I am flying back home to Traverse City, Michigan from Tucson, Arizona. I completed a five day conference given by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. This was the second time I have attended this conference, the first last year in Naples, Florida. I attended last year on a lark. I wanted to finally go to a medical conference that meant something to me. It’s not that primary care conferences or urgent care conferences don’t mean something, mind you. It is just that as far as I am concerned, as a person, I would rather not be a patient other than for routine self care. So off I went to Naples, Florida last year. I was honored to hear and meet leaders in preventative medicine like Dr. Dean Ornish and Dr. David Katz and this year Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn and Dr. Hans Diehl.
The purpose of these meetings is to impart important information to the practitioners who take care of patients (doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, dietitians, nurses and many more) the evidence based information from research of how to stay healthy and even reverse disease. I can give you the secret-are you ready? The secret is a whole food plant based diet-that’s it! You also need adequate exercise, eliminate tobacco and alcohol, manage stress and have satisfying relationships. The statistics are amazing and diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease can be reversed or eliminated.
The crazy part about this is how very far apart this notion is from the information so many of us get from the medial profession, advertisers, big business and particularly the food industry. The adage, “The food industry has little concern for health and the health industry has little concern about food” is filled with truth. But, if you realize that food is the fuel for one’s body, it makes sense that a diet of pop, alcohol, meat and fried foods will stop up your system just like pouring grease down your kitchen drain.
The two sides are inching nearer, but the food industry, other than a few notable exceptions, appeals to people’s taste buds and addictions, not their health. Additionally, the health care industry is missing the mark in being leaders in promoting good health by promoting truly healthy diets. Should we really be able to wheel a patient who just had heart bypass off the cardiac floor following their procedure to the cafeteria or a fast food joint on the first floor of the hospital for their hamburger and french fries? Should people really celebrate when they have finally gained enough weight that they qualify for their bariatric surgery? The answer is NO!
Hospitals and schools should be leaders in providing a variety of healthy, appealing meals to patients, families and workers. Why is it that so many of our hospital workers are some of our most obese members of our communities?
So as I sat for the inaugural sitting for certification in lifestyle medicine by the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine I thought to myself, “now what”? Most of the programs we are offered to present to patients are not covered by insurers, thereby being an expense to the patient and a commitment by dedicated health care professionals volunteering their time. Is that the way it should be or should employers and insurance companies be getting on the band wagon and providing these programs that show such great promise in reducing disease burden? We as community members and patients need to insist that our schools, hospitals and communities provide the opportunity and instruction to eat healthy food and decrease the disease burden of our population. As primary care doctors, those of us who have learned, will hopefully have an impact on our hospital systems and other specialist who may not understand the influence we can have of slowing down the avalanche of disease.
