The secret to the best and most powerful medicine
What would you say if I told you I held the secret to the best and most powerful medicine? Would you say give it to me! Would you say how much does it cost? Would you say what’s the catch?
Well here it is in two words. Your lifetsyle.
Yes, it’s as simple and as complex as that. What you do, what you eat, where you live, who you socialise with and even what you think all impact on your health in some way.
Studies have shown that 80% of premature dealths were attributable to three factors;
1. Tobacco
2. Diet
3. Physical activity
This is a very powerful statistic when you think that these 3 factors are completely and utterly in your control. You have a choice if you smoke or not. Sure it’s addictive, but history has shown that many many people have successfully stopped smoking. You have a choice about what you eat. What you put in your mouth is completely and utterly in your control after about the age of 5…or maybe let’s be generous and say after you become a teenager. And, you have a choice about how much physical activity you do. It’s totally your own personal choice to stand up, walk, run, squat, bend, garden, clean, dance, swim. You and your magnificant brain are the chief executive in charge of all of those decisions.
But if you’re not worried about dying young, then those statistics don’t really matter. However, if you are concerned with how you feel and how your body operates, then it will be more interesting for you to know that the most common lifestyle-related medical conditions seen in primary care include:
- obesity
- metabolic syndrome
- hypertension
- cardiovascular disease
- dyslipidemia
- arthritis
- diabetes
- osteoporosis
Most of those “diseases” make you feel fatigued, in pain, and limit what you are able to do.
GOOD NEWS - THE SECRET
Modern medicine is catching up with the fact that if we are going to really help people, we need to help people change their lifestyle. Prescribing lifestyle changes as part of a treament plan from both your doctor and allied health professionals is being advocated as first line therapy. Precription of lifestyle change is to treat the cause. Supplementing with medications is then the secondary line of treatment. Research shows that achieving “numbers”, such as control of blood glucose levels with medication is not always associated with improved outcomes. (NEMJ 2010; 362: 1477-90). ie. you don’t always feel better.
So the secret is, the most powerful and best medicine we have is lifestyle. Change your lifestyle and you change you. Do you want it now? You can have it. You can make a change whenever you are ready. How much will it cost? As much or as little as you want. If you need help, seek it from friends or family or from your health practitioners and dr. And, what’s the catch? You might feel better! You might cure some of your aches and pains. You might not have to suffer through fatigue, obesity, chronic pain, brain fog. Wouldn’t that be nice!