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Summary
On episode 58 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Michael Greger, a physician, nutrition researcher, founder of NutritionFacts.org, and author of How Not to Die, for part two of their conversation on preventing and reversing chronic disease with a whole food, plant based diet.
Dr. Greger lays out the evidence that type 2 diabetes can be reversed through diet alone, going back to studies from the 1930s, and explains why the standard American diet has become the leading cause of death and disability in the country.
The conversation also covers his Daily Dozen checklist, the danger of changing your diet while still on blood sugar or blood pressure medication without medical supervision, and the rise of childhood type 2 diabetes tied to the obesity epidemic.
Links
- https://nutritionfacts.org
- Episode 53 – How to Not Die of Heart Disease – Dr. Michael Greger
- Episode 619 – How to get healthier as you get older with Dr. Michael Greger
Key Takeaways
- Type 2 diabetes can be reversed through diet, and the evidence goes back to the 1930s. Dr. Greger cites a 1970s follow-up study where patients were forced to overeat on a plant based diet so there was zero weight loss, and more than half still got off insulin entirely within 16 days, proving it isn’t just about shedding pounds.
- Type 2 diabetes makes up about 90 percent of diabetes cases and is largely diet driven. Type 1 diabetes has a significant genetic component, but type 2, the so-called adult onset form, is the one most people mean when they say diabetes.
- Childhood type 2 diabetes is rising alongside childhood obesity, and it cuts roughly 18 years off a child’s expected lifespan. Dr. Greger calls it tragic that kids are now developing what used to be considered an adult onset disease.
- Diet changes must be supervised by a doctor if you’re on medication. If a healthy diet cures the underlying high blood pressure or diabetes but the medication dose isn’t reduced, blood sugar or blood pressure can drop dangerously low, causing dizziness or fainting.
- The Daily Dozen is Dr. Greger’s practical daily checklist. It includes small habits like a quarter teaspoon of turmeric, a tablespoon of ground flaxseed, specific greens, berries, nuts, and seeds, distilled from the disease by disease research in the first half of his book.
- The standard American diet is now the leading cause of death and disability in the US, ahead of smoking. Dr. Greger cites the Global Burden of Disease Study, funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as the source for that ranking.
- Diet is a controllable risk factor, unlike genetics, gender, or age. Dr. Greger frames this as empowering: because it’s something you choose every day, you can take real control of your health outcomes instead of feeling fatalistic about them.
- Frozen fruits and vegetables count, and remove the “no access” excuse. Dr. Greger points out that frozen berries and frozen greens are among the healthiest options available and are as close as any grocery store.
- Small, consistent additions beat an all-or-nothing approach. Both Dr. Greger and Allan describe simply mixing ground flaxseed or turmeric into meals they already eat, like oatmeal or a salad, rather than overhauling everything at once.
“Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of adult onset blindness and amputations and kidney failure, but can be prevented, stopped, reversed, cured with a healthy enough diet.”
Dr. Michael Greger