If there were an action figure of Dr. Michael Greger, there would be one in my kitchen. I discovered Dr. Greger’s by watching his lecture on How Not to Die and reading the book afterwards, but it was his website nutritionfacts.org with over 2000 health topics that elevated him to superhero status in my household.

When your hungry to discover how to be your healthiest, you have to wade through a swamp of books based on anecdotes, active imaginations, and a lack of fundamental science. There are books written with the best intentions, books written with the goal of selling supplements, books with goal of selling. As someone who wants to be of sound mind to optimize what happens in the practice room and someone who wants to fuel my body for marathon training, the discovery of Dr. Greger’s tireless work reviewing the vast scientific literature (How Not to Die had about 2000 citations, How Not to Diet, 5000, and How Not to Age came in with more than 13000!) to uncover and relay the science as clearly and concisely as possible was exactly why I had traversed that swamp for years.

Held in high esteem by pioneers and luminaries in the lifestyle medicine world such as Dr. Dean Ornish, Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, T. Colin Campbell, Walter Willet, Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Greger’s How Not to Die, and his subsequent books How Not to Diet and his latest, still open on my nightstand, How Not to Age, provide all the supporting science on the benefits of adopting a whole food plant-based diet to maximize your biology.