Cover of How Not to Die

How Not to Die

by Michael Greger, Gene Stone · first published 2015

105mentions
54recommended by
72HN commenters
2013–2026first – last mentioned

75% recommend21% neutral4% critical

Why HN recommends it

Plainly written case for a whole-food plant-based diet, covering how food affects the leading killer diseases, with a references section to check the studies. Suits people wanting one book on nutrition.

Common criticism: Some see the author's vegan advocacy as skewing the science

Summarised by Claude from recommending comments

From the physician behind the wildly popular 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 disease-related death. The simple truth is that most doctors are good at treating acute illnesses but bad at preventing chronic disease. The 15 leading causes of premature death -- illnesses such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, Parkinson's, high blood pressure, and others -- claim the lives of 1.6 million Americans annually. This doesn't have to be the case. By following Dr. Greger's ad

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Mentions per year

190 2007: 0 mentions2008: 0 mentions2009: 0 mentions2010: 0 mentions2011: 0 mentions2012: 0 mentions2013: 2 mentions2014: 0 mentions2015: 0 mentions2016: 3 mentions2017: 9 mentions2018: 16 mentions2019: 19 mentions2020: 7 mentions2021: 6 mentions2022: 8 mentions2023: 3 mentions2024: 9 mentions2025: 1 mention2026: 2 mentions200720172026

What Hacker News says

  • audition · Dec 16, 2019 · Recommends

    …Men's Health magazine along with the rebuttal from one of the MD's interviewed in the film. Next I'd read "The Engine 2 seven-day rescue diet" by Rip Esselstyn. If you a more in-depth treatment, try "How Not to Die" by Michael Greger, MD. If you want scientific journal articles, I recommend the work of Caldwell Esselstyn. MD and Dean Ornish, MD. Dean Ornish's TED talk is also a good reference.

    on “Ask HN: Which is the best book on nutrition?” ↗
  • windexh8er · Mar 3, 2018 · Recommends

    …(WellnessFX). But the best part is the subjective part: overall feel. I feel much better, more consistently and more often on mostly plant based. Things within my pallette have changed quickly. Dr. Greger's "How Not to Die" has helped in some of the education and all the references to studies relating. Cooking, however is a fundamental shift from Paleo so that is one of the hardest parts you have to focus on right away.…

    on “The risk of nitrites and nitrates in bacon” ↗
  • spraak · Jan 24, 2019 · Recommends

    I don't have the book at hand right now to cite exact pages, but Dr. Greger's "How Not to Die" has a much better explanation and cited sources on why one would want to avoid oils in favor of the whole plant source. Looking at longevity, it's relative and multifaceted - maybe oils aren't as damaging…

    on “Canada's New Food Guide” ↗
  • _the_inflator · Sep 26, 2019 · Recommends

    …the body. What makes ateries clog? And here comes meat and diary into play. Ppl tend to look on a lean muscular body but do not consider what makes the body work. Pls have a look into Michael Greger's How not to die, or Colin Campbell China Study. Vegan is not always healthy. Plant based, unprocessed food does the trick. Fatty and salty french fries are technically vegan. There is a lot of junk food on the vegan…

    on “Ultraprocessed Foods – A New Theory of Obesity” ↗
  • Top19 · Oct 13, 2017 · Recommends

    …ancient history a topic that came up again and again was that many emotions originated in the stomach. I can see how they might have gotten this. Also for dietary advice in general recommend the book “How Not To Die”. It’s a good book, but the extreme ethical standards of the author and his desire not to get involved in the fitness industry make it even better than usual. It’s good for general diet advice as well…

    on “Meal frequency and timing in health and disease” ↗
  • vegcel · May 26, 2018 · Recommends

    The answer is most definitely a whole food plant-based diet. See the book How Not to Die for more here: https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/d...

    on “Antibiotics in Meat Could Be Damaging Our Guts” ↗
  • nurblieh · Aug 18, 2018 · Recommends

    If you're looking to make dietary choices based on the results of high-quality dietary studies, my goto is "How Not to Die"[1] and the author's non-profit website at, http://nutritionfacts.org [1] https://www.amazon.com/How-Not-Die-Discover-Scientifically/d...

    on “Dietary carbohydrate intake and mortality: a prospective cohort study” ↗
  • rkh2018 · Nov 15, 2018 · Recommends

    Well, everyone who is surprised by headlines like this one should pick up some books. For example "How Not To Die" from Michael Greger, M.D. [1]. [1] https://nutritionfacts.org/book/

    on “Western lifestyle may cause blood pressure to rise with age” ↗
  • Japhy_Ryder · May 24, 2019 · Recommends

    > I don't have a concrete answer to "how do I not die" Michael Greger, MD does: How Not to Die [0]. Basically, to save you from reading the book, go vegan. He has a great cookbook too based on the advice in the book [1]. His nutritionfacts.org site in general is an excellent, science/fact-based…

  • Kezzo · Apr 6, 2020 · Recommends

    For nutrition and diet I can highly recommend "How Not To Die" by Dr. Michael Gregger: https://nutritionfacts.org/book/

    on “Ask HN: What are you learning?” ↗
  • sixtyj · Jul 4, 2026 · Recommends

    …office or home is toxic environment anyway. Plastic (e.g. carpets), formaldehyde in furniture, air fresheners… add home office and cooking at home (-> small carcinogenic particles)… If you start reading How not to die by Michael Greger, you find out that dust, soda and sitting - not CO2 - are real killers… It's similar to how people think sharks and airplanes are the biggest killers - when in reality it is coconuts,…

    on “The bottleneck might be the air in the room” ↗
  • noondip · Feb 1, 2016 · Recommends

    Likewise, except my recommendation for you is How Not to Die by Michael Greger, or just see http://nutritionfacts.org

  • cies · Mar 20, 2017 · Recommends

    …we already can "not believe" how prevalent smoking was just 50 years ago. > at this point the food industry is almost guilty of mass murder for profit Agreed. Now how to fix it? I like Dr Greger's "How not to Die" book, as it brings a lot of scientific evidence to the table. He also has an app "the daily dozen" that helps people improve their diets. Given the power of lobby groups I do not expect that we can…

    on “Cardiovascular Deaths Linked to Poor Dietary Choices” ↗
  • molloy · Mar 29, 2017 · Recommends

    In turn, I recommend you read How Not to Die by Dr. Michael Greger. http://nutritionfacts.org/book/

    on “Is Fat Killing Us, or Is Sugar?” ↗
  • dario_insane · Aug 15, 2017 · Recommends

    Consider reading Whole by Campbell, How Not To Die by Greger, Starch Solution by McDougall, End of all Diets by Fuhrman. Promoting animal products seems to be somewhat en vogue. But please open your eyes and look at the data, the history of the human…

    on “Ask HN: How to eat and drink properly?” ↗

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