How Not To Die~

[[deleted user]]

I have been wanting to read How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger. It feels like an important book with a great deal of information. I hope to learn a great deal from it.


Cheers to good health and great reading!

[Karen]

I have this book on my tbr. so many things to read.

[Andy]

Unfortunately, much of the "science" in this book is rubbish. The one-star reviews on Goodreads point out numerous flaws.

[[deleted user]]

Karen wrote: "I have this book on my tbr. so many things to read."

Good Morning, Karen 😊

I know exactly what you mean!
So many books, so little time

You have a fantastic day, today!

[[deleted user]]

Andy wrote: "Unfortunately, much of the "science" in this book is rubbish. The one-star reviews on Goodreads point out numerous flaws."

Good Morning, Andy 😊

I did as you recommended and pulled up the one star ratings to include your own. Fantastic review and I hope you might consider posting it here as well. Most reviews for this book are in fact very good which is exactly why I have been curious. But will honestly say the day I seen it at the bookstore upon release, the title itself gave me bad vibes.
Thank you for the flag~
I noticed you had listed a few other books in relation, would you better recommend them as opposed to this one?

[Andy]

Good morning. 😀
Thanks. Here is the link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yes. I would recommend one of the other books depending what you are looking for. What to Eat is by a serious nutrition expert and is pro-veggies overall, but is not quite a page-turner. Counterintuitive sensationalistic claims are more interesting to read because they are often shambolic nonsense.

Bee Wilson has several books on food that I think are beautifully written. The Way We Eat Now is an interesting take on what's wrong with Big Food and what to do.

Good Calories, Bad Calories: Challenging the Conventional Wisdom on Diet, Weight Control, and Disease is a fascinating detailed exploration of the history and science of what's wrong with standard "low-fat" advice. Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It is the short and simple version.

[[deleted user]]

Andy wrote: "Good morning. 😀
Thanks. Here is the link to my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Yes. I would recommend one of the other books depending what you are looking for. [book:What..."

Andy! Thank you, so very much! 😊

I, very briefly looked at each of your recommendations, and will spend some time this morning diving into each as potential replacements for this one. I can not thank you enough. My time is precious and the way I spend it is very important to me.

My personal interests are actually, the gut-brain axis.
Something I think is universally acknowledged is poor diet being linked to nearly every chronic disease you can think of. A healthy gut allows for better communication between the digestive tract and the brain there by the better absorbtion of the nutrients. Healthy gut, healthy mind, healthy body!
Sounds easy enough but sorting through the massive amounts of information, fads, and the ever changing guidance on what is bad for you this week can be daunting and exhausting.

Again, thank you so much for your time, your thoughts, and your recommendations!
Have a Wonderful Day, Andy!
Thank you 😊

[Mickey]

I doubt I will purchase this book, however I have seen this book and the How not to Die cookbooks on the bestseller list for years. So many different diets clamming to improve one’s health and I take all of them with plenty of salt.

Even the one I am reading now Glucose Revolution: The Life-Changing Power of Balancing Your Blood Sugar is very interesting, still I have my doubts about it. I am not a diabetic, but I have low sugar (hypoglycemia) from having a pituitary tumor when I was younger. So I am reading this book to see if there might be some hope of minimizing my sugar imbalance.

Yea, I also have digestive issues with heartburn and my liver doesn’t produce enough digestive enzymes to break down foods that well. I have read books on heartburn like the The Complete Low-FODMAP Diet: A Revolutionary Recipe Plan to Relieve Gut Pain and Alleviate IBS and Other Digestive Disorders. I admit this this book diet did help much of digestive issues, but the diet was too restrictive for maintaining overtime. So I take prescription heartburn medication, works great.

For years I went gluten free because every time I ate bread my skin would break out. The How Can It Be Gluten Free Cookbook: Revolutionary Techniques. Groundbreaking Recipes. and others like it. Helped some, but not enough.

I also had high blood pressure and read books like Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure, did nothing for me.

I like tea, but never had cancer, still I found this book interesting, not sure if it applies to many people Cancer Hates Tea: A Unique Preventive and Transformative Lifestyle Change to Help Crush Cancer.

Then I found my true health problem and it was genetic hemochromatosis, this genetic disorder destroyed my liver, pituitary and pancreas. A genetic disorder that absorbs more iron than my body needs. My high blood pressure was because I make too much blood from excess iron that causes High Hemoglobin levels. My skin rashes was not from gluten but from the iron enriched flour. Excess iron destroyed my liver for the reason for my digestive issues. Iron also damaged my pituitary that helps regulate glucose levels. My dietary bible is now The Iron Disorders Institute Guide to Hemochromatosis and Hemochromatosis Cookbook: Recipes and Meals for Reducing the Absorption of Iron in Your Diet. It’s a diet for people like me and no one else.

Since I do have liver problems I found this book interesting Skinny Liver: A Proven Program to Prevent and Reverse the New Silent Epidemic—Fatty Liver Disease. On fatty liver problems and solutions… hint Mediterranean Diet.

I often wonder, it may not always be ones diet that causes many of the chronic health problems of today. I do believe genetics also plays a part in good health. Also it might not be the food, but the air we breathe and toxins that might be in the water, like micro plastics. I do not know.

A diet that may be good for one person, may or may not be for someone else. I know some people that never eats vegetables and are they are in their nineties and doing well for their age. Me I need my vegetables and red meat is something I could live without.

If you are not feeling well, keep looking, keep trying until something works.

[[deleted user]]

Mickey wrote: "I doubt I will purchase this book, however I have seen this book and the How not to Die cookbooks on the bestseller list for years. So many different diets clamming to improve one’s health and I ta..."

Good Morning, Mickey! 😊

Thank you for this post, so much wonderful information, my sincere thanks for sharing. I do appreciate you sharing your health journey, and will not pretend to know the struggles you have had along your path. I believe I can relate soemwaht as I have health difficulties as well. I understand all to well the limitations of having restrictive dietary needs, which can manifest in the physical and emotional.
While there are many that can respond to medication, there are just as many who do not, I fall in the latter category. I recognize that there are advancements and evovling treatments for my particular issue, but my history shows that pharmacology is not for me.

Because of this I have embraced diet, exercise, purified water, and freah air, they have been my solution. I am not going to tell you everything is fine now. I bask in the warmth and comfort of those good days, and batton down the hatches on those not so good days.

We need both sunshine and rain to make a rainbow.

Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease: The Revolutionary, Scientifically Proven, Nutrition-Based Cure, I actually looked at this one the other day and did take a pass on it, thank you for sharing.

Our environment shapes who we are, and in my experience, this is true when we look at diets, exercise, water and the air we breathe. The impacts of the past cannot be undone, but I feel it is up to me to change those impacts for me and those around me.

From my view, diet is the biggest step a person can take. We must understand that it is different for everyone and each person's journey will be unique. No two peopke will consume the exact same carrot or the exact same egg, and no two people will have the same response to a diet. It is the individualistic approach to diet and knowing that each person's journey will be different and unique.

It is my belief that if we can move away from the one solution for all approach and start embracing the individual needs and recognizing what works for you may not work for me, and that is alright, we will be better off. When we start recognizing diet is an individual responsibilty, not an after thought we will be on our way to the whole body wellness. I believe that not until you have cultivated a proper "diet" for the body and mind, will we truly understand and celebrate ourselves.

It is so good to hear from you, Mickey! ☺
Have a Wonderful day and again, Thank you!

[Mickey]

I agree that our diets are probably the most important part of life. We can adjust our diets to meet our individual needs as time goes by. When I was younger I could probably get away with eating anything. As I get older my digestive system changes and I have to adjust my diet to accommodate old age and genetic makeup.

In my unprofessional opinion, the biggest problem I believe in this day and age, people have forgotten how to cook. They have gotten so used to consuming processed foods and eating out frequently because of our busy schedules. When I was in middle school and high school cooking classes was mandatory as was gym class. I think very few schools these days teach kids how to cook. Why learn to cook when most people can microwave a tv dinner in a plastic container (I believe this is how most people end up with micro plastics into their system, I always use glass containers when microwaving any food).

It’s just my opinion and I have been wrong many times.