My Lifestyle Medicine Journey
How it started…
Lying on the table for my Cardiac CT calcium scan 4 years ago, at age 48, I was both nervous and hopeful. I thought to myself, would I get a 0, showing no evidence of plaque build-up in the arteries of my heart? Or would I get a high score over 400 (that would require additional interventions like cholesterol lowering medications or a stress test)? My cardiac calcium score was 67 – certainly not terrible, but not great either. It did show that I was starting to develop plaque in my arteries, and therefore I would need to make significant changes if I wanted to stop or slow this process.
Earlier that summer, one of my kids’ teachers died suddenly in his early 50’s while on his morning run. Most of us know friends or family members who were completely unaware that they had heart disease until they experienced a heart attack or sudden death. Luckily, there is a preventative measure that can be taken. A cardiac calcium CT scan is a simple test that can help uncover this initially silent disease before it results in tragic outcomes.
After learning about my cardiac calcium CT scan results, I calculated my 10-year cardiac risk score using the MESA risk calculator. This considers your age, sex, blood pressure, family history and cholesterol level and tells your 10-year risk of having a heart attack or stroke. The current recommendation from consensus groups like the American Heart Association is that one should consider a cholesterol lowering medication if their 10-year risk is > 7.5%.
Shortly after receiving my test results, I read Dr. Michael Greger’s book, How Not to Die. Dr. Greger is a family physician and in his book, he provides great evidence-based recommendations on diet and lifestyle changes that can decrease risk of heart disease, diabetes, cancers, hypertension, strokes, etc. My favorite takeaway from this book was the Daily Dozen, an app that helps you incorporate his 12 daily recommendations including foods, adequate fluid intake, spices, vitamins, and exercise. By following these simple recommendations in an easy-to-use app, I have completely transformed my diet and lifestyle. Over a very short time period, my palate changed significantly, and I was eating healthier and feeling much better. I declared to my family that I was now a “Flexitarian,” someone who eats mostly whole, plant-based foods and limited meat and dairy. Many new foods became staples in my regular diet such as quinoa, lentils, cruciferous vegetables, turmeric, flax seeds, hummus, cabbage, and more. My go-to recipes are grain bowls, acai bowls, salads and smoothies because they are easy ways to incorporate many of these foods into one dish.
Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen became my favorite hand-out for my patients as I was excited to share his recommendations that were making such a great impact on my overall health. I had quickly felt better, lost weight, lowered my blood pressure and improved my lipid profile. My positive experience in lifestyle medicine fueled my desire to learn more for myself and for my patients. I have spent countless hours reading and listening to audiobooks, and I recommend the following sources: Dr. Joel Fuhrman, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Joel Kahn.
I read Dr Fuhrman’s books Eat to Live, Super Immunity, and the End of Dieting, which were all incredible. They reinforced much of Dr. Greger’s recommendations and introduced many new habits that I’ve adopted for my own health and have passed on to my patients. Dr Fuhrman’s website has a wealth of great information as well. His article, “The Healthiest Anti-Cancer Foods, GBOMBS” is one of my favorites; based on his advice mushrooms and onions became new staples in my bowls and salads. His books and advice also got me more interested in adding other vitamins into my daily routine. His “Nutritarian” diet focuses on eating foods highest in micronutrients, which can decrease one’s risk for cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and lead to weight loss and improved overall health. His recommendations are simple and straightforward, offering a perfect place for any patient starting on their personal journey to improved health.
My next deep dive was into the articles and podcasts by Dr Joel Kahn, Heart Doc VIP. Dr. Kahn’s content is short, sweet, and amazing! He has over 130 podcasts (each about 20-30 minutes long), and I have listened to all of them at least once. His podcasts have absolutely changed the way I take care of myself as well as my patients. I was inspired to purchase a stand-up desk, order more cardiac calcium CT scans on for my patients (because of his “test not guess” concept) and try new supplements (CoQ10, Aged odorless garlic, magnesium). I highly recommend his podcasts for medical providers as well as anyone else interested in gaining knowledge and making healthy lifestyle changes. Following his advice has made me healthier and inspired me to continue to learn more and pass information along to my patients.
I am currently reading Dr Greger’s new book, How Not to Diet. This book expands on his prior book, How Not to Die, and gives some great new recommendations on evidenced-based diet recommendations. He updated his app “Daily Dozen” with his 21 Diet Tweaks that have some great advice including time restricted feeding, preloading with water, incorporating vinegar, and adding some new spices. Dr. Greger’s website, nutritionfacts.org, provides a wealth of informative videos and articles.
Personally, these lifestyle changes led to some incredible results within about 6 months including:
Decreased LDL cholesterol from 151 to 99.
Lost 25 pounds
Decreased waist size from 36 to 33.
Low/Normal High sensitivity CRP
Decreased 10-year cardiac risk
Decreased blood pressure
How it’s going…
4 years later, I continue to follow a flexitarian diet. The foods that used to be unfamiliar to me now are now my staples. My whole family is eating healthier; our plates are much more colorful because we are enjoying more fresh fruits and vegetables. Our Vitamix and Instant Pot are two of our favorite new purchases and we love trying new dishes (stay tuned for an article full of recipes!). The picture on the right is me 4 years after making those changes. I feel so much better and just wish I had made these changes when I was younger. I try to educate and encourage these types of changes for all of my patients so they can feel their best and to prevent and reverse chronic diseases. During this time I became board certified with the American Board of Lifestyle Medicine so that I could further advance my expertise in the area and help my patients even more..
I am so grateful for the knowledge and wisdom from these Lifestyle Medicine greats. I remain committed to continue to learn more and to share my knowledge to improve the health of my patients.
(I have no financial disclosures or conflicts of interest to report.)