We’re all exposed to a fair share of advice and information about how to best to care for ourselves. If we’re fortunate, we also have the benefit of good counsel via a physician. But, ultimately, it’s up to us to decide what exactly to do with respect to our own health care. Do we take a medication or not? Are major lifestyle changes worth the effort? Should we have genetic testing to help foretell our medical future? Most people will be faced with these decisions and many others during the course of a lifetime. Today I’m going to tell you about a major health care choice I’ve decided to make in my own life. It involves following a diet known as “alternate day fasting”. My Healthy Monday tip of the week is to discuss the viability of this pattern of eating with your doctor if you’re concerned about cardiovascular health.
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Nutrition is a field fraught with countless misconceptions that are purveyed by virtually every major segment of the dietary landscape. Do you think you can trust the advice given from the ivory towered medical institutions with easily recognizable names? If so, then why is the U.S. and the majority of the industrialized world suffering from so many preventable diseases that are largely influenced by diet? Think you can trust your friendly neighborhood health food store to steer you right? Just take a look at some of the labels on the cereals, protein bars and soft drinks they sell at their establishments. Some of the ingredients are organic, but the overall nutritional content is often similar to what you’ll find in conventional vending machines. In some instances, it may even be worse if they feature trendy ingredients such as agave nectar which is extremely high in fructose. The best way to avoid the many pitfalls that surround this topic is to be informed. Use science as a tool even when those giving you dietary advice fail to do so.
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Medical news is often classified into three categories. The most common and under-appreciated variety provides corroborative data on already established principles. Example: Exercise does your body and mind good. The second category adds a new twist to pre-existing information. Example: Eating plenty of vegetables reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality – especially in the context of a lower carbohydrate diet. The final category turns old concepts upside down. Example: Students have different and distinct learning styles which need to be catered to in order for them to thrive academically. Not necessarily. The details of these news items and more come courtesy of various contributors on Twitter.
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A rather confrontational question was recently posed to me by a guest at a dinner party. The exchange itself was relatively brief so I didn’t get the chance to learn much about the inquisitor. But I suspect that he had at least some training in the conventional medical field. He wondered how in the world I could be supportive of unconventional practices such as acupuncture and guided imagery when there are countless medications that can produce similar effects in a more predictable manner. This “gentleman” went on to list a few of his favorite examples. My response was that many holistic practices tend to encourage the body to augment its own production of biochemicals rather than introducing foreign chemicals to accomplish a comparable end.
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One of my favorite films of the past few decades is the modern classic, Defending Your Life. The comedic story follows the life and death of a meek character played by Albert Brooks. After passing away, he enters a sort of afterlife in which key moments of his life are replayed for him and a panel of judges. If you magically had the opportunity to review my life you’d see that about 15 years ago I was caught up in a destructive eating pattern. The drive-thrus of fast food restaurants were my mainstay. However, on this day, I spent the better part of my afternoon working on a homemade dish that I’m presenting to you as a healthy recipe. This reality would have seemed impossible to me 10, 15 or 20 years ago. But in the present it feels as natural as can be.
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There was a time when stress was largely considered a nuisance and little more than that. You just coped with it by blowing off some steam in one way or another. That could mean having a “drink” or five at the end of a hard day. Or maybe your crutch was cigarettes. Judging by the current obesity epidemic, it now seems that junk food has claimed top spot in the comfort providing department. But what’s changed in recent times is the awareness of how stress hormones affect our physiology. It’s not just “all in your head” any longer.
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On any given day, countless patients make the decision to visit a health care professional who practices alternative medicine. Sometimes they do so as an adjunct to the care they’re already receiving from a conventionally trained physician. In other instances, they simply want something different. Hence the term “alternative medicine”. But not every alternative is created equally nor does it need to be administered or monitored exclusively by a holistic physician.
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There are few topics in modern medicine that stir as much debate as nutritional supplementation. At first glance, it seems like such an innocuous subject matter. What could possibly be so controversial about the concept of supplementing in order to protect against a potential nutrient deficiency? On one side of the fence, you have some allopathic physicians who believe that supplements give license to patients to eat an unhealthy diet. Surprisingly, some on the naturopathic front share a similar perspective. They believe that the goodness found in natural, whole foods can’t possibly be matched by most supplements. In an ideal world, mankind could be expected to derive all that’s needed from the environment and food supply. But that’s a different world than the one we live in.
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