Michael Greger Explained

Michael Greger
Birth Date:25 October 1972[1]
Birth Place:Miami, Florida, US[2]
Education:Cornell University (BA)
Tufts University (MD)
Module:
Profession:General practitioner
Field:Clinical nutrition

Michael Herschel Greger (born October 25, 1972)[1] is an American physician, author, and speaker on public health issues best known for his advocacy of a whole-food, plant-based diet, and his opposition to animal-derived food products.

Career

Greger went to college at Cornell University School of Agriculture, where as a junior he wrote informally about the dangers of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (commonly known as mad cow disease) on a website he published in 1994.[3] [4] [5] In the same year, he was hired to work on mad cow issues for Farm Sanctuary, near Cornell, and became a vegan after touring a stockyard as part of his work with Farm Sanctuary.[3] In 1998, he appeared as an expert witness testifying about bovine spongiform encephalopathy when cattle producers unsuccessfully sued Oprah Winfrey for libel over statements she had made about the safety of meat in 1996.[3] [6]

He enrolled at Tufts University School of Medicine, originally for its MD/PhD program, but then withdrew from the dual-degree program to pursue only the medical degree.[7] He graduated in 1999 as a general practitioner specializing in clinical nutrition.[3] In 2001, he joined the Organic Consumers Association to work on mad cow issues, on which he spoke widely as cases of the disease appeared in the US and Canada,[3] [8] [9] [10] calling mad cow "The Plague of the 21st Century."[11] [12] [13]

In 2004, he launched a website and published a book critical of the Atkins Diet and other low carb diets.[3]

In 2004, the American College Of Lifestyle Medicine was formed in Loma Linda,[14] and Greger was a founding member[3] as one of the first hundred people to join the organization.[15]

In 2005, he joined the farm animal welfare division of the Humane Society as director of public health and animal agriculture.[3] In 2008, he testified before Congress[16] after the Humane Society released its undercover video of the Westland Meat Packing Company, which showed downer animals entering the meat supply, and which led to the USDA forcing the recall of 143 million pounds of beef, some of which had been routed into the nation's school lunch program.[17]

In 2011, he founded the website NutritionFacts.org[18] with funding from the Jesse & Julie Rasch Foundation.[19]

Greger is a Research Advisory Committee member of The Vegan Society.[20]

Dietary recommendations

In his lectures, videos, and writings about nutrition, Greger tries to persuade people to change their eating habits from a Western pattern diet to a whole-food, plant-based diet, which he says can prevent and reverse many chronic diseases.[21] [22] He is critical of some other doctors for not encouraging their patients to adopt plant-based diets and to avoid animal-based products[22] and has criticized the USDA, stating that "a conflict of interest right in their mission statement" protects the economic interests of food producers in lieu of clear dietary guidelines.[23]

Reception

Greger's third book, Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching, received a favorable review which said it was "interesting and informative to both scientists and lay persons",[24] but public health expert David Sencer was critical of the book, writing that it "focuses heavily on doomsday scenarios and offers little in terms of practical advice to the public" and that "a professional audience would quickly put [the book] aside for more factually correct sources of information".[25]

His fourth book, How Not to Die, made The New York Times Best Seller list at least three times.[26] [27] [28]

In 2024, Morgan Pfiffner of Red Pen Reviews gave his sixth book, How Not to Diet a score of 50% for its scientific accuracy and a score of 75% for its healthfulness.[29] Pfiffner commented that "While much of the book is well supported by research, there are a significant number of fairly questionable claims, leading to a handful of dietary recommendations that seem unnecessary, too restrictive, or potentially counterproductive".[29] One of Greger's questionable claims is that a whole food plant-based diet can reverse heart disease. According to Pfiffner this has not been demonstrated as the randomized controlled trial that he cited from Dean Ornish did not show regression of atherosclerotic plaque.[29]

Harriet A. Hall has written that, while it is well-accepted that it is more healthy to eat a plant-based diet than a typical Western diet, Greger often overstates the known benefits of such a diet as well as the harm caused by eating animal products (for example, in a talk, he claimed that a single meal rich in animal products can "cripple" one's arteries), and he sometimes does not discuss evidence that contradicts his strong claims.[30]

Joe Schwarcz of McGill University has commented that although Greger takes his information from respected science journals and produces impressive videos, he has a vegan agenda and is known for cherry picking of data.[31]

Publications

See also

Notes and References

  1. Greger. Michael. nutrition_facts. 526050091535458304. October 25, 2014. It's my birthday today! To express your appreciation for my work, please consider making a tax-deductible donation. September 5, 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180905080054/https://twitter.com/nutrition_facts/status/526050091535458304. September 5, 2018. live.
  2. Web site: AWESOME! Story of Michael Greger, MD and Hall of Fame . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211221/evhUeWVSe6w . 2021-12-21 . live. YouTube . 31 January 2020 . en.
  3. Book: Margaret Puskar-Pasewicz. Greger, Michael 1972– . Mandy Van Deven. Cultural Encyclopedia of Vegetarianism. 2010. Greenwood. Santa Barbara, CA. 9780313375569. 123. https://books.google.com/books?id=3-braqoek0AC&pg=PA123.
  4. Web site: Greger. Michael. Mad Cow Disease – Much More Serious Than AIDS . Envirolink. https://web.archive.org/web/19961224042634/http://www.envirolink.org/arrs/AnimaLife/spring94/madcow.html. 24 December 1996. 1994.
  5. Web site: 1996 Interview with Michael Greger. www.mad-cow.org.
  6. News: Usborne. David. Oprah triumphs over the Texas cattle ranchers. https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220512/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/oprah-triumphs-over-the-texas-cattle-ranchers-1147137.html . 12 May 2022 . subscription . live. The Independent. February 26, 1998.
  7. Web site: Greger. M. About the Author. United Progressive Alumni. https://web.archive.org/web/20000302102740/http://upalumni.org/medschool/about-mgreger.html. March 2, 2000. 1999.
  8. News: The odds against finding mad cow disease: North America's meat inspection rules leave a lot to be desired, a U.S. expert says. The Vancouver Sun via Lexis-Nexus. June 7, 2003.
  9. News: Parker-Pope . Tara . Beef Industry's Dirty Secret: U.S. Lags on Safety Standards . . May 27, 2003 . 2024-04-04 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20160915002529/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB105398946074853500 . 2016-09-15 . live.
  10. "Mad cow disease; USDA misleads public on beef safety." Washington Times [Washington, DC] 2 Jan. 2004: A17. Infotrac Newsstand. Web. 1 Sept. 2016.
  11. Davidson, S. (2004, Jan 29). MIT to hold forum on mad cow disease; local physician to give keynote address. Jewish Advocate. Retrieved from Proquest. Quote: "Consumers concerned about mad cow disease and other issues about safeguarding the food supply may want to attend the Jan. 29 lecture at MIT by Michael Greger, M.D., entitled "Mad Cow Disease: Plague of the 21st Century?" ... Greger was raised in a small Arizona town, "the only Jewish family within 30 miles." His parents were New York natives; his mother taught Biblical Hebrew at the community college. Following his parents' divorce, he moved with his mother and brother to Binghamton, N.Y., where she taught Hebrew school at the orthodox Beth Israel synagogue."
  12. "Confused About Mad Cow? New Ad Exposes Scaremongers and Dispels Myths." PR Newswire 5 Jan. 2004. Academic OneFile. Web. 1 Sept. 2016.
  13. News: Greger. Michael. The killer among us: Could mad cow disease already be killing thousands of Americans every year?. EarthSave News Vol 15 No. 1. Winter 2004. 5.
  14. Web site: American College Of Lifestyle Medicine. California Explore. September 1, 2016.
  15. Web site: Michael Greger MD, FACLM, DipABLM . American College of Lifestyle Medicine . January 22, 2024 . April 4, 2024.
  16. News: Schmit. Julie. Meat plant concerns raised for years. USA Today. March 5, 2008.
  17. News: Kesmodel . David . Zhang . Jane . Meatpacker in Cow-Abuse Scandal May Shut as Congress Turns Up Heat . . 2008-02-25 . 2024-04-04 . subscription . https://web.archive.org/web/20180617142240/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB120378150987388423 . 2018-06-17 . live.
  18. Web site: Greger. Michael. Welcome to NutritionFacts.org!. NutritionFacts.org. April 15, 2011.
  19. Web site: Featured Projects. The Jesse and Julie Rasch Foundation. 1 September 2016. 9 September 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160909111647/http://www.raschfoundation.org/programs/featured/. dead.
  20. https://www.vegansociety.com/about-us/research/who-we-are/dr-michael-greger " Dr Michael Greger"
  21. Web site: Vegan, Plant-Based Diet or… What Label Works?. T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies. 16 October 2015.
  22. Book: Greger. Michael. How Not to Die: Discover the Foods Scientifically Proven to Prevent and Reverse Disease. 2015. Flatiron Books. 9781250066114.
  23. Gustafson. C. Michael Greger, md: Reversing Chronic Disease Through Diet; Addressing the 2015 USDA Dietary Guidelines Committee . Integrative Medicine: A Clinician's Journal. April 2014. 13. 2. 22–4. 26770088. 4684122.
  24. Pekosz. Andrew. Book Review. Bird flu: A virus of our own hatching. J Clin Invest. Sep 4, 2007. 117. 9. 2350. 10.1172/JCI33078. 1952640.
  25. Sencer DJ . 1802–1803 . 2007 . Emerging Infectious Diseases . 13 . 11 . Book review . Bird Flu: A Virus of Our Own Hatching . 10.3201/eid1311.070787. free . 3375804 .
  26. News: Best Seller List – Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous – Dec. 27, 2015 . The New York Times . 2015-12-27.
  27. News: Best Seller List – Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous – Jan. 3, 2016 . The New York Times . 2016-01-03.
  28. News: Best Seller List – Advice, How-To & Miscellaneous – Jan. 10, 2016 . The New York Times . 2016-01-10.
  29. Web site: Pfiffner. Morgan. 2024. How Not to Diet: The Groundbreaking Science of Healthy, Permanent Weight Loss. Red Pen Reviews. en-GB. February 19, 2024. https://web.archive.org/web/20240219232638/https://www.redpenreviews.org/reviews/how-not-to-diet/. live.
  30. Web site: Science-based Medicine. Death as a Foodborne Illness Curable by Veganism. Hall HA. December 13, 2015. February 12, 2013.
  31. Schwarcz, Joe. (2017). "Dr. Michael Greger--What do we make of him?". mcgill.ca. Retrieved 20 July 2022.

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