by Paul E. Lemanski, MD, MS, FACP
Published: January 2010
Medicines are a mainstay of American life and the healthcare system not only because they are perceived to work by the individual taking them, but also because their benefit may be shown by the objective assessment of scientific study. Clinical research trials have shown that some of the medicines of Western science may reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular death.
Editor’s Note: This is the 35th in a series on optimal diet and lifestyle to help prevent and treat heart disease. Any planned change in diet, exercise or treatment should be discussed with and approved by your personal physician before implementation. The help of a registered dietitian in the implementation of dietary changes is strongly recommended.
In the first 34 installments of The Non-Medicated Life, informed diet and lifestyle have been shown to achieve naturally for the majority of individuals most of the benefits of medications. What is not generally appreciated is that embracing a heart healthy lifestyle is also a powerful way for an individual to support the health and survivability of the planet. In this sense pursuing the non-medicated life may be seen as another means of contributing to sustainability and going green.
Since the Renaissance, Western science has been used to control the natural world in order to improve the survival of the human species, to reduce the burden of work needed to survive and to reduce human suffering and disease. The industrial revolution, advances in agriculture, sanitation, and medicine have accomplished much to these ends. However, the attempt to control the natural world has had consequences which were not either thoughtfully considered or anticipated.
The industrial revolution harnessed the power of water and fossil fuels. Dams, while producing electricity, have damaged ecosystems which has impacted agriculture. Profligate use of fossil fuels has produced pollution on a massive scale which has negatively impacted human health and may be altering the world’s climate. The use of fossil fuel derived pesticides and fertilizers, while assuring adequate food for the human species, has produced pollution which has harmed human, animal, and plant health and ecology. Of even greater concern, fossil fuel derived fertilizers have allowed the human population to grow to six-billion without any alternative plan to feed that population once the oil runs out.
Just as Western science has attempted to control the natural world, Western medicine has attempted to control chronic disease with medication. Today the average 60-year-old patient in America is on six medications. Of these probably at least one-half are needed on a daily basis to control chronic conditions which are brought about by poor health habits and unhealthy lifestyle choices and therefore could be avoided. For example, the choice to consume calories in excess of those needed to balance calories burned contributes to increased body weight and obesity. Obesity in turn causes heart attacks, diabetes, hypertension, gastro-esophageal reflux, and sleep apnea as well as certain cancers.
The need to rely on medication to control such conditions not only drives up the cost of care unnecessarily, it also allows for the continuation of the behaviors which caused the condition in the first place. Indeed, human physical activity and exercise have become divorced from the tasks of daily living and have become relegated to infrequent forays to the gym. Moreover, the widespread availability of fossil fuels has produced a transportation system which relies on the internal combustion engine and has made actual human locomotion in large part unnecessary.
Correcting chronic health conditions with lifestyle and diet when possible instead of with drugs means humans need to eat lower caloric density foods and increase physical activity. I have suggested previously in this column that traditional predominantly plant based diets – either Mediterranean or Asian – best supply the lower caloric density, which creates a sense of satiety without excess calories. Such diets rely primarily on vegetables and grains which allow the most efficient conversion of sunlight to food. Traditional crop rotation and the use of organic farming methods can also decrease pesticide and fertilizer use.
Increased physical activity should also be part of meaningful activity. One of the reasons Europeans have lower rates of obesity than Americans is simply because they walk more. The reason they walk more is because they use walking as a form of transportation to a much greater extent than Americans do. Purposeful activity, however, need not be limited to walking. The American penchant for power tools – especially gas driven ones – not only takes away from burning calories with meaningful work, it also burns fossil fuels on tasks for which such use is not truly necessary. For example, using a reel push mower to cut grass allows the individual to burn calories in meaningful work. For the planet it limits the burning of fossil fuels when it is not truly necessary.
Finally, eating traditional diets generally requires the freshest ingredients. While such ingredients may be obtained in a supermarket, using farm stands and local farmers markets many times is superior. Frequenting such farm stands supports local agriculture and limits the distance produce must be shipped thereby reducing the burning of fossil fuels used in transportation. The personal relationship established between grower and consumer also ensures accountability and decreases the chance of bacterial contamination of produce.
In summary, the pursuit of the non-medicated life has significant health benefits. A reduced reliance on medication requires a diet and lifestyle that optimizes body weight with a predominately plant based diet in combination with increased physical activity. Avoiding the proverbial bottle of pills can also be shown to reduce pesticide and fertilizer use, reduce fossil fuel use, and result in benefits for the planet as well as the individual.
Paul E. Lemanski, MD, MS, FACP (paul.lemanski@primecarepc.com) is a board certified internist with a master’s degree in human nutrition. He is director of the Center for Preventive Medicine, Albany Associates in Cardiology, Prime Care Physicians, P.C. Paul is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at Albany Medical College and a fellow of the American College of Physicians.
