@WakeUpCall – ‘How Not to Age Cookbook'

Dr. Michael Greger joins Wake Up Call to discuss his new book, How Not to Age Cookbook.’

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's say good morning now to the author of How
Not To Age Cookbook. It's doctor Michael Gregor. Good morning, doctor.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
Gregor, Good morning to you.

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Okay, so let's just dive right in, doctor Gregor, because
you got some stuff that's gonna well, it's not going
to stop us from dying, but it'll keep us healthier
and help us live longer. So and this sounds like
something I can totally sink my teeth into. Tell us
about your book, please.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Yes, see How Not to Age Cookbook based on my
book How Not to Age, which came out recently. My
aim with Anatage's creat the most comprehensive antiaging book ever written,
covering every possible strategy for slowing the aging process. It's
the longest healthiest life based on the best available balance

(00:49):
of scientific evidence. And the good news is we have
tremendous power over our health, desting, and longevity, and that's
the last majority of premature death and disability is preventable
with a healthy enough die and lifestyle.

Speaker 1 (01:01):
You know, there's a lot of talk recently about how
this how we're eating all these overprocessed foods and that's
causing all kinds of problems for us. So does your
book basically cut that out and get back to basics.

Speaker 2 (01:15):
Yes, we really do need to decrease our intake of
ultra process food's. Based on studies of identical twins, only
about twenty five percent of the difference and lifespan between
people is determined by genetics. So for what we can
do over the majority of which we have some control,
we can look to the blue zones, these areas of
exceptional longevity around the world where dietary surveys suggest we

(01:37):
should center our diets around whole plant foods. So we're
minimizing those processed foods meat, dairy, sugar, eggs, salt, while
maximizing fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legomes like beans, floot, beets,
chick bes and lentils, not and things mush observes and spices,
basically real food that grows out of the ground. Those
are our healthiest choices.

Speaker 1 (01:57):
Okay, So, like when you're shopping, stick to that center
section where all the fruits and vegetables are as opposed
to the aisles where there's all the process stuff.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
We love the produce ayle, but then there's also like
the bulk section where you also get bulkhole grains and
holy pasta and leg gums and things. There's lots of
healthy food if you cannot get distracted by you know,
the glaring you know, fluorescent marshmallow cereal staring at.

Speaker 1 (02:27):
You well, and that doctor Gregor. That's something that I mean, like,
everybody's really busy today. I know that. And this is
just me talking that. My schedule is really screwy. So
by four thirty or five o'clock at night, when it's
time for dinner, because I, you know, eat dinner at
the same time as a ninety year old, I don't
want to cook. I don't want to do that. So

(02:48):
how do you make it easier for people not to
just do the grab and go and actually put a
meal together?

Speaker 2 (02:57):
Yeah, well that's why I like batch cooking so much.
So on when you have a little time, you can
batch cook you know, the whole grains or the beans
or whatever. So you have things kind of ready to
eat or ready to just kind of throw together. And
you know, anyone who thinks, you know, they you know,
can't eat healthy without being convenient. It's never met an apple.

(03:17):
Some of the eat healthy. There's the most convenience food
you can you can even eat the wrapper like it
it's like just right there, or you know, microwave a
sweet potato, or it's like there's simple things that are
really quick, really easy, and so yeah, we really don't
need to go to some of those package things which
have way too much so sugar out of sects.

Speaker 1 (03:38):
Love the apple analogy. That's so perfect, dude, doctor Gregor, Like,
why did you decide you wanted to do this, Like
what's the motivation for making this cookbook?

Speaker 2 (03:49):
Oh? Well, you know, you know, I didn't want to
just be a reference book to the time of days
is thirteen thousand citations, So I really wanted to be
kind of a day to day grocery stores guide. I'm
making a practice on how to include some of the
healthiest of healthy foods into one's daily diet. And not
only is every recipe healthy, including all the desserts, every
single ingredient of every recipe is healthy. So, you know,

(04:12):
how do you make thing salty without salt or sweet
without sugar? Those are some of the kind of challenges
we face. I'm really proud what we're able to accomplish.

Speaker 1 (04:19):
Okay, I want to know how do you make things salty?
Without salt and sweet without sugar.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
Ah, you use well, there's lots of ways, but potassium
based salt substitutes. So using potassium chlorid instead of sodium
chlorid had been shown me randomized controled trout to significantly
decrease cardiovascular disease risk. And even just a half and
half blend of regular salt sodium chlorid with that potassium salt,
which you can buy I'm at any grocery store such

(04:46):
that you wouldn't even be able to taste, the difference
can significantly improve one's health by helping lower in one's cholesterol,
I excuse me one's blood pressure. And so that's one
of the tricks. Another is to in bake and cooking,
you can use misa, which is kind of a fermented
soy paste from Asia. It's the only food with substantial

(05:13):
menci certain that isn't associated with semi cancer risk or
high blood pressure, the two things we worry about when
we're getting that too much salt in our diet.

Speaker 1 (05:20):
So there there's other ways to use me so, aside
from miso soup, which I love.

Speaker 2 (05:26):
Oh right now, So you can take me so and
you can use them stir it in to make savory sauces.
So it has that nice and mommy flavor and has
that saltiness which can help in a variety of dishes.
So yeah, we use meso a lot in the cookbook
because we really want to find ways to decrease their

(05:47):
consumption of regular salt.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Okay, and then doctor Gregor, we're talking to doctor Gregor,
the author of How Not To Age Cookbook. You've got
one hundred recipes for getting healthier, living longer. Are they
hard to make? Or are they quick? Or are they
user friendly?

Speaker 2 (06:04):
It really spans the gambit. So there are some, you know,
fancy recipes, you know for holidays that take some time,
but there's also a lot of really quick and easy options,
some things you can prep beforehand. So it really shouldn't
I mean, we shouldn't be faced with that the you know,
the the choice that you have that you you know,

(06:26):
talked about before of you know, am I gonna eat convenient?
Am I gonna eat healthy? Am I going to you know,
eat something inexpensive or am I gonna eat something healthy?
You really can have it all, and it may take
a few weeks for your taste bus to change to
really appreciate the taste of whole mass of foods. But
you'd be surprised once we stop, you know, you know,

(06:47):
numbing our palate with hyper salty, hyper sweet, hyper fatty foods,
all of a sudden, normal natural, healthy foods start tasting good, like,
you know, corner of the cob without salt, without butter.
I mean it's just absolutely unthinkable now, but unbelievably after
Once your taste buds start to shift, that can be
incredibly delicious. But you know, the rightest peach in the

(07:08):
world's gonna taste sour after a bullet fruit loops. But
once your palette starts to adapt to healthy foods, then
you're in the best of both worlds, taste great, and
you get to live longer. That's what plant based eating
is all about.

Speaker 1 (07:19):
Okay, And you say plant based is the way to go,
What about us meat eaters? I mean, like, can we
do is it cutting back on it good or do
we have to go completely plant based because that's a big.

Speaker 2 (07:30):
Ass Oh, we should eat primarily plants, not necessarily exclusively plants.
So plant based I is really more about just maximizing
the intake of the healthiest foods. You know, as a
you know as a physician, labels like vegetarian or vegan,
I mean that just tells me what you don't eat.
I mean you actually eat vegetables. Yes, And look, it
doesn't matter what you within your bird days, holiday, special occasions,

(07:50):
but on a day to day basis, food really should
try to center our diets around you know, natural foods
from fields and not factories, these unprocessed plant foods.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
Okay, well, I can't wait. You check out the recipes
for myself. I know we're waiting for our copies, so
I haven't had a chance to look through everything just yet,
but we will. And for people who are interested in
How Not to Age Cookbook, where can we get more information?
And of course where can we get the book?

Speaker 2 (08:15):
I mean you can get the book anywhere. The best
place to get all books it's your local public library
and you go Nutrition Factor or where all my work
is available free.

Speaker 1 (08:24):
Okay, Doctor Michael Gregor, author of How Not to Age Cookbook,
one hundred recipes, actually one hundred plus recipes for getting
healthier and living longer. Always a great idea. Thanks so
much for your time and info this morning. Thank you
all right, take care