How Not to Die By Dr. Greger – Plant-based nutrition book summary

I have long been a fan of NutritionFacts.org. Funded only by donations from individual visitors, Dr. Michael Greger and his team read every English-language journal article on nutrition every year and share their critical analysis free of charge. When it can feel like everyone is trying to manipulate and profit off of others, sources like these stand out as much more credible to me.

After a long wait from the library, I have finally read Dr. Greger’s book How Not to Die. Again, all proceeds go directly to fund his free educational website – he takes no compensation. For most books I discuss on here, I provide a comprehensive summary of the key takeaways as I see them. For this one, though, you can just go directly to NutritionFacts.org and search for any and all the information that interests you. If you’d still prefer a summary, check out the one done by Chewfo or the video published by Dr. Greger himself.

Instead, I’d like to share with you the little notes I took for myself to give you an idea of what the book offers.

---

First up, probably the most controversial: a whole foods, plant-based diet recommendation. This blog demonstrates how open I am to considering all different ways of eating and I still believe that there is no one right way – not only because we are individuals with different needs and different reactions to foods, but also because a good diet I can incorporate into my life is heaps better than a great diet I can’t keep up. All that said, this book devotes the first half to explaining exactly why a whole foods, plant-based diet is best for optimal health and avoiding the 15 leading causes of death.

One of those causes is depression. I’m aware that with the exception of the most severely depressed, anti-depressant medication has not been proven to be more effective than the placebo effect. If capable of exercise, 30 minutes of walking is at least as effective as those drugs without the negative side effects. And interestingly, certain foods are naturally beneficial for mood-enhancing neurotransmitters: apples, grapes, onions, green tea, cinnamon, and sesame, sunflower, or pumpkin seeds.

Plus, an intriguing theory was presented: since consuming a lot of manufactured highly-palatable foods can make a person less sensitive to the dopamine it continually spikes, which often leads people to overeat those foods trying to reach the original “high,” some people then find it harder to achieve their usual “reward” feelings from other sources in their lives – this can lead to the common symptoms of low motivation and reduced interest towards things enjoyed before depression. By eating mainly whole foods, not only will you soon better appreciate their tastes but you can also better appreciate the joys of life.

Tracy Anderson Method Day 11

Today marks the last of 10 days on the first level of Tracy Anderson’s Metamorphosis muscular structure workout. I pushed myself to do all the reps without pausing! I’m proud I achieved that goal. You do each level 10 times, so tomorrow I’m up to level two. 

However… I didn’t do the cardio workout. I walked about 10,000 steps instead. I didn’t even want to dance my own dance or listen to music at all today; I was not feeling it. So today also marks my first real rebellion on this program. I’m a bit nervous because Tracy warns all three components must be done together. On the other hand, I don’t want to do the cardio dance for a long time haha. I think I’ll push myself to do the two more days at least.

It’s also tough eating the same thing for the past four days. I’m not looking forward to another three days of these meals and I’m considering tweaking them just to get through… I plan to transition into an intuitive eating approach, but I may plan out the first day to not be radically different. There shall be no puree, of this I am certain!

My mood has been lower today with feelings of apathy and depression. I nearly didn’t workout at all and wanted desperately to have a bowl of mangos instead of a bowl of soup. I didn’t even feel like writing a blog post but knew I’d feel better once I did. And I do. 

The 10 Best-Ever Depression Management Techniques (Book Summary)

The 10 Best-Ever Depression Management Techniques: Understanding How Your Brain Makes You Depressed and What You Can Do to Change It by Margaret Wehrenberg describes the following ten techniques:

1. Identify Triggers, Plan New Responses
2. Start Where You Already Are: Record strengths and how you use them, rating degree of pleasure
3. Cool Down Burnout: get a buddy to choose changes i.e. sleep and self-care, and monitor progress
4. Mobilize Your Energy
5. End Isolation
6. Balance Your Life
7. Prevent Destructive Behavior
8. Broaden Your Perspective
9. Increase Flexibility
10. Learn to Live Fully

Types of depression may be related to their underlying history:

• Intense despair often associated with serious loss, i.e. early life adversity. This may be a consequence of attachment problems or abuse.
• Helplessness and rumination often associated with traumatic stress requiring resolution of memory later than childhood like an accident.
• Exhaustion and isolation often associated with chronic stress requiring change in the situation. This can be hard to shake from depletion of critical neurotransmitters.
• Endogenous depression often associated with low motivation for recovery and limited pleasure in life. This type of depression is genetic and neurobiological. Sufferers complain of low cognitive energy, persistently negative mood, and irritability. “There is a tendency to be passive and hard to motivate.”

When Serotonin is Too Low

• Negativity, worry, sensitivity to threat from activity in the amygdala
• Poor planning, unable to push negativity away or find a positive frame, loss of emotional control or affect regulation, inability to feel satisfied from activity in the prefontal cortex
• Poor impulse control, irrational responses to problems from activity in the orbitofrontal cortex
• Ruminating worry and inflexible attitude from activity in anterior cingulate gyrus

Hiding from Feeling

I have chosen to blog because I have decided to journal and I need to keep accountable. I have pushed myself to be honest and try to be helpful, but I believe I have avoided a bit delving into my current feelings as I had planned to do with journalling. The clue to this is that I continue to have issues. I’m missing something I’m ignoring because I’m afraid it’s too painful. So… what feeling am I hiding from now?

I feel embarrassed I’ve settled, stalled in a way – mostly ashamed of the way it looks to others because at the same time I feel guilty I would be content to stay where I am if it weren’t absolutely necessary to progress and function “normally” in the world. I feel a constant tension thinking I’m not doing what I should be doing, or a cringe at the mistakes I’ve made trying. I’m holding my breath, biting my tongue, getting through so I can… what? Check out when my obligations are finally finished?

Meeting with a confidante last week, I felt good about an insight she reflected. I had said when describing my lowest point, my rock bottom, that I was at first getting through each day, soothing myself by telling myself that if it ever gets too painful I can just leave, just check out, but for now, I can find something to eat, something to watch, something to pass the time. I really started to recover when I realized I wasn’t going to check out so I might as well make my life as enjoyable as possible. And as nice as food and TV might be for me, they are often the opposite of fulfilling when I lean on them to heal my everything.