She Was Given a Death Sentence at 65. She Lived to 96 | Dr. Michael Greger
episodePreviously titled “How to REVERSE Aging With What You Eat Daily” — renamed by the publisher on Sep 1, 2026
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome back, everyone, to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Dr. Michael Greger in the house.
Good to see you, sir. So glad to be here. Welcome.
This is exciting. This is exciting. Your research has been really out there in the mainstream a lot lately. A lot of documentaries. Your books have been blowing up. And the most recent one, How Not to Age, The Scientific Approach to Getting Healthier as You Get Older. I'm really fascinated by because most people don't think they can actually get and improve their health the older they get. They just feel like they have to deal with chronic pain, illness, disease. They have to take medications to just maintain a level of ease. So is it actually possible to stop aging or even reverse aging with foods as we get older?
Diet appears to be the most critical element. And that's really what the book is about, this kind of good news that we have tremendous power over our health, destiny, and longevity. The vast majority of premature death and disability is preventable with a healthy enough diet and lifestyle.
Really?
only about 25% based on studies of identical twins, only about 25% of the difference in lifespan between people is due to genetics. Really? So for what we can do over the majority of which we have some control, we can look to, for example, you know, these blue zones, these areas around the world with exceptional longevity and kind of look at the Venn diagram and what they're all doing. According to the Global Burden of Disease Study, the largest systemic analysis of risk factors in history, the number one cause of death in these United States is the American diet. Really? Bumping tobacco, smoking to number two, cigarettes now only kill about a half million Americans every year, whereas our diet kills many more.
Come on. So, but that's good news, because that means we have the power. Right. It's never too late to start eating healthier, to stop smoking, to start moving. So, I mean, it's really a positive message that I was excited to learn when I finished the book.
So when we change our lifestyle, when we change our eating habits and our nutritional habits, we can actually reverse our aging or age better is what I'm hearing you say. We can age slower.
Age slower. Age slower. Okay. And because aging is a significant risk factor for most of our leading killers, you know, so my first book in the series, How Not to Die, was, you know, first half of the book is just 15 chapters, each of the 15 leading causes of death. Talking about the world diet. may play in preventing, arresting, or reversing each of our top 15 killers. Say, wait a second. I mean, if death is from disease, why isn't How Not to Die kind of all the longevity book anybody needs? But it's because aging is a risk factor for multiple different diseases. So, for example, if all cancer were cured tomorrow, it would only add about three years to the average lifespan. I said, wait a second, why is that?
It's like our second leading killer. It's because if you don't die of one age-related disease, you'll just die of another one. So the only reason you didn't die of a heart attack, ah, because you died of cancer the month before, but you were going to die anyway from something else.
How can diet reverse aging?
So by slowing down the aging process, then we can reduce the risk of many different diseases at the same time, the stroke and the dementia and cancer, heart disease, which rise exponentially with age. Really? So something like, you know, having a high cholesterol can increase your odds of having a heart attack or number one killer of men and women by as much as 20-fold. But an 80-year-old... has 500 times the risk of having a heart attack compared to a 20 year old. So age. But I mean, of course, the reason we focus on things like cholesterol is because it's a modifiable risk factor. But what if the rate of aging were modifiable, too?
And so that's what I really cover in the book. So what would the five main keys be to aging better?
Yeah, so Diet number one.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:03–3:13
2
How can diet reverse aging?
3:13–6:07
3
What are the leading causes of death related to diet?
6:07–8:35
4
What lifestyle changes can add years to your life?
8:35–14:02
5
What are the five core foods for longevity?
14:02–22:57
6
How does meal timing affect longevity?
22:57–27:13
7
What is the potassium salt switch and its benefits?
27:13–29:44
8
Why are whole plant foods superior to supplements?
29:44–1:34:38
Speakers
3 identifiedMore from The School of Greatness
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