How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss

We now have all of Dr. Greger s books and they have changed our lives! I know that sounds a bit over the top but it is true. Three months ago my husband went in for his medicare checkup (68 healthy and very active). The tests showed that his kidney function was impaired blood pressure was high and his prostate numbers were high. Next thing you know he s being trained how to self-catheter and has to go in for a prostate biopsy. We have never been on the whole medical bandwagon so we talked to a naturopath and she recommended Dr. Greger s book “How Not To Die” and to start a whole food/plant based diet.He cancelled the upcoming biopsy and self-catheterization. After 90 days he went to his scheduled follow up blood tests and the numbers were astonishing. Everything was lower and he had lost the 8 pounds that have been impossible to lose over the last 15 years!After we started this lifestyle and because we were so impressed with Dr.Greger s first book I ordered the “How Not To Diet” book. Just as Dr. Greger says “We read years and years of research so you don t have to.” Everything you ve ever wanted to know about food and diet is in this book. It can be a scary read when you realize all the **** that you ve been eating over the years is slowly killing you! AND....with the government s support! But that s another rant not meant to be in this review! Changing to a whole food/plant based diet was not nearly as hard as we thought it would be. I had my blood tested 10 days after eliminating dairy and meat and even in that short amount of time my doctor cut my blood pressure meds in half and cholesterol sodium and sugar levels went down. I have lost 10 pounds so far. Do something good for yourself...follow Dr. Greger!

With thousands of books about this topic in the market many often written based on anecdotes or dubious methods it is great to have finally a compendium that has a basis in scientific research.You can add the audible audiobook version (reduced price if you already own the kindle version) to listen in the car while commuting read by Dr. Greger himself.

Dr. Greger is surely the world s best individual for making rigid valid scientific research accessible to the masses. Get this book as soon as you possibly can and put its principles into practice.

How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy Permanent Weight Loss is the sequel to Dr. Michael Greger s How Not to Die. As you might imagine Dr. Greger looks at the science behind weight loss. One of the differences between Dr. Greger and other whole-food plant-based diet proponents is the amount of scientific study that is reference. In this almost 600-page book almost 5 000 scientific sites are referenced – and yes if you want to read the study yourself Dr. Greger has links to them for you. Much in keeping with his previous book he begins by arguing against the standard American diet and in favor of a whole-foods plant-based diet that is “microbiome friendly rich in fruits and vegetables rich in legumes and satisfying” (table of contents). After this he moves into two sections on weight-loss itself: “weight-loss boosters” and “Dr. Greger s twenty-one tweaks.” The twenty-one tweaks were the most exciting part of the book for me – as someone who needs to lose weight. I am not going to list them all here because you should buy the book but I will say that I have added several of them into my daily routine and I have begun to lose weight. I have added not eating after 7 PM drinking water before each meal adding an amount of ginger and cayenne pepper and front-loading calories during the day – having my largest calorie meal first and the least last. You can read his explanations of why these and other tweaks can help. I have been on a whole-foods plant-based diet – for the most part – for some time but I am also on medications that cause weight gain so I am encouraged that what he recommends is starting to help me. It s well worth the try.

This (for the nutrition information) and Tim McGraw s Grit & Grace (for the mental approach that s not only gotten him back in shape but kept him fit for years) are the two books I plan to use to help me get healthy in 2020. Both focus on the long term so what that means in regards to How not to Diet is there is no list of groceries to buy or menu plan so I can t start full out on a diet Jan 1st. Instead as I read through the book (which I wont be able to even finish by Jan 1st) I will gain information to make real (supported by scientific studies) healthy food choices for the long term.Example of how this has already helped me: I liked this book so much I started cleaning out old diet books and noticed one whose plan had you eating most your calories for breakfast less for lunch and least for dinner. I recall I never did follow this plan because halfway through reading how important it was to not only have breakfast but to have it be the biggest meal of the day I saw my first book on intermittent fasting that said skipping breakfast was the way to go so in confusion I did neither plan and ate at my normal times. How not to Diet discusses the studies for both these approaches clarifying what benefits each has (that each side could honestly say their approach works) but also clarifying the weaknesses and summarizing with which has been the more successful approach not just 30 days later but long term . So now instead of the previous confusion I ve now enough information that I was able to make my own decision about breakfast (I wont say which way I decided you can make your own decision with the information provided) and will change my grocery shopping choices accordingly on my own. No pre-written rigid list or menu plan needed. That s the strength of this book : to help you understand among all the conflicting diet/nutrition claims what are the healthy options available to choose from when you open your refrigerator plan your menu or grocery shop.

Once again Dr Greger continues to educate the public about nutrition and the behind the scenes corruption that helps enable people to get obese. If people would take care of their bodies from the inside out instead of just looking in the mirror they would see results. After all you wouldn t put diesel in a gas engine would you? Think of your body as the incredible machine that it is and feed it with care with optimal nutrition. If people would give their bodies a fair shake they would be amazed at how they feel. I wish more people would make the connection. Don t listen to the government or advertisers for your dietary advice!! I hope people will read this book and educate themselves about one of the most important things in life...that is to say THEIR LIFE. Thank you Dr. Greger for your effort in this important field that affects everyone. This book is truly eye-opening and inspirational.