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Quotes About Wellness

Those randomized to even just thirty seconds a day of a cold-water blast ended up taking off fewer sick days from work.3484 Foods
~ Michael Greger
Overweight women were randomized to eat calorie-restricted weight-loss diets with or without a teaspoon of added cumin a day (half a teaspoon at both lunch and dinner). Over the three-month study, those in the cumin group lost about four more pounds and nearly an extra inch off their waists, in addition to significantly dropping their triglycerides and cholesterol.2727 Since cumin can be purchased in bulk for less than a dollar an ounce, a teaspoon would cost less than ten cents a day.
~ Michael Greger
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized, controlled weight-loss trials found that about a quarter teaspoon of black cumin powder every day appears to reduce body mass index within a span of a couple of months.
~ Michael Greger
A BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 is considered "ideal weight.
~ Michael Greger
The group of overweight nine- to twelve-year-olds randomized to the water intervention was told to increase their water intakes to the point their urine became straw-colored (pale yellow). Once again, not every kid complied, but those who did lost significantly more weight.3856 Inspired
~ Michael Greger
the single most pro-inflammatory food component is saturated fat. The single most anti-inflammatory food component? Fiber.3899 Since saturated fat is found mostly in meat, dairy, and junk food, whereas fiber is abundant in whole grains, beans, vegetables, and fruit,
~ Michael Greger
If you ask people to double their baseline number of chews per bite, they end up eating about 15 percent less pizza, feeling just as full eating more than one hundred fewer calories.2996 Even just asking them to chew 50 percent more times than normal may cut their consumption by nearly 10 percent.2997
~ Michael Greger
Those on a Standard American Diet lose about 5 percent of the calories they eat in their waste,1198 but a higher-fiber diet can double that.
~ Michael Greger
A completely plant-based diet, however, can help drop C-reactive protein levels by 30–40 percent within just a few weeks in both adults3905 and children,
~ Michael Greger
Both were given identical instructions to follow a healthier diet, but one group was also given fourteen grams of dried goji berries a day, which is about two tablespoons.3923 Forty-five days later, the goji group appeared to cut two and a half inches off their waistlines
~ Michael Greger
Was the weight loss simply statistically significant or actually significant? That's for you to decide. During the three-month trial, compared to the placebo group, the group taking one daily tablespoon of vinegar steadily lost about a pound a month and the group taking two daily tablespoons were down a total of about five pounds. Five pounds may not sound like a lot, but that weight loss was achieved for just pennies a day without removing anything from their diets.
~ Michael Greger
Pistachios are not just the most melatonin-rich nut, they are off the charts as the most melatonin-rich food ever recorded.2957 To get a physiological dose of melatonin, all you have to eat is two. Two cups? Two handfuls? No, just two pistachios. Pistachio nuts were found to contain 0.2 mg of melatonin per gram.2958 It only takes 0.3 mg of melatonin to cause the normal daily spike our brains give us, so just two nuts would presumably do the trick.2959
~ Michael Greger
As a high-calorie-density food, the admonition to "eat sparingly" still applies, but that's all one may need. While the optimum benefits of fruits and vegetables may require cups a day, nuts appear so potent that the mortality benefits may be had for mere ounces a week. FOOD
~ Michael Greger
A doctor a day may keep the apples away.
~ Michael Greger
Like so many other organs, the brain possesses a miraculous ability to heal itself, to forge new synaptic connections around old ones, to learn and relearn. That is, however, if you don't keep damaging it three times a day. A wholesome diet and exercise may offer your best hope for remaining sharp and healthy into your twilight years.
~ Michael Greger
Dr. Greger's Eight Check-Mark Pesto 2 cups fresh basil leaves ¼ cup freshly toasted walnuts 2 cloves fresh garlic ¼ of a peeled lemon ¼ teaspoon lemon zest ¼ inch of fresh turmeric root (or ¼ teaspoon turmeric powder) ¼ cup pinto beans ¼ cup water or liquid from bean can 1 tablespoon white miso Pepper to taste Combine all ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Scoop onto a cup and a half of cooked whole-grain pasta.
~ Michael Greger
researchers recognized that nearly any diet can cause weight loss at least short term, but the ends don't always justify the means. Their challenge was to design a "nutritionally sound" diet "conducive to a lifelong pattern of healthful eating."3074 To that end, the diet encourages people to eat more high-bulk, calorie-dilute foods (vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and beans) and fewer energy-dense foods (meats, cheeses, sugars, and fats).
~ Michael Greger
So choose foods that take longer to eat, and eat them in a way that prolongs the time they stay in your mouth. Think bulkier, harder, chewier foods, such as apples, carrots, or intact grains, eaten in smaller, thoroughly chewed bites. Snack on raw veggies, and fall in love with soup. If possible, extend meal duration so it lasts at least twenty minutes to allow your natural satiety signals to take full effect.
~ Michael Greger
green, leafy vegetables a week had roughly half the odds of getting lymphoma compared with those who ate less than one serving a week.12 Some of the plant-based protection might have been due to the antioxidant properties of fruits and vegetables. Higher dietary intake of antioxidants is associated with significantly lower lymphoma risk.
~ Michael Greger
It's bad enough that most medical schools don't even require a single course on nutrition,58 but it's even worse when mainstream medical organizations actively lobby against increased nutrition education for physicians.59
~ Michael Greger
Maybe it's time we stop blaming genetics and focus on the more than 70 percent that is directly under our control.
~ Michael Greger
Overall, most sleep improvement interventions tend to show improved weight loss, giving a positive spin to the phrase You snooze, you lose.
~ Michael Greger
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.
~ Michael Greger
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?
~ Michael Greger