"Turning the Clock Back 14 Years"
In 1903, Thomas Edison predicted that
the doctor of the future would give no medicine,
but would instead instruct their patient
in the care of the human frame
in diet and in the cause and prevention of disease.
A hundred and one years later,
the American College of Lifestyle Medicine was born.
We still prescribe drugs when necessary,
but our emphasis, is based on the understanding
that the leading causes of disability in the United States,
and the leading causes of death
are caused mostly by lifestyle,
particularly what we put in our mouth: food and cigarettes.
An impressive number of studies have shown
that lifestyle is the root cause of what ails us.
The good news, though, is that by changing our lifestyle
we can dramatically improve our health.
We have the power.
For most leading causes of death we've long known
that our genes account for at most 10 to 20% of risk,
given the fact that rates of killers
like heart disease and major cancers
differ up to a 100-fold among various populations
and that when people migrate from low-risk to high-risk countries,
their disease rates almost always change
to those of the new environment.
For example, at least 70% of strokes and colon cancer are avoidable,
over 80% of coronary heart disease,
over 90% of type 2 diabetes, avoidable.
So maybe it's time we stop blaming our genes
and focus on the 70% plus under our control.
That may be the real solution to the health care crisis.
And it doesn't take much.
Adhering to just four simple healthy lifestyle factors
can have a strong impact on the prevention of chronic diseases:
not smoking, not being obese,
half hour of exercise a day, and eating healthier—
like more fruits, veggies, whole grains, less meat.
Four simple things cut our risk of developing a chronic disease by 78%.
95% of diabetes risk out the window,
80% of heart attack risk – gone!
Half of stroke risk, a third of cancer risk – simply gone.
Think of what that means in terms of the numbers.
As it stands now, each year a million Americans
experiences their first heart attack or stroke,
a million get diabetes, a million get cancer.
If we clean up our act, we actually get to live longer too?
The CDC followed about 8,000 Americans
20 years or older for about six years.
They found that three cardinal lifestyle behaviors
exerted an enormous impact on mortality.
People who do not smoke, consume a healthy diet,
and engage in sufficient physical activity
can substantially reduce their risk of early death.
And by not smoking they just meant not currently smoking.
By "healthy diet" they just meant in the top 40% in terms of
complying with the rather wimpy Federal dietary guidelines.
And physically active meant averaging about 21 minutes a day or more
of at least moderate exercise.
Those that managed at least one of the three
had a 40% lower risk of dying.
Those that hit two out of three
cut their chances of dying more than half,
and those that scored all three,
flushed 82% of their chances of dying in those six years down the drain!
What does that mean in terms of how much longer we get to live?
A similar study on health behaviors and survival
didn't just take people's word on how healthy they were eating,
they measured the level of vitamin C in people's blood,
as a biomarker for how many plants people were eating.
And the drop in mortality risk in those
nailing all four healthy behaviors was equivalent
to being 14 years younger.
It's like turning back the clock 14 years.