A Therapeutic Lifestyle Change – Your First Line Therapy
Posted by Well Being Holistic Pharmacy on
What we are about to tell you is a little known fact… when you go to your doctor and she detects a problem like high blood pressure or a sugar issue or elevated cholesterol or high triglycerides… the first thing that she is supposed to do is give you some TLC!
No – not tender loving care – although that would be nice!
TLC = Therapeutic Lifestyle Change.
All of the “official” protocols supplied by the medical powers-that-be call for having the patient change their lifestyle first to see if that will control whatever is wrong before prescribing any sort of medication. So it usually looks like this: you go to your doctor and she does some blood work and discovers that your sugar is a little high. The doctor’s office calls you up and says that your sugar was elevated and that you need to do something about it. They want you to “watch your diet and get some exercise” and they want to repeat blood work in 6 weeks.
6 weeks later, after following the MD’s advice of “watching your diet and getting some exercise” (and that was the full extent of the advice!) you go back and your sugar is still high. That, combined with the fact that your father had diabetes, is impetus enough to start writing prescriptions.
The same scenario happens for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and high triglycerides.
Our doctors do not have the time or financial incentives or maybe even the proper training to institute a meaningful Therapeutic Lifestyle Change program with us. Not only is this a huge shame; it is also the single most important reason why we are facing a health care crisis in this country today. The overwhelming cost of prescription medicines is the iceberg that this ship hit years ago… and we are about to sink. And the amount of suffering caused from the side effects of those medications is immeasurable; not to mention the reason for even more prescribing.
An important issue to consider is how to assess your individual risk for chronic disease. In other words – how do you know when it is important to pay attention to what your body is saying and intercede?
First of all, are you functioning at optimal levels or have you accepted that with aging comes decreased function? We are talking about fatigue, joint pain, poor sleep, poor memory, an expanding waistline, and hormonal imbalances to name a few. And, of course, the obvious indicators like high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, low HDL, high triglycerides, increased blood glucose. Also, if you have a family history of any of these issues then you are automatically at risk.
Medical science has proven that if you have “Metabolic Syndrome” (sometimes also called Syndrome X or Insulin Resistance) than you are already laying the groundwork for practically every chronic disease that we are concerned about as we age, even many cancers. If you have 3 or more of these 5 indicators, then you likely have Metabolic Syndrome:
- Increased waist circumference
- Elevated Blood Pressure
- Elevated Blood Sugar
- Elevated Triglycerides
- Decreased HDL
- You have to eat 5-6 times a day (every 2½ to 3 hours)
- You are never allowed to be hungry
- Your first meal should be within 30 – 45 minutes of waking up in the morning
- 2 of the 5-6 meals need to be “medical foods”
- Your diet needs to be as colorful as possible
- They provide a low-glycemic, nutritionally balanced, protein source.
- They are a very convenient way of supplying 2 of the 5-6 meals a day eaten.
- They help enhance specific needs for individuals. For example, there are specific shakes that help with lowering cholesterol, or helping the body handle sugar more efficiently, or help to alleviate inflammation.