Pg. 154 "There's no question that periodontitis is associated with heart disease; there are defined mechanisms linking the two. But that's not even the big kahuna. How about oral disease and dementia? Another oral bacterium, Porphyromonas gingivalis, has been associated with the development of Alzheimer's, and researchers have found DNA for this bacterium in the brains of people who died from it. How did it get from the mouth to the brain? And what is it doing there? We don't know yet, but we know it's concerning."

Pg. 156 "Autoimmune diseases are a disaster and there are no good medicines available (steroids work, but the treatment is worse than the disease). They've been around for centuries, but there's been a clear uptick in the last fifty years. Why? Two hypotheses have been proffered to explain it: the barrier hypothesis (our skin or lungs are letting in antigens) and the hygiene hypothesis (we don't eat dirt and are too hygienic."

Pg. 164 "Nutrition is the most important and malleable factor influencing people's life span (how long we live) and health span (how well we live). Studies on fraternal vs identical twins show that genetics account for 25 to 30 percent of a person's longevity. The other 70 to 75 percent proves that while favorable genetics clearly play a role, the environment, including a bad diet, can easily overcome those gifts, hence why the US has seen reduced life expectancy four years in a row."

Pg. 170 "The US Institute of Medicine in 2004 codified an upper limit for added sugar at 25 percent of total calories. In what universe is 15 percent of calories as added sugar justifiable? This gave the food industry carte blanche to add as much as they possibly could, making us sicker and sicker. When it comes to food, the only labeling rule is for allergies like eggs, gluten, peanuts, shellfish, and the like--things that can kill people acutely. After that, anything goes."

Pg. 171 "The key to fending off chronic disease is two simple dictates:
1. Protect the liver. You have to protect the liver from fructose, glucose, branched-chain amino acids, omega-6 fatty acids, iron, and other oxidative stresses--all of which end up causing fat accumulation and liver damage, and generate insulin resistance. This can be done by either reducing the dose of dietary liver stressors (e.g., a low-sugar diet) or their flux (e.g., a high-fiber diet, which blocks sugar absorption, thus reducing the rate by which fructose and branched-chain amino acids reach the liver).
2. Feed the gut. If you don't feed your microbiome, your microbiome will feed on you; it will literally chew up the mucin layer that protects your intestinal epithelial cells, which increases the risk for leaky gut, inflammation, and more insulin resistance. The goal is to deliver more nutrients farther down the intestine (e.g., a high-fiber diet)."