How Not to Diet
by Michael Greger · first published 2019
57% recommend43% neutral
Why HN recommends it
An extensively referenced, evidence-based survey of diet science from a nutrition-research angle. It is thorough and covers the latest research on dieting.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Multiple mentions of "How not to Die" by Dr. Michael Greger which is great and extensively researched - and he just came out with a new book "How not to Diet" which looks like the same quality. Also, if you like videos better, there is a huge collection by him on https://nutritionfacts.org/ - searchable by condition (like "cholesterol"), or on his youtube…
on “Ask HN: Which is the best book on nutrition?” ↗For folks interested in the topic, the best resource I've found that thoroughly covers the latest science is [How Not to Diet](https://nutritionfacts.org/book/how-not-to-diet/) by Michael Greger. Very, very complete look at all the various aspects of dieting, with [almost 5000 citations](https://nutritionfacts.org/book/how-not-to-diet/citations/)
on “The Hacker's Diet” ↗- The 4-hour work week- Tim Ferris - How not to diet- Dr. Michael Greger - The Iliad- Homer - Norwegian Wood- Haruki Maurakami - Kein - Jose Saramago - Dark Matter and the dinosaurs- Lisa Randall
on “Ask HN: What is the best book you have read with the greatest impact on you?” ↗Big fan of Dr. Michael Greger's "The How Not To Die Cookbook" and "The How Not To Diet Cookbook". His focus is much more on the health aspects and emphasize a balanced whole food plant-based diet. My partner got the latter because she wanted to lose some weight. I was skeptical but the…
on “‘I’d rather eat an actual burger’: plant-based meat’s sizzle fizzled in the US” ↗…point for me. The science is settled, but like everything else, untrained people can't tell the difference between a good study and a bad study, and the media reports on them all. Check out the book _How Not to Diet_, which is the most recent masterwork on evidence-based nutrition.
on “Reddit has become a guide to personal finance” ↗Both "How not to Die" and "How not to Diet" contain hundreds and even into the thousands of references. All meticulously fact-checked by a team of researchers. If all the research points to "meat" being problematic, wouldn't a truthful book be…
on “Ask HN: What are you learning?” ↗…indexes (long grained rice and many pastas) are actually quite good (rice/pasta), meat bad but seafood ok, don't over do the saturated fat in general, drink moderate alcohol if at all. I got a lot from How Not to Diet. I also got a lot from the Mindspan diet. I think the truth is out there, but as you have already put it, it's pretty bloody hard to get anything definitive. It's hard because it takes decades to prove…
on “Japanese people may have gained longevity by balancing their diets” ↗…weird secret "tweaks" from some shaman healer dude that my girlfriends stepdads mother's uncle met at a silent meditation retreat in the Astral mountains. https://nutritionfacts.org/video/trailer-for-how-not-to-diet... https://nutritionfacts.org/video/flashback-friday-dr-gregers... Edit: Joking aside, the weight loss tweaks can also be found in the free "Dr. Greger's Daily Dozen" iPhone or Android app.
on “Ask HN: Any weird tips for weight loss?” ↗…weight loss mostly in overweight and obese individuals. The other health benefits are improved blood sugar regulation and insulin sensitivity when eating in the morning rather than at night. The book “How Not to Diet” by Dr. Michael Greger has a section about this, referencing similar studies.
on “It’s not just what you eat, but the time of day you eat it” ↗I am doing through the book 'How not to Diet' by Michael Greger. Yes, it has an agenda (plant based diets) but I do like how he goes into detail about how various studies try to isolate various effects. The need for either very thorough studies…
on “Two slices of ham a day can raise type 2 diabetes risk by 15%, research suggests” ↗"How not to diet" goes into far more depth; the references are so large, he put them online instead of making the book far larger than the 800 pages it already is. People sometimes read Dr. Greger through a lens which…
on “Ask HN: Which is the best book on nutrition?” ↗…plugging a lot of holes in my understanding of my own health (FWIW: 40s, no chronic diseases, but tendency towards high(er) A1C, cholesterol) He has subsequently released other books -- How Not To Age, How Not to Diet, etc -- which one might call as capitalizing on the trend, not to put too fine a point on it. [However, I do find his books, videos and discussions quite informative, and not too technical, without going…
on “Metformin decelerates aging clock in male monkeys” ↗…studies being published every year. He and his volunteers have taken on the mission of wading through it and making sense of it. His books, in order of publication: - How Not to Die (2k citations) - How Not to Diet (5k citations) - How Not to Age (13k citations)
on “Being overweight overtakes tobacco smoking as the leading disease risk factor” ↗https://nutritionfacts.org/book/how-not-to-diet/
on “KFC, Nando's, and others ditch chicken welfare pledge” ↗