STAYING ALIVE
The main cause of death and disability in the Western world is our diet
Poor diet is the main cause of disease, premature ageing and lower life expectancy. American doctor and author Dr Michael Greger has used this fact, proven through countless studies, to devise a special dietary regimen he wrote about in his book How Not to Die, which quickly became a mega hit in the US. Here, Dr Greger explains how we can easily – and pleasurably – gain many healthy years of life through the ‘Daily Dozen’.
WHEN IT COMES TO THE MOST COMMON CAUSES OF DEATH, SCIENCE HAS PROVEN THAT OUR GENES MAKE UP NO MORE THAN 20 PERCENT OF THE RISK
How Not to Die was inspired by my exceptional grandmother who, at the age of 65, was told her life was over. Her doctors sent her home to die in a wheelchair. But shortly after being discharged from the hospital, she watched a 60 Minutes episode on Nathan Pritikin, a pioneer in reversing heart disease through a plant-based diet. My grandmother flew to the Pritikin Longevity Center in California to find out whether his programme could perhaps help her. She wheeled herself in in her wheelchair, and walked out healthy on her own two feet. She managed to live another 31 years beyond the time limit she had been given – and enjoy life with her six grandchildren, myself included.
Plant power
My grandmother’s miraculous recovery from the final stages of heart disease, achieved simply by changing her diet, prompted my direction in life: I wanted to become a doctor, specialising in nutrition.
