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

I bought this book in January 2016, after hearing an interview with Dr. Greger on a podcast. At first I found it hard to read, but not because it difficult or confusing, but because it was changing everything I thought I knew about food. I had lost 45 lbs already by eating "healthier."

I stopped reading about 1/3 way through and then continued my "healthy lifestyle." This included lots of prepackaged "health" foods and shakes. Lots of sugar and oil too.

In March of 2016 I started to get a rash on my face. Psoriasis. I've never had it before but it quickly spread to other parts of my body. By May 2016 I was miserable with my rash and still sitting at 204 lbs, despite my healthy lifestyle and consuming 1500 calories a day.

I decided something must be going on in my body, why was it attacking itself? Why wouldn't my psoriasis clear up, despite the creams my doctor prescribed?
I went back and started the book "How Not to Die" again in late May 2016. By Mid June I had fully adopted his diet and now in September 2016 I will never look back. I'm down 30 more lbs, my skin is finally clearing up, and I have so much energy!
This book has changed my life and my only wish is it cost less so I could buy a copy for all of my friends!

Update: 7/2017
I've been eating this way for a year now and I could never go back. I'm 36 and feel better than I ever did in my 20's. I'm down over 50lbs in a year- see update pic below!

How Not to Die is a fantastic read and reference book. Fans of Dr Greger's popular website, nutritionfacts.org, will not be disappointed. Having worked with him closely for the last 4 years, I will assure you his search for as he calls it, an evidence-based diet, trumps any ideology labels that might be tossed his way. Make no mistake about it, he is an advocate of increasing whole plant food in the diet, but he's in no way blinded by it. On more than one occasion we've exchanged new journal articles only to step back and question - do we believe this because it is true or because it is a beautiful story? He is driven to seek out the evidence no matter where that answer might lead.

The book is stuffed with references (148 pages!) for the person that wants to dig deeper, but in a style that has become uniquely his, Dr Greger uses quoted language from the papers to give an unitimidating explanation of the science contained within. He has a knack for picking out key sentences and graphs that strike at the very heart of the journal article relavence. He stands almost alone in a mass media that can't seem to get past the catchy titles, abstracts, and carefully worded, often misleading conclusions. HNTD is not an academic tome or textbook. Not only does it read with ease it is pushed along with his witty examples.

The first 15 chapters (how not to die from..cancers, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, etc..) are arranged based on easy to recognize conditions and though they are related can be read completely independent from one another. The reader will get a more complete picture from the often conflicting issues of business, government and food marketing, but it's presented in a language that is anything but activist. Within each chapter there are practical examples of how to get the benefits seen in the literature into your daily routine. The book doesn't follow a chronology, so I found myself flipping through an early review copy reading small sections at a time. I often was so caught up in the section that reading would continue past what I originally had searched.

I find it refreshing that he's not afraid to take on all the alternative cleanse, detox, blood type, etc... popular narratives that seem to come along with any alternative to traditional pharmacological/surgical/symptom mitigating popular approach. He doesn't give in to gluten or coconut oil just because it is popular or profitable and while some might find it frustrating, he sticks to the entire body of evidence not the latest single study. His appendix on supplements is completely on point. There is no evolutionary perfect diet and if one chooses to limit certain elements, like animal products, there are necessary steps that should be taken to avoid issues down the road.

Finally, his "Daily Dozen" is a great place to begin implementing the message of bountiful health he enjoys teaching to anyone that will listen. These chapters begin with a summary box (exercise, nuts and seeds, herbs and spices, berries, etc..) of exactly what to do and how often. These are daily habits that can get one moving in the right direction. Diet is habit not genetic and his simple steps aret a great way to make new habits stick. There are a couple of good recipes (the back of the book isn't cooking - it's science references). I made Eight Check Mark Pesto when first flipping through the book. I liked his version of Dr Klaper's caesar.

I am 6 years into this life experiment and I've never felt better. The standard western diet and the cyclic fad repackaging of the last century's food of affluence dominates most discussion, funded research, restaurants, and food advertising. There's more money spent than ever on wellness and yet we've never been more overweight or sick. Those contradictory facts don't lie. In spite of all the economic momentum for more profitable and popular food, each year hundreds of articles surface on the benefits of adding more plant-based nutrition to one's diet for health and Dr Michael Greger seems to find them all. For that we should all be grateful. You won't be disappointed in this book. Everyone will learn something.

As I lay on the hard, cold operating table, waiting for the anesthetic to kick in for my colonoscopy (not routine but for symptoms, which I won't bore you with) it hit me...with all the testing, anesthesiologist, doctor appointments, etc,, this colonoscopy will cost the same as a cruise! For the same price that would get me a week in the Caribbean sun, lying on deck of a cruise ship drinking margaritas, listening to reggae music and watching the waves go by, I was going to get a lighted probe stuck up my butt. (I'm self employed, huge deductible, so all medical care is essentially out of my own pocket). It was too late to bolt and run for the sea...I was stuck. But I pledged right then to take better care of my health, which would not only (hopefully) free me from an early grave, but would free my wallet from the death- grip of a hospital billing department.
...Enter Dr. Greger. I've been listening to his website for awhile, and looked forward to the book, which did not disappoint. This book is spectacular. Very well and thoroughly researched, it touches upon the most dreaded diseases and causes of death (at least one will shock you!) and discusses how to avoid or defeat each in detail. While there are some recommendations specific to each disease, the discussion of each disease goes full circle to one strong conclusion that is at the heart of this book - a whole foods, plant based diet is the plan humans were designed to follow. The closer we stick to that, the healthier we become, and the more our bodies revert to their natural state of robust health rather than the sickly, wimpy physiques resulting from the Standard American Diet (SAD). Our bodies were meant to be healthy, and this diet seems almost magical in its ability to cure sickness and restore us to our rightful state of long, healthy lives.
The books' greatest strength is the thorough and objective research combined with Dr. Greger's ability to break complex and extensive information down into a language that even those of us artsy types who tried to dodge science in school can understand. And he spices it up with delightful humor.
By the end of the book you will be amazed and actually excited to reach for the salad, whole grains, fruits, beans, nuts, seeds, and then watch nature work her magic.

Excellent, good research plus practical everyday "how to" section to eat properly, inexpensively, and easily