LIFESTYLE HEALTH
“Lifestyle Medicine is both the newest thing in medicine—and perhaps the oldest. There was a time before 'medicine' when lifestyle was it. Hippocrates advised: let food be thy medicine.
We have found our way back to the future, and with good reason. Since a seminal paper in JAMA in 1993 by Bill Foege and Mike McGinnis, there has been a repetitive drumbeat of publications telling us that lifestyle factors- eating well, being active, not smoking, getting enough sleep, mitigating stress, cultivating strong social connections- can explain away 80% or more of all chronic disease. In other words, fire on these cylinders, and your lifetime risk of ALL major chronic disease declines about 80%.
Other studies show these same factors can modify gene expression favorably. And we have the Blue Zones to prove that this all truly works in the real world.
Other studies show that lifestyle interventions can be used to treat and reverse disease as well.
None of this obviates the use of 'other' medicines. But Lifestyle Medicine truly is the best, most powerful intervention we have for adding years to lives, and life to years. The challenge for us all is to find new and better ways to make sure this medicine actually goes down! Spoons full of sugar are out of the question.” David Katz, MD, MPH, American College of Lifestyle Medicine President
We have found our way back to the future, and with good reason. Since a seminal paper in JAMA in 1993 by Bill Foege and Mike McGinnis, there has been a repetitive drumbeat of publications telling us that lifestyle factors- eating well, being active, not smoking, getting enough sleep, mitigating stress, cultivating strong social connections- can explain away 80% or more of all chronic disease. In other words, fire on these cylinders, and your lifetime risk of ALL major chronic disease declines about 80%.
Other studies show these same factors can modify gene expression favorably. And we have the Blue Zones to prove that this all truly works in the real world.
Other studies show that lifestyle interventions can be used to treat and reverse disease as well.
None of this obviates the use of 'other' medicines. But Lifestyle Medicine truly is the best, most powerful intervention we have for adding years to lives, and life to years. The challenge for us all is to find new and better ways to make sure this medicine actually goes down! Spoons full of sugar are out of the question.” David Katz, MD, MPH, American College of Lifestyle Medicine President