What a great time to be alive. Everyday we hear about the promises and progress that modern medicine and nutritional research is making – advancements that are leading to salvation from the sicknesses that have complicated peoples’ lives for centuries.
How often do we hear about a new genetic discovery that will replace gone-awry genes by special DNA splicing with perfectly healthy ones, a new medication or wonder drug, a special nutrient or diet, or the genetic modification of food that is processed in advanced ways that will slow aging, minimize our infirmities, obesity, and cure all sorts of disease. It seems like we will soon be able to turn a simple tomato, carrot, or cookie into a complete meal. It’s as if someday we won’t have to eat at all, but just swallow a pill that contains every nutrient we need.
There’s only one problem with these rosy predictions – they are mostly false, because all of these lofty promises are in reality nowhere near being actually realized. Thousands “race” for the cure wearing different colored ribbons while pouring billions of dollars into research to find new genes, as if the ones we’ve evolved are insufficient for our needs. We medicate ourselves with toxic concoctions, and overload our body with excess isolated supplements, a small number of which may actually treat the disease, while the rest treat only symptoms or the harmful side effects of the primary drug. We brag about the heath-care system in the United States, but that term is kind of deceiving, because what we really have, is a “disease-care” system.
Fortunately, there is hope with a far better, safer, and less expensive way to have good heath and prevent much disease – an approach that has positive side effects, unlike the lists of possible side effects announced along with every “ask your doctor about” drug commercial.
Bottom line of this blog is this – it takes great skill to cure a disease, but possibly even greater skill to prevent one.
In my role as an associate professor of nutrition the last several years, the nutritional research I have studied and read, and the continuing education I have received from several legitimate researchers and physicians, has led me to believe we are all falling short of using the natural capacity of the body to prevent chronic disease, and in many cases heal itself. The reality of life is that we are all going to die, but there is a lot each person can do to slow our slide down the slippery slope of physiological entropy.
Health and nutrition is never an all or none proposition. There are those whose lifestyle would have them die younger but they live long. There are those whose lifestyle would have them live long but who die younger. Why? It’s complicated. But our best bet is to live the lifestyle with the greatest odds of a longer, more healthy, and higher quality life both physically and mentally.
The lengthening life span of Americans the past few years is less because we are living more healthy lifestyles, but more because of modern medicines’ ability to keep sick people alive and “moving.” This blog is an effort to help us all avoid “dying at 65 but not being buried until we are 80.”
I will discuss the most currently published research about diet, nutrition, exercise, supplements, medications. What is shared will be evidence based not anecdotal. It is one thing to present what legitimate research studies say about a topic, even though not all studies may agree with each other. That's research. But it is something else to rely on grandma's advice, your next door neighbor's assessment, or a TV infomercial about the latest nutrition fad regarding your decision to open your wallet.
Essentially I will discuss with each periodic blog post how not to die from some of the ten leading causes of death, and how to discern the difference between nutritional facts, fads, and fiction. I just ask one thing. Knowing that most people far prefer to hear good news about their bad habits, there will be some bad news about what some may feel are good habits. So please don't "shoot" the messenger.
Have fun,
Dr. Packer
How often do we hear about a new genetic discovery that will replace gone-awry genes by special DNA splicing with perfectly healthy ones, a new medication or wonder drug, a special nutrient or diet, or the genetic modification of food that is processed in advanced ways that will slow aging, minimize our infirmities, obesity, and cure all sorts of disease. It seems like we will soon be able to turn a simple tomato, carrot, or cookie into a complete meal. It’s as if someday we won’t have to eat at all, but just swallow a pill that contains every nutrient we need.
There’s only one problem with these rosy predictions – they are mostly false, because all of these lofty promises are in reality nowhere near being actually realized. Thousands “race” for the cure wearing different colored ribbons while pouring billions of dollars into research to find new genes, as if the ones we’ve evolved are insufficient for our needs. We medicate ourselves with toxic concoctions, and overload our body with excess isolated supplements, a small number of which may actually treat the disease, while the rest treat only symptoms or the harmful side effects of the primary drug. We brag about the heath-care system in the United States, but that term is kind of deceiving, because what we really have, is a “disease-care” system.
Fortunately, there is hope with a far better, safer, and less expensive way to have good heath and prevent much disease – an approach that has positive side effects, unlike the lists of possible side effects announced along with every “ask your doctor about” drug commercial.
Bottom line of this blog is this – it takes great skill to cure a disease, but possibly even greater skill to prevent one.
In my role as an associate professor of nutrition the last several years, the nutritional research I have studied and read, and the continuing education I have received from several legitimate researchers and physicians, has led me to believe we are all falling short of using the natural capacity of the body to prevent chronic disease, and in many cases heal itself. The reality of life is that we are all going to die, but there is a lot each person can do to slow our slide down the slippery slope of physiological entropy.
Health and nutrition is never an all or none proposition. There are those whose lifestyle would have them die younger but they live long. There are those whose lifestyle would have them live long but who die younger. Why? It’s complicated. But our best bet is to live the lifestyle with the greatest odds of a longer, more healthy, and higher quality life both physically and mentally.
The lengthening life span of Americans the past few years is less because we are living more healthy lifestyles, but more because of modern medicines’ ability to keep sick people alive and “moving.” This blog is an effort to help us all avoid “dying at 65 but not being buried until we are 80.”
I will discuss the most currently published research about diet, nutrition, exercise, supplements, medications. What is shared will be evidence based not anecdotal. It is one thing to present what legitimate research studies say about a topic, even though not all studies may agree with each other. That's research. But it is something else to rely on grandma's advice, your next door neighbor's assessment, or a TV infomercial about the latest nutrition fad regarding your decision to open your wallet.
Essentially I will discuss with each periodic blog post how not to die from some of the ten leading causes of death, and how to discern the difference between nutritional facts, fads, and fiction. I just ask one thing. Knowing that most people far prefer to hear good news about their bad habits, there will be some bad news about what some may feel are good habits. So please don't "shoot" the messenger.
Have fun,
Dr. Packer