Column #277

When it comes to healing there’s more than one approach. Treating severe accident victims usually requires drugs and operations. Poisonings usually require mostly drugs. Viral, fungal, and bacterial infections involve drugs and possibly minor operations. Chronic disease emergencies (chronic conditions that have reached a terminal stage) often require drugs and operations. The majority of chronic diseases are treated with drugs.

It’s no wonder then that the medical field is hooked on drugs and operations for treating everything that comes along. It’s even that way in preventing disease. Of course the medical field doesn’t actively work on eliminating accidents nor similar activities. But it does prescribe numerous vaccines for viral infections and even a few for warding off bacteria. But the industry’s big money maker is in treating chronic diseases and, when those diseases start to show minor symptoms, doctors usually prescribe a drug or two to slow things down.1

Unfortunately, drugs do not stop chronic diseases from getting worse because chronic diseases are body failings resulting from abuse. The abuse can be multifaceted and it usually includes the improper management of diet, exercise, sleep, and mood. Additional causes of abuse include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, exposure to toxins and even certain sound frequencies. Stopping the abuse is the only way to heal.

Individuals have a lot of control over self-inflicted abuse although it requires willpower. But not only is willpower difficult to come by, but there are other forces involved. Social pressures are a big one. Another is a lack of professional medical support. When individuals take proper preventive measures and avoid or stop their chronic diseases, the medical community loses a lot of revenue. By a lot I mean it’s about 85% of the $3.5 trillion spent annually on healthcare. So there is little incentive for the medical community to end all suffering.2

Here’s the CDC’s suggestion for preventing chronic diseases:
●    Quit Smoking
●    Eat Healthy
●    Get Regular Physical Activity
●    Avoid Drinking Too Much Alcohol
●    Get Screened
●    Get Enough Sleep
●    Know Your Family History
●    Make Healthy Choices in School, at Work, and in the Community3

I bring up the CDC’s list to show how we agree—up to a point. The main differences are that I put diet first and, in my opinion, getting screened and knowing your family history is not required. If people are diligent, I don’t see any reason to go to a doctor every year unless there are symptoms to address. You don’t make annual doctor visits to see if you have the measles or a broken leg. As for family history, it’s irrelevant. Yes, our bodies tend to fail somewhat like our ancestors’ bodies failed. But their failures are only genetic markers for what might happen when we abuse our bodies the same way they did. It’s not normal to be born-to-fail no matter what you do. What you do does matter.

Of course, when it comes to diet the CDC favors the government’s My Plate suggestions that are virtually unchanged for going on 60 years or more. Obviously that advice hasn’t worked because chronic diseases keep getting more numerous year after year.

Thank goodness there are some medical practitioners who have a different slant for treating chronic diseases. Usually they are doctors of osteopathic medicine (DOs) yet sometimes they are MDs too.

Like MDs, DOs complete four years of medical school, two years of clinical rotations, and must complete comprehensive licensing exams. They also train residency for three to seven years and, depending on their specialities, can end up practicing exactly like MDs. DOs are distinctive in that they also take 200 hours of instruction on osteopathic principles and practice. Osteopathic physicians are found in top government, academic, and medical institutions. Even astronauts, President Trump, and former Vice President Biden use DOs.4

There seems to be a greater percentage of DOs with a focus on nutrition than there is MDs. And some of the outliers with those degrees actually understand the importance of the essential fatty acid (EFA) balance between Omega-6 and Omega-3. If so, they also recommend low glycemic foods and restricted carbohydrate consumption while favoring grass-fed and Omega-3 meats and wild-caught seafood. But even the DOs who understand nutritional science are a minority amongst the DOs!

Competent, functional-integrative-holistic (these labels are almost interchangeable) doctors are not easy to find. That’s because the really competent ones were mostly self-taught! The American Osteopathic Association studied their own profession and concluded several points: “Nutrition is often overlooked in everyday health care despite the definitive connection between diet and health. The majority of participants felt comfortable counseling future patients on nutrition recommendations; however, most participants lacked knowledge of dietary reference intakes and medical nutrition therapy. Because half of osteopathic medical students typically enter primary care, students and their future patients would benefit from the integration of more nutrition education in medical school.”5 6 7 8

When it comes to nutrition, people are still somewhat on their own. There is a lot of advice on the Internet and some of it is good, but most is supported by marketing. The information I provide is “sponsored” by meat sales. Obviously I’m biased like everyone else. Because everyone assumes I’m biased I provide a lot of scientific references, and it’s the same science that inspired me to get into the grass-fed meat business over 20 years ago. Yet even with all the research, everyone has to make up their own mind. And that’s the kicker. You need to understand that foods are chemical and food abuse comes in the chemistry of the foods you eat. On top of that you must have the willpower to avoid certain foods otherwise you’ll still need the drugs and eventually the operations.

The best foods are low glycemic with dense, diverse nutrients with 1:1 EFA balances. They are “complete” whole foods. All food selections can provide some degree of nutrition. Many foods are highly recommended because they are loaded with some nutrients that everyone needs while they also lack or are light in many other important nutrients. For instance, nuts have virtually no Omega-3 in them. Having all nutrients and the proper relative balances between those nutrients are exceedingly important. Kale, spinach, broccoli and such are really excellent whole foods. Meats are excellent too for they contain all nutrients in appropriate balance because animals require the same nutrients we do. But since they are what they eat, for our optimal health they must be sources of grass-fed meats, Omega-3 meats, or wild-caught seafood.9

The bottom line; if you need to visit a medical doctor make sure they advertise themselves as practitioners of Integrative Medicine. Drugs and operations mostly focus on single pathways, and targeting one pathway can show change, but in human studies, those limited approaches do not work. Diet, exercise, sleep, and meditation is a metabolical approach that addresses multiple modalities and that works when applied properly.

To your health.

Ted Slanker

Ted Slanker has been reporting on the fundamentals of nutritional research in publications, television and radio appearances, and at conferences since 1999. He condenses complex studies into the basics required for health and well-being. His eBook, The Real Diet of Man, is available online.

Don’t miss these links for additional reading:

1. Bacterial Vaccines and Antibiotic Resistance by Birgitta Henriques-Normark and Staffan Normark from Upsala Journal of Medical Sciences

2. Health and Economic Costs of Chronic Diseases from CDC

3. How You Can Prevent Chronic Diseases from CDC

4. Op-Ed: Trump's Physician Is a DO; So Are 11% of All U.S. Doctors

5.  Assessment of Nutrition Knowledge and Attitudes in Preclinical Osteopathic Medical Students by Emily J. Hargrove, MS, et al. from American Osteopathic Association

6. Just What Is Functional Medicine and Why Do Some DOs Gravitate to It? by Seka Palikuca

7. What Does a Holistic Doctor Do? by Kirsten Nunez from Healthline

8. What Is Holistic Medicine?

9. Food Analysis: EFA, Protein to Fat, Net Carbs, Sugar, and Nutrient Load by Ted Slanker