this post was submitted on 01 Feb 2026
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Self Improvement
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A whole month in front of us to conquer.
My goal is to have a regular reading habit since there are a lot of books that I want to read. I'm trying to read a balanced variety of genres from novels and non-fiction to theory.
I am currently reading How Not To Age by Dr Michael Greger, it's an evidence-based book about healthy aging. The TL;DR is that we should eat as little saturated fats and dietary cholesterol (aka meat and dairy) as possible and as much fruit, vegetables, whole grains and legumes as possible (aka plant-based).
I highly recommend the book How Not To Die by the same author. It's the only book on health and nutrition that you will ever need. You can find all of his books and cookbooks on Libgen/Anna's Archive.
Here's a quick snippet from How Not To Age:
nice. (i'm trying to start up a classics reading group with a few close buddies -- we are starting on Iliad, and it's pretty tedious. i would not be able to continue reading without touching base with them. wonder if they will have continued interest going forward.)
well, i've already tried non-healthy aging, so i might as well try healthy aging.
that's interesting. i've been trying to reduce meat consumption as well (though my attempts are sort of half hearted and not really that intentional); it felt natural with the increased running. hopefully i can continue to do better.
There's a great book podcast called Overdue and they have several episodes on The Iliad, I think you're gonna like it.
Eating plant-based feels so good that I can't ever imagine going back to the Western diet. I highly recommend trying it for 2-3 weeks. It's never been easier to eat healthy since there are a bunch of meat-free products now. Just find a meat-free substitute for whatever you are already eating. Or make 16 bean burritos and put them in your freezer like I do
i'll check it out. i impetuously bought like nine books of commentary or historical background, so i really will have my work cut out for me. Jaynes' Origin of Consciousness was incredibly bold but probably horseshit (arguing that self-consciousness occurred after the Homeric age, and this proto-conciousness, a sort of schizophrenic disposition, is inferable from, inter alia, the descriptions in the Iliad (direct influence of gods, etc.) Finlely's World of Odysseus seems to be a more rigorous internal reading of the Homeric texts, making inferences as to the social world of the pre-historic/dark ages. Looking forward to Weil's famous essay thereafter.
That's cool. I've a lot of respect for people who have made the move. I thinik I'll try reducing meat-eating day/week-- find and develop some good recipes and reduce from there. what's his take (or yours otherwise) on whey protein? and pescatarianism?
Whey protein is not great since it activates mTOR and deactivates autophagy, which is the opposite of what we want:
In regards to pescetarianism, I wouldn't eat fish more than a few times per week due to pollutants and mercury, but it's probably still much better than meat. The Mediterranean diet is basically a pescetarian diet and some of the longest living populations are eating it.
so my option is pea-protein? with all the lead?
I haven't heard about lead in pea protein, but there are many different plant sources of protein. I use hemp protein powder and eat a bunch of legumes, like beans, chickpeas and lentils every day. Soybeans and soy products like tempeh and tofu are high in protein.