Quotes from Michael Greger

Note I said dietary intake, not supplementary intake. Antioxidant supplements don't appear to work.13 For example, getting lots of vitamin C in your diet is associated with lower lymphoma risk, but taking in even more vitamin C in pill form did not seem to help.

Though most people believe exercise is a "very effective" way to lose weight,3085 that has been referred to as a "myth" in the scientific literature.3086 In fact, it's been labeled as one of the most common misconceptions in the field of obesity,

But what if you're already infected with hepatitis C or are among the nearly one in three American adults89 with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease? Until relatively recently, no clinical trials had put coffee to the test. But in 2013, researchers published a study in which forty patients with chronic hepatitis C were placed into two groups: The first group consumed four cups of coffee daily for a month, while the second group drank no coffee at all. After

Earl Stadtman was quoted as saying, "Aging is a disease. The human lifespan simply reflects the level of free radical damage that accumulates in cells. When enough damage accumulates, cells can't survive properly anymore and they just give up.

Overall, most sleep improvement interventions tend to show improved weight loss, giving a positive spin to the phrase You snooze, you lose.

You can tell whether a food is rich in antioxidants by slicing it open, exposing it to air (oxygen), and then seeing what happens. If it turns brown, it's oxidizing. Think about our two most popular fruits: apples and bananas. They turn brown quickly, which means there aren't a lot of antioxidants inside them.

The same was found for carotenoid antioxidants like beta-carotene.14 Apparently, pills do not have the same cancer-fighting effects as produce. When it comes to certain other cancers, like those of the digestive tract, antioxidant supplements may even make things worse.

Developing diabetes in childhood appears to cut life expectancy by about twenty years.32 Who among us wouldn't go to the ends of the earth to enable our kids to live two decades longer?

However, it's clear that hefty caffeine doses up to six hours before bedtime interfere with sleep. Late-afternoon alcohol consumption (six hours before bedtime) may also impair sleep.4665 Additionally, nicotine, whether from gum, pill, patch, vape, or cigarette, may have negative sleep effects4666—though active nicotine withdrawal may as well.

reduction in sick days. And it has only good side effects. What is it? Exercise.51 What's more, it doesn't take much of a workout to get results. Studies find that if you let kids run around for just six minutes, the levels of immune cells circulating in their blood increases by nearly 50 percent.52 At the other end of the life cycle, regular exercise can also help prevent age-related immune

Combinations of antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin E, and beta-carotene in pill form were associated with increased risk of death in those who took them.15 Supplements contain only a select few antioxidants, whereas your body relies on hundreds of them, all working synergistically to create a network to help the body dispose of free radicals.

elderly, sedentary women have a 50 percent chance of getting an upper-respiratory illness during the fall season, those randomized to begin a half-hour-a-day walking program dropped their risk down to 20 percent. Among conditioned runners, though, the risk was just 8 percent.53 Exercising appeared to make their immune systems more than five times better at fighting infection. So what's going on here? How does the simple act of moving

For every virus that we know about, there are hundreds that we don't know anything about,

When it comes to safe, simple lifestyle prescriptions, I'm realizing it may be more effective to empower individuals directly.

Starting a meal with foods containing fewer than one hundred calories per cup can result in fewer overall calories consumed. This includes many fruits, vegetables, soups, salads, or simply a tall glass of water.

against such respiratory-tract infections as pneumonia and influenza.55 Moderate exercise may be all it takes to boost IgA levels and significantly reduce the chance of coming down with flu-like symptoms. Compared to a sedentary control group, those who performed aerobic exercises for thirty minutes three times a week for twelve weeks had a 50 percent increase in the levels of IgA in their saliva and reported significantly fewer

Thankfully, a number of foods may help maintain your immunity to keep the germs at bay. First up is chlorella, a single-celled, freshwater, green algae typically sold as a powder or compressed into tablets

High doses of a single antioxidant may upset this delicate balance and may actually diminish your body's ability to fight cancer.16 When you buy antioxidant supplements, you may be doling out money to live a shorter life.

who want to sustain their immune function is nutritional yeast. A 2013 study reported that you may more effectively maintain your levels of white blood cells after exercise by consuming a special type of fiber found in baker's, brewer's, and nutritional yeast.67 Brewer's yeast is bitter, but nutritional yeast has a pleasant, cheese-like flavor. It tastes particularly good on popcorn. The study found that after two hours of intense cycling,

The reason diets don't work almost by definition is that people go on them, and then they go off them. Permanent weight loss is only achieved through permanent lifestyle change. So what's the point of fasting if you're just going to go back to your regular diet and gain all the weight right back?

We domesticated pigs and got whooping cough, domesticated chickens and got typhoid fever,894 and domesticated ducks and got influenza.

Their bodies didn't seem to fully recognize the extra calories when they were in liquid form and, therefore, didn't compensate by reducing their appetites for the rest of the day.

The reason some of the unhealthiest foods are marketed is one of simple economics: Real food goes bad. 751 Fruits and vegetables are perishable. What shareholders want is a snack cake that lasts for weeks on the shelf.

minutes of vigorous activity (such as jogging or active sports) each day.