It's called the health belief model.
I sometimes wonder why it's so difficult to get patients to believe that
nutrition is one of the most powerful health tools available to them. Maybe
it's because it is free, too good to be true; or maybe because it takes a bit
of mental fortitude and intuition to employ. I really have no idea. I have
tried many tactics; the ultimatum, the indifferent, the caring, the energetic,
the scientific. And yet, the majority of them wriggle uncomfortably and stare
blankly at me, akin to an ostrich shoving its frightened cranium in the sand.
There are literally thousands of
research articles showing the relationship between wellness and disease
prevention. These papers are the fundamental basis of what we call alternative,
functional, integrative or preventative medicine. These terms are almost identical in meaning.
This new health belief model looks deeply at the relationships between
nutrition, lifestyle and health. For instance, some recent examples, Googled
with ease: Nutrition, body weight and
cancer correlations:
(All 2012 articles)
Colo-rectal cancer:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/w04333r127134657/
Head & Neck
cancer: http://aje.oxfordjournals.org/content/175/12/1225.short
Pancreatic cancer:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/g08824u18v11784n/
Prostate cancer:
http://www.springerlink.com/content/p214751t4n665175/
Ovarian cancer:
http://www.nature.com/bjc/journal/v106/n3/full/bjc2011572a.html
The common theme? A diet high in processed
foods, high fat foods, alcohol, red meats or sweets, greatly increases cancer
risk. A diet high in fruits, vegetables and whole grains greatly decreases cancer
risk. They also demonstrate that being overweight or obese is the leading
preventable/reversible cause of cancer in the world, and that physical activity
is negatively associated with cancer. The numbers? 33-51% of all cancers
diagnosed are the result of either poor nutrition or overweight/physical
inactivity status. The rest are likely smoking and other environmental factors.
So there you have it. In the most simplest of terms. No scientific metabolic mumbo-jumbo
needed. I deciphered that for you. Your own personal formula to beat cancer
during your remaining lifetime.
Not surprisingly, there is at least
as much evidence demonstrating that the above recommendations also apply to the
prevention of diabetes, heart disease, dementia, autoimmune diseases and a
myriad of other chronic diseases. Go figure... Literally, thousands of articles supporting these fundamental facts. Look for yourself.
Preventative medicine isn’t a hoax.
It’s nutrition that our body is made to appreciate and thrive to survive on. It’s
physical activity that pushes depression and disease away. This isn’t snake oil.
It’s undeniable fact. It happens to be one of my passions, and because of that,
I feel the need to share its importance to those around me. I may very well end
up on an island with but a few like minded folks, and so be it. Hope to see you
there.
Regardless, the majority of people
I share this with seem either bothered, scared or confused. Is it that
difficult to understand? Do I make horrible assumptions, that most people would
rather not be riddled with debilitating
pain, or lose their independence and eventually even their memory of friends
and family? It must not occur to some people. Or more likely they have adopted
the maligned, "it won’t happen to me" mentality. Which is fine in the
interim, until it does happen to them. Every day. Out of the blue, diagnosed, their
world turned upside down. And then death, or worse, a life of suffering. Both their
suffering as well as suffering imposed upon their loved ones.
Most who know me well know I have
no fear of death; I do however have a sincere fear of living in a body that
won't allow me to enjoy life and my loved ones. Maybe this is due to my early
struggles with health, both congenital and "self-imposed". It may
have to do with the realization of how short life really is. Or maybe it was my
own anhedonia and subsequent self realization that has led me here. Whatever it
was, it must have tripped something in me that isn't normally tripped. Until of
course you are on your death bed, facing that last shutting of your eyes.
Morbid to consider, isn’t it? But
therein lies the rub. It’s just as morbid to not consider.
