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

by Michael Greger

it’s pretty easy to make your own flax crackers. Mix two cups of ground flaxseeds with a cup of water, add whatever herbs and spices you want, and then spread the dough thinly on a parchment- or silicone-lined baking sheet. Score the dough into thirty-two crackers and bake at 400°F for about twenty minutes. To flavor mine, I use a half teaspoon each of smoked paprika,

garlic powder, and onion powder,

cut

into thirty-two pieces, each cracker meets your Daily Dozen s...

Dip your flax crackers in hummus or another bean dip for double check marks.

Toss a tablespoon of ground flax into a blender with some frozen berries, unsweetened soy milk, and half a ripe banana or mango or a few dates for sweetness, and you have a delicious drink containing

both classes of protective phytoestrogens—lignans in flax and isoflavones in soy.

Blend in some cocoa powder for a chocolate milkshake that could help improve your chances of both preventing and surv...

green-light thickener to replace...

You can even use ground flaxseeds to replace eggs in baking. For each egg in the recipe, whisk one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds with three tablespoons of water until the mixture becomes gooey.

“flax eggs” are not only cholesterol-free but they’re also packed with soluble fiber to bring your cholesterol down11 instead of up.

¼ cup nuts or seeds 2 tablespoons nut or seed butter Daily Recommendation: 1 serving per day

why not make your life longer by an extra two years? That’s about how long your life span may be increased by eating nuts regularly—one handful (or about a quarter of a cup) five or more days a week.1

The Global Burden of Disease Study calculated that not eating enough nuts and seeds was the third-leading dietary risk factor for death and disability in the world, killing more people than processed meat consumption.

Insufficient nut and seed intake is thought to lead to the deaths of millions of people every year, fifteen times more than all those who die from overdoses of heroin, crack cocaine, and all

other illicit drugs ...

African peanut stew.

half cup of an unsweetened milk, one tablespoon of chia seeds, one tablespoon of cocoa, one teaspoon of almond butter, and sweetener to taste. (I use one tablespoon of erythritol, discussed here.) Mix all the ingredients, and heat until the almond butter melts and the sweetener dissolves. Pour into a bowl, whisk until smooth, and put it in the fridge to cool. The chia and fiber from the cocoa powder help it thicken into an indulgent delight. (You can grind up the chia seeds first, but I like the tapioca-like texture the

little chia balls form.)

Which nut is healthiest?

walnuts really do seem to take the lead. They have among the highest antioxidant3 and omega-34

levels, and they beat out other nuts in vitro in suppressing ...

people who eat nuts tend to live longer and suffer fewer deaths from cancer, heart disease, and respiratory disease.

there were no significant differences in their blood cholesterol levels or the subsequent number of heart attacks. However, the added-nuts group did end up having significantly fewer strokes.

just the minor tweak of adding nuts appeared to cut stroke risk in half.

eighty-nine

nine thousand strokes a year would be prevented in the United States alone.

those eating more nuts each day had a significantly lower risk of dying prematurely overall.

People who ate more than three servings of walnuts per week appeared to cut their risk of dying from cancer in half.

women at high risk for heart disease who ate nuts or a tablespoon of peanut butter five or more days a week appeared to nearly halve their risk of suffering a heart attack compared to women who ate a serving or less per week.

This cross-protection between true nuts and peanuts also appears to extend to fibrocystic breast disease.

there have been about twenty clinical trials on nuts and weight, and not a single one showed the weight gain you might expect.

nuts can make you feel fuller faster than some other foods.

70 percent of nut calories are lost through dietary compensation and 10 percent are flushed as fat in your feces.26 But what about the last 20 percent?

the ability of nuts to boost metabolism. When you eat nuts, you burn more of your own fat.

nuts can be a lifeline without expanding your waistline.

Erectile dysfunction and our number-one killer, coronary artery disease, are actually two manifestations of the same disease—inflamed, clogged, and crippled arteries—regardless of which organs are affected.29

A clinical study found that men who ate three to four handfuls of pistachios a day for three weeks experienced a significant improvement in blood flow through the penis, accompanied by significantly firmer erections. The researchers concluded that three weeks of pistachios “resulted in a significant improvement in erectile function …

without any side effects.”

Women with higher cholesterol levels report significantly lower arousal, orgasm, lubrication, and sexual satisfaction. Atherosclerosis of the pelvic arteries can lead to decreased vaginal engorgement and “clitoral erectile insufficiency syndrome,” defined as “failure to achieve clitoral tumescence [engorgement].” This is thought to be an important factor in female sexual dysfunction.42

eating just two handfuls of nuts weekly may extend a woman’s life as much as jogging four hours a week.43 So eating healthier may not only extend your love life but also your entire life.

¼ teaspoon of turmeric, along with any other (salt-free) herbs and spices you enjoy

many of the flavor compounds in herbs and spices are powerful antioxidants as well.

The flavors are the antioxidants.

Intense colors and intense flavors can be signs of intense benefit.

you should try to eat both colorful and flavorful foods.

curcumin can benefit a multitude of conditions with a dizzying array of mechanisms.

We have seen how curcumin may play a role in preventing or treating lung disease, brain disease, and a variety of cancers, including multiple myeloma, colon cancer, and pancreatic cancer. But curcumin has also been shown to help speed recovery after surgery6 and effectively treat rheumatoid arthritis better than the leading drug of choice.7 It also may be effective in treating osteoarthritis8 and other inflammatory conditions,

such as lupus9 and inflammatory bowel disease.10

A Quarter Teaspoon of Turmeric Every Day