Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/29/2025

Cleaning Products, Air Fresheners, and Lung Function

There is a reason the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prohibits not only smoking but also scented or fragranced products in its buildings.In a recent review entitled “Damaging Effects of Household Cleaning Products on the Lungs,” researchers noted: “Adverse respiratory effects of cle

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Boosting BDNF Levels in Our Brain to Treat Depression
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/24/2025

Boosting BDNF Levels in Our Brain to Treat Depression

We can raise BDNF levels in our brain by fasting and exercising, as well as by eating and avoiding certain foods.There is accumulating evidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) may be playing a role in human depression. BDNF controls the growth of new nerve cells. “So, low levels of thi

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Does Fasting Help Treat Depression?
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/22/2025

Does Fasting Help Treat Depression?

Caloric restriction can boost levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is considered to play a critical role in mood disorders.For more than a century, fasting has been espoused as a treatment of supposed “great utility in the preservation of health,” especially rejuvenating the bod

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
IBD and Cannabis
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/17/2025

IBD and Cannabis

Smoking cannabis may help with symptoms of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the short term, but it may make the long-term prognosis worse.As this study asks, “Medical Marijuana: A Panacea or Scourge?” For 5,000 years, cannabis “has been used throughout the world medically, recreationally, and spi

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Eating to Downregulate a Gene for Metastatic Cancer
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/15/2025

Eating to Downregulate a Gene for Metastatic Cancer

Women with breast cancer should include the “liberal culinary use of cruciferous vegetables.”Both the Women’s Intervention Nutrition Study and the Women’s Health Initiative study showed that women randomized to a lower-fat diet enjoyed improved breast cancer survival. However, in the Women’s Healthy

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Eating to Help Control Cancer Metastasis
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/10/2025

Eating to Help Control Cancer Metastasis

Randomized controlled trials show that lowering saturated fat intake can lead to improved breast cancer survival.The leading cause of cancer-related death is metastasis. Cancer kills because cancer spreads. The five-year survival rate for women with localized breast cancer is nearly 99 percent, for

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Dietary Components That May Cause Cancer to Metastasize
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/08/2025

Dietary Components That May Cause Cancer to Metastasize

Palmitic acid, a saturated fat concentrated in meat and dairy, can boost the metastatic potential of cancer cells through the fat receptor CD36.The leading cause of death in cancer patients is metastasis formation. That’s how most people die of cancer—not from the primary tumor, but the cancer sprea

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Does Black Cumin Seed (Nigella Sativa) Help with Weight Loss?
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/03/2025

Does Black Cumin Seed (Nigella Sativa) Help with Weight Loss?

For three cents a day, black cumin may improve our cholesterol and triglyceride levels, blood pressure, and blood sugar control, as well as accelerate the loss of body fat.Black cumin, also known as Nigella sativa or simply “black seed,” is not related to cumin; it’s a member of the buttercup family

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Should We Drink Kombucha
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 07/01/2025

Should We Drink Kombucha

What are the risks versus benefits of drinking kombucha?Is Kombucha Tea Good for You? is one of my first videos. It was featured in a blog entry entitled “NutritionFacts.org: the first month,” where I marveled the video had reached nearly 100,000 people. You can see it below and at 0:20 in my video

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Treating Hashimoto’s Disease (Hypothyroidism) Naturally with Diet
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/26/2025

Treating Hashimoto’s Disease (Hypothyroidism) Naturally with Diet

What were the results of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a daily half teaspoon of powdered black cumin in Hashimoto’s patients?“Autoimmune thyroiditis, also known as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, is an organ-specific autoimmune disorder,” where our body attacks our own thyroid glan

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/24/2025

Eating with Hypothyroidism and Hyperthyroidism

Is the apparent protection of plant-based diets for thyroid health due to the exclusion of animal foods, the benefits of plant foods, or both?Several autoimmune diseases affect the thyroid gland, and Graves’ disease and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis are the most common. Graves’ disease results in hyperthy

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
A Healthy, Natural Source of Iodine?
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/19/2025

A Healthy, Natural Source of Iodine?

How much nori, dulse, or arame approximates the recommended daily allowance for iodine?Dairy milk supplies between a quarter and a half of the daily iodine requirement in the United States, though milk itself has “little native iodine.” The iodine content in cow’s milk is mainly determined by factor

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Vegans and Iodine Deficiency Risk
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/17/2025

Vegans and Iodine Deficiency Risk

Most plant-based milks are not fortified with iodine.“Adequate dietary iodine is required for normal thyroid function.” In fact, the two thyroid hormones are named after how many iodine atoms they contain: T3 and T4. “Given that iodine is extensively stored in the thyroid gland itself, it can safely

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
What About Elderberry, Echinacea, and Cranberries for Colds and the Flu?
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/12/2025

What About Elderberry, Echinacea, and Cranberries for Colds and the Flu?

How effective are flu shots, elderberries, echinacea, and cranberries?The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone over the age of six months get a routine flu shot every year, unless you have some sort of contraindication, such as an allergy to any of the vacci

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Skip the Salt and Shake on Potassium Chloride?
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/10/2025

Skip the Salt and Shake on Potassium Chloride?

Worldwide, physical inactivity accounts for more than 10 million years of healthy life lost, but what we eat accounts for nearly 20 times that. As I discuss in my video Fewer Than 1 in 5,000 Meet Sodium and Potassium Recommended Intakes, unhealthy diets shave hundreds of millions of disability-free

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Chemical Safety, Cultivated Meat, and Our Health
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/05/2025

Chemical Safety, Cultivated Meat, and Our Health

More than 95 percent of human exposure to industrial pollutants like dioxins and PCBs comes from fish, other meat, and dairy.By cultivating muscle meat directly, without associated organs like intestines, the incidence of foodborne diseases “could be significantly reduced,” as could exposure to anti

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Antibiotic Resistance, Cultivated Meat, and Our Health
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 06/03/2025

Antibiotic Resistance, Cultivated Meat, and Our Health

Medically important antibiotics are being squandered by animal agriculture to compensate for typical factory farming practices.Cultivating muscle meat directly from cells instead of raising and slaughtering animals would reduce the risk of foodborne illnesses “due to fecal contamination during slaug

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Celebrating Food, Culture, and AAPI Month with Remy Morimoto Park
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/29/2025

Celebrating Food, Culture, and AAPI Month with Remy Morimoto Park

We had the pleasure of talking with Remy Morimoto Park about food, culture, and AAPI Month. We hope you enjoy this interview and her recipes for Crunchy Pad Thai Inspired Salad and Miso Soup.Please tell us a little bit about yourself and your work. I am a vegan cookbook author and health and wellne

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Food Safety and Cultivated Meat
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/27/2025

Food Safety and Cultivated Meat

What are the direct health implications of making clean meat—that is, meat without animals?In a 1932 article in Popular Mechanics entitled “Fifty Years Hence,” Winston Churchill predicted that we would one day “escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by gr

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Statins and Muscle Pain Side Effects
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/22/2025

Statins and Muscle Pain Side Effects

Why is the incidence of side effects from statins so low in clinical trials while appearing to be so high in the real world?“There is now overwhelming evidence to support reducing LDL-C (low-density lipoprotein cholesterol)”—so-called bad cholesterol—to reduce atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Eating to Treat Crohn’s Disease
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/20/2025

Eating to Treat Crohn’s Disease

Switching to a plant-based diet has been shown to achieve far better outcomes than those reported on conventional treatments for both active and quiescent stages of Crohn’s disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis.Important to our understanding and the prevention of the global increase of inflammatory bow

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Eating to Keep Ulcerative Colitis in Remission
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/15/2025

Eating to Keep Ulcerative Colitis in Remission

Plant-based diets can be 98 percent effective in keeping ulcerative colitis patients in remission, far exceeding the efficacy of other treatments.“One of the most common questions physicians treating patients with IBD [inflammatory bowel disease] are asked is whether changing diet could positively a

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Foods That Disrupt Our Microbiome
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/13/2025

Foods That Disrupt Our Microbiome

Eating a diet filled with animal products can disrupt our microbiome faster than taking an antibiotic.If you search online for “Crohn’s disease and diet” or “ulcerative colitis and diet,” the top results are a hodgepodge of conflicting advice, as you can see below and at 0:15 in my video Preventing

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM
Skincare as You Age Infographic
Michael Greger M.D. FACLM on 05/08/2025

Skincare as You Age Infographic

When I dove into the scientific research for my book How Not to Age, I uncovered the best ways we can care for our skin as we mature. What are the most important lifestyle factors? The best topical creams? Are there any beneficial procedures? This infographic summarizes the main takeaways.Get this i

M Michael Greger M.D. FACLM