"You and your loved ones need to know that your health is largely in your own hands, and no one else's.  What needs to be understood is that health is the natural, spontaneous consequence of healthful living.  It is rarely the consequence of expensive or complicated medical care." ~ The Pleasure Trap

Since our stated aim is that of Promoting Nutritional Health & Lifestyle Medicine, it's important that we explain what Lifestyle Medicine is, exactly, and why it is worth promoting.

Here's a short definition from The American College of Lifestyle Medicine:

Lifestyle Medicine (LM) is the use of lifestyle interventions in the treatment and management of disease. Such interventions include diet (nutrition), exercise, stress management, smoking cessation, and a variety of other non-drug modalities. A growing body of scientific evidence has demonstrated that lifestyle intervention is an essential component in the treatment of chronic disease that can be as effective as medication, but without the risks and unwanted side-effects.  [ MORE ]

As you will learn, if you explore the ACLM website, this does not mean that the practice of Lifestyle Medicine precludes the use of any conventional therapies and procedures, but that it is much more cautious and conservative in its approach, assuming that "the vast majority of the healthcare problems burdening our society today are caused by disease-promoting lifestyles" and that "the most effective and most rational treatment is to utilize health-promoting lifestyle interventions as primary treatment" [ MORE ].

In contrast to Lifestyle Medicine, conventional medicine is crippled by at least two conflicts:  On one hand, there is a conflict between it's commitment to first do no harm and its inordinate drive to make money, or so it seems to me!  On the other hand, there is the conflict between the goal of healing and the goal of providing pain relief.  The counterproductive behavior of the medical establishment arising out of both of these conflicts is almost always passively enabled-- and at times actively encouraged --by consumers who are all too willing to buy into the false hope offered by pills and technical procedures promising to provide a relatively easy way out of any and all discomfort, physical or emotional.  The subtleties of this dynamic is discussed in Chapter 4 of The Pleasure Trap, entitled, "The Miracle and Madness of Modern Medicine."   In this chapter, the authors, Douglas J. Lisle, Ph.D. & Alan Goldhamer, D.C., first describe "the miracle of pain" and "the three natural steps to health" (pages 25-27).  Those three steps are:

1. We sense the connection between the onset of pain and any specific behavioral error that might have induced it.
2. If such a connection is detectable, we are motivated to stop the behavior as soon as possible.
3. We take corrective action that is helpful in minimizing the damage to the body, using pain as a guide.

They then discuss the inherent risks of pain relief techniques and the aforementioned conflict between the goal of pain relief and the goal of healing:

"...pain relief techniques come with inherent risks.  In cases where the causes of the disease are understood, the surest path to health often means facing a demanding recovery process--stopping smoking, dietary restrictions, or the introduction of exercise.  Unfortunately, the patient often simply wants to short-circuit the pain regardless of the health consequences.  The practice of modern medicine often faces this dilemma.  And all too often, both doctor and patient succumb to the lure of the pleasure trap" (29).

The authors go on to describe in some detail the natural function of fevers, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and inflammation; and the dangers of "quick fixes" that grant us some relief from our suffering without requiring that we that we really address the underlying cause of our symptoms which could require diet & lifestyle changes.  These quick fixes not only mislead us, their use is often accompanied by side effects which may, themselves, constitute a significant disruption of our bodily health (32-35).  Sometimes this approach may be warranted and well worth the risks, but more often than not, both doctor and patient are succumbing to the pleasure trap.  Moreover, Lisle and Goldhamer stress, the dangers of ignoring the underlying cause of our immediate condition or suffering additional side effects from prescribed medications are neither the only nor the greatest dangers posed by modern medicine:

"Simply stated, our greatest threat is our awe of modern medicine.  It is our belief that doctors, hospitals, and high-tech machinery are omnipotent, and that with the help of fancy tools and brilliant people, we can circumvent the laws of nature. . . . You and your loved ones need to know that your health is largely in your own hands, and no one else's.  What needs to be understood is that health is the natural, spontaneous consequence of healthful living.  It is rarely the consequence of expensive or complicated medical care (38 - emphasis added).

As a safeguard against all of these dangers, the authors end Chapter 4 by suggesting the following plan of action:

1. Ask your physician if any prescribed medication is primarily for pain relief or for health promotion.  Insist on an explanation of your illness and the rationale for the suggested treatment.  Ask for the risk/reward rationale for treatment versus no treatment.
2. Consider carefully the fact that many unpleasant symptoms are part of an exquisite guidance system, one that you risk disrupting should pain-relieving medications be used.
3. If a medical procedure is recommended, always seek at least one or more independent opinions.  Remember:  it's your life.  You, not your doctor, have to live with the outcome .

It would be nice if the medical establishment understood this approach and would help promote it to the public at large!  As Dr. Joel Fuhrman is fond of saying, good health must be earned, it cannot be bought!   We all need to understand-- and help spread the word --that Lifestyle Medicine is the gold-standard of good health care!  Pills and procedures, by and large, are not the answer.  

We also need to understand that this isn't just a personal health issue--it's serious moral and political issue, as well.  We have, as a nation, chosen to ignore the underlying causes of our chronic diseases and we are continuing to squander our health-care resources on treatments which are, at best, ineffective and, at worst, downright detrimental to our health and well-being.  In the process, we have also squandered the health of generation!  This must stop.  Our only recourse is to learn more about the dramatic results that can be achieved with changes in diet and lifestyle and to confront the medical establishment with this knowledge.  To learn more about these issues, check out The Pleasure Trap for yourself and also take a look at the following links:

Question of the Month - June 2005 "I believe that the modern medical approach to heart disease is malpractice . . .And the nutritional advice they are given is almost criminal."  ~ Dr. Joel Fuhrman  [ MORE ]

A Challenge to Doctors  "When you misrepresent the benefits and risks of medication, surgery, or other popular treatments, then you steal a patient’s right to health and happiness--and their money." ~ Dr. John McDougall  [ MORE ]

Spotlight on Reversing and Preventing Diabetes  "The vast majority of my patients, who adopt my nutritional and exercise recommendation for diabetes, become thin and non–diabetic. They are able to gradually discontinue their insulin and eventually other medications. They simply get well." ~ Dr. Joel Fuhrman [ MORE ]

Fighting Heart Disease, The Dean Ornish Way  “The most common misconception is that I recommend a very strict diet for everyone, and that’s never been the case. But we also need to not patronize our patients and say, ‘I know you couldn’t change; it’s just too hard.’ Somehow, the idea that cutting someone’s chest open and doing bypass surgery is conservative and asking people to walk, meditate, and quit smoking is radical is crazy to me. Whether someone wants to make a change is a very personal decision. I don’t tell people what to do, but I do treat people with respect and say, ‘Here is an option. Here are the risks, benefits, costs, and side effects of different approaches. What do you want to do?’”  ~ Dean Ornish [ MORE ]

Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease A groundbreaking program backed by the irrefutable results from Dr. Esselstyn’s 20-year study proving changes in diet and nutrition can actually cure heart disease [ MORE ]

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Editor's Note:  This article was originally written for the Nutritional Health & Life Style Medicine groups on Yahoo Groups and Facebook.  It has been slightly revised and reformated for this website.