Lazy Review of "How Not to Die"

     This book is about how diet can prevent the most common causes of death, at least that's the first part. The second part, which i started first, is an in depth analysis of the 12 most nutritious foods (with the exception of herbs & spices and exercise) and how to get them into our diet every day. I've been a long time viewer of Dr. Greger's videos on nutritionfact.org so i've already been convinced of the benefits of a plant based diet but i wanted a resource that could synthesize all that information in one place so that i may act on it more easily. The thing I love about this book and his site is that all of the recommendations are based off of the latest nutrition research, not his random ass opinion, not an appeal to nature, nor an appeal to "spiritual" reasoning, nor even the ethics angle, none of that. Instead, he gives us the science on it.  I've read a ton of other diet books, and while some of them will cite their sources, nothing comes close to the 200 pages of studies cited in the back of the book. Now the volume of research cited is no indicator of truth or clear reasoning. He could, as many people have claimed, cherry pick his studies to confirm his preformed conclusions but there are enough meta analyses and individual threads of
evidence that support the benefits of some given food over another that i'm convinced it would take quite a lot of evidence to refute as any nutritional claim should. Besides everyone pretty much agrees that fruits and vegetables are healthy, even the paleo people.

    One thing that also removes vegan ideology from this book is the concept of good and bad foods. The doc says that such categories must be defined in terms of "good compared to this" or "bad compared to that." So when one asks "are eggs good for you?" more context is needed, that is, good compared to what? Compared to a potato and it's influence on cholesterol, it's pretty bad but if you're in a state of starvation eating anything will help you.

    My favorite part about the book is that it's not really a diet book, it's really just a super informative checklist about what we should try to get into our gullet every day and the reasons/research behind it.I knew beforehand that eating greens or broccoli  was good for me entirely off of hearsay, which means that my motivation to eat something like that was pretty low or just kind of fuzzy. But if I get in-depth information about why I should eat something, it's effects on my body, and why I can't get the benefits of a certain plant anywhere else,i'm likely to eat such things. I don't know, i guess I'm just weird like that.

    Don't get me wrong, I haven't really always been reasonable about what I have been eating before. Eating has been 90% chance discoveries/happenstance/culture while 10% had some sort of objective reasoning, for most of my life. All of those variables still play a role now despite taking a deep gander at the science, but now my food choices are filtered by that scientific understanding along with the implications for my future death. Ok that's a bit morbid, but seriously, eating poorly is a slow, stupid way to kill yourself. Stated another way regarding a plant based diet, dr. Greger quotes the president of the american college of cardiology, "I don't mind dying, i just don't want it to be my fault." That said, i think people can get away with eating a ton of crap but I know it can catch up to you. Great, informative book, and fairly cheap too!