Benjamin Franklin once said “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
Why am I so obsessed with nutrition and lifestyle interventions for a healthier life? Because it has changed the trajectory of my life and health span.
When I was 15, I began to have crippling back pain, and when I looked in the mirror, I noticed something about my posture was off. One shoulder was higher than the other. A few doctor’s visits later, I got the diagnosis: I had scoliosis so severe, it threatened to damage my vital organs if left unchecked.
The cure? Spinal fusion surgery that would have to be redone every 10 years.
The risks? Paralysis, nerve damage, death.
The side effects? Loss of mobility that interferes with the ability to be active.
The idea of not being able to be as active as wanted made me seek an alternative cure. I did not have the surgery.
Instead, I sought a grueling chiropractic treatment to stop the spinal deformation and an anti-inflammatory nutritional regime to aid with the inflammation that caused me pain.
15 years later, I have run over 20 races including 3 half marathons and 2 Spartan Beasts, and this Summer I just summited Mount Fuji and went on a 3-day bike ride across Germany.
I permanently live with dull back pain, but it is tolerable. I rarely take pain medication, but I take turmeric and ginger powder in high doses pretty religiously.
Fun fact: ginger is such a potent anti-inflammatory food that it has been found to help reduce pain and inflammation reduction in osteoarthritis patients, attenuate muscle soreness in active individuals, and blunt migraine pain as effectively as a painkiller (sumatriptan).
I am NOT against Western medicine, NOR against going against a doctor’s advice. Nor do I advise anyone to seek an alternative treatment for a serious condition without a serious cost-benefit analysis that weighs all potential risks.
Western medicine has achieved incredible feats and has saved countless lives that would have otherwise been lost in acute emergencies. I am deeply thankful for every single healthcare worker who has dedicated their life to help save and improve lives.
However, I am for at least CONSIDERING preventative lifestyle measures that are more cost-efficient and often, less damaging to health span. Preventative medicine is estimated to be able to save us as much as $45 billion per year, and that is a conservative estimate.
Sadly, despite a growing interest in population health from healthcare professionals and the general public alike, there are funding challenges for residency programs in population health, and many preventive health residency programs don’t have funding from the federal government.
So what can we do for now? Take matters into our own hands and actively choose to follow a nutrition and lifestyle regime that will help us avoid the ~50% of preventable diseases.
Personally speaking, I will continue to nourish myself with superfoods, exercise, mindfulness, and my Faith. What will you do?
