Your Wellness Lifestyle Starts Here
Do you get confused and conflicted with all of the crazy diet and lifestyle articles? Some of them are true but most are nonsense and fearmongering. I stay committed to teaching evidence based nutritional science so that you aren't throwing out all of your bread and staying home to avoid flesh-eating bacteria. It's important to be well-informed, prioritize learning about health, and invest your time and resources in adopting the right diet and exercise program. Then you can determine if something is health promoting or disease mongering.
Let's look at some of these articles for food for thought and future discussions:
Colorectal cancer is rising among Gen X, Y, & Z
According to the NPR article, about 20,000 people in the U.S. under the age of 50 will be diagnosed this year. And an estimated 3, 750 young adults will die. While stating that more screening is needed, at least they mentioned that "diet may play a role". There are many studies that prove eating more ultra-processed foods, processed lunch meats, carbonated beverages, alcohol use, and high consumption of red meat increases the risk of colorectal cancer. The "grab and go" and sedentary lifestyle of teens and young adults is what will put them in this high-risk category.
Teach your kids that food is so much more than fuel.
Statins
Reporting the results of a 2008 study, the New York Times noted that the risk of heart attack was "more than cut in half by statins". But was it really? The study evaluated AstraZeneca’s rosuvastatin (Crestor) on 17,802 people without high cholesterol, finding about a 50 percent relative risk reduction of heart attack in the statin group.
Another study, commonly cited to exemplify statins’ robust protective effects, is a large trial investigating Pfizer’s atorvastatin (Lipitor), called ASCOT-LLA. In this case, statins were 36 percent more protective than the placebo.
However, the absolute risk reduction for both studies was approximately 1 percent. As opposed to relative risk reduction, assessing the efficacy of a drug is more accurately interpreted by using absolute risk reduction. As Dr. Malcom Kendricks, a Scottish based physician and statins researcher says "It's a way to hype results."
Click the link to learn the difference between relative and absolute and how researchers use it to skew results in their favor. (Relative vs Absolute Change - Analysis Mistakes (dataschool.com)
"Pharmaceutical companies also seek to “downplay or deny” the significance of statins’ side effects, such as severe muscle damage."
In a 2015 investigative meta-analysis published in The Journal of American Cardiology, researchers reviewed all phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in a decade. They found that nearly 80 percent of the trials had a conflict of interest, and almost 60 percent involved over half of the authors. Of these studies, 54 had favorable outcomes, and only 12 had unfavorable results.
High blood pressure? Eat more grapefruit.
If people with high blood pressure ran to the store to buy grapefruit, I hope that they also bought more fruit and vegetables in general, along with high-fiber whole grains. If you are eating an unhealthy diet, full of saturated fats and lots of dairy, that grapefruit won't do a thing. Grapefruit is a wonderful addition to your daily intake of fruit and vegetables. Claiming that one food or supplement will cause you to lose weight, lower blood pressure or cholesterol, is called "reductionism". Optimal health comes with the totality and breadth of your diet and lifestyle. Think "whole". One note does not make a symphony.
Animal Antibiotics, Contraceptive Detected in Top 10 Popular Fast Foods
In September, Moms Across America (MAA) submitted food samples from 10 popular U.S. food chains to the Health Research Institute, an Iowa-based nonprofit laboratory that tests food for nutritional value, bio functionality, and contaminants and toxins, requesting that the laboratory test the samples for more than 100 common veterinary drugs and hormones. With the exception of Subway and Chipotle, all of the food samples tested positive for veterinary drugs. One of the drugs, monensin, is a commonly used veterinary antibiotic with a slim margin of safety. Side effects of monensin in animals include anorexia, diarrhea, weakness, and motor problems; an overdose can lead to poisoning or even death.
Less than 0.5 microgram per kilogram of the antibiotic monensin was detected in the Taco Bell, Dunkin', Wendy’s, Domino's, Burger King, and McDonald's samples.
The acceptable daily intake for monensin is 12.5 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. Other drugs found were Narasin, an antibiotic and antiparasitic feed additive that helps to control parasitic infections in fattened chicken, and Nicarbazin, an animal antiparasitic and contraceptive. Although these drugs were under the acceptable level, does it concern you that they are acceptable at all? Few studies have investigated the effects of veterinary drugs in humans. Some people are consuming this food every day, so we don't know how much they are accumulating in their body.
Health Insurance Marketplace Quality Initiatives
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid recently announced these initiatives: "The Quality Rating System (QRS) is a 5-star rating system used to rate QHPs (Qualified Health Plans) based on relative quality and price. The goals of the QRS are to provide comparable and useful information to consumers, facilitate oversight of QHPs, and provide actionable information to QHPs to improve quality and performance." They are basically developing data collection and reporting tools. This sounds like they are doing something great for health care. But this is the reason that doctors cannot spend quality time with patients, especially to counsel them on diet and lifestyle changes. Physicians are penalized because they need to show adherence to prescribed medications. This is why we call it the "medical mill". The scoring system that this initiative refers to is based on the doctor "managing" the patients by continuing to prescribe medications, rather than reversing their disease. Doctors who have become board certified in Lifestyle Medicine are penalized by this system. Treatment to reverse disease using diet and lifestyle modification requires more follow-up. The patient needs to pay a co-pay for each visit, which is not affordable in most cases. What we have is government bureaucrats managing healthcare.
Healthcare was in terrible shape before COVID; it is worse now. The American medical system is in the process of collapsing and there are many reasons for it. Disease mongering and overtreatment have increased costs to unsustainable levels. Most members of the public no longer trust the system because there is no integrity left. Health professionals working in institutions are expected to follow prescribed protocols for care, even if these protocols are inadvisable for their patients.
As I stated in the first paragraph (and I am glad that you read this far) It's important to be well-informed, prioritize learning about health, and invest your time and resources in adopting the right diet and exercise program.
Liz Fattore
Nurture Your Health
Licensed Food Over Medicine Professional
Wellness Forum Health
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