The daily dozen

Michael Greger is a physician who, in 2015, took the evidence on diet and disease and wrote it into How Not to Die, a long book with a very short practical core: a checklist. He called it the Daily Dozen. Twelve things, checked off each day. Beans. Berries. Other fruit. Cruciferous vegetables. Greens. Other vegetables. Flaxseed. Nuts and seeds. Herbs and spices. Whole grains. Beverages, mostly water. And exercise, ninety minutes moderate or forty vigorous.

The genius of it isn't the science, which is a summary of what the other keys in this stretch have already said: mostly plants, mostly whole. The genius is the format. A checklist is something a person can actually do. Most dietary advice is a philosophy; the Daily Dozen is a to-do list, and there's a free app that tracks it, and people use it, which is more than can be said for most nutrition books.

It's the table key that fits this year's method best. Every key you've received has come with one small action. Greger's whole approach is twelve small actions, repeated daily, until they're not actions but just what you eat. That's habit, the way Mandino and James meant it, applied to the plate.

I'll add the honest caveat. Greger argues the evidence further toward strict plant-based eating than many researchers would, and his nonprofit funds his work. The checklist is still a sound way to eat, and it's flexible: you don't need all twelve every day, and checking eight is better than checking three.