What to Eat to Not Die or What's Better to Eat?
How not to die is a book that became a New York Times bestseller shortly after its release in 2015. The book contains 772 pages, of which 227 pages are a list of research papers. Dr. Greger's (the author's) grandmother was diagnosed with end-stage heart disease at age 65 and sent home to live out her final days, but thanks to a healthy diet and lifestyle, she enjoyed another thirty-one years of life. This motivated the author to research the relationship between nutrition and medicine throughout his years in the medical profession.
The book highlights the lack of nutritional training in medical schools and raises the question of why our deaths are so pre-programmed: high blood pressure at age 55, heart attack at age 60, cancer at age 70, etc. And why do the percentages of diseases differ among different ethnic groups globally?
The book provides scientific studies on leading chronic and fatal diseases such as heart, lung, brain, diabetes, hypertension, liver, and leukemia, and compares the effects of medication with the effects of certain vegetables. The book also cites studies on the benefits of vegetables, such as broccoli reducing the risk of lung cancer from smoking, kale significantly reducing bad cholesterol levels equivalent to running 300 miles, and the benefits of various vegetables for different types of cancer…
Medication or diet?
Do you want to eat crispy potato chips and then take lipid-lowering medication?
Long-term use of statins (which lower blood lipids) doubles the risk of invasive breast cancer in women, while a plant-based diet has been shown to lower cholesterol levels similarly to statins, with the added benefit of reducing the risk of cancer and diabetes, and protecting the liver and brain; sausages contain as much nitrosamine (and nitrosamide, a carcinogen similar to that in cigarettes) as four cigarettes; adding flaxseed to the diet may reduce tumor growth in breast cancer patients… many similar examples.
Or simply, if you have a sore leg, will you continue to hurt your leg and take painkillers, or will you stop hurting your leg? Medications can significantly reduce pain symptoms but do nothing to treat the underlying cause of the illness. Your body wants to heal if you give it a chance. But if you hurt yourself three times a day, you will disrupt the healing process.
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The thickness of research citations from the ruler downwards .png)
Personal Experience
As someone who has suffered from atopic dermatitis for many years, since switching to a plant-based diet, the atopic dermatitis on my hands has improved significantly. My hands are less flaky, and my fingerprints are gradually returning. This book is a very good reference in my journey to regain health through diet. Although the book also has some advice on food use that contradicts some of my other favorite books that I have tried and am currently applying, the knowledge it provides has opened my eyes and helped me see the world in more detail .png)
. For me personally, this is a book that every family should have, especially for homemakers, to not only cook delicious meals but also help protect the health of their family members.
