SAGE WISDOM

Best-selling author Michael Greger, M.D. is set to share the science of healthy aging contained in his book How Not to Age at a November 20 event.

Physician and best-selling author Michael Greger, M.D., admits he doesn’t get out much. But when he does—on book tours in particular, for his How Not to … series of works—he gets a kick out of human interactions. Greger, a rural Virginia native dedicated to public health education and accessible wellness, typically receives rounds of hugs and occasionally sees folks leak grateful, happy teardrops at speaking engagements.

“One attendee told me, while crying, ‘Your book saved my uncle’s life,’” recalls the 53-year-old Greger, also an internationally recognized speaker on nutrition who founded the nonprofit nutritionfacts.org, a free online resource offering 2,000 videos and articles on a wide range of health topics. “For someone who works seven days a week every week, mostly looking at a screen, meeting people on the road is certainly a reward for me.”

His November 20 stop on the How Not to Age (Flatiron Books, 2023, 640 pages) book tour will be from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at Gorton Center’s John & Nancy Hughes Theater. His book contains groundbreaking insights and explores the science of healthy aging, breaking down recent medical research and offering practical evidence-based tips to boost both lifestyle and lifespan. The United States ranks a startlingly low 45th in the world in life expectancy and is expected to dip to 66th globally by 2050, per the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluations.

“We should be No. 1,” insists Greger. “That’s embarrassing.” How Not to Age provides readers with tools for preventing age-related diseases and promoting lifelong vitality through diet and lifestyle choices. Eleven pathways for aging exist in our bodies’ cells, but strategies, or processes, can interrupt each of them.

“A trillion cells, each doing their own thing,” says Greger, who, as a puzzle-loving youngster growing up in Upstate New York, thought he’d be a cancer researcher. “We all have tremendous power to increase our age longevity. My main message is good news: You don’t need to make drastic changes in your life in order to feel better physically and mentally. It’s never too late to stop smoking, to move, to eat better.”

Among Greger’s other books are How Not to Die (2015), The How Not to Die Cookbook (2017), and The How Not to Age Cookbook (2025). All proceeds from his books and speaking engagements go to charity.

“The altruistic part of my brain wants to make the world a better place,” he says.

Gorton Center is located at 400 East Illinois Road, Lake Forest. For more information, and to purchase tickets to “Dr. Greger’s How Not to Age” presentation, visit gortoncenter.org.