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Michael Herschel Greger (born October 25, 1972) [1] [2] is an American physician, author, and speaker on public health issues best known for his advocacy of a whole-food, plant-based diet, and his opposition to animal-derived food products.
- Cherry-Picked Evidence
- Sound Science
- Conclusion
Throughout How Not to Die, Greger distills a vast body of literature into a simple, black-and-white narrative — a feat only possible through cherry picking, one of the nutrition world’s most gainfully employed fallacies.
Cherry picking is the act of selectively choosing or suppressing evidence to fit a predefined framework. In Greger’s case, that means presenting research when it supports plant-based eating and ignoring it (or creatively spinning it) when it doesn’t.
In many cases, spotting Greger’s picked cherries is as simple as checking the book’s claims against their cited references. These foibles are small but frequent.
For example, as evidence that high-oxalate vegetables aren’t a problem for kidney stones (a bold claim, given the wide acceptance of foods like rhubarb and beets as risky for stone formers), Greger cites a paper that doesn’t actually look at the effects of high-oxalate vegetables — only total vegetable intake (pages 170-171).
Along with stating “there is some concern that greater intake of some vegetables … might increase the risk of stone formation as they are known to be rich in oxalate,” the researchers suggest the inclusion of high-oxalate veggies in participants’ diets could have diluted the positive results they found for vegetables as a whole: “It is also possible that some of the [subjects’] intake is in the form of high-oxalate containing foods which may offset some of the protective association demonstrated in this study” (1).
In other words, Greger selected a study that not only couldn’t support his claim, but where the researchers suggested the opposite.
As we’ve seen, Greger’s references don’t always support his claims, and his claims don’t always match reality. But when they do, it’d be smart to listen up.
Throughout How Not to Die, Greger explores many oft-ignored and myth-shrouded issues in the nutrition world — and in most cases, fairly represents the science he draws from.
Amid mounting fears about sugar, Greger helps vindicate fruit — discussing the potential for low-dose fructose to benefit blood sugar, the lack of fruit-induced harm for diabetics, and even a study in which 17 volunteers ate twenty servings of fruit per day for several months, with “no overall adverse effects for body weight, blood pressure, insulin, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels” (pages 291-292) (60, 61).
He rescues phytates — antioxidant compounds that can bind to certain minerals — from the vast mythology about their harm, discussing the many ways they can protect against cancer (pages 66-67).
He casts doubt on fears surrounding legumes — sometimes maligned for their carbohydrate and antinutrient content — by exploring their clinical effects on weight maintenance, insulin, blood sugar control and cholesterol (page 109).
And, most importantly to omnivores, his penchant for cherry picking occasionally pauses long enough to make room for a legitimate concern about meat. Two examples:
Greger’s goal, sparked in his youth and galvanized over the course of his medical career, is to bypass the middlemen and feed important — and often lifesaving — information to the public.
“With the democratization of information, doctors no longer hold a monopoly as gatekeepers of knowledge about health,” he writes. “I’m realizing it may be more effective to empower individuals directly” (page xii).
And that’s what How Not to Die ultimately accomplishes. While the book’s biases prevent it from being a fully caveat-free resource, it offers more than enough fodder to keep health-seekers questioning and engaged.
Readers willing to listen when challenged and fact-check when skeptical will gain much from Greger’s passionate, albeit imperfect, tome.
- Denise Minger
Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM is a physician, New York Times best-selling author, and internationally recognized professional speaker on a number of important public health issues. Dr. Greger has lectured at the Conference on World Affairs, the National Institutes of Health, and the International Bird Flu Summit, among co
Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM, is a physician, author, and internationally recognized speaker on a number of important public health issues. All proceeds from his speaking engagements and the sale of his books and DVDs are donated to charity.
an instant New York Times Best Seller by Michael Greger, M.D. FACLM. From the physician behind the trusted website NutritionFacts.org, How Not to Die reveals the groundbreaking scientific evidence behind the only diet that can prevent and reverse many of the causes of premature death and disability. It's not How to Not Die, but How Not to Die ...
Uncover the evidence-based science to slowing the effects of aging. When Dr. Michael Greger, founder of NutritionFacts.org, dove into the top peer-reviewed anti-aging medical research, he realized that diet could regulate every one of the most promising strategies for combating the effects of aging. We don't need Big Pharma to keep us feeling ...
Sep 17, 2020 · A founding member and Fellow of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Michael Greger, MD, is a physician, New York Times bestselling author, and internationally recognized speaker on nutrition.
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