How Not To Die: Discover the foods scientifically proven to prevent and reverse disease Paperback – January 1, 2017

Bar none, this is the best book I've read on food, nutrition, how to prevent disease and even how to get back to health once disease has taken a foothold. I was pleased to see that there is a section on multiple myeloma, a disease my husband was diagnosed with 3 years ago, and Barrett's esophagus, a disease I was diagnosed with 10 years ago.For Barrett's I was prescribed powerful proton pump inhibitor drugs like Prilosec to prevent my stomach from producing the acid that caused reflux that caused Barrett's, an abnormal cell growth in the esophagus that can lead to deadly adenocarcinoma. Only, as reports are now verifying, you need stomach acid to extract nutrients like calcium and magnesium from food. Without these key nutrients, my bones began to ache and my muscles began to cramp severely. PPIs can also create an environment for deadly bacteria like C-dif, and they can set you upfor Alzheimer's.5 years ago I stopped taking the pills and began an alkaline diet of fruits and vegetables. I felt better, stopped having reflux, and gradually lost 35 lbs. Not only that, the lab reports after my last endoscopy 3 years ago came back free of Barrett's. If my next endoscopy in 2 weeks is alsoclear, I will no longer have to undergo this procedure. Dr. Greger explains Barrett's and esophageal cancer, what causes them and how to avoid the problem by eating a plant-based alkaline diet, like the one I've followed for 5 years.For my husband's smoldering multiple myeloma, he was treated with chemo. But after one session of the drugs, he said he'd rather die than continue. Desperate, I found a small Australian study that treated the control group with curcumin from the spice turmeric. About half of the treated men were able either to halt or reverse MGUS, the abnormal protein found in their blood. MGUS is a precursor to and major symptom of this incurable disease. We began taking turmeric and ginger tea from the fresh root every morning. Unfortunately, my husband's MGUS slowly rose when he discontinued chemo. But 3 months later after the lab report came back, his oncologist wanted to know what he had done. The MGUS progression had stopped and his other functions were better, too. My husband explained that he had switched to my vegetarian diet and he was taking turmeric. The doctor poo-pooed the idea that veggies could stop MGUS, and he thought turmeric might even be harmful.3 months later at our next session with the doctor, his opinion of my husband's diet changed. He noted that the MGUS had started to go down and his creatinine level was down, as well. He seemed genuinely interested in our meal plan, and he told us he'd read that some doctors were beginning to use turmeric in conjunction with chemo for multiple myeloma. Again, I was really happy to see that Dr. Greger devotes a chapter to blood diseases with a section on multiple myeloma, noting that curcumin, the active ingredient from turmeric, was used in a pilot study, and that half of the control group given curcumin responded positively to it.Dr. Greger has written a book that is both timely and potentially life-saving. The fact that my husband and I had such positive results from a diet change that is mirrored in his book sold me on it. His meticulous footnotes detailing where he gathered his information also sold me. I can't say enough about it. If I had been able to read this book before my husband and I came down with these awful diseases, it could have saved us an incredible amount of time visiting doctors and thousands of dollars paying them and the labs. If I could give this book a million stars I would. It's the real deal.

I placed an order for this book back in September; rarely do I wait three months for a book to come out...especially a non-fiction health related topic but after reading a couple of advanced chapters (available for free via a web search), this was at the top of my list for upcoming released books. Greger is not only a highly readable author but goes to great lengths to provide the science behind the information...something sorely missing among many other health and fitness guru's. Professionally, my Phd was in closely related topic so I might tend to be a bit more critical than the average reader...on the other hand, my interest in this book is purely personal.As a mature but active couple, we try to eat right and stay fit but but after a serious illness and subsequent hospitalization and health scare, felt the need to really sort out the hype from the hope. There are few things more sobering than a diagnosis of a serious illness - and very few things more frightening than trying to make healthcare decisions for your loved one while dealing with conflicting information. Fortunately the initial diagnosis was wrong - but that scare started us down a path toward building up our health to the greatest extent possible starting with food and exercise. Of course, as everyone knows, there is a great deal of conflicting information out there. As a college instructor and writer, there are few things I appreciate more than ample references and well researched data...and that is what truly sets this author apart from the competition. Now, unlike a lot of readers, I found this book on pre-order before finding the actual authors blogs/other writings. However, after ordering the book in Sept, I've since watched or read many of his video blogs and other information...by and large, he puts out easy to understand, well documented snippets that are both informative and interesting. This book follows that plan of action but with greater depth and insight into the "do's" and "donts" of good health.The author starts out by way of personal explanation of how he became interested in nutrition during medical school - a topic that we have since learned, most physicians are ill prepared to deal with or even overtly hostile toward. The book is divided into the "Why" and "how" beginning with how diet prevents, treats and reverse many common conditions and then going into the how of healthy eating. Now, make no mistake about it, this is not going to cover every topic or condition...especially very elusive or rare ones. On the other hand, readers could spend weeks or even months tracking down much of this information on their own. Even if you have access to research publications and academic databases, locating the specifics is time consuming. Instead, this author has done the leg work for you...he's found the research, compared the results, studied the outcomes and narrows down the information into useful nuggets of what to do and what not to do. Each chapter is basically a different commonly encountered condition such as Heart Disease, Lung Cancer, Diabetes etc...Additional information on the role - and conflicts - inherent to big pharma and even big medicine - are scattered throughout this book. Corporate influence on everything from the ADA to the FDA is mentioned but falls short of adopting the all to common conspiracy theory. Instead, this is a realistic observation on the potential influences and bias inherent in the current system as with lung cancer and the associated cover-up of the risk of tobacco. Sadly, many such health risks are still alive and well today yet not out in the open...vigilance is required to maintain one's own health.Now, this book is not perfect...there are many areas where much more information could have been included. However, for the sake of clarity and consistency, not every topic can be covered in depth. This is more of a "biggest bang for your buck" approach where some of the leading bits of information for the most commonly encountered conditions are provided...it's a "big picture" approach. At our age, we know people who are actively fighting cancers, lung disease, heart disease and more...sadly, we also know far too many people who have already lost that battle. If adding a bit of turmeric and exercise to the diet of my in-laws...who have now had three family members pass away from colon cancer...would save someone then it is a small price to pay. Or what about switching to a plant based die to help alleviate the pain of arthritis and fibromyalgia suffered by another family member for years? Still another who was able to eliminate the toxic effects of steroids and other drugs via diet and exercise for treating a long term autoimmune disorder and yet another able to avoid heart ablation by adding potassium, magnesium and other minerals to the diet to help regulate heart rhythm. The tragic reality is that each of these people were never told about these options by their physicians.Bottom line - this book is not a cure all nor will it fix everything or every body but it does provide a terrific overview of how to prevent, treat and sometimes reverse many of the most commonly encountered conditions. Chances are you know and love someone who is actively suffering from one or more of these conditions - this book provides clear, concise and relevant information in an easy to read format - backed by the research and science. For those who normally do their own research, this saves a huge amount of time and effort while still providing access to relevant followup resources. For those who just want to get results as soon as possible, skip ahead to the most relevant chapters. For those who are watching as someone suffers...give them this as a gift. All in all, well worth the time and effort to read.