How Not to Die
Last week, I went to see Dr. Michael Gregor speak in Portland about his newest book, “How Not to Die”. I was on the fence about attending. It was a particularly dark and rainy night, definitely a lot of traffic. But I had rsvp’d to this free event as part of the 22 day veg challenge, and thought it would make an interesting blog article if nothing else.
Not being particularly informed about the book, or interested in the health aspect, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I was happily surprised to find Dr. Gregor a very knowledgeable, and entertaining speaker. He was able to take scientific facts and studies and make it understandable for an average non-medical person. I am linking to a video that was very similar to the one I attended in Portland. It is long, but worth watching, and you can avoid the rainy drive aspect).
I did not buy his book that night because I want to have it on my kindle to share with my parents and sister. The information presented was very surprising to me. Basically, most deaths in the U.S. are preventable and related to nutrition.
He went through the top 15 ways Americans die, went through each of them and explained how a plant-based diet can prevent or reverse so many different diseases. He presented peer-reviewed studies showing how the body can heal itself.
There were only a couple that a plant-based diet can’t help with: accidents and suicide.
Honestly, I haven’t thought about the health effects much lately. I have been so focused on the huge environmental impact that affects our future, and the plight of the animals. It made feel very good to think that in addition to those causes, a plant-based diet will help my family live a longer, healthier life. In fact, he told us that by age 10, kids can have start of fatty streaks on arteries leading to heart disease. By the 20’s the plaque is hardening.
His book is on the best seller’s list, and is completely backed up with multiple medical journals and resources. His website www.NutritionFacts.org provides all the resources and studies.
Why aren’t more doctors telling their patients that they can be helped with diet rather than just pills and surgery? Many doctors don’t believe their patients are willing to change their eating habits, even with the choice of surgery and expensive medications. I would recommend the movie Forks over Knives as further proof that a plant-based diet is an under-utilized cure for many diseases.
He ended his talk by showing the old cigarette ads. Incredibly, doctors endorsed smoking not that long ago as a healthy habit. If we wait for the government to tell us what is unhealthy or healthy (which means they need to avoid the huge bias of the animal agriculture industry), there will be so many millions of preventable deaths. There were scientists and doctors aware of the risks of smoking well before that was brought to the attention of the general public and it still took decades for that research to be mainstream.
Could we really prolong our lives by eating a plant-based diet? I felt very good about the evidence provided, and a little amazed that there are so many benefits not only to the planet, and animals, but also to the people. If you have doubts, watch his video, read his book, watch Forks over Knives. In the end, it could even be a matter of life and death.
