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How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease by Michael Greger
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is not, as the title might at first glance suggest, about how to become immortal or anything.

It is however about the vast body of scientific evidence that has accumulated over the past century which shows that an alcohol free, low sodium, high fiber diet consisting of mostly whole plant foods paired with exercise is the best way of living as long as is naturally possible. Groups following this type of lifestyle tend to live more than a decade longer even after correcting for other factors such as income and level of exercise. He does warn strongly that while completely vegan diets may have health benefits they do require a steady source of B12 supplementation, which I think is sensible.

Greger gives very practical tips as well as the reasoning behind such advice and provides such detailed citations to impress even sceptical me.

Putting all this advice into practice is easier said than done. Salt is hard to avoid unless you make everything from scratch. And while he shows incontrovertible evidence that any amount of alcohol intake will shorten your life, abstaining fully is rather difficult for your social life. Unless you decide to hang out with observant muslims, everyone around you will drink and expect you to drink too. Be prepared to have people think you’ve had a (possibly violent) drinking problem in the past and judge you accordingly. Not fun.

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