We live in an age where diseases have become extremely prevalent. Whether it be cancer (in its varied forms) or psychological diseases (from depression to OCD to psychosis), we find ourselves searching for answers of all kinds. Each one of us has a loved one that is fighting a battle against disease.
In the first part of the book titled "How not to die", Dr Michael Greger talks about how we can prevent and fight many of these diseases. Each chapter is dedicated to a particular type of disease or talks about a specific organ that helps keep us alive and running. The second part of the book talks about the solutions; various foods to add to your diet.
Normally I would talk about a specific chapter of the book and how it connects to other ideas elsewhere. However, as I read the book and looked at what Dr. Gregor advises elsewhere (on YouTube and his website), the common theme he advocates is to switch from animal based diets (meat, dairy, fish, eggs) to a plant based diet. This is what I will discuss.
The book is primarily focused on the American Diet. However, I feel that people around the world 🌍 need to be looking at his observations, for they mimic what we have learnt as part of our native diets whether we are African, Japanese, Indian, European or from any other part of the world. Have we knowingly or unknowingly made changes in our "21st century diet" that are harming us?
A plant based diet is one which is primarily focused on eating our fruits and vegetables, beans, lentils, grains and spices and less on dairy, meat and processed food.
Dr Greger's efforts might initially seem like the voice of a vegan activist who argues about the ethical and moral considerations of eating meat. However, as you read the book, you find scientific reasoning that guides his fervent advocacy of plant based food.
Whether choosing the diet that our young children will begin their world with or for our aging loved ones, we cannot afford to ignore the knowledge revealed by Dr. Gregor.
A good start to moving to a plant based diet is to add fruits and vegetables to your diet. Another path is to search for traditional recipes where dairy and meat were part of the food only during rare occasions.
Searching for these recipes might feel like an initial challenge, but in the long term they are well worth the effort. The returns of switching to such a diet is plentifold as showcased in the book and other writings of Dr. Greger.
Another part of the solution is to give up processed food and reduce our dependence on medicines that can have serious side effects. Dr. Gregor throughout the book talks about various chemicals that end up in our body through the 2 routes of processed food and doctor's advice. One of the chapters of the book is titled "How Not to Die from Iatrogenic Causes (or, How Not to Die from Doctors)"!
As an Indian, I find that we fail to see that much of our diet is animal-based, whether it be our daily glass of milk, spoonful of ghee or our protein rich paneer! There is a lot of discussion on dairy in the book, but it's mainly targeted towards an American diet.
As an Indian, I have found a reflection of Dr. Greger's work in the work of celebrity nutritionist Rujuta Diwekar who advocates going back to our dietary roots in her various books and writings.
Whether it be through following the recipes of Tarla Dalal or through making the tough choices of banning certain processed food items from our kitchens, I feel that first steps need to be made.
Here are some links to Dr. Gregor's work
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