How Not To Buy

“Natural Grocers” is making it a little more difficult to purchase Dr. Michael Greger’s bestselling book “How Not To Die” by pulling the book from its shelves. The company states that the book’s claims are not based on science and that the author’s opinions “do not support our company’s views on what a healthy diet should include.”

“Natural Grocers” has every right to remove whatever books it wants to remove from its shelves. However, I could not let the comment that the book is not based on science go without a response. Natural Grocers doesn’t seem to have a problem selling pseudo-scientific trash like “The Big Fat Surprise” or non-scientific drivel like Eat Right 4 Your Blood Type’. It seems to me that the actual reason it pulled “How Not To Die” is because it IS based on science.

To prevent the type of anti-science accusations expressed by Natural Grocers, Dr. Greger insisted, to the chagrin of his publishers, that each and every reference be listed in his book. “How Not To Die” contains 143 pages of references to peer-reviewed scientific evidence! Dr. Greger even hired folks to check every reference to make sure that he did not misuse or misinterpret any of the journal articles. Dr. Greger did everything he could to ensure that the scientific data was correctly represented.

I am currently taking a self-study exam based on the contents of “How Not To Die”. Once completed and passed, I will receive continuing education credits from the Commission of Dietetic Registration (CDR) – the credentialing agency for The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Apparently, “How Not To Die” has met the scientific validity standards of the CDR. The CDR is far from perfect, but I think it is likely to have higher scientific standards and more scientific integrity than the decision makers at Natural Grocers.

Call me crazy.

Stay Healthy and Strong.