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tani 's review for:
I was recommended this book by my NP. It's a good book to "inspire lifestyle change," she told me. Despite being relatively young and otherwise healthy, I persistently have issues with my cholesterol, especially the triglycerides, and so every year, I'm told I need to reduce my processed foods, eat less junk food, etc, as well as exercising more. It's advice I always kind of resent because I've been trying to do all of those very things for years. I've tried to include more plant-based foods, reduce meat and processed foods, and increase my exercise. I think I've done better than the average American at the food portion of that, actually. But my numbers don't move. I'm not overweight, everything else comes back normal, so you can imagine this is kind of a frustrating topic for me. But I thought, sure. I like the topic of nutrition. I can read this book. Maybe it will help me do even better, because I do know there's always room for improvement. Which leads into my experience reading this.
The first part of this book takes a bunch of common diseases and causes of death, and breaks down what we can do, nutritionally, to avoid them. I have to admit, this approach got my hackles up a bit. I felt a bit personally attacked, because apparently the answer to all of these things is just to eat lots of fruits, veggies, and whole foods, and not eat processed foods, meat, or other animal products.
I think, for me, that this was a problem with presentation. The focus on disease and illness felt like a scare tactic, but also, it felt completely unproductive to me. I think we all know, to some extent, that the answer to many health problems is to eat better. I will admit, I didn't know the extent to which this was the case, but I knew the broad strokes of it. So having all of this information thrown at me felt very hostile, and I responded by getting kind of angry and frustrated, because it's easy to say that you need to eat better, and a hella hard to actually do so.
So yeah, I had a fairly intense emotional reaction to this section of the book, and I found it really hard to make myself read. It's not really the fault of the book, but more my own frustration with the reality of eating in our world. If you have a specific disease or issue you're worried about, this section might actually be great for you! You can learn what we believe are some of the big contributors to the disease, as well as which specific foods have been shown to help prevent and even fight it. In that respect, it's sincerely great. It just wasn't an ideal presentation style for me.
I also want to mention that despite the information presented here, I don't really have any interest in becoming vegan. Dr. Greger seems to present it as a risk-free way to become more healthy and live longer, but I do have some issues with that. I would agree that Americans eat too much meat. Our serving sizes are too big, and we eat it too often. I've already taken steps in my diet to incorporate a larger variety to protein options, such as tofu, beans, and other meat substitutes. However, I also know that becoming vegan does present risks, such as not getting enough protein or iron, that can cause people to become ill. I do believe that we are omnivores, and we're meant to be that way. If you're strongly moved to become vegan after reading this book, that's wonderful, but I'd recommend seeing a nutritionist, so you can more fully understand how you can compensate for that lack in your diet. It is possible to get the nutrition you need without meat, but it requires knowledge and planning. This book can't give you enough of that.
However, reading this did raise some serious concerns about my meat sourcing for me. I already had some ethical squirming about my continued meat consumption, knowing that the animals which we eat do not lead pleasant lives. That is part of why we have reduced our meat intake. But there were some issues that I was not aware of that were brought up here. The one that sticks out in my mind the most is the injection of saline into chicken in order to increase the weight of the meat. I had no idea that was a thing, and it brings my salt consumption hugely into question. I thought I did pretty okay, not adding large quantities of salt to my food, but I was also assuming that my chicken was basically sodium-free. This, along with other tidbits, really made me question how I can obtain meat that isn't automatically bad for me. I'm still not sure how to address that, to be honest. I've considered forking over the extra cash for an actual butcher or meat from a farmer's market, but I'm still not sure if I will actually be avoiding these issues. Food for thought, I guess.
I liked the second section of the book much better. This actually outlines Dr. Greger's specific daily nutritional recommendations. He goes through the 12 groups that he believes are indispensable, and recommends an amount of each group to ingest daily. Some groups he goes over are leafy greens, fruits, whole grains, veggies, etc. He even occasionally throws in a recipe or two of something he actually eats. I found this far more useful, as it gave me practical information on what I should be doing. (I will admit though, I am not sure how I am meant to eat the quantity of food that he lists here. Seriously, how much food does everyone else eat? Because I really don't think I eat much more than 4 cups of a food a day, tops. Maybe I'm just underestimating the quantity of food that I put in my mouth...)
I definitely felt like I had some good takeaways from this section. The biggest one, I think, was the message that it's okay to eat a so-called red-light food, as long as it's aiding you in eating more of a green-light food. Everyone is different, and you need to figure out what will help you stick to a better diet. If that means you need a condiment that you know is terrible for you, go for it!
Other things I learned:
- Organic is not necessarily better. Organic doesn't mean that there's no contamination, and if the price hike isn't something you can afford, that's okay. The good stuff that you're eating should actually counteract that contamination to a large extent anyway. Also, saltwater is the most effective fruit & veggie wash.
- If you have a choice between a darker fruit or veggie and a lighter one, choose the darker. Darker colors = more antioxidants.
- Sugar in fruit is not a big deal. The additional fiber and other good stuff you get from eating a whole fruit helps you smoothly digest that sugar so that your blood sugar stays nice and level, and your weight isn't affected.
- Smoothies are better than juicing. Juicing removes the aforementioned fiber, making the product far less nutritionally complete.
- Turmeric is a god among spices, and you should add it to your daily intake, for sure.
- Flaxseeds are also amazing, and should be another easy addition to your diet.
- Supplements are not the answer. Something about isolating a specific component pretty much negates the positive effect. Sticking to the whole food is the best (potentially only) way to get the desired effect.
- To determine if your whole grain bread is worth it, look at the carbs to fiber ratio. Take the total carbs per serving, and divide them by the grams of fiber. If the result is 5 or lower, you're good. If it's higher, then you need to find a new bread to get the effect you're looking for. (My bread, not surprisingly, did not pass this test. However, neither did my housemates', even though it looks like it should. I'm going to have to spend some time in the bread aisle the next time I grocery shop.)
- Dr. Greger doesn't really mention it, but I have to acknowledge that doing better with food is going to require more money. Yes, there are some hacks like going to Asian grocery stores for bulk spices, and buying frozen instead of fresh, but it's still going to take some money. What doesn't, I guess? I'm lucky enough at this point that I can afford to take that hit, but there have definitely been times when I wouldn't have been able to. Yet more proof that America is broken when it comes to healthcare.
Anyway, definitely a recommended read for anyone interested in a healthier lifestyle and preventing disease through nutrition. As with all things, do take it with a grain of salt. We all have our biases, and Dr. Greger is no different. He uses the 'what could go wrong?" argument a bit more than I'm truly comfortable with, but I can't really argue that eating more whole foods certainly seems less risky than the highly processed alternative.
The first part of this book takes a bunch of common diseases and causes of death, and breaks down what we can do, nutritionally, to avoid them. I have to admit, this approach got my hackles up a bit. I felt a bit personally attacked, because apparently the answer to all of these things is just to eat lots of fruits, veggies, and whole foods, and not eat processed foods, meat, or other animal products.
I think, for me, that this was a problem with presentation. The focus on disease and illness felt like a scare tactic, but also, it felt completely unproductive to me. I think we all know, to some extent, that the answer to many health problems is to eat better. I will admit, I didn't know the extent to which this was the case, but I knew the broad strokes of it. So having all of this information thrown at me felt very hostile, and I responded by getting kind of angry and frustrated, because it's easy to say that you need to eat better, and a hella hard to actually do so.
So yeah, I had a fairly intense emotional reaction to this section of the book, and I found it really hard to make myself read. It's not really the fault of the book, but more my own frustration with the reality of eating in our world. If you have a specific disease or issue you're worried about, this section might actually be great for you! You can learn what we believe are some of the big contributors to the disease, as well as which specific foods have been shown to help prevent and even fight it. In that respect, it's sincerely great. It just wasn't an ideal presentation style for me.
I also want to mention that despite the information presented here, I don't really have any interest in becoming vegan. Dr. Greger seems to present it as a risk-free way to become more healthy and live longer, but I do have some issues with that. I would agree that Americans eat too much meat. Our serving sizes are too big, and we eat it too often. I've already taken steps in my diet to incorporate a larger variety to protein options, such as tofu, beans, and other meat substitutes. However, I also know that becoming vegan does present risks, such as not getting enough protein or iron, that can cause people to become ill. I do believe that we are omnivores, and we're meant to be that way. If you're strongly moved to become vegan after reading this book, that's wonderful, but I'd recommend seeing a nutritionist, so you can more fully understand how you can compensate for that lack in your diet. It is possible to get the nutrition you need without meat, but it requires knowledge and planning. This book can't give you enough of that.
However, reading this did raise some serious concerns about my meat sourcing for me. I already had some ethical squirming about my continued meat consumption, knowing that the animals which we eat do not lead pleasant lives. That is part of why we have reduced our meat intake. But there were some issues that I was not aware of that were brought up here. The one that sticks out in my mind the most is the injection of saline into chicken in order to increase the weight of the meat. I had no idea that was a thing, and it brings my salt consumption hugely into question. I thought I did pretty okay, not adding large quantities of salt to my food, but I was also assuming that my chicken was basically sodium-free. This, along with other tidbits, really made me question how I can obtain meat that isn't automatically bad for me. I'm still not sure how to address that, to be honest. I've considered forking over the extra cash for an actual butcher or meat from a farmer's market, but I'm still not sure if I will actually be avoiding these issues. Food for thought, I guess.
I liked the second section of the book much better. This actually outlines Dr. Greger's specific daily nutritional recommendations. He goes through the 12 groups that he believes are indispensable, and recommends an amount of each group to ingest daily. Some groups he goes over are leafy greens, fruits, whole grains, veggies, etc. He even occasionally throws in a recipe or two of something he actually eats. I found this far more useful, as it gave me practical information on what I should be doing. (I will admit though, I am not sure how I am meant to eat the quantity of food that he lists here. Seriously, how much food does everyone else eat? Because I really don't think I eat much more than 4 cups of a food a day, tops. Maybe I'm just underestimating the quantity of food that I put in my mouth...)
I definitely felt like I had some good takeaways from this section. The biggest one, I think, was the message that it's okay to eat a so-called red-light food, as long as it's aiding you in eating more of a green-light food. Everyone is different, and you need to figure out what will help you stick to a better diet. If that means you need a condiment that you know is terrible for you, go for it!
Other things I learned:
- Organic is not necessarily better. Organic doesn't mean that there's no contamination, and if the price hike isn't something you can afford, that's okay. The good stuff that you're eating should actually counteract that contamination to a large extent anyway. Also, saltwater is the most effective fruit & veggie wash.
- If you have a choice between a darker fruit or veggie and a lighter one, choose the darker. Darker colors = more antioxidants.
- Sugar in fruit is not a big deal. The additional fiber and other good stuff you get from eating a whole fruit helps you smoothly digest that sugar so that your blood sugar stays nice and level, and your weight isn't affected.
- Smoothies are better than juicing. Juicing removes the aforementioned fiber, making the product far less nutritionally complete.
- Turmeric is a god among spices, and you should add it to your daily intake, for sure.
- Flaxseeds are also amazing, and should be another easy addition to your diet.
- Supplements are not the answer. Something about isolating a specific component pretty much negates the positive effect. Sticking to the whole food is the best (potentially only) way to get the desired effect.
- To determine if your whole grain bread is worth it, look at the carbs to fiber ratio. Take the total carbs per serving, and divide them by the grams of fiber. If the result is 5 or lower, you're good. If it's higher, then you need to find a new bread to get the effect you're looking for. (My bread, not surprisingly, did not pass this test. However, neither did my housemates', even though it looks like it should. I'm going to have to spend some time in the bread aisle the next time I grocery shop.)
- Dr. Greger doesn't really mention it, but I have to acknowledge that doing better with food is going to require more money. Yes, there are some hacks like going to Asian grocery stores for bulk spices, and buying frozen instead of fresh, but it's still going to take some money. What doesn't, I guess? I'm lucky enough at this point that I can afford to take that hit, but there have definitely been times when I wouldn't have been able to. Yet more proof that America is broken when it comes to healthcare.
Anyway, definitely a recommended read for anyone interested in a healthier lifestyle and preventing disease through nutrition. As with all things, do take it with a grain of salt. We all have our biases, and Dr. Greger is no different. He uses the 'what could go wrong?" argument a bit more than I'm truly comfortable with, but I can't really argue that eating more whole foods certainly seems less risky than the highly processed alternative.