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4.39 AVERAGE
4.39 AVERAGE
Solid science based book on nutrition. TLDR: Plant based whole food diet is elite. Might have to make some big lifestyle changes
informative
fast-paced
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Great book for understanding how exactly meat, eggs, dairy, sugar, and processed foods are killing people. If you don’t feel like reading it: go vegan and reduce the chances you die from nearly all leading forms of cancer/disease (think heart disease, liver failure, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, etc). I’ve modified my diet to about 90% vegan since finishing, only eating chicken breast twice a week on days I go for a long row.
The sheer volume of research that went into this book is staggering and admirable. Practicing evidence-based medicine is so important, and this book delivers pounds of valuable evidence-based conclusions but doesn't ignore the caveats. I love the traffic-light approach to diet; it acknowledges that the perfect can be the enemy of the good, and that red-light foods may be incorporated in small amounts if they boost consumption of green-light foods. This book also includes tons of practical tips to incorporate more green-light foods into your everyday life. My one nitpicky complaint about this book is that it sometimes fails to emphasize that the conclusions backed only by case reports cannot be very definitive. Overall, however, this is a must-read for anyone interested in nutrition (which should be everyone)!
I have gone through a string of science-based non-fiction books that have significantly opened my mind to the reality of "mass market" science knowledge and how disconnected it was from the latest research. I got to "How Not to Die" after reading Carl Zimmer's "She Has Her Mother's Laugh." There was a holy shit moment for me in that book when I realized how little genetics mattered to health outcomes relative to diet and environment. I immediately looked for a dietary health book as a follow up and chose this book due to the focus on scientific evidence. My mind was blown again even though the overall quality of this book is lower. This book does do a good job of cutting through the noise in diets, foods and contrasting studies to get to the science at the heart of the matter.
While a lot of the takeaways from the book can seem like common sense, the why and how behind the science really matter for making healthy choices, weighing risks and interpreting future information. The reality is much more nuanced than pure common sense and there is a lot of conflicting evidence. This book is extremely helpful in establishing an evidence-based null hypothesis to test in evaluating research and coming to independent conclusions.
This book is not perfect however and has some pretty significant flaws. Readers deserve to know the larger takeaways from major studies featured in the book. The conclusions from the EPIC and NIH AARP studies featured repeatedly in the book along with similar studies like the Nurses' Health
and Health Professionals are contradict the book in many ways which deserves more coverage and discussion. It is hard to provide a blanket recommendation for this book without that. I also wonder about the embedded effects of larger environmental factors on those studies. If you read this book I bet you'd be surprised to hear that incidence of hearth disease has declined significantly over time in the US. There are also questions of significant short-term increases in obesity recently not yet covered by existing research and what impacts that will have in the future.
I could have done without the entire 150 pages of part 2 of the book and would personally recommend skipping it. The section is largely worthless to me without a single mention or consideration for FODMAPs. I wish it had been cut down to 10-20 pages. The omission of B12 guidance in the main text is also a big deal. It is mentioned in the appendix but that section was not included in the audio book. That omission is dangerous and should be corrected immediately.
I have started out on my own vegan journey and I have this book to partially thank for that (I was just vegetarian before starting it). I don't think I will come back to this book though. I will do my own independent research in the future. I suspect that the diet I end up with will not match the recommendations in this book or on the author's web site. I am still however better off starting here than where I was and I am definitely more knowledgeable today.
While a lot of the takeaways from the book can seem like common sense, the why and how behind the science really matter for making healthy choices, weighing risks and interpreting future information. The reality is much more nuanced than pure common sense and there is a lot of conflicting evidence. This book is extremely helpful in establishing an evidence-based null hypothesis to test in evaluating research and coming to independent conclusions.
This book is not perfect however and has some pretty significant flaws. Readers deserve to know the larger takeaways from major studies featured in the book. The conclusions from the EPIC and NIH AARP studies featured repeatedly in the book along with similar studies like the Nurses' Health
and Health Professionals are contradict the book in many ways which deserves more coverage and discussion. It is hard to provide a blanket recommendation for this book without that. I also wonder about the embedded effects of larger environmental factors on those studies. If you read this book I bet you'd be surprised to hear that incidence of hearth disease has declined significantly over time in the US. There are also questions of significant short-term increases in obesity recently not yet covered by existing research and what impacts that will have in the future.
I could have done without the entire 150 pages of part 2 of the book and would personally recommend skipping it. The section is largely worthless to me without a single mention or consideration for FODMAPs. I wish it had been cut down to 10-20 pages. The omission of B12 guidance in the main text is also a big deal. It is mentioned in the appendix but that section was not included in the audio book. That omission is dangerous and should be corrected immediately.
I have started out on my own vegan journey and I have this book to partially thank for that (I was just vegetarian before starting it). I don't think I will come back to this book though. I will do my own independent research in the future. I suspect that the diet I end up with will not match the recommendations in this book or on the author's web site. I am still however better off starting here than where I was and I am definitely more knowledgeable today.
Excellent! Answered so many questions for me. Detailed and understandable. I have a clear understanding on how food can be my weapon to fight against and prevent many of the most prevalent diseases.
dr greger is the GOAT of plant-based propaganda. love the guy.
This book changed how I eat, and that’s the best review I can give it.
I want to give this book more than five stars!
In part one, we learn what to eat to prevent or reduce specific illnesses. There is an overarching trend, but there are a few foods that help one illness more than another.
Part two is about individual foods and their unique health benefits.
Overall, I learned a lot about nutrition. This research-based book is thoroughly documented. Michael Gregor’s writing style is engaging and humorous. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in keeping themselves (and their loved ones) as healthy as possible.
Live long and prosper!
In part one, we learn what to eat to prevent or reduce specific illnesses. There is an overarching trend, but there are a few foods that help one illness more than another.
Part two is about individual foods and their unique health benefits.
Overall, I learned a lot about nutrition. This research-based book is thoroughly documented. Michael Gregor’s writing style is engaging and humorous. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in keeping themselves (and their loved ones) as healthy as possible.
Live long and prosper!