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A code blue is a medical emergency.
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It's used in hospitals and institutions to alert when a patient is in cardiopulmonary arrest.
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A team of healthcare professionals rushes to the patient's location to administer resuscitative efforts to revive them.
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Today, in many ways, it's our society and healthcare industries that need to be brought back to life.
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They need to be ushered into a new era of awareness, one that prioritizes prevention and healthcare over sick care.
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Until then, we're living a societal code blue epidemic.
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Healthcare costs in this country $2.9 trillion per year.
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And here's the scariest thing. Chronic illness accounts for 86% of that money.
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50% of Americans live with at least one chronic disease.
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50%. Two-thirds of Americans are obese or overweight.
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Obesity is fueling chronic illness.
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I'm talking about diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart attacks, stroke, Alzheimer's disease.
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We're really facing an epidemic, really a crisis when it comes to chronic disease.
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30% of American adults have either type 2 diabetes or pre-diabetes.
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Autoimmune disease rates are skyrocketing. Heart disease is the number one cause of death.
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What we're doing now is largely treating symptoms of this epidemic.
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Really, are we getting to the root cause of illness?
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I think the big problem in healthcare, we don't think about behavior change at the right time.
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We think about it when it's too late.
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What if we spent as much time and energy thinking about what makes people healthy as we do?
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Thinking about illness. We are struggling as a field.
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We all drank medical Kool-Aid. Consumers have, doctors have. You have a symptom, you take a drug.
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What I really think we need is a complete paradigm shift.
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Well, lifestyle medicine is, I think, the most exciting trends in medicine today.
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70 to 80% of our chronic illnesses really can be arrested and reversed.
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Change our diets, change our approach, start exercising.
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Every student that comes across lifestyle medicine, they get so motivated. They're like, this is what I want to do.
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These simple changes can make such a powerful difference.
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I'm hearing from a lot more medical students who say, we want to learn about this.
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Medicine is at the cost of what is truly a seismic revolution in health.
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Imagine if the news were to break tomorrow.
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There's a new drug available, just approved by the FDA. It's available in bountiful supply.
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It is shockingly inexpensive, stunningly free of side effects, safe enough for children and octogenarians alike,
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and taken once daily for the rest of your life.
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Your life will reduce your risk of ever getting any major chronic disease by 80%.
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Who would not want a prescription for this then?
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Lifestyle is exactly that medicine, and all too few are taking it.
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Thanks for a while.
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I appreciate it.
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I'd rather have a cabin for landing.
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Now's a good time.
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We'll be empowering down your larger electronic devices.
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We will ask you to put away your devices for a few moments.
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We'll all hand-tail the electronic devices.
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Please, please, please.
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I've sort of been at the stage in my life that I don't feel like I have to prove anything to myself or to anyone else.
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I just do this because I love it, and I think it's amazing that I can do it.
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And the fact that I can climb and make my way over these big boulders and not fall, I feel accomplished when I get to that summit.
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You know, 10, 15 years ago, going on a hike was something that was so foreign and so likely to be impossible,
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and now it's something that I enjoy.
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I love being outdoors, fresh air, the sunlight, and it just feeds my soul.
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My name is Dr. Sarai Stancic.
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Back in 1995, the entire course of my life changed in an instant when I went from doctor to patient.
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For years I struggled, desperately trying to manage an unpredictable and disabling diagnosis.
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Through my suffering as a patient, I learned invaluable lessons that fundamentally changed my perspective as a practicing physician.
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I began my career in the 1990s as an infectious disease specialist determined to combat the HIV epidemic.
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But today, my professional focus is elsewhere.
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I'm eager to bring change to our often misguided healthcare system and antiquated medical education model,
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which places little to no emphasis on what we know today could save countless lives.
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I was born in Cuba, but my family immigrated to the United States when I was only five months old.
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My parents instilled in us that they had made the sacrifice to come to this country and that we were going to make something of ourselves.
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For me, it was easy. I wanted to be a doctor.
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I didn't know any physicians. You know, I guess I had seen doctors on TV and they looked pretty impressive and cool.
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My first experience with a real physician was when my grandmother was diagnosed with cancer.
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When she passed, I was nine years old.
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But going to the hospital and seeing physicians caring for her solidified that for me that I'm going to become a doctor.
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When I was accepted at New Jersey Medical School, it was like the happiest day of my life.
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So now I'm in my third year of my residency, which is the last year.
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I had just turned 28. I had just met Ralph in August.
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We were residents together. A mutual friend introduced us. And we hit it off immediately.
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Then comes October 11, 1995.
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I'm on call and it was a really crazy, busy night.
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There wasn't a break. And I remember feeling really, really tired as the night progressed.
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I remember getting to the call room, literally almost crawling to the bed. And I was gone.
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Next thing I know, my pager went off.
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When I tried to get up, I couldn't feel my legs.
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Then I stepped down to get help and it suddenly felt like I was stepping on hot coals.
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I'm brought to the emergency room and they said we need to do an MRI to see what's going on.
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They tell you don't move. And I'm in there for like two hours.
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And all I hear is that terrible sound of banging.
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And then I start to feel this pain, some like Charlie Horace on steroids.
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And I'm terrified.
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They keep asking me, are you okay? Are you okay?
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And I keep saying yes. And I'm thinking no.
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And then as I'm wheeling out, I hear the radiology attending say, go get the medical students, go get the interns.
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This is a classic case of MS.
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Like the fourth time for one's day, you know, it's just like everything changed overnight.
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It was pretty frightening.
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It was pretty frightening because we had only been dating for a couple of months, but I was fairly certain that this was the woman I was going to spend the rest of my life with.
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I knew it was an autoimmune disease, but the things that were important to me at that moment, I really had no idea.
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When the neurologist came, I remember him telling me that, you know, multiple sclerosis is a chronic illness, and you just have to learn to live with it.
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Multiple sclerosis is a disease that affects the brain, the spinal cord, and the nerves to the back of the eye.
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It's classified as an autoimmune disease.
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In the early stages, the immune system is episodically attacking local areas of the central nervous system.
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A normal, healthy immune system is supposed to fight off foreign invaders like bacteria, virus, you know, pathogens.
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In MS, it attacks myelin, this fatty sheath that protects the spinal cord and nerves.
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The consequence of that is the development of these neurological issues, and the progression of the illness would be, you know, becoming dependent, for example, on a wheelchair or on, you know, other things.
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Like it affects your bladder, it can cause optic neuritis, even blindness.
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I knew there was no cure for MS. The best I could hope for was to slow its progression.
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My doctors predicted I'd likely be in a wheelchair within 20 years.
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I can tell you those are difficult words to hear when you're 28 years old.
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The imaging studies showed a great burden of disease, so it was never a thought that she wasn't going to be on medication.
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The first time I had to inject her, it was upsetting.
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You know, here I was having to inflict pain on her, and this was going to be our life moving forward.
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These nightly injections, which gave her flu-like symptoms, which led to other medications to counteract the side effects of the medications that she was on for the MS.
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By the time I was in my early 30s, I was taking about 12 drugs. I had no quality of life.
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And then one day, I was sitting in my office, and somebody dropped off a stack of mail.
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And there was a journal, and on the cover it said, multiple sclerosis and blueberries.
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And I said, what could that be?
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There was a study that looked at MS patients, and they bet half of them were diet rich in blueberries.
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And the patients who were eating this diet rich in blueberries reported that they felt a little bit better.
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Now, it wasn't a great scientific study, but what it did was that aha moment, like wow, diet and disease.
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I thought back to all that education that I had had.
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Ten years, a decade of my life dedicated to medical education.
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And I couldn't think of one example in which any of my professors, mentors ever discussed the connection between diet and disease.
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I wanted to look into it myself and do a search.
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And I put in words like multiple sclerosis and blueberries, and I said, I'm going to do a search.
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And I put in words like multiple sclerosis and diet, chronic disease and diet.
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And what I found was extraordinary.
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This idea of lifestyle medicine wasn't just powerful for me.
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I knew that this was powerful for all of us.
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And it was a message that I wanted to share with as many as possible.
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So I started to write articles, and I started to do public speaking wherever anybody would invite me.
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Such a great pleasure to be here to speak on a topic that I'm immensely passionate about.
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I've been practicing medicine for 22 years.
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Today, I practice lifestyle medicine.
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Has anyone ever heard of that?
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It's a relatively new field in medicine.
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Lifestyle medicine's focus is to educate and empower patients on the importance of optimal nutrition, a primarily plant-based diet.
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Physical activity, stress management, effective sleep hygiene, the avoidance of tobacco, the reduction or near elimination of alcohol, and the importance of social interconnectedness.
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The evidence is absolutely overwhelming.
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I don't think there's anything more consistently reported in high-quality peer-reviewed journals than the potential of lifestyle to improve the quality of lives for millions upon millions around the globe.
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One of the most powerful pieces of evidence.
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2009, Erroll Ford and colleagues studied 23,000 adults in and around Potsdam, Germany, and asked them about four factors.
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They asked about weight.
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They asked, do you smoke, yes or no? Are you physically active, yes or no?
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Do you eat well, yes or no?
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And their definition of eating well was so simple.
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It was habitual intake of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains.
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So they compared the people who said, I don't smoke, I eat well, I'm active, my weight is fine, to people who said, I smoke, eat badly, don't exercise, and my weight's out of control.
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And these people had an almost 80% lesser rate of developing any major chronic disease.
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Did you be with us?
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At some point, I had read enough.
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And in 2003, I adopted a whole food plant-based diet because the evidence suggested that this was the ideal diet for health maintenance.
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I began to exercise.
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Back in the 1990s, when you were diagnosed with MS, you were told, don't exercise.
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MS patients struggle with fatigue.
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You were told to conserve your energy.
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So for eight years, I didn't exercise.
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I was very deconditioned.
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I could not get onto a stationary bike without my husband's assistance.
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And the first time I could do a minute, and I was in a lot of pain.
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But the next day, I went back.
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And it didn't happen in a week, and it didn't happen in a month.
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It happened over time, but I started to feel better.
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I came off all of those medications.
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And on May 2nd, 2010, I crossed the finish line at the New Jersey Narrow Line.
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That's amazing. That's incredible.
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He's done MS.
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I still have MS.
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And you know what?
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If I stopped doing all the things that I do every single day, I would become symptomatic again.
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There's tremendous power in our choices.
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That's the message I want to get to all students.
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And that's a message that we need to get to our communities, to our patients.
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I know firsthand what lifestyle changes can do for someone with chronic illness.
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So I've decided to embark on my most ambitious trek yet.
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Now, nearly two decades after personally adopting this lifestyle approach,
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I'm setting out across the United States to connect some dots.
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From the most compelling science-based evidence to the top practices around the country
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where physicians are helping their patients make lifestyle changes,
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I wanted to hear their struggles and successes.
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But most importantly, I wanted to uncover why the field of medicine fails to emphasize prevention and lifestyle
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despite the evidence that clearly supports its effectiveness.
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The first stop of my journey is here, Ithaca, New York,
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to revisit a 1980 study that remains one of the touchstones of lifestyle medicine today,
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Dr. T. Colin Campbell's China Study.
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In 1980, I decided to go to China and see what we could learn.
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This is the real China Study.
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We went into their homes and measured exactly what they ate over a three-day period.
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This is a total of 6,500 families, 130 villages, 65 counties across China.
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We collected blood samples and urine samples.
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We had all this information on a total of 367, I call them items of information,
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which included about four dozen different kinds of disease rates,
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different cancers, heart disease, diabetes, all this kind of stuff.
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Rice, vegetables, lots of different kinds of vegetables, by the way.
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That's why they were produced locally.
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Overall, their consumption of animal protein in China was only one-tenth as we have here.
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A huge difference.
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And of course, heart disease is almost non-existent in some places in China.
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There was one county that we, there was something like 265,000 successive death certificates.
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Not one was heart disease.
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It seemed very clear that our Western diet was too much of animal foods.
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This idea that animal foods correlate with heart disease in particular has actually been field tested.
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In the 1960s, North Karelia, Finland had the world's highest rate of heart disease deaths.
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The government decided to do something about it.
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There was an intervention called the North Karelia Project beginning nearly five decades ago.
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There was an intervention called the North Karelia Project beginning nearly five decades ago.
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With a focus on preventing smoking, reducing intake of saturated fat,
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and shifting from animal foods like meat and processed dairy to more vegetables, fruits, whole grains, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, fish, and seafood.
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And since the initiation of the North Karelia Project, an 82% reduction in coronary disease deaths.
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And a 10-year average addition to life expectancy.
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You show me anything in all of medicine that has ever achieved anything remotely like that,
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that has ever extended life expectancy routinely for an entire population by 10 years.
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There is nothing.
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At the turn of the century, the average American lived until they were 50 years old.
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The government kept on saying, you know, you know, you're going to be a doctor.
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The government kept statistics. If you looked at what people were dying of,
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it was basically respiratory illnesses like pneumonia, tuberculosis, and waterborne diseases like cholera and dysentery.
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And then we got antibiotics. And so all of a sudden we saw people living beyond 50.
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But that's when food causes the problem.
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Every decade since 1950, we've been eating more fat, more cholesterol, more meat, more sugar, and more calories.
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So not surprisingly, we're fatter because we eat too much of everything.
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When I was in medical school, I would walk in the hospital. The gift shops sold cigarettes.
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I bought my Merit Menthols and my head of surgery by Marlboro's,
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and we would light up in the hallway, walking down to the doctor's lounge.
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And when you got in there, it was so smoky that you could barely cut it with a knife.
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We knew that cigarettes cause cancer, but we also knew that it takes time to get cancer, and if I quit, I'll be okay.
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And at some point we realized, now is the time.
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We've got to quit, and we've got to get the cigarettes out of the gift shop, in fact, get them out of the whole hospital.
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And this was a big decision. And of course, after we made that decision, within two weeks everybody knew it was the right thing.
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But that's where we are with food. We know we've got an issue. We know we've got to change.
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When I started to learn about the importance of nutrition and lifestyle,
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I remember talking to colleagues that were in practice with me and sharing this idea, and I didn't get much support in that arena.
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And I started to think, gosh, you know, I can't be the only person who's thinking this way.
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So I started to look for other people.
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That's when I found the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, and I was like, wow, you know, this is home for me. These are my people.
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There's a national conference that occurs once a year, and it brings together like-minded physicians and health professionals.
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You make connections, you meet people who understand this is important.
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When I came here and I sat in a room full of other physicians who understood this, it was really empowering.
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I was elated. And I opened my practice a month after I got back from it.
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I opened this practice in 2012, and it was really very scary because I had no patients, and no one really knew what lifestyle medicine was.
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And I think a lot of my friends and family members thought I had lost my mind. I just knew it was the right thing for me.
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You know, there's no blueprint for this. I put this together in many ways, also as a patient.
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Like, what would I want as a patient when I go see a physician?
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Take a nice deep breath, Maureen.
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With this idea of lifestyle medicine, when you're asking patients to change behaviors, things that they've been doing for all their lives, there has to be that trust between the patient and the doctor.
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So my first visit is two hours. I'm going to do a really thorough history. We're going to do a physical exam, and then we're going to do education.
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And your throat is-
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That's better.
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Better.
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Great, vastly improved.
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When did you finish the prednisone?
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I think two days after Philadelphia.
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So you've been doing really well with your food. Hummus, roasted red pepper, lettuce. In general, you're making very, very good choices. My own.
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Mark came to see me in September of last year, and he told me that he had been struggling with his weight for many, many years, and that he was a poorly controlled diabetic, and that he was sick of being a feeling sick.
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Jack, last night, brought over a Cuban pork chopper, dad.
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A Cuban pork chopper? Did he do that because he knows I'm Cuban?
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No, no, no, he didn't.
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I went and got a big salad.
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One day at a time, one decision at a time.
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Right.
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Okay?
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Yeah, it'll work.
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People will ask me, is there a special diet for diabetes? Is there a special diet for MS? And if there isn't, it's one diet for all of us. We should all be eating a diet that is primarily plants.
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I hear all the time, like, well, there's no one diet for every body. Like, actually there is.
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There's remarkable consensus in the scientific literature going back decades, suggesting that the healthiest diet is one that minimizes the intake of meat, eggs, dairy, and junk, and maximizes the intake of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes. Basically, real food that grows out of the ground. These are our healthiest choices.
24:47.400 --> 24:52.400
I used to joke with my friends that there are two types of cardiologists, vegans and those who haven't read the data.
24:57.400 --> 25:00.400
The science points toward eating more plant-based nutrition.
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Vegan is the term that most people use, but if you're eating a lot of refined sugar, a lot of processed grains, you may be a vegan, but you're not a healthy vegan. And so you'll see people who are struggling with their weight. We really have to be very careful about our food selections.
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I'm not here to tell you you need to be a vegan, but I do believe that you need to cut down on the amount of animal protein on your plate.
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If you replace even just 3% of the animal protein in your diet with plant protein, you can actually lower your death rate by 34% when it comes to processed meat, 19% for eggs, 12% for unprocessed red meat, and there's even benefits for replacing dairy, poultry, and fish.
25:49.400 --> 25:57.400
I quiz people a lot, which has more protein, beef or peanuts. Everybody picks beef, but they're exactly the same.
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There is protein in grain. There is protein in beans. There is protein in red, yellow, green leafy vegetables. It's almost impossible to be protein deficient.
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On average, all Americans get about twice the protein they need.
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When you get excess protein from animal sources, there's elevated heart disease risk. There's elevated cholesterol, elevated diabetes risk, elevated cancer risk.
26:33.400 --> 26:40.400
Hello, Mr. Hors. What's a horse say?
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Horse.
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Horse.
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Horse.
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Horse.
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Wow, that's awesome.
26:45.400 --> 27:01.400
I was diagnosed in September of 2016 with multiple sclerosis. On the day I got my diagnosis, I was mindlessly scrolling through Facebook, and I saw this article from a doctor to an MS patient and back.
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And I knew I was waiting for my results, and I said, I don't need this. That's not going to be me, but I saved it.
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And literally five minutes after that, I got the phone call that, yes, it was me. I have MS. And in that moment, my whole world came crashing down.
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You know, I was thinking the worst, and I sobbed the whole way home. I sobbed the whole next day. It was pretty devastating.
27:34.400 --> 27:44.400
But I went back to the article that I had saved that I thought I wouldn't need, and I read about the incredible Dr. Sansik, and I called her.
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Unpredictability. I was having lots of twitching in my legs.
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The day after I met with her, I went cold turkey, gave up dairy and meat, and I adopted the plant-based diet in October of 2016.
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We're not going to unravel. We're not going to stop breathing. We're going to deal with it.
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Right.
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Outside of Philadelphia, I met another physician who has taken a unique approach to health care in her community as well.
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I just couldn't write another prescription for chronic disease. I just couldn't really bear it. So a light bulb went on my head. Maybe I could do something.
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Buenos días. Como la mayoría de ustedes nos tuvieron aquí la semana pasada, I'm going to do a real quick review.
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I started to bring some samples of food to the clinic where I was volunteering. And as people said, this is delicious, but what is it?
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I said, you mean you don't know oats and kale? I stepped back and said, I have to introduce people to food.
28:49.400 --> 28:55.400
So for many years, I have been cooking with patients, bringing the food.
28:55.400 --> 29:00.400
Cauliflower. This is cauliflower. We're doing six week cycles.
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What is tofu made of? Soy. So it's made from soybeans.
29:05.400 --> 29:10.400
They sample recipes, which sometimes we assemble here. Sometimes I bring already made.
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And they share their motivations, their obstacles.
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In just two weeks, people's triglycerides from 600 come down to 200. Blood sugars come down without the use of medication.
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Next week, we're making furritos.
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It's a little bit difficult because you're used to eating meat.
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But you're also getting used to it because I wanted my health.
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So the teeth help. My husband has also helped a lot.
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I don't take medication anymore. I'm not diabetic anymore. Thank God and to the doctor.
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Here is the infirmary.
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The Chester County Food Bank heard about what I was doing here and devised a prescription for fruits and vegetables.
30:00.400 --> 30:07.400
So let's say three people in the family, they get twenty one dollars a week that they can redeem in the truck.
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They are parking here in Phoenix once a week from June to December.
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They only have to present a prescription for food and they get the food for free.
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You know, connecting services with people who need. I think that's our work.
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The challenges are very real in a primary care situation where you're given 15 or 20 minutes.
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So I try to keep it simple and we usually have to divide it up over quite a few visits.
30:43.400 --> 30:53.400
Being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, I was kind of afraid because I have heard stories about people losing limbs or becoming blind.
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I also was diagnosed with high cholesterol.
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The plant-based diet, we started about a year ago. I see the results.
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So what about the exercise?
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I'll do it like 15, 20 minutes every day. The cholesterol has dropped in a big way.
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Okay, great.
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Lately I've been trying to stay away from sweets, as always.
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The way you told me with the fruits, instead of a glass of orange juice, having a whole orange.
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Exactly.
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The old fashioned idea of type 2 diabetes was I've got too much sugar in my blood, which is true.
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And so that must mean I ate too much sugar or I ate carbohydrates that release sugar and that's the whole problem.
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That doesn't hold up very well because looking inside the cells, you see the buildup of tiny fat particles inside the muscles and the liver cause the insulin in the body to not work anymore and that leads to insulin resistance.
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And suddenly the blood sugar rises up because insulin can't get into the cells. That's the disease process.
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The problem in diabetes isn't that you're getting sugar into your body. You should be.
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The problem is it's not getting into the cells where it can do some work and it's the fatty foods contributing fat to those cells.
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That's what's keeping the sugar out. And it's one medication after another, after another, after another.
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And you guarantee your patient will not reverse their diabetes. They are going to be a pill taker for the rest of their life.
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I wasn't taught this in medical school. There is a severe nutrition deficiency in education for our physicians.
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Most doctors are solely trained on an outdated medical education model.
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We learn how to detect disease and then treat with pharmaceuticals, procedures or surgical interventions.
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All of these are important, but what we don't learn is how to keep patients healthy.
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We are receiving an incomplete education, leaving us ill prepared to care for a country drowning in chronic disease.
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Lifestyle medicine was not emphasized when I went to medical school. I had to learn this on my own.
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And in large part, our schools continue to fail us.
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One in four medical schools have a dedicated nutrition course.
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And fewer than a third of medical schools meet the suggested minimum of time spent studying nutrition, which is recommended at 25 hours over four years.
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Medical school, I got one lecture, one lecture on nutrition, which I remember the lecturer, she had baked homemade banana bread.
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She said, here, here's the healthy fat to put on your bread. And it was some mayonnaise, you know, chemical shit storm.
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You know, that was served up.
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70% of medical students when they come in think that nutrition is important, that it's relevant.
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By the time they finish, it's less than half. So it's like medical school washes away the importance of nutrition.
33:56.400 --> 34:03.400
Growing up here in Newark, you know, there isn't really anyone telling you, hey, you can be a doctor.
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So I never really thought it was something I could do.
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I joined the Army as a medical lab tech. And I saw how doctors gave wounded troops a chance at life.
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I wanted to be able to do that for someone.
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Last year I discovered lifestyle medicine. But no one at my school, no one ever heard or talked about this.
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So I went to Google and I found Dr. Stancic and I said to myself, I need to meet her.
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Hey, how are you?
34:40.400 --> 34:43.400
Long story short, she became my mentor.
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Actually, we did a nutritional lecture and it was like this big eye opener.
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No one at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School talked about lifestyle medicine.
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So we started the Lifestyle Medicine Interest Group August 2015 with a paper sign and a table.
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And we held a couple of lectures. Dr. Stancic delivered our first talk and it really inspired a lot of students.
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The scientific literature tells us that we can prevent nearly 80% of the chronic illnesses we see today in clinical practice.
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What if we had identified this patient early on before that end point occurred?
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What if we had given him the tools to understand the importance of his nutrition, the importance of his physical activity?
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Could this path have taken a different course?
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I just hope I can advocate for Lifestyle and change the lives of patients the way she's changing her patient's lives.
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My practice is really unusual. It's atypical in that beyond what I do in the office setting, I do other things.
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I do house calls. I cook with my patients. I go food shopping with patients.
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It's all about eating whole foods whole. You take an apple, you pick it off the tree and you eat it, that's perfect.
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As soon as we press it, we turn it into apple sauce or apple juice, it's processed.
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So less and less processing eating food in its natural state.
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Choose foods that are in season. They're going to be nutrient-fensed. They're going to be cost-effective.
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It's like corn, look, three for a dollar. That's like a great veggie for you to pick up now.
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And the vlog is for two for a dollar.
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So we'll do one dose.
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Pumpkins, calabaza. You see that orange color? What is that?
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That is vitriol.
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That is vitriol. Color, beta-carotene, vitamin A, right? This is really good, powerful stuff.
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That dill smells amazing.
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Make sure we haven't missed anything. Channalini beans. Have you ever tried channalini beans?
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I don't think so.
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Beans are a great source of fiber.
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Okay.
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So we're going to take a look at the label here. Red kidney beans, water, salt, and ascorbic acid.
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Ascorbic acid is vitamin C.
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How you read a label, simple things like that are very empowering for patients.
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And they often go, oh my gosh, I can't read this.
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Simple things like that are very empowering for patients. And they often go, oh my gosh, I never saw that.
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What's important, of course, is that the ingredient list is as few ingredients as possible.
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And that you can pronounce those ingredients.
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Of course, when you read ingredients, you have to know all the trick words, too.
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You might say something like cane juice.
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So you just got to know that, oh, that's sugar.
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Do you really want sugar in your spaghetti sauce or whatever?
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How do we know something's a whole grain?
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The labeling laws are pretty loose about what you can call a whole grain.
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So the front of a box of Lucky Charms says whole grain.
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That is not, you know, like, come on.
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The whole grain has one ingredient.
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Oats, rice, quinoa, barley. That's a whole grain.
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This chronic illness epidemic, how do we turn this tide?
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There are so many variables that play a role here.
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But I believe physicians have to take the lead on this.
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At the Physicians Committee, the mission is to advocate and promote plant-based eating for disease prevention.
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Treatment, as well.
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Small apple. You need to eat the skin, too.
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We are one of the few places that do randomized controlled trials with a plant-based diet.
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What's the diet issue here?
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We're conducting a new study that's testing the effect of a plant-based diet on metabolism.
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So the participants typically come early in the morning in the fasting state, and we measure their metabolism.
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Then they get a standard breakfast, and we're measuring their metabolism for three hours after the breakfast.
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And what do you expect to see?
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We're expecting to see an increase in the ability to burn calories in response to the meal intake.
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Okay.
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After the 16 weeks of a plant-based diet.
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Cheddar, approximately one tablespoon.
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White rotisserie chicken, too.
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TCRM does do some work around legislation with food.
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So sometimes it does involve bills and acts and talking to Congress.
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Congress is a difficult animal.
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In the House, they have to get elected every two years.
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That means they are fundraising all the time.
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So if you're from Iowa, and you are going to speak out against pork and say that it's linked to colorectal cancer,
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you might be out of a job in two years' time.
39:53.400 --> 39:58.400
You would hope that the federal agencies would put public health first.
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But in fact, right now, corporations run a lot of American society, and they're extremely influential in government.
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The United States Department of Agriculture was formed under Abraham Lincoln's administration.
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And it's an agricultural advocacy organization, which I think is a good idea.
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Taking care of farmers and all good.
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The problem is that someplace along the line, the USDA decided it was going to issue dietary guidelines to the American public.
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These dietary guidelines infiltrate the curriculum that teaches dietitians what our military eats, hospital food.
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It is the blueprint for all federal food programs, school lunch, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,
40:44.400 --> 40:50.400
otherwise known as Food Stamps. So it's incredibly important that it be accurate.
40:50.400 --> 40:57.400
The dietary guidelines right now still say you should have dairy products every day.
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Despite the fact that dairy products are the number one source of bad fat, that saturated fat, they're still too friendly to meat.
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Especially the processed meats like bacon or ham that are clearly linked to colon cancer.
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We've got to be tough on those foods and stop pushing them.
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The USDA actually operates in partnership to promote the consumption of animal food.
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For example, there's a dairy checkoff program where dairy farmers in the United States pay a certain number of pennies per pound.
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It goes into a fund and then the USDA administers it and goes out and forms partnerships to help promote dairy.
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They partnered with Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, to come up with new items on the menu that have cheese or to add more cheese to various items.
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This is an institutional conflict of interest that can never be resolved.
41:58.400 --> 42:08.400
Over here you're helping farmers. Then over here, if you really did the right thing, you might tell people not to buy so much of something that these people who you're advocating for produce.
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And it can never be reconciled.
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It takes years to move government. So now we're trying to move that conversation, which is longer overdue.
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But this is going to be hard. We got ourselves into quite a bind here.
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And it's going to take a lot of work and effort to get us out of it.
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Forty years ago, medicine recognized that cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death in this country.
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Today, forty years later, still the same.
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So we look at that and we say to ourselves, can't we do better?
42:43.400 --> 42:54.400
I do this five and a half hour intensive seminar where people become aware that food is their salvation or it can also be their destiny to an early grave.
42:54.400 --> 42:59.400
When you have a pizza or a cheeseburger, the first thing that happens in your bloodstream...
42:59.400 --> 43:03.400
A chronic illness doesn't occur when you have a cheeseburger.
43:03.400 --> 43:10.400
But you do take a hit. Of that hit, your body recovers, let's say, ninety percent.
43:10.400 --> 43:16.400
But you're left with a little ten percent injury. Does it make any difference in your blood pressure? Probably not.
43:16.400 --> 43:21.400
But you do that over five years. Your blood pressure goes up just a few points.
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You do it another five years. Now your doctor says, you know, I think we ought to start a little pill for this blood pressure.
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And I've also noticed the blood sugar's a little high. So this is chronic illness.
43:35.400 --> 43:41.400
You've got to become good strippers. So you take the left hand here and you pull.
43:41.400 --> 43:47.400
There's a marvelous presentation preparing plant-based foods, dealing with reading ingredients, travel and restaurants.
43:47.400 --> 43:52.400
We always have participants who've had a previous successful experience.
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Cholesterol medication was cut in half, then cut in half again.
43:57.400 --> 43:59.400
We answer questions.
43:59.400 --> 44:09.400
No, no, no. Let's be sure. The thing you drink is water. Water is what you drink.
44:09.400 --> 44:12.400
I show them exactly how they created their disease.
44:12.400 --> 44:17.400
This little dark area, that is the life jacket and guardian of your blood vessel.
44:17.400 --> 44:19.400
The endothelium.
44:19.400 --> 44:27.400
The endothelium cells manufacture nitric oxide, which prevents the wall of the artery from becoming thick and stiff or inflamed.
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Keeps all the cellular elements flowing smoothly in our bloodstream like Teflon rather than Velcro.
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Keeps things from getting sticky.
44:34.400 --> 44:43.400
If you eat foods that are going to injure the endothelium, now cholesterol can find a pathway through the endothelium.
44:43.400 --> 44:49.400
We begin this cascade of LDL oxidation, formation of the foam cell.
44:49.400 --> 44:55.400
The foam cell makes metallocollionases in the road, the plaque, the ruptures, then we have a heart attack.
44:55.400 --> 45:00.400
We have a lot of heart failure here in Texas.
45:00.400 --> 45:05.400
All within 250 miles are what, seven heart transplant centers.
45:05.400 --> 45:08.400
Right here in Houston, Texas Medical Center, the head zone zip code.
45:08.400 --> 45:11.400
It's the largest medical center in the world.
45:11.400 --> 45:14.400
So when you first started coming here, how long ago was that?
45:14.400 --> 45:17.400
Well, I was born here in 1964.
45:17.400 --> 45:19.400
1964? You were born here.
45:19.400 --> 45:20.400
Right.
45:21.400 --> 45:24.400
We have patients coming in with multi-vascular core disease.
45:24.400 --> 45:26.400
They've had bypass surgery once or twice.
45:26.400 --> 45:28.400
It's not enough to say eat healthy.
45:28.400 --> 45:38.400
To the extent that patients need some type of intervention, medically, surgically, et cetera, we also exclude the lifestyle intervention.
45:38.400 --> 45:42.400
This subject has become very personal for me.
45:42.400 --> 45:47.400
Last year, my brother-in-law, Glenn, had triple bypass surgery.
45:47.400 --> 45:48.400
It was a shock.
45:48.400 --> 45:53.400
Glenn was an active runner, and he wasn't overweight, but he did have a terrible diet.
45:53.400 --> 46:00.400
After the surgery, he admitted to me he routinely ate chocolate chip cookies for breakfast.
46:00.400 --> 46:08.400
Bypass surgery or stenting alleviates the immediate problem of the blocked arteries, but doesn't alleviate the underlying problem.
46:08.400 --> 46:11.400
And the Ornish program addresses that part of it.
46:11.400 --> 46:13.400
It's very effective.
46:13.400 --> 46:15.400
How many sessions have you done so far?
46:15.400 --> 46:17.400
Finished the fourth week.
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Following his doctor's advice, Glenn started an intensive lifestyle intervention.
46:22.400 --> 46:27.400
I sat down with the program's founder, Dr. Dean Ornish.
46:27.400 --> 46:31.400
When I was in medical school and learning how to do bypass surgery, you know, we'd cut people open.
46:31.400 --> 46:39.400
They'd go home, we'd tell them they were cured, and more often than not, they would eat the same foods, the same junk foods, not managed gas, smoke, not anything.
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The bypasses would clog up.
46:40.400 --> 46:44.400
We'd cut them open again, bypass to bypass, sometimes three or three times.
46:44.400 --> 46:48.400
And so for me, bypass surgery became a metaphor of an incomplete approach.
46:48.400 --> 46:50.400
We were literally bypassing the problem.
46:50.400 --> 46:51.400
We weren't treating the cause.
46:51.400 --> 46:54.400
I wondered what would happen if we treated the cause.
46:54.400 --> 46:57.400
Our lifestyle medicine program is an 18-4-hour session.
46:57.400 --> 47:09.400
So we have supervised exercise, stress management, which is yoga and meditation, a support group, which is really key to getting adherence, and a group meal with a lecture.
47:09.400 --> 47:10.400
I'm starving.
47:10.400 --> 47:11.400
I'm starving.
47:11.400 --> 47:12.400
I'm starving.
47:12.400 --> 47:13.400
I'm starving.
47:13.400 --> 47:14.400
I'm starving.
47:14.400 --> 47:15.400
I'm starving.
47:15.400 --> 47:16.400
I'm starving.
47:16.400 --> 47:17.400
I'm starving.
47:17.400 --> 47:18.400
I'm starving.
47:18.400 --> 47:19.400
I'm starving.
47:19.400 --> 47:20.400
I'm starving.
47:20.400 --> 47:21.400
I'm starving.
47:21.400 --> 47:22.400
I'm starving.
47:22.400 --> 47:23.400
I'm starving.
47:23.400 --> 47:24.400
I'm starving.
47:24.400 --> 47:25.400
I need to talk to you loud.
47:25.400 --> 47:26.400
Would you do something else to put a different protein in?
47:26.400 --> 47:27.400
He said it's sick.
47:27.400 --> 47:28.400
I heard him.
47:28.400 --> 47:29.400
Wise guy.
47:29.400 --> 47:30.400
The ORNiS program, when I started, I was a little, maybe skeptical as to where, because
47:30.400 --> 47:31.400
I was like, okay, like when I was just eight, you didn't hear any of this.
47:31.400 --> 47:32.400
You basically, you know, don't smoke because that's bad, that was coming out, that was being
47:32.400 --> 47:33.400
bad for you, and then that was kind of an exercise and about your weight.
47:33.400 --> 47:34.400
I was like, okay, like when I was just eight, you didn't hear any of this.
47:34.400 --> 47:35.400
You basically, you know, don't smoke because that's bad, that was coming out, that was being
47:35.400 --> 47:36.400
bad for you, and then that was kind of an exercise and about your weight.
47:36.400 --> 47:37.400
My grandfather had open-heart surgery.
47:37.400 --> 47:38.400
My dad had open-heart surgery.
47:38.400 --> 47:39.400
Genes kind of make it seem like, oh, it's going to happen, like there's nothing I can
47:39.400 --> 47:40.400
do about it, like so then why do I care?
47:40.400 --> 47:41.400
Whereas this, the ORNiS thing, is it like kind of returns some power to yourself?
47:41.400 --> 47:42.400
Like if you, you know, if you're like, you know, you're like, you're like, you're
47:42.400 --> 47:43.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:43.400 --> 47:44.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:44.400 --> 47:45.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:45.400 --> 47:46.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:46.400 --> 47:47.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:47.400 --> 47:48.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:48.400 --> 47:49.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:49.400 --> 47:50.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:50.400 --> 47:51.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:51.400 --> 47:52.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:52.400 --> 47:53.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:53.400 --> 47:54.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:54.400 --> 47:55.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:55.400 --> 47:56.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:56.400 --> 47:57.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:57.400 --> 47:58.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:58.400 --> 47:59.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
47:59.400 --> 48:00.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:00.400 --> 48:01.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:01.400 --> 48:02.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:02.400 --> 48:03.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:03.400 --> 48:04.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:04.400 --> 48:05.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:05.400 --> 48:06.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:06.400 --> 48:07.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:07.400 --> 48:08.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:08.400 --> 48:09.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:09.400 --> 48:10.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:10.400 --> 48:11.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:11.400 --> 48:12.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:12.400 --> 48:13.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:13.400 --> 48:14.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:14.400 --> 48:15.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:15.400 --> 48:16.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:16.400 --> 48:17.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:17.400 --> 48:18.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:18.400 --> 48:19.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:19.400 --> 48:20.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:20.400 --> 48:21.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:21.400 --> 48:22.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:22.400 --> 48:23.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:23.400 --> 48:24.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:24.400 --> 48:25.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:25.400 --> 48:26.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:26.400 --> 48:27.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:27.400 --> 48:28.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:28.400 --> 48:29.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:29.400 --> 48:30.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:30.400 --> 48:31.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:31.400 --> 48:32.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:32.400 --> 48:33.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:33.400 --> 48:34.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:34.400 --> 48:35.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:35.400 --> 48:36.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:36.400 --> 48:37.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:37.400 --> 48:38.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:38.400 --> 48:39.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:39.400 --> 48:40.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:40.400 --> 48:41.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:41.400 --> 48:42.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:42.400 --> 48:43.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:43.400 --> 48:44.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:44.400 --> 48:45.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:45.400 --> 48:46.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:46.400 --> 48:47.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:47.400 --> 48:48.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:48.400 --> 48:49.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:49.400 --> 48:50.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:50.400 --> 48:51.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:51.400 --> 48:52.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:52.400 --> 48:53.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:53.400 --> 48:54.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:54.400 --> 48:55.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:55.400 --> 48:56.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:56.400 --> 48:57.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:57.400 --> 48:58.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:58.400 --> 48:59.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
48:59.400 --> 49:00.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:00.400 --> 49:01.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:01.400 --> 49:02.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:02.400 --> 49:03.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:03.400 --> 49:04.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:04.400 --> 49:05.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:05.400 --> 49:06.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:06.400 --> 49:07.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:07.400 --> 49:08.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:08.400 --> 49:09.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:09.400 --> 49:10.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:10.400 --> 49:11.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:11.400 --> 49:12.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:12.400 --> 49:13.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:13.400 --> 49:14.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:14.400 --> 49:15.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:15.400 --> 49:16.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:16.400 --> 49:17.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:17.400 --> 49:18.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:18.400 --> 49:19.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:19.400 --> 49:20.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:20.400 --> 49:21.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:21.400 --> 49:22.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:22.400 --> 49:23.400
like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're like, you're
49:23.400 --> 49:28.300
are these two sisters, here, Abby and and landers, they were both advice columnists
49:28.300 --> 49:35.800
when I was young, they're identical twins, but one died of cancer, the other died as
49:35.800 --> 49:41.560
a result of Alzheimer's disease. So in spite of the fact that they're monozygotic twins,
49:41.560 --> 49:48.260
exactly the same genetics at birth, as they age, they became so different that they actually
49:48.260 --> 49:52.260
died 11 years apart from one another.
50:19.260 --> 50:26.260
I learned more protein really turned that cancer on. Animal protein did that, plant
50:27.260 --> 50:31.260
protein did not, because when you're eating the whole food, you're also eating complex
50:31.260 --> 50:36.260
carbohydrates, along with the antioxidants, which tend to repress some of the activities
50:36.260 --> 50:39.260
that protein otherwise might have.
50:48.260 --> 50:55.260
The good news is the lifestyle medicine prescription defends against cancer. Now, we probably
50:55.260 --> 51:00.260
can't prevent cancer quite as consistently as we can prevent heart disease and diabetes,
51:00.260 --> 51:07.260
but cancer is also preventable. In more than 30% risk reduction through lifestyle practices,
51:07.260 --> 51:10.260
that's pretty darn good.
51:10.260 --> 51:15.260
Lifestyle won't help everybody. It's a good thing. It's a good thing. It's a good thing.
51:16.260 --> 51:22.260
Lifestyle won't help every kind of cancer, but lifestyle changes can reduce your risk
51:22.260 --> 51:27.260
for some of the most prevalent, such as colon, prostate, and breast cancer.
51:34.260 --> 51:41.260
They found a small lump. I've been doing breast cancer surgery for 15 years.
51:45.260 --> 51:52.260
I don't think that women realize that diet, exercise, obesity actually have an impact
51:56.260 --> 52:03.260
on their developing breast cancer. Most women, when I talk to them about that, it's the
52:03.260 --> 52:09.260
first time they've heard it, and it's frankly a big surprise to them to hear that those
52:09.260 --> 52:13.260
life choices made an impact into their breast cancer.
52:15.260 --> 52:22.260
One in four cancers diagnosed in women in the world is breast cancer. So this is, in
52:22.260 --> 52:29.260
fact, a global problem. And so we've looked at a number of lifestyle factors, such as
52:29.260 --> 52:38.260
physical activity, protected for particularly premenopausal breast cancer, alcohol, clearly
52:38.260 --> 52:45.260
increasing risk, high fruits and vegetables, high fiber, protected against breast cancer.
52:48.260 --> 52:55.260
Avoiding weight gain through premenopausal use reduces risk of breast cancer.
52:57.260 --> 53:03.260
How much of a reduction in risk do you think potentially we could reap from adopting this behavior?
53:03.260 --> 53:09.260
Part of the answer is, when do we start? If we start with our daughters or our nieces
53:09.260 --> 53:15.260
or our grandchildren, we could have a really big impact on premenopausal breast cancer.
53:15.260 --> 53:23.260
With that healthy diet from let's say age 10 or 12, on high physical activity, limited
53:23.260 --> 53:31.260
alcohol, where over 50%, over half of premenopausal breast cancer could be avoided.
53:32.260 --> 53:41.260
The factors outside that affect the epigenome are diet, alcohol is a big one, air pollution,
53:41.260 --> 53:47.260
water pollution, too much sunlight can lead to mutations. So really almost everything
53:47.260 --> 53:52.260
that's coming in. Now, when we get into stress, it gets a little complicated. A little bit
53:52.260 --> 53:59.260
of stress is protective to the epigenome. So that's actually what exercise does. It stresses
54:00.260 --> 54:07.260
our cells a little bit, and that brings in repair mechanisms that keep our genomes pristine.
54:08.260 --> 54:14.260
But too much stress can lead to mutational errors. Too much stress is bad.
54:16.260 --> 54:21.260
Let's talk about inflammation. When we live in a pro-inflammatory environment, we turn
54:21.260 --> 54:23.260
on the bad genes.
54:24.260 --> 54:30.260
Inflammation is a common denominator among many of my patients with autoimmune diseases.
54:31.260 --> 54:41.260
I am a general surgeon, and I had been dealing with ulcerative colitis ever since I was
54:41.260 --> 54:46.260
at the end of my residency. Every single colonoscopy I had, there was always an element
54:46.260 --> 54:54.260
of inflammation on the scope. Last year, my ankles were swelling. So I had my heart
54:54.260 --> 54:59.260
checked out, and everything was fine. And I had no explanation as to why my ankles were
54:59.260 --> 55:00.260
swelling.
55:03.260 --> 55:10.260
I just knew something had to change. So I went to see Dr. Stancic last June, and for
55:10.260 --> 55:15.260
two hours we sat down and we talked about what my life is like and how to change it.
55:16.260 --> 55:24.260
I went on a plant-based diet. I exercised more, lost some weight, and then I had a colonoscopy
55:24.260 --> 55:31.260
six months into it, and there was absolutely no inflammation at all. I'm feeling so much
55:31.260 --> 55:36.260
better than I did a year ago, and I even cut my medicine in half.
55:37.260 --> 55:45.260
The idea that diet and lifestyle can affect an autoimmune disease is relatively new, but
55:45.260 --> 55:50.260
there's evidence in inflammatory bowel disease like ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease.
55:50.260 --> 55:55.260
There's evidence in the lupus literature. There's evidence in the rheumatoid arthritis literature.
55:57.260 --> 56:01.260
When we're looking at the microbiome, the microbiome is connected to this immune system
56:01.260 --> 56:05.260
of ours. And what affects our microbiome? Our diet.
56:06.260 --> 56:13.260
The microbiome refers to a whole host of organisms that live on in and around us. Fungi, bacteria,
56:13.260 --> 56:18.260
protozoa, yeast. We used to think they were pretty insignificant, but they dictate our
56:18.260 --> 56:24.260
overall health. When you eat an unhealthy diet, your microbiome gets altered. You enter
56:24.260 --> 56:29.260
a state called dysbiosis, where you have bacteria that may not be so healthy for you that are
56:29.260 --> 56:33.260
overgrown in relation to the healthy bacteria. They produce chemicals, and oftentimes these
56:33.260 --> 56:38.260
chemicals are carcinogenic and really mess with our immune system. So the unhealthy gut
56:38.260 --> 56:44.260
microbiome corresponds with many autoimmune diseases. If you were to ask me to summarize
56:44.260 --> 56:49.260
how to get a healthy microbiome in one word, it would be fiber. Americans are so fiber
56:49.260 --> 56:56.260
depleted. That should be the headline in the paper. There should be a fiber diet, because
56:56.260 --> 57:02.260
most people are getting about 15 grams a day, but they need anywhere from 26 to 30
57:02.260 --> 57:07.260
grams a day. Fiber only exists in plant foods, and there's a lot of research out there now.
57:07.260 --> 57:13.260
People on plant-based diets tend to have better gut flora. Lifestyle and plant-based eating
57:13.260 --> 57:18.260
is an important aspect in not only preventing disease, but it's going to be very important
57:18.260 --> 57:24.260
in managing the spectrum of autoimmunity. Because think about how we treat autoimmunity
57:24.260 --> 57:31.260
now. We treat autoimmune disease with a drug that knocks out your immune system. And when
57:31.260 --> 57:37.260
we do that, yep, maybe we cool off that autoimmune disease, but we're also doing collateral
57:37.260 --> 57:43.260
damage. Our immune system is important. There's a lot of little bits of light that we're
57:43.260 --> 57:47.260
starting to see. We now just have to connect these dots.
57:48.260 --> 57:54.260
Almost as important as what we eat is how we move. It's a key part of the lifestyle
57:54.260 --> 57:57.260
medicine approach to overall health.
57:59.260 --> 58:05.260
We're here at the Boston VA. I often see people with osteoarthritis of the knees and of the
58:05.260 --> 58:12.260
hips, and I will say to them, let me explain the physics of what's going on. Your leg muscles
58:12.260 --> 58:17.260
are relatively weak. I've just determined that. You're carrying around more weight,
58:17.260 --> 58:21.260
which has a multiplier effect because of the physics of how we walk. And by then, the
58:21.260 --> 58:27.260
person's saying, so if I were to lose a few pounds and get my legs stronger, my knees
58:27.260 --> 58:31.260
would hurt less. They've just written themselves a lifestyle prescription.
58:35.260 --> 58:40.260
If they take my exercise prescription, I'm actually obligated to warn them that your
58:40.260 --> 58:43.260
blood sugar is going to drop. If you're on a medication for it, you know, a little bit
58:43.260 --> 58:48.260
facetiously, I'll start to list the side effects. You're going to live longer to save
58:48.260 --> 58:54.260
your money. You're going to reduce your incidence of several dozen cancers. It goes on and
58:54.260 --> 59:02.260
on. The federal guidelines, based on lots of research, are simply 150 minutes per week.
59:03.260 --> 59:07.260
And then the only other thing is two, twice a week of resistance training, something where
59:07.260 --> 59:09.260
you're stressing your muscles.
59:10.260 --> 59:20.260
Walking will reduce your risk of heart attack by 50% if you can do 150 minutes a week.
59:20.260 --> 59:27.260
So better than any drug that we know. On the flip side, I'm having 5% of my patients reach
59:27.260 --> 59:29.260
these 150 minutes a week.
59:29.260 --> 59:30.260
Hi, David.
59:30.260 --> 59:31.260
How are you, sir?
59:31.260 --> 59:32.260
Good.
59:32.260 --> 59:37.260
So I would spend a lot of time talking with patients about how they can be active. And
59:37.260 --> 59:42.260
it turned out when the patients came back, I wasn't moving the needle at all. One day
59:42.260 --> 59:47.260
I said, how about if my family and I were at the park, would you like to walk with a
59:47.260 --> 59:48.260
doc?
59:48.260 --> 59:50.260
You guys are crazy. It's freezing out here.
59:50.260 --> 59:57.260
Our first Walk with a Doc event was April 9th of 2005. We had 101 our first day, and
59:57.260 --> 59:59.260
it's only grown since then.
01:00:03.260 --> 01:00:04.260
Good morning.
01:00:04.260 --> 01:00:05.260
How are you doing?
01:00:05.260 --> 01:00:06.260
Good. How are you?
01:00:07.260 --> 01:00:10.260
It's so cold. I just like to even talk.
01:00:10.260 --> 01:00:13.260
I expect a lot more people for 23 degrees.
01:00:13.260 --> 01:00:15.260
Let's walk.
01:00:18.260 --> 01:00:21.260
Everyone walks at their own pace.
01:00:23.260 --> 01:00:26.260
We have 278 chapters.
01:00:26.260 --> 01:00:27.260
278.
01:00:27.260 --> 01:00:32.260
And we have nine countries. There are many more in development.
01:00:36.260 --> 01:00:39.260
It's nice to meet you. You came.
01:00:39.260 --> 01:00:43.260
It was an extraordinary surprise to see the couple at the Walk with a Doc.
01:00:43.260 --> 01:00:44.260
You look great.
01:00:44.260 --> 01:00:46.260
We have to take a picture.
01:00:46.260 --> 01:00:47.260
We have to take a picture.
01:00:47.260 --> 01:00:52.260
This young lady whose husband was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis sent me an email
01:00:52.260 --> 01:00:54.260
March 2015.
01:00:55.260 --> 01:01:00.260
She was in tears every single day. And the motivation that you gave.
01:01:00.260 --> 01:01:07.260
They were very frightened, and I called her and I described what a plant-based diet was
01:01:07.260 --> 01:01:10.260
and why I thought it was important in managing MS.
01:01:10.260 --> 01:01:17.260
Every doctor, we just heard negative things that he would be in the wheelchair right next moment.
01:01:17.260 --> 01:01:22.260
You're one of the very few who actually told that that's not going to happen.
01:01:22.260 --> 01:01:26.260
Yeah, his last MRI came out with no lesions at all.
01:01:26.260 --> 01:01:30.260
It started out with 16. I got zero now.
01:01:30.260 --> 01:01:31.260
You keep at this.
01:01:31.260 --> 01:01:32.260
Yes.
01:01:32.260 --> 01:01:33.260
You keep at this.
01:01:33.260 --> 01:01:34.260
Yes.
01:01:34.260 --> 01:01:35.260
You continue this lifestyle.
01:01:35.260 --> 01:01:37.260
Because this gives me motivation. Now I see the results.
01:01:37.260 --> 01:01:38.260
Yeah.
01:01:38.260 --> 01:01:39.260
I see the results.
01:01:39.260 --> 01:01:40.260
And you share this with other patients.
01:01:40.260 --> 01:01:41.260
Yes.
01:01:41.260 --> 01:01:43.260
You have no idea the gift you've given me today.
01:01:45.260 --> 01:01:49.260
I walk with my patients. I hike with my patients. I do yoga with my patients.
01:01:49.260 --> 01:01:51.260
We practice meditation.
01:01:52.260 --> 01:01:53.260
Is it my mom over here?
01:01:53.260 --> 01:01:57.260
When Kelly first came to see me, she was very scared, very tearful.
01:01:57.260 --> 01:02:08.260
2016, I had the second episode and it was so traumatic. I really can't even talk about it.
01:02:08.260 --> 01:02:16.260
Thank you. And I literally get as basic as saying in, out.
01:02:16.260 --> 01:02:22.260
Dr. Sands recommended daily meditation and that has made a huge difference.
01:02:22.260 --> 01:02:26.260
Gently bring your palms together in queer pose at heart center.
01:02:26.260 --> 01:02:30.260
In lifestyle medicine, people often go straight to diet. Of course diet's important.
01:02:30.260 --> 01:02:35.260
But at least as important are these psychosocial, emotional and spiritual dimensions.
01:02:35.260 --> 01:02:37.260
Breathe in and breathe out.
01:02:37.260 --> 01:02:41.260
I remember Dean Orders saying that we really need to include meditation and mindfulness.
01:02:42.260 --> 01:02:47.260
And I said, Dean, is there really any data? And I should have did that search engine thing first.
01:02:47.260 --> 01:02:54.260
A massive amount of data, reducing heart attack, stroke, blood pressure, a variety of endpoints.
01:02:57.260 --> 01:03:00.260
Stress management techniques are really important.
01:03:02.260 --> 01:03:08.260
The three weeks that I've been on this program with the yoga brought more love into my family.
01:03:08.260 --> 01:03:12.260
That's beautiful to hear. Studies are showing that six months after a heart attack,
01:03:12.260 --> 01:03:16.260
those that are depressed are four times more likely to be dead than those that aren't.
01:03:16.260 --> 01:03:20.260
Independent of their diet, their smoking, any other kinds of behaviors. Fourfold.
01:03:20.260 --> 01:03:23.260
It's so easy to make fun of it. Oh, it's so touchy-feely.
01:03:23.260 --> 01:03:26.260
When people would say that, I'd get defensive. I'd say, no, no, look at our quantitative arteriograms
01:03:26.260 --> 01:03:29.260
and cardiac positron emission tomography and blah, blah, blah.
01:03:29.260 --> 01:03:33.260
And one day I said, you know, it is touchy-feely. That's what makes it work so well.
01:03:33.260 --> 01:03:36.260
We are touchy-feely creatures. That's how we survive as a species,
01:03:36.260 --> 01:03:39.260
by learning to nurture and love and care for each other.
01:03:39.260 --> 01:03:42.260
To have a place where people can let down their emotional defenses
01:03:42.260 --> 01:03:47.260
and talk openly and authentically about what's really going on in their lives is incredibly meaningful.
01:03:47.260 --> 01:03:49.260
And if it's meaningful, then it's sustainable.
01:03:49.260 --> 01:03:57.260
Having a heart attack six weeks ago, wow, everything came into full focus.
01:03:57.260 --> 01:04:00.260
I wanted very much to stay alive.
01:04:06.260 --> 01:04:11.260
Between the commercials on the radio and the golden arches that you see when you're driving,
01:04:11.260 --> 01:04:15.260
it's so easy to medicate yourself with fast food or whatever the case may be.
01:04:15.260 --> 01:04:18.260
There have been some left turns here and there along the way.
01:04:18.260 --> 01:04:23.260
I'm not perfect, and my heart's in the right place, and I'm looking to take it to the next level.
01:04:23.260 --> 01:04:30.260
You're right. The world is sort of out there to get us to purchase these foods.
01:04:30.260 --> 01:04:33.260
So we have to be extraordinary.
01:04:33.260 --> 01:04:38.260
You're shifting your thought processes and just keep driving by the fast food places without turning in.
01:04:43.260 --> 01:04:46.260
Atta boy. Good boy, Griffo.
01:04:46.260 --> 01:04:50.260
Sometimes I wish I could get into a time machine and go back to Dr. Stanchuk's office.
01:04:50.260 --> 01:04:53.260
I wish I had made better choices.
01:04:53.260 --> 01:04:55.260
What's up, partner?
01:04:55.260 --> 01:04:58.260
Back in December, I suffered a stroke.
01:04:58.260 --> 01:05:01.260
They said it was a small but acute stroke.
01:05:01.260 --> 01:05:04.260
It's left me with numbness in my left foot and my left hand.
01:05:04.260 --> 01:05:09.260
It's like there's a needles and a stiffness in the arm in general and also in my foot.
01:05:09.260 --> 01:05:15.260
It's worse on some days than others where it feels like you're walking on a piece of wood or something.
01:05:15.260 --> 01:05:19.260
I believe more and more that plant-based is the way to go.
01:05:19.260 --> 01:05:23.260
It's just very hard, even having been in the hospital for a year,
01:05:23.260 --> 01:05:27.260
You know, this idea of lifestyle medicine and behavioral change is a challenging one.
01:05:27.260 --> 01:05:32.260
Sometimes, even though patients are well-intended and they'll say, I'm ready, you're not quite there.
01:05:32.260 --> 01:05:36.260
Mark is a great example that lifestyle medicine is exactly that.
01:05:36.260 --> 01:05:40.260
It's a lifestyle that requires commitment.
01:05:40.260 --> 01:05:44.260
But in today's fast-paced world, it's not always about the lifestyle medicine.
01:05:44.260 --> 01:05:47.260
It's about the lifestyle that you're going to be able to do.
01:05:47.260 --> 01:05:50.260
It's about the lifestyle that you're going to be able to do.
01:05:50.260 --> 01:05:55.260
But in today's fast-paced world, it's not always easy to stay on track.
01:05:55.260 --> 01:06:01.260
Everything about our culture conspires against the lifestyle medicine prescription.
01:06:01.260 --> 01:06:03.260
This is fairly obvious.
01:06:03.260 --> 01:06:06.260
Here's the part that really worries me.
01:06:06.260 --> 01:06:10.260
All too often, you see fast foods in the hospital.
01:06:10.260 --> 01:06:14.260
So, you know, let's serve food on one floor of the hospital that causes the coronary disease
01:06:14.260 --> 01:06:17.260
and then the treatment on another floor of the same building.
01:06:17.260 --> 01:06:22.260
And, you know, we're basically profiting from both causing disease and treating disease.
01:06:22.260 --> 01:06:27.260
You know what the leading source of revenue for any hospital in the United States of America is?
01:06:27.260 --> 01:06:29.260
Bypass surgery.
01:06:29.260 --> 01:06:33.260
And I hate to sound like a pessimist, but there's too much money in the status quo.
01:06:33.260 --> 01:06:39.260
And the resistance from an institutional standpoint, hospitals, the drug companies, the medical schools,
01:06:39.260 --> 01:06:41.260
it's going to be very, very strong.
01:06:41.260 --> 01:06:46.260
Guys, you want to watch TV?
01:06:46.260 --> 01:06:51.260
Even now, nearly a decade after founding my own lifestyle medicine practice,
01:06:51.260 --> 01:06:56.260
I never stop being amazed by how much confusion there is about what to eat.
01:06:56.260 --> 01:07:03.260
Of course, I can see why that's the case every time I turn on the TV.
01:07:03.260 --> 01:07:07.260
Get ready to tip the scales.
01:07:07.260 --> 01:07:09.260
A trendy new weight loss method.
01:07:09.260 --> 01:07:12.260
The biggest weight loss program to date.
01:07:12.260 --> 01:07:14.260
Energize your weight loss.
01:07:14.260 --> 01:07:19.260
While doctors have contributed to the conversation, they haven't always helped.
01:07:19.260 --> 01:07:22.260
I have written a weight loss book.
01:07:22.260 --> 01:07:28.260
Anybody can write a book and say anything, and it can be a New York Times bestseller,
01:07:28.260 --> 01:07:31.260
even if there's no scientific foundation for it.
01:07:31.260 --> 01:07:36.260
And sometimes, the crazier the idea, the more attraction it gets.
01:07:39.260 --> 01:07:44.260
Putting butter on the cover of Time or something, it sells a lot of magazines,
01:07:44.260 --> 01:07:49.260
but it really sells the public short.
01:07:49.260 --> 01:07:54.260
There are messages all over that take scientific information
01:07:54.260 --> 01:07:59.260
and either broadcast a study that's very small and not that interesting,
01:07:59.260 --> 01:08:03.260
or that's going to be a very, very big hit.
01:08:03.260 --> 01:08:09.260
We're going to take scientific information and either broadcast a study that's very small
01:08:09.260 --> 01:08:13.260
and not that important, or change the findings of a study,
01:08:13.260 --> 01:08:16.260
such that it's something that people want to read about,
01:08:16.260 --> 01:08:21.260
and it really contributes to people's misunderstandings around food.
01:08:21.260 --> 01:08:26.260
Physicians know so little about nutrition,
01:08:26.260 --> 01:08:30.260
and we're susceptible to the same societal messages that everyone else gets.
01:08:30.260 --> 01:08:35.260
So physicians are equally confused as everyone else out there.
01:08:40.260 --> 01:08:43.260
These students represent the future.
01:08:43.260 --> 01:08:49.260
Every student that comes across Lifestyle Medicine, they get so motivated.
01:08:49.260 --> 01:08:51.260
They're like, this is what I want to do.
01:08:51.260 --> 01:08:53.260
Thank you.
01:08:53.260 --> 01:08:59.260
In this chronic illness epidemic, how do we turn this tide?
01:08:59.260 --> 01:09:03.260
For every one serving a day of a fruit or a vegetable,
01:09:03.260 --> 01:09:07.260
studies show that you can decrease your risk of coronary heart disease by 4%.
01:09:07.260 --> 01:09:09.260
Just think about that.
01:09:09.260 --> 01:09:12.260
Over the past year, the Lifestyle Medicine interest group made so many connections
01:09:12.260 --> 01:09:16.260
with physicians that are coming not only to speak at our lectures,
01:09:16.260 --> 01:09:21.260
but they're bringing us to their practices and showing us how they practice Lifestyle Medicine,
01:09:21.260 --> 01:09:27.260
showing us techniques and methodology, how to exercise properly.
01:09:27.260 --> 01:09:32.260
So that way, you can teach your patients how to do it.
01:09:32.260 --> 01:09:35.260
Let's try it out with the other person as well.
01:09:35.260 --> 01:09:38.260
We even have a culinary medicine workshop.
01:09:38.260 --> 01:09:41.260
We don't have a kitchen kitchen, so we sort of made our own.
01:09:45.260 --> 01:09:47.260
Keep it down.
01:09:50.260 --> 01:09:53.260
I got into medicine because I want to keep people healthy.
01:09:53.260 --> 01:09:57.260
We want to really help sick people to prevent them from ever coming sick.
01:09:57.260 --> 01:10:00.260
That was beautiful.
01:10:02.260 --> 01:10:06.260
We were just in class, and we just memorized 15 different drugs.
01:10:06.260 --> 01:10:10.260
And that was to say, oh, this patient's hypertensive, these are the drugs you prescribed.
01:10:10.260 --> 01:10:15.260
Not once did we talk about, hey, let's modify that patient's diet.
01:10:15.260 --> 01:10:17.260
Let's try to get them on an exercise program.
01:10:17.260 --> 01:10:20.260
We never talked about that for treatment,
01:10:20.260 --> 01:10:23.260
but we did talk about the 50 drugs that we had to learn.
01:10:27.260 --> 01:10:31.260
If you're going to medical school and you know you're going to come out with $400,000 of debt,
01:10:31.260 --> 01:10:34.260
what specialties are you going to think about?
01:10:34.260 --> 01:10:39.260
You're going to think about big ticket item specialties that allow you to pay that debt back.
01:10:39.260 --> 01:10:41.260
It's a rational economic decision.
01:10:41.260 --> 01:10:44.260
Those are the procedural specialties.
01:10:44.260 --> 01:10:48.260
That's where the financial rewards are in medicine.
01:10:48.260 --> 01:10:52.260
The financial aspect is a hugely important one.
01:10:52.260 --> 01:10:57.260
If I spend 25 minutes counseling someone about plant-based nutrition,
01:10:57.260 --> 01:11:02.260
the hospital will get reimbursed the same as if I spent three minutes and wrote them a prescription.
01:11:02.260 --> 01:11:09.260
So right now, the system is not geared to make it financially viable.
01:11:09.260 --> 01:11:13.260
Big pharma plays a role in medical education and practice.
01:11:13.260 --> 01:11:18.260
When's the last time your doctor was taken out to dinner by big broccoli?
01:11:18.260 --> 01:11:20.260
It's probably been a while.
01:11:23.260 --> 01:11:27.260
The pharmaceutical industry absolutely runs the healthcare industry.
01:11:27.260 --> 01:11:30.260
It's incredibly insidious.
01:11:30.260 --> 01:11:34.260
The American Academy of Pediatrics, American College of Cardiology,
01:11:34.260 --> 01:11:36.260
they're all supported by the drug companies.
01:11:36.260 --> 01:11:41.260
Appearing at the conferences and supporting those organizations gets their drugs sold.
01:11:44.260 --> 01:11:46.260
Take a look at any medical school.
01:11:46.260 --> 01:11:48.260
It's part of a complex.
01:11:48.260 --> 01:11:51.260
You've got hospitals and research and all that sort of thing.
01:11:51.260 --> 01:11:53.260
Who funds all that?
01:11:53.260 --> 01:11:57.260
Let's be honest, medical schools are run by farbageddon.
01:11:57.260 --> 01:12:05.260
It's really a national embarrassment that our medical schools are totally missing out on the strongest tool in our toolbox.
01:12:05.260 --> 01:12:09.260
I hope every administrator at every medical school just heard you.
01:12:09.260 --> 01:12:12.260
No.
01:12:12.260 --> 01:12:21.260
As long as physicians and hospitals make money or save money by having more and better diagnostic tests, surgical procedures,
01:12:21.260 --> 01:12:27.260
if money is made by the more they do, then what's the incentive of helping people prevent disease
01:12:27.260 --> 01:12:35.260
or alter the course of their disease through enhanced diet, exercise, mindfulness, and behavior change?
01:12:35.260 --> 01:12:41.260
So in order for us to change the curriculum in medical school, we're going to have to change the financial incentives, essentially.
01:12:41.260 --> 01:12:44.260
I think that's part of the solution.
01:12:44.260 --> 01:12:46.260
Sadly.
01:12:52.260 --> 01:12:54.260
Money.
01:12:54.260 --> 01:12:57.260
I mean, everybody has to make a living, I get it, but...
01:12:59.260 --> 01:13:02.260
Physicians? That doesn't apply to us.
01:13:02.260 --> 01:13:07.260
Finances? That shouldn't be part of the decision-making process.
01:13:07.260 --> 01:13:11.260
That we always act in the best interest of our patients.
01:13:11.260 --> 01:13:13.260
And it has nothing to do with money.
01:13:13.260 --> 01:13:16.260
That was my naive thinking when I started this film.
01:13:16.260 --> 01:13:18.260
But...
01:13:18.260 --> 01:13:41.260
I've been trying to figure out why I got a little bit emotional.
01:13:41.260 --> 01:13:45.260
Maybe it's because we're getting towards the end of this journey.
01:13:45.260 --> 01:13:49.260
You know, the questions that I wanted answered, have they been answered?
01:13:49.260 --> 01:13:55.260
And maybe the answer is not the one I wanted to get.
01:13:55.260 --> 01:14:04.260
I think that it's much more complicated than just financial incentives, you know?
01:14:04.260 --> 01:14:09.260
There's no physician in this country that's sitting around going, yes, another diabetic.
01:14:10.260 --> 01:14:15.260
What I do believe is that physicians don't know this because they're not taught it.
01:14:15.260 --> 01:14:19.260
And I lay the blame completely on the medical schools.
01:14:19.260 --> 01:14:24.260
Finances shouldn't be the incentive to teach the right thing, to teach the truth,
01:14:24.260 --> 01:14:33.260
to teach what is best for communities and for health and for well-being for the entire country, the globe.
01:14:33.260 --> 01:14:36.260
How about we change because it's the right thing to do?
01:14:36.260 --> 01:14:39.260
How about we change because the evidence is overwhelming?
01:14:39.260 --> 01:14:44.260
How about we change because we're scientists and we're physicians and we want to deliver the best care?
01:14:44.260 --> 01:14:46.260
When we know better, we do better.
01:14:46.260 --> 01:14:51.260
Yes, you know, maybe we didn't know things in the past, but we know today.
01:14:51.260 --> 01:14:53.260
Okay, so maybe I'm pissed.
01:14:53.260 --> 01:14:57.260
We're currently at about 33,000 feet.
01:14:57.260 --> 01:14:59.260
Expecting emotions to move right here.
01:14:59.260 --> 01:15:01.260
We're going to turn off that signal sign.
01:15:01.260 --> 01:15:03.260
Please feel free to move about as necessary.
01:15:03.260 --> 01:15:05.260
For whoever body you are seated, we do ask that you...
01:15:05.260 --> 01:15:09.260
I knew there were some medical schools out there, like Stanford University,
01:15:09.260 --> 01:15:13.260
offering a lifestyle medicine non-credit selected.
01:15:13.260 --> 01:15:19.260
But when I heard about a medical school that includes lifestyle medicine from day one,
01:15:19.260 --> 01:15:21.260
I had to see it for myself.
01:15:24.260 --> 01:15:28.260
We teach lifestyle medicine across all four years of the curriculum.
01:15:28.260 --> 01:15:32.260
I think we're one of the only schools that incorporates it as a core curriculum,
01:15:32.260 --> 01:15:35.260
so it's a requirement for all of the students to go through.
01:15:35.260 --> 01:15:38.260
What are some pro-inflammatory foods?
01:15:38.260 --> 01:15:39.260
Sugar.
01:15:39.260 --> 01:15:41.260
Sugar, excellent.
01:15:41.260 --> 01:15:48.260
We have 49 teaching hours of lifestyle medicine in the first two years,
01:15:48.260 --> 01:15:55.260
and I work with my partners in their third and fourth year on how to practice it in the clinics
01:15:55.260 --> 01:15:57.260
when they get over to the delivery system.
01:15:57.260 --> 01:16:01.260
There are more studies coming out showing that sugar is addictive in the prefrontal cortex,
01:16:01.260 --> 01:16:03.260
and they're actually comparing it to cocaine in some instances.
01:16:03.260 --> 01:16:05.260
We have a lot of interest.
01:16:05.260 --> 01:16:09.260
We have, just this past year, over 4,200 applications.
01:16:09.260 --> 01:16:14.260
I think a lot of that has been driven by the uniqueness of our curriculum.
01:16:14.260 --> 01:16:18.260
When I learned about this school and heard that lifestyle medicine was such a huge component,
01:16:18.260 --> 01:16:20.260
that was a really big draw for me.
01:16:20.260 --> 01:16:23.260
Personally, that was one of my society factors.
01:16:26.260 --> 01:16:35.260
The teaching kitchen gives students the hands-on ability to take what they've learned from the classroom and apply it.
01:16:35.260 --> 01:16:36.260
Hi, guys.
01:16:36.260 --> 01:16:38.260
Welcome. We're going to teach you how to cook.
01:16:38.260 --> 01:16:40.260
We're going to teach you how to deal with nutrition.
01:16:40.260 --> 01:16:44.260
Chef Scott eats a plant-based diet. He also is a triathlete.
01:16:44.260 --> 01:16:48.260
All your plastic cans are on top as well as your tongs.
01:16:53.260 --> 01:16:59.260
Currently, I'm on a lifestyle medicine rotation, and the entire rotation is showing people how to eat,
01:16:59.260 --> 01:17:05.260
what to eat, when to eat, how much to eat, really to help impact their overall health.
01:17:10.260 --> 01:17:13.260
You can smell this right now. Unreal.
01:17:21.260 --> 01:17:22.260
Success.
01:17:22.260 --> 01:17:26.260
If medical school doesn't work out, I guess we kind of have a backup plan.
01:17:26.260 --> 01:17:28.260
Mmm. Wow.
01:17:29.260 --> 01:17:30.260
It's very good.
01:17:32.260 --> 01:17:34.260
Want to try some, Dr. Jolte?
01:17:34.260 --> 01:17:37.260
I'll tell a friend she's at a different medical school, and they'll be like,
01:17:37.260 --> 01:17:41.260
Oh, well, why don't we do that? That makes so much sense.
01:17:41.260 --> 01:17:46.260
And I think for us, it's kind of like, we couldn't imagine school without it.
01:17:46.260 --> 01:17:51.260
It's just so much a part of our curriculum that, I mean, it would make sense not to do it.
01:17:51.260 --> 01:17:54.260
Hopefully, other schools will start doing the same thing.
01:18:07.260 --> 01:18:11.260
We learned about this two years ago by two now third years,
01:18:11.260 --> 01:18:16.260
because they realized the access to fruits and vegetables in the community was very scarce.
01:18:16.260 --> 01:18:24.260
And it's cool because it's food access, but it's also a way of building that relationship between physician and community.
01:18:24.260 --> 01:18:26.260
How do you guys eat vegetables?
01:18:26.260 --> 01:18:27.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:27.260 --> 01:18:28.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:28.260 --> 01:18:29.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:29.260 --> 01:18:30.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:30.260 --> 01:18:31.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:31.260 --> 01:18:32.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:32.260 --> 01:18:33.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:33.260 --> 01:18:34.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:34.260 --> 01:18:35.260
We eat vegetables.
01:18:36.260 --> 01:18:37.260
How do you guys eat vegetables?
01:18:37.260 --> 01:18:41.260
You know, my mother won't do that.
01:18:42.260 --> 01:18:45.260
What makes it hard to, like, avoid certain fatty foods?
01:18:45.260 --> 01:18:46.260
Maybe fries.
01:18:46.260 --> 01:18:48.260
It's everywhere, too.
01:18:48.260 --> 01:18:52.260
It's not like you can go to the corner store and just, like, get vegetables.
01:18:52.260 --> 01:18:55.260
It would be like five things for, like, two dollars.
01:18:55.260 --> 01:19:02.260
It's really frustrating how easy it is to get terrible food and how hard it is to get the tomatoes.
01:19:05.260 --> 01:19:14.260
It's a lifestyle medicine interest group.
01:19:14.260 --> 01:19:17.260
It's wonderful, but it's all student-driven.
01:19:17.260 --> 01:19:18.260
We do everything.
01:19:18.260 --> 01:19:23.260
The marketing, the research, we design the curriculum.
01:19:23.260 --> 01:19:26.260
Like, all this is funded through the students' own money.
01:19:26.260 --> 01:19:28.260
Like, they don't get any funding from the school.
01:19:28.260 --> 01:19:29.260
This is something that's great.
01:19:29.260 --> 01:19:31.260
This is something that helps everyone.
01:19:31.260 --> 01:19:33.260
Why aren't you supporting us?
01:19:35.260 --> 01:19:36.260
Why?
01:19:45.260 --> 01:19:50.260
The Medical Roots Garden came together shortly after the school was formed.
01:19:50.260 --> 01:19:57.260
The school has funding to support gardening equipment, plants, tools, composting.
01:19:57.260 --> 01:20:04.260
And the students get together with faculty and plan in the fall, plan again in the spring, and prepare the beds each year.
01:20:04.260 --> 01:20:10.260
We still have a ways to go educating our next generation of healthcare professionals.
01:20:10.260 --> 01:20:14.260
But some of our hard work is already bearing fruit.
01:20:14.260 --> 01:20:17.260
We've been practicing culinary medicine for about 12 years.
01:20:17.260 --> 01:20:22.260
We've evolved to a point where now we'll full-fledged restaurants, we'll do shopping rounds, and so on.
01:20:22.260 --> 01:20:24.260
The restaurants are available to the general public.
01:20:24.260 --> 01:20:26.260
We're on Uber Eats.
01:20:26.260 --> 01:20:30.260
During lunchtime, we may have a full house, especially when we're busy in the clinic.
01:20:34.260 --> 01:20:37.260
It's very good for your health. We eat vegetables.
01:20:40.260 --> 01:20:45.260
Your mom's very proud of you, because you're making a difference in so many patients' lives.
01:20:45.260 --> 01:20:47.260
And that's a beautiful thing.
01:20:53.260 --> 01:20:57.260
Folks will ask me, when was the first time you felt better?
01:20:57.260 --> 01:21:03.260
And I can't really say when, but there is one day that I remember well, and it was a really special day.
01:21:03.260 --> 01:21:08.260
July 2nd, 2005, and my husband and I attended a wedding,
01:21:08.260 --> 01:21:13.260
and I did two things on this day that I hadn't done in more than a decade.
01:21:13.260 --> 01:21:16.260
I wore heels, and I danced with my husband.
01:21:16.260 --> 01:21:19.260
You can tell by my smile that I was pretty happy.
01:21:25.260 --> 01:21:28.260
I was just pulling up MRIs from the past.
01:21:28.260 --> 01:21:35.260
This is the second one I had in 1996, and here I have ten deep white matter lesions.
01:21:41.260 --> 01:21:43.260
This was 1999.
01:21:43.260 --> 01:21:46.260
You know, I had forgotten I had the oldie stones.
01:21:48.260 --> 01:21:51.260
This one's 20 years old. This is 1996.
01:21:51.260 --> 01:21:56.260
The more recent ones are on the desk, but this just goes to show how old I am.
01:21:58.260 --> 01:22:01.260
The one I remember most, of course, is the first one.
01:22:04.260 --> 01:22:08.260
In the winter of 2014, this is the National NMS magazine that came out,
01:22:08.260 --> 01:22:11.260
and I saw this diet NMS on the cover.
01:22:11.260 --> 01:22:19.260
So, wow, I turned to the page, and I read about this physician in Oregon, Vijay Yadav,
01:22:19.260 --> 01:22:25.260
and she had done a clinical study looking at a whole food plant-based diet, essentially.
01:22:25.260 --> 01:22:27.260
And this is really the first neurologist.
01:22:27.260 --> 01:22:31.260
I've come across that is a legitimate neurologist, mainstream,
01:22:31.260 --> 01:22:39.260
but also understands that this lifestyle thing is important, too.
01:22:42.260 --> 01:22:45.260
My last MRI was over five years ago.
01:22:45.260 --> 01:22:50.260
Today I'm going to have another before my trip to Oregon in a couple of weeks to meet Dr. Yadav.
01:22:50.260 --> 01:22:55.260
Oh, my God, where am I going?
01:22:55.260 --> 01:22:58.260
I feel like I'm driving off to my execution.
01:23:08.260 --> 01:23:10.260
Oh, my gosh.
01:23:11.260 --> 01:23:16.260
My first MRI in 1995 was physically and emotionally traumatic,
01:23:16.260 --> 01:23:20.260
so it's never easy for me to return for another one.
01:23:32.260 --> 01:23:34.260
Hope you're there. Good luck.
01:23:34.260 --> 01:23:36.260
You'll be fine.
01:23:37.260 --> 01:23:39.260
One more blueberry for the road.
01:23:47.260 --> 01:23:53.260
I had one final stop on my journey, my consultation with Dr. Vijay Yadav,
01:23:53.260 --> 01:23:59.260
a neurologist who recognizes the potential of lifestyle in managing multiple sclerosis.
01:23:59.260 --> 01:24:03.260
I was looking forward to what she had to say,
01:24:03.260 --> 01:24:07.260
but also nervous about what my latest MRI would show.
01:24:08.260 --> 01:24:10.260
Oh, my God, hi.
01:24:10.260 --> 01:24:12.260
It's so nice to meet you.
01:24:12.260 --> 01:24:13.260
So nice to see you.
01:24:13.260 --> 01:24:14.260
I brought you some films.
01:24:14.260 --> 01:24:15.260
Oh, very nice.
01:24:15.260 --> 01:24:17.260
This is 1996.
01:24:44.260 --> 01:24:48.260
This is a brain MRI that I just had done a couple of weeks ago.
01:24:54.260 --> 01:24:56.260
These white spots, they are not normal.
01:24:56.260 --> 01:24:58.260
So that's lesion?
01:24:58.260 --> 01:25:00.260
This one and this.
01:25:00.260 --> 01:25:02.260
It's just like residual.
01:25:02.260 --> 01:25:05.260
There is evidence of old scars and lesions from my past.
01:25:05.260 --> 01:25:09.260
It's not causing any damage, but nothing to be worried about.
01:25:09.260 --> 01:25:13.260
I was relieved to learn there were no new lesions.
01:25:13.260 --> 01:25:18.260
So 21 years into your disease process, I would say you've done very well.
01:25:18.260 --> 01:25:21.260
I think it looks very auspicious.
01:25:21.260 --> 01:25:24.260
I mean, again, it's all about the unpredictability and damage that we see.
01:25:24.260 --> 01:25:29.260
Nobody can say, but I think you'll find based upon this MRI plus how you have done,
01:25:29.260 --> 01:25:33.260
there's a huge component of what we do to ourselves.
01:25:33.260 --> 01:25:37.260
You can continue what you're doing as long as you are being monitored.
01:25:37.260 --> 01:25:42.260
It was amazing to hear a neurologist tell me to continue what I was doing.
01:25:46.260 --> 01:25:47.260
I'm not cured.
01:25:47.260 --> 01:25:53.260
I mean, I live with MS, but I manage it by taking really good care of myself.
01:25:56.260 --> 01:25:59.260
I have a lot of problems with my brain.
01:25:59.260 --> 01:26:02.260
I'm not sure I can take care of myself.
01:26:02.260 --> 01:26:05.260
Every single day I meditate.
01:26:05.260 --> 01:26:07.260
Every single day I exercise.
01:26:07.260 --> 01:26:11.260
Every single day I eat optimally.
01:26:13.260 --> 01:26:16.260
I am so grateful to be here.
01:26:16.260 --> 01:26:20.260
Now more than 20 years since my diagnosis.
01:26:20.260 --> 01:26:25.260
And I am medication-free, disability-free, and empowered more than ever before
01:26:25.260 --> 01:26:28.260
to share my healing message with the world.
01:26:39.260 --> 01:26:46.260
This is something that has been talked about since the inception, I think, of ACLM back in 2004.
01:26:46.260 --> 01:26:50.260
The long-awaited, long-anticipated certifications.
01:26:55.260 --> 01:26:59.260
For me, Amy is an extraordinary story.
01:26:59.260 --> 01:27:05.260
She's not only applied these things to herself, but now she is sharing this with her patients.
01:27:05.260 --> 01:27:11.260
Patients who come in with gallbladder disease, with constipation, I treat a lot of hemorrhoids.
01:27:11.260 --> 01:27:17.260
And so I have always said to use an over-the-counter fiber supplement.
01:27:17.260 --> 01:27:19.260
And I'm never going to say that ever again.
01:27:19.260 --> 01:27:20.260
I'm going to say you can.
01:27:20.260 --> 01:27:25.260
However, I'm going to show them how to get fiber into their diet.
01:27:25.260 --> 01:27:29.260
So I have a lot more to say to my patients now.
01:27:29.260 --> 01:27:34.260
I joined the American College of Lifestyle Medicine.
01:27:34.260 --> 01:27:40.260
And this coming fall, I plan on sitting and becoming board certified in lifestyle medicine.
01:27:50.260 --> 01:27:55.260
I want to welcome everyone to our kickoff event for Walk with the Doc Newark.
01:27:55.260 --> 01:27:58.260
It took a long time, a good year that we were working on this.
01:27:58.260 --> 01:28:00.260
We knew this was such a great program.
01:28:00.260 --> 01:28:02.260
We need this in Newark.
01:28:02.260 --> 01:28:06.260
We need to think about prevention starting in our community.
01:28:06.260 --> 01:28:09.260
Your persistence is inspiring.
01:28:09.260 --> 01:28:10.260
You know, I'm getting emotional.
01:28:10.260 --> 01:28:14.260
It's with leaders like you guys, the future is so bright.
01:28:20.260 --> 01:28:27.260
My dream is to come back to Rutgers Medical School and be a professor in a lifestyle medicine department,
01:28:27.260 --> 01:28:31.260
training the next generation of physicians to do this.
01:28:31.260 --> 01:28:34.260
They don't know it yet, but that's my little secret goal.
01:28:50.260 --> 01:28:57.260
I have a 10-year-old son, and I would do anything to stay healthy for him.
01:28:57.260 --> 01:29:00.260
Hi, I'm Jules, and I am eating vegan crepes.
01:29:00.260 --> 01:29:05.260
Really, it would be eggs, but we're using flaxseed instead.
01:29:05.260 --> 01:29:11.260
She has MS, and she's doing that, that way she can stay healthy and have a good life.
01:29:11.260 --> 01:29:12.260
That's good.
01:29:12.260 --> 01:29:16.260
Family support is crucial to patients who are making changes to their lifestyle.
01:29:16.260 --> 01:29:21.260
Because if they don't have the buy-in from the people around them, it can become very challenging.
01:29:21.260 --> 01:29:26.260
But often, the patient's family also makes changes in their diet and activity.
01:29:26.260 --> 01:29:28.260
They benefit, too.
01:29:34.260 --> 01:29:38.260
I've seen Kelly evolve to where she is today.
01:29:38.260 --> 01:29:44.260
I'm confident, positive, empowered,
01:29:44.260 --> 01:29:47.260
and I want that for all of my patients.
01:29:47.260 --> 01:29:53.260
I felt very powerless with this diagnosis, and Dr. Sandvik has given me power.
01:29:53.260 --> 01:30:00.260
I have power over my life, over my health, over my MS.
01:30:14.260 --> 01:30:23.260
Oddly enough, I am grateful to my MS, as it served to awaken something within me that I now hope will serve others.
01:30:23.260 --> 01:30:31.260
I am grateful every day for Dr. Sandvik sharing her story, because if she hadn't shared it, I don't know where I would be today.
01:30:31.260 --> 01:30:41.260
I am happy and healthy, which is ironic that it took the diagnosis of MS to get me to where I am today.
01:30:41.260 --> 01:30:50.260
Our mission to change the medical culture of our doctors, patients, and academia is still far from over, but we are well on our way.
01:30:50.260 --> 01:30:54.260
I'm proud of the strides our field has already made.
01:30:54.260 --> 01:30:59.260
It's illustrated by the work of the many experts we visited on my journey.
01:30:59.260 --> 01:31:02.260
And then put in good soil on top.
01:31:02.260 --> 01:31:06.260
Every day, I witness examples of this growing movement on full display.
01:31:06.260 --> 01:31:15.260
Undeniable mounting evidence that progress and awareness is spreading across our country and beyond.
01:31:15.260 --> 01:31:21.260
We have this huge lack in medical education, and we believe the solution is lifestyle medicine.
01:31:21.260 --> 01:31:24.260
It should be the foundation on which we build everything else.
01:31:29.260 --> 01:31:33.260
Medicine, as we know it today, is going to become extinct.
01:31:33.260 --> 01:31:35.260
The conversation has shifted.
01:31:35.260 --> 01:31:37.260
Changes we're seeing in society now.
01:31:37.260 --> 01:31:40.260
More plant-based options, more information out there.
01:31:40.260 --> 01:31:43.260
We're reaching a tipping point.
01:31:43.260 --> 01:31:49.260
Tomorrow morning, we have a yoga by the lake at 7 a.m.
01:31:49.260 --> 01:31:51.260
It's our time.
01:31:51.260 --> 01:31:55.260
I think it's our time because we have more tools than ever before.
01:31:55.260 --> 01:31:58.260
I think it's our time because young people are getting excited.
01:31:58.260 --> 01:32:01.260
I think it's our time because we have no choice.
01:32:01.260 --> 01:32:04.260
It's up to each of us to make our own decisions as to what to eat and how to live.
01:32:04.260 --> 01:32:10.260
But we should make these choices consciously, educating ourselves about the predictable consequences of our actions.
01:32:10.260 --> 01:32:12.260
You have the power.
01:32:12.260 --> 01:32:13.260
You actually have the power.
01:32:13.260 --> 01:32:19.260
It's in your hands to prevent diabetes, to prevent heart disease, to prevent cancer.
01:32:19.260 --> 01:32:23.260
I want to end with a best proverb.
01:32:23.260 --> 01:32:30.260
Eat half, walk double, laugh triple, and be happy.
01:32:30.260 --> 01:32:33.260
Eat whole, and love without end.
01:32:33.260 --> 01:32:34.260
Thank you.
01:32:34.260 --> 01:32:52.260
Applause.
01:32:52.260 --> 01:32:58.260
I am not saying changing your diet is going to cure all your ailments.
01:32:58.260 --> 01:33:04.260
I'm not saying you have to throw away all the medications and all the procedures, all the amazing advances that we have in medicine.
01:33:04.260 --> 01:33:09.260
That's not what I'm saying.
01:33:09.260 --> 01:33:18.260
Lifestyle is important for anybody, whether you're healthy, whether you're old, whether you're young.
01:33:18.260 --> 01:33:21.260
We should all be eating in a healthful way.
01:33:21.260 --> 01:33:23.260
We should all be incorporating physical.
01:33:23.260 --> 01:33:33.260
No matter where you are on that spectrum or where you are, it's going to benefit you in some way.
01:33:33.260 --> 01:33:41.260
It was more than 20 years ago when doctors predicted that I'd likely be in a wheelchair by now.
01:33:41.260 --> 01:33:45.260
I'm glad I found it within myself to prove them wrong.
01:34:41.260 --> 01:35:03.260
Diet, nutrition, exercise, stress, all the things that we talk about in lifestyle medicine are relevant.
01:35:03.260 --> 01:35:07.260
And that's what all the experts have told us, right?
01:35:07.260 --> 01:35:13.260
What I believe to be true is that if physicians change, then we all change.
01:35:13.260 --> 01:35:17.260
Health care professionals, because we are the representatives of health in the community.
01:35:17.260 --> 01:35:25.260
That catalyst, that first domino, is medicine, physicians, because that's what we're here for.
01:35:25.260 --> 01:35:29.260
We have to be expert in diagnosing disease and treating it.
01:35:29.260 --> 01:35:31.260
And we have all this technology in advances.
01:35:31.260 --> 01:35:32.260
That's wonderful.
01:35:32.260 --> 01:35:37.260
But my goodness, if we could potentially, we know that we could potentially prevent 80% of phonic disease,
01:35:37.260 --> 01:35:39.260
that has to be our primary initiative.
01:35:39.260 --> 01:35:40.260
We can all do this.
01:35:40.260 --> 01:35:42.260
We can do this in our little offices.
01:35:42.260 --> 01:35:44.260
We can do it in our community.
01:35:44.260 --> 01:35:49.260
We can give a little lecture in the local library, but spread this message.
01:35:49.260 --> 01:35:51.260
You don't have to be vegan.
01:35:51.260 --> 01:35:53.260
You don't have to run a marathon.
01:35:53.260 --> 01:35:55.260
Just do this.
01:35:55.260 --> 01:35:56.260
Eat more plants.
01:35:56.260 --> 01:35:57.260
Move.
01:35:57.260 --> 01:35:59.260
Breathe.
01:35:59.260 --> 01:36:00.260
Slow down.
01:36:00.260 --> 01:36:01.260
Simple things, right?
01:36:01.260 --> 01:36:02.260
We're addressing our diet.
01:36:02.260 --> 01:36:04.260
We're addressing our physical activity.
01:36:04.260 --> 01:36:05.260
We're addressing our stress.
01:36:05.260 --> 01:36:06.260
Breathe.
01:36:06.260 --> 01:36:07.260
Slow down.
01:36:07.260 --> 01:36:10.260
We can start a movement by just small things.