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How Not to Die
What It’s About
How Not to Die presents the fifteen main causes that lead to early death. You can learn how to make dietary and lifestyle changes in your own life.
Three Key Ideas
Plants Prevent Disease
Fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains protect against heart disease, cancer, stroke, and Alzheimer's by reducing inflammation and cholesterol.
Food Beats Medication
Specific foods like berries, turmeric, and nuts outperform or rival drugs for lowering cholesterol, reducing blood pressure, and fighting cancer cells.
Exercise Completes the Picture
Even an optimal diet needs 90 minutes of moderate or 40 minutes of intense daily exercise to fully protect against premature death.
Read a Sample
The book in 3 sentences: Poor nutrition is a huge problem that medicine often overlooks, and it's the first step toward early death. Eating plenty of fruits and vegetables protects against diseases and extends your life. Along with a plant-based diet, exercise every day so you can enjoy a long, balanced, and healthy life. Favorite quotes: “The best way to minimize exposure to industrial toxins is to replace foods at the lowest possible levels in the food chain with plant-based foods.” “If we could provide everyone with the right amount of food and exercise, not too little and not too much, we would have found the safest path to health.”
Key points: Vegetables are essential to healthy eating. Beans and whole grains are good for your body. Nuts and seeds are super nutritious. Herbs and spices make healthy foods even more beneficial. When it comes to drinks, water is king. Exercise paired with healthy eating is the key to a long life. Diseases and digestive system cancers.
This summary keeps three ideas in view. First, poor nutrition is a huge problem that medicine often overlooks, and diet's the number one risk factor for a shorter lifespan. Second, eating plenty of fruits and vegetables protects against diseases, and the general rule is to eat whole plant-based foods and avoid meat-based products. Third, exercise paired with healthy eating is the key to a long life. Fruits and vegetables are vital for healthy eating.
Everyone's heard the saying, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." But is it true? Well, it's true if you toss in a handful of berries too!
A healthy diet should include four servings of fruit a day, and one of them should be berries. Keep in mind that we're talking about whole fruit here, not fruit juice. Harvard research found that drinking fruit juice correlates with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes, because it's high in sugar and low in fiber. Whole fruits, on the other hand, come with a lower risk of the same disease.
Who It’s For
- Anyone who wants to understand which everyday foods are proven to prevent the leading causes of premature death.
- Anyone who relies on medication for cholesterol, blood pressure, or blood sugar and wants to explore dietary alternatives.
- Anyone who has a family history of cancer, heart disease, or dementia and is looking for evidence-based prevention strategies.
- Anyone who is trying to build a sustainable, whole-food eating habit and wants the science behind each recommendation.
About the Author: Michael Greger, Gene Stone
Michael Greger is a physician, public health advocate, and founder of NutritionFacts.org, a non-profit site that reviews thousands of peer-reviewed nutrition studies each year. He has testified before Congress and speaks widely on the science of diet and disease prevention.
Gene Stone is a writer and editor who has collaborated on numerous books about health and plant-based living.
