philippine tatler. august 2018 57
applications and practical advice. Greger
expanded on this trove earlier this year with
The How Not to Die Cookbook: 100+ Recipes to
Help Prevent and Reverse Disease, a collection
of “120 recipes containing only green light
foods—whole, plant-based foods with no added
salt, sugar, or oil,” he says. The volume quickly
became a bestseller.
“In the last 20 years, we’ve started to
understand the concept of epigenetics—the
study of how our lifestyle choices and our
environment impact the expression of our
genes—and that has been a game changer,”
Greger explains. “What that means is that our
parents were right. We are what we eat. We eat
junk, and this can actually change our genes,
making them misbehave and cause a domino
effect of bad effects, including contributing to
heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and
some types of cancer. This is great news because
even if we were dealt a lousy genetic hand, we
can still reshuffl e the deck with diet to protect
ourselves from premature disease and death.”
What tips would he suggest for anyone
interested in embracing a plant-based diet?
“Research shows the average family rotates
the same eight or nine dinners throughout the0M OL ^LYL Z[YHUKLK VU H
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following the three-step method proposed by the
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based in Washington DC that promotes a vegan
diet, preventive medicine and alternatives to
animal research].
“First, list all the dinners you currently eat
and identify three meals that are already plant-
based. Second, identify at least three meals
you already eat that could easily be adapted to
become plant-based. Third, explore three new
plant-based options. Now you have your nine
dinners and can move on and repeat the same
method [for breakfast and lunch]. Whole foods,
plant-based cookbooks and recipes can help a lot
in that respect.”
Or an app. Greger recently launched Dr Greger’s
Daily Dozen, for instance, a perfect companion
to How Not To Die that makes going vegetarian
easy. Free to download, it’s the most recent step in
the doctor’s mission to spread plant-based eating.
“I’m always open to ideas of how to best raise
awareness,” he says. “[With my work] I hope that
I can help people discover the power they have to
improve their health the same way that Nathan
Pritikin did for my family.”;OLTLHSVM[OLKH`OLSPRLZ
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