Q&A with Dr. Greger 17

Hosted by Michael Greger 27 recommendations extracted ▶ Listen ↗

Auto-extracted preview. These recommendations were transcribed and classified from the episode audio. Timestamps link to the source; classifications are not yet editorially verified.

What Michael Greger recommended

In transcript order

Endorses Plant Based on a Budget brand ▶ 2:20

Greger recommends the Plant Based on a Budget resource, which offers ~$4/day plant-based eating plans, for those on tight grocery budgets.

“
One of my favorites is called Plant Based on a Budget

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

Budget EatingPlant-Based
Endorses Sweet potatoes food ▶ 2:40

Sweet potatoes are among the healthiest and cheapest foods available.

“
one of the healthiest foods on the planet, one of the cheapest foods

Certainty
explicit
strong endorsement

Whole FoodsBudget
Endorses Red cabbage food ▶ 2:45

Red cabbage is highlighted as a cheap, healthy staple.

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

BudgetVegetables
Endorses Dried beans food ▶ 2:48

Dried beans and peas are extremely cheap and healthy budget staples.

“
dried beans and peas, lentils... literally dirt cheap

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

LegumesBudget
Endorses Lentils food ▶ 2:50

Lentils are an inexpensive, healthy staple.

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

LegumesBudget
Endorses Black soybeans food ▶ 3:08

One tablespoon of black soybeans daily significantly lowers LDL cholesterol; Greger batch-cooks and freezes them to add to meals.

“
a tablespoon of black soybeans a day significantly decreases LDL cholesterol

Dosage
1 tablespoon per day
Certainty
explicit
strong endorsement

CholesterolLDLLegumes
Endorses No salt, no oil, no sugar, no flour diet practice ▶ 4:10

Organic (prompted) In a protocol

Greger endorses avoiding added salt, oil, sugar, and refined flour, getting fats from whole foods like nuts/seeds/avocados and sugars from whole fruit.

“
Wonderful. Yeah, we shouldn't be adding added salt.

Dosage
Get fats from nuts/seeds/avocados; sugars from fruit/sweet potatoes; eat groats or whole grains instead of flour
Certainty
explicit
strong endorsement

Whole FoodsDiet
Endorses Walnuts food ▶ 4:50

In a protocol

Walnuts are probably the healthiest nuts.

“
Walnuts are probably the healthiest nuts

Certainty
hedged
strong endorsement

Nuts
Endorses Flaxseeds food ▶ 4:55

In a protocol

Flaxseeds are probably the healthiest seeds.

“
flaxseeds are probably the healthiest seeds

Certainty
hedged
strong endorsement

Seeds
Nuanced Nuts food ▶ 5:26

Avoid eating more than a cup of nuts at a time due to oxalate kidney stone risk.

“
you don't want to eat more than a cup of nuts at a time

Dosage
Limit to less than 1 cup at a time
Certainty
explicit
mild caution

NutsKidney StonesOxalates
Avoids Coconut oil on infant skin practice ▶ 6:20

Do not massage infants with coconut oil because saturated fats actually pass through infant skin into the bloodstream.

“
you don't want to massage infants with coconut oil

Caveats
Adults can safely use coconut oil on skin
Certainty
explicit
mild caution

InfantsSkincareSaturated Fat
Endorses Dulse food ▶ 7:20

Organic (prompted)

Dulse, a purple seaweed powder, is recommended as a healthy iodine source to sprinkle on foods.

“
Dulse is this purple powder that you can sprinkle on stuff

Dosage
Enough to reach ~150 mcg iodine/day; doesn't need to be daily as body stores iodine
Certainty
explicit
recommendation

IodineSeaweed
Endorses Iodine supplement ▶ 7:45

Aim for 150 mcg iodine per day, particularly important for pregnant women.

“
150 micrograms of iodine one needs every day

Dosage
150 mcg/day; doesn't need to be daily as body stores it
Certainty
explicit
recommendation

IodinePregnancy
Endorses Tahini food ▶ 8:15

Greger recommends drizzling tahini (single-ingredient sesame seeds) on dishes, and likes squeeze-bottle tahini for convenience.

“
just one ingredient, right? Sesame seeds

Certainty
personal only
personal use

SeedsCondiments
Endorses Nori food ▶ 8:30

Alternative

One or two sheets of nori per day provides the daily iodine requirement.

“
one or two sheets of Nori a day gets you your daily iodine dose

Dosage
1-2 sheets per day
Certainty
explicit
recommendation

IodineSeaweed
Endorses Kelp food ▶ 9:15

In a protocol Alternative

A tiny amount of kelp mixed into a monthly batch of his portfolio-plus powder provides daily iodine needs.

“
a tiny amount of kelp in a month's batch, get all the iodine you need

Dosage
Tiny amount mixed into a month's batch of powder
Caveats
Don't take normally as it's too much iodine; only tiny amounts spread out
Certainty
personal only
personal use

Iodine
Avoids Non-fermented milk food ▶ 10:00

Organic (prompted)

Non-fermented milk consumption is associated with increased mortality and hip fracture, attributed to galactose content.

“
milk consumption is associated with increased risk of premature death, hip fracture

Certainty
explicit
mild caution

DairyMilkMortality
Endorses Fermented dairy food ▶ 10:20

Organic (prompted) Alternative

If consuming dairy, fermented dairy is preferable because fermentation eats up galactose, the sugar linked to higher mortality and hip fracture in milk drinkers.

“
if you're going to do dairy, presumably fermented would be better

Certainty
hedged
recommendation

DairyFermentationGalactose
Endorses Hemoglobin A1c test practice ▶ 17:30

Organic (prompted)

Use hemoglobin A1c as the meaningful measure of long-term blood sugar control rather than worrying about individual meal spikes.

“
You can do that with a hemoglobin A1c

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

Blood SugarDiabetes
Avoids Saturated fat food ▶ 18:00

Organic (prompted)

Reduce saturated fat (long-chain like palmitic acid found in meat, dairy, junk food) to improve insulin sensitivity and lower blood sugar.

“
most critical thing is decreasing saturated fat intake

Caveats
Short-chain saturated fats like butyrate are beneficial; breast milk saturated fat is not harmful
Certainty
explicit
strong warning

Insulin ResistanceSaturated FatBlood Sugar
Avoids Refined flour grains food ▶ 18:30

In a protocol

Avoid floured grains (even whole grain flours) because small particle size causes rapid digestion and blood sugar spikes; eat groats or whole grains instead.

“
refined carbs. The floured grains, even if they're whole grains

Certainty
explicit
mild caution

GrainsBlood Sugar
Endorses How Not to Die book ▶ 19:00

Endorsement

Greger's book How Not to Die available at NutritionFacts.org/books; all proceeds go to charity.

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

Books
Endorses How Not to Diet book ▶ 19:00

Endorsement

Greger's book How Not to Diet, available at NutritionFacts.org/books.

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

BooksWeight Loss
Endorses How Not to Age book ▶ 19:05

Endorsement

Greger's book How Not to Age, available at NutritionFacts.org/books.

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

BooksLongevity
Endorses How Not to Hurt book ▶ 19:10

Endorsement

Greger's upcoming book How Not to Hurt.

Certainty
explicit
offhand mention

Books
Endorses Greger's natural cholesterol-lowering primer book ▶ 19:15

Endorsement

Greger's primer on natural approaches to cholesterol lowering covers diet-based LDL reduction.

Certainty
explicit
recommendation

CholesterolBooks
Endorses NutritionFacts.org service ▶ 19:40

Endorsement

Greger directs listeners to NutritionFacts.org for free science-based nutrition videos and articles.

“
NutritionFacts.org is a science-based nonprofit

Certainty
explicit
strong endorsement

Resources