFC may stay with you for the rest of your life.

bowel-movement frequency may even be predictive of Parkinson’s. Men with less than daily bowel movements,