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“Let food be thy medicine, and thy medicine be thy food.”
That is a quote made famous by an ancient Greek physician many consider to be the father of modern medicine, Hippocrates.
The News Medical Life Sciences website breaks it down, showing part of the Hippocratic oath doctors take upon entering their medical career states, “I will attend to my own health, well-being and abilities in order to provide care of the highest standard.”
It not only makes sense because of course you can’t pour from an empty cup. I can say that as personally I’ve felt much more confident with a doctor’s recommendations when he or she appears healthy, strong and has a vibrant energy.
You might be surprised to know that there is, in fact, a prescription for creating a healthy, strong energetic body and mind. Unfortunately, it’s not normally included alongside the prescriptions you fill at the pharmacy.
To be fair, most allopathic doctors and health professionals are trained almost exclusively in medicine and have almost no training with food. I’ve coached several doctors, nurses and even specialists and they’ve all told me nutrition and food is not something they spend a lot of time on.
Depending on the institution, doctors receive anywhere from one to four hours of nutrition education in their entire medical schooling.
Now, before I start getting hate mail, let me say I’m not against doctors. I am privileged to know a lot of very good doctors who, if I were to break my arm, I’d count on to set it properly. But for all the lifestyle and metabolic diseases like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, obesity, Parkinson’s, dementia, Alzheimer’s, cancer, etc., running rampant through our country and around the world, there really needs to be a prescription for food and lifestyle to go along with whatever pharmaceutical perscription you also walk away with.
More than 90% of all prescriptions are written with the intent that they be taken for life. That stat actually came from a seminar I attended several years ago. Yet metabolic and lifestyle diseases keep climbing. Why is that?
Prescription medications do not cure conditions, they help mitigate symptoms. They help you to (hopefully) feel better while you’re taking them, without actually getting to the root of the problem.
For example, taking cholesterol medication for a period of time and then stopping, without first making food and lifestyle changes, won’t bring those numbers down. By the way, I don’t advocate stopping any prescription medications without first talking to your doctor, discussing your plan and having them monitor you.
Getting back to Hippocrates’ quote, his statement has never run more true than right now. As a population here in North America, more than any other time in history, we are currently the unhealthiest we have ever been. That includes adults and children.
Statistics Canada 2021 data showed 55% of adults aged 18 to 79 used at least one prescription medication in the preceding month and 52% of those aged 60 to 72 took three medications or more. It also says,“…medications constitute one of the major health spending categories in Canada….Spending on prescription medication accounted for 13% of total national health expenditures in 2019.”
Shocking isn’t it? Especially since the Oxford Academic published a chapter titled, “Reversing chronic diseases using lifestyle medicine”. The abstract for the chapter states, “The diseases that have been shown to be reversible include even severe coronary heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, obesity, hyperlipidemia and early-stage prostate cancer.”
We know that with obesity comes high blood pressure and cholesterol, with diabetes comes insulin resistance and hormonal issues etc., and those are directly related to unstable blood sugar.
Using food to create hormonal balance and stabilize blood sugar literally puts your body into homeostasis, the scientific word for balance. Metabolism is turned on, stored fat is released, muscle is protected, sugar cravings decrease, energy increases, sleep is better, immune function is better, moods are better, hormonal issues are less prevalent and you’ll find yourself being more productive more often. It’s not rocket science, but it is based on science.
Blood sugar stabilization is very much based in science and it is literally the way we were designed to function. Learning to eat the foods you love in right combinations, portions and right frequency throughout the day, allows you to put some balance back in your body and take back control of your health, and your life.
You won’t have to count calories, give up carbs or go on a crazy diet either. In fact, most of my clients say they’re eating more than they ever thought they would and losing weight too.
The bottom line is if you’re not using food as medicine, your medicine will soon become your food.
To learn more about blood sugar stabilization, watch Tania’s FREE 15 mins video.
For delicious recipes that balance blood sugar, check out Tania’s FIT Recipe Box.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.
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