If Your Health Were At Stake, What Would You Change?
Most people know that cardiovascular disease and cancer are the leading causes of death, by a large margin, in the United States [1]. It is also common knowledge that these conditions are highly preventable diseases of our modern lifestyles. Modes of prevention are simple and well known too. So, instead of waiting for that grave diagnosis, how about incorporating a few changes, little by little, into your daily life? It could make the difference between continuing a life that you enjoy, and embarking on some radical green juice diet and intensive exercising in a sauna program, for the sole purpose of saving your life, down the road.
We’ve all heard the stories of people who’ve abruptly changed their nutrition and lifestyles after a scary diagnosis, and have completely turned the illness around and become healthier from it. This phenomena has even been studied. In a 2009 article published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), Yale researchers found that “people newly diagnosed with health problems were more likely to change their health habits than those without a new diagnosis.” For example, “smokers newly diagnosed with at least one condition were 3.2 times more likely to quit than those without a new diagnosis [2].”
In 1990, Dean Ornish, MD published a study showing that “heart disease could be not only slowed down, but actually reversed with a plant-based diet and other lifestyle changes. People learned they could literally take their life in their own hands and cure themselves of a debilitating life-threatening disease once thought to be incurable [3].” More recently, in a study of men diagnosed with prostate cancer, Dr. Ornish studied the impact of a plant-based diet, “predominantly fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and soy products,” on patients who already had cancer. “Dr. Ornish found 93 men with early biopsy-proven prostate cancer who volunteered to forgo radiation, chemo and surgery. He then randomized the cancer patients into a lifestyle modification group, which included a strictly plant-based diet along with other healthy behaviors such as walking 30 minutes six days a week, or a control group which just watched and waited. A year later the results were tallied and published in the September 2005 issue of the Journal of Urology. By the end of the year-long study, six of the control group patients had dropped out because their tumors were growing (MRI’s or diagnostic tests of cancer activity showed that their tumors were growing at such a rate that they decided they could wait no longer and opted for a combination of radical surgery, chemotherapy or radiation). However, not one of the vegan diet group suffered the same fate. In fact, while on average cancer activity increased in the control group, as measured by PSA tests, the cancer markers DECREASED in the lifestyle modification group. By the end of the year the cancer growth rate, as measured by these tests, was highly significantly different between the two groups [4].”
Of course, genetics and previous environmental exposures play a role, but people have more power than they might think over their health destiny. So, are you wondering yet, what are these simple changes that can be incorporated? According to the American Cancer Society (ACS), and many other experts and panels, for the purpose of optimizing health, it is recommended that everyone maintain a healthy weight, eat a healthy diet that is high in plant sources, adopt a physically active lifestyle, and avoid both cigarette smoke and drinking too much alcohol.
Eating a healthy diet is something that can be started immediately with a little education about what is most unhealthy, then replacing any sugary, salty, high fat, processed foods in the diet with the whole food versions of them. A good rule of thumb, taken from author, Michael Pollan’s, 7 Rules for Eating, is “eat food, not too much, mostly plants. Don’t eat anything your great grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food,” i.e. “choose food over food-like substances.” Also, drink plenty of clean, pure water and few or no sugary beverages. Don’t drink diet beverages at all.
Recommendations for exercise, based on the most current research, are to engage in 30 or more minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, above usual activities, on 5 or more days of the week. Don’t let these numbers psych you out though. Start small and strive for progress, adding simple active habits to your lifestyle whenever possible. Some examples include walking or biking in place of driving (that’s healthy for the environment too!), taking stairs instead of the elevator, taking a walk or other exercise break at work, going out dancing with friends, or spending time playing with your kids. Always keep in mind that any extra activity is valuable to your health and, therefore, worthy of your effort. Once you get moving, your increased activity levels will soon feed your energy capacity and, before you know it, you’ll be out running, biking, or playing a pick-up game of your choice with colleagues over lunch. Maybe you’ll even join a sports team, cycle a century, or run a marathon!
The remaining lifestyle habits – don’t drink too much alcohol and don’t smoke – can be tough to incorporate, but are really important for rounding out your good health. While there may be health benefits related to modest intake of certain alcoholic beverages, such as red wine, the American Cancer Society (ACS) writes that, in general, moderate to heavy drinking is known to contribute to cancers of the mouth, throat, larynx (voice box), esophagus, liver and breast, and may contribute to colon and rectal cancers. The ACS recommends that people who drink alcohol limit their intake to no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink a day for women, with a drink being defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits. Regarding cigarette smoking, by this point in our history, most people know that quitting smoking is one of the best things one can do for improving, not only their own health, but also the health of the people around them. To kick the habit for good, motivation, dependable support, and sound strategies are needed. And no one needs to take quitting smoking on alone. There are many resources available, including these from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the ACS.
While the prospect of lifestyle changes can be intimidating and challenging, the known risks to your health from not making them can be just plain frightening. At the end of the day, it’s nothing more than a simple informed decision. Would you like to take control of your long-term health status, or would you rather just do nothing and wait to see how it all turns out as the subject of your own experiment? There’s only one of you, so please make this choice carefully.
1. National Center for Health Statistics, Deaths and Mortality Data for the US
2. Disease Diagnosis Can Spur Change in Lifestyle, HealthDay News, SOURCE: JAMA/Archives journals, news release, Feb. 9, 2009
3. Ornish D, et al. 1990. Can lifestyle changes reverse coronary heart disease? The Lifestyle Heart Trial. Lancet 336(8708):129-33.
4. Ornish Takes on Cancer (from Dr. Greger Newsletter, Fall 2005)
