How Not to Die — Michael Greger (2015)

What it covers

The book is organised in two halves:

1. Part 1: each major cause of death (heart disease, cancer types, lung diseases, brain diseases, diabetes, hypertension, kidney, etc.) reviewed with diet-focused interventions.
2. Part 2: the Daily Dozen — specific food groups to include daily (beans, berries, other fruit, cruciferous, greens, other vegetables, flax seeds, nuts, spices, whole grains, beverages, exercise).

Strengths

• Comprehensive disease-organised structure.
• Extensive citations.
• Practical Daily Dozen framework.
• Promotes plant-heavy eating with which most cardiometabolic prevention evidence aligns.

What to read critically

• Greger’s presentation is selectively favourable toward plant-based conclusions; mixed-evidence areas often get one-sided coverage.
• The strict-vegan framing is more prescriptive than the underlying evidence requires (Mediterranean diet, plant-skewed omnivory, and pescatarian patterns also have strong evidence).
• B12, EPA/DHA, vitamin D, iodine considerations for strict vegans get shorter treatment than they warrant.
• Some specific cancer-prevention claims overstate the evidence.

Companion content

• NutritionFacts.org (Greger’s nonprofit) updates daily.
• How Not to Diet (2019) follow-up on weight management.

Related entries

Plant-based diet, Mediterranean diet, Fiber and the microbiome, Vitamin B12.