Day 37: Preventive Medicine
Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
How much is the cost of your health? Many people complain that it’s expensive to stay healthy. My thought process: it’s more expensive to be sick. I’d rather spend on food that I can enjoy than suffer a heart attack, spend money on a cardiac bypass, and end up with tons of medicine to keep me from getting another surgery.
I’d rather spend my money on extra virgin olive oil than on Lipitor. I’d rather drink my one glass (100 ml) of red wine than an anti-hypertensive. I’d rather enjoy my organic produce than get an insulin pump.
“Let thy food be thy medicine,” said Hippocrates. Yes, I’d rather eat my medicine than drink it in the form of pills.
Food literacy is imperative in this regard. It’s not about prohibitive and restrictive diets but about knowing what food is good and consuming more of this beneficial stuff than the harmful ones.
I’d like to catch people when they are still in the stage where lifestyle modification can make a lot of difference.
I’m talking about pre-obesity, pre-hypertension, and pre-diabetes stages.
And how do you know if you are in this grey warning zone?
How do you know if you have pre-obesity?
Check your BMI here.
https://www.bmi-calculator.net
If you have a BMI between 25 to 29.99, you are overweight or in the pre-obesity stage. But if you are Asian, the cut-off is lower. Having a BMI between 23 to 26.9 is considered pre-obesity or overweight.
Additionally, you can measure your waist circumference. If you’re a female and your waistline is between 32-34 inches or if you’re a male and it’s between 37-39 inches, your health risks increase. Asian women with a waistline of more than 31.5 is considered at risk.
Eat the foods in the Mediterranean Diet checklist that I shared, and you can download it here, and most likely, you will lose weight. Even a weight loss of 5-10% can lower your risks for hypercholesterolemia and high blood pressure.
Don’t skip meals. Eat three main meals of about 500 calories each and three snacks of about 100 calories each, which you can easily do by choosing the foods in that list. And you won’t go hungry. I have tried that, and without even intending to, I have gone from 117 to 112 lbs, even much lower than my pre-maternity weight. It works.
How do you know if you have pre-hypertension?
If your blood pressure is between 120-129/ 80, you are at risk for hypertension. Check the stages of hypertension here:
https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/hbp-rainbow-chart-english.pdf
A high intake of potassium-containing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will help. Taking potassium from unnatural sources may be risky to your heart rhythm. So stick to mother nature’s offering.
How do you know if you have pre-diabetes?
Those glucose monitors are affordable. Buy one and check your fasting blood glucose. If it is more than 100 mg/dL or more than 5.5 mmol/L, you have pre-diabetes. If two hours after meals, your blood sugar spikes above 140 mg/dL or more than 7.8 mmol/L, that also puts you in the warning zone.
Check your sugar intake and refined carbohydrate intake. Most likely, you’re overwhelming your pancreas from too much of these. So cut off the sugary drinks and switch to zesty water. Instead of drinking 100% fruit juice, eat the whole fruit and benefit from the fiber that decreases fructose absorption and the energy expenditure derived from the thermal effect of eating. Imagine how much calorie you consume by gulping down that orange juice in a split second compared to the calorie you need to use to peel off the fruit and chew it before it hits your gut.
Just remember, for all these pre-disease stages, you don’t need any meds. The MedDiet is enough. Pre- means preventable.
Sadly, some people prefer an ounce of pills over a pound of fruits and vegetables. Even supplements have lost their meaning. They’re supposed to supplement our diet, not become the basic food groups.
By getting omega-3 or vitamin C from pills, we miss out on the fiber, phytonutrients, or macronutrients like protein that natural food sources can give. Let’s not shortchange ourselves.
Let our food be our medicine. And should we be in a situation wherein we need the medication, let food help us wean off from our drug and not add to our health problems. Find a healthcare provider who believes that Food is Medicine and work with them to regain your health.
How much is the cost of your health? Many people complain that it’s expensive to stay healthy. My thought process: it’s more expensive to be sick. I’d rather spend on food that I can enjoy than suffer a heart attack, spend money on a cardiac bypass, and end up with tons of medicine to keep me from getting another surgery.
I’d rather spend my money on extra virgin olive oil than on Lipitor. I’d rather drink my one glass (100 ml) of red wine than an anti-hypertensive. I’d rather enjoy my organic produce than get an insulin pump.
“Let thy food be thy medicine,” said Hippocrates. Yes, I’d rather eat my medicine than drink it in the form of pills.
Food literacy is imperative in this regard. It’s not about prohibitive and restrictive diets but about knowing what food is good and consuming more of this beneficial stuff than the harmful ones.
I’d like to catch people when they are still in the stage where lifestyle modification can make a lot of difference.
I’m talking about pre-obesity, pre-hypertension, and pre-diabetes stages.
And how do you know if you are in this grey warning zone?
How do you know if you have pre-obesity?
Check your BMI here.
https://www.bmi-calculator.net
If you have a BMI between 25 to 29.99, you are overweight or in the pre-obesity stage. But if you are Asian, the cut-off is lower. Having a BMI between 23 to 26.9 is considered pre-obesity or overweight.
Additionally, you can measure your waist circumference. If you’re a female and your waistline is between 32-34 inches or if you’re a male and it’s between 37-39 inches, your health risks increase. Asian women with a waistline of more than 31.5 is considered at risk.
Eat the foods in the Mediterranean Diet checklist that I shared, and you can download it here, and most likely, you will lose weight. Even a weight loss of 5-10% can lower your risks for hypercholesterolemia and high blood pressure.
Don’t skip meals. Eat three main meals of about 500 calories each and three snacks of about 100 calories each, which you can easily do by choosing the foods in that list. And you won’t go hungry. I have tried that, and without even intending to, I have gone from 117 to 112 lbs, even much lower than my pre-maternity weight. It works.
How do you know if you have pre-hypertension?
If your blood pressure is between 120-129/ 80, you are at risk for hypertension. Check the stages of hypertension here:
https://www.heart.org/-/media/files/health-topics/high-blood-pressure/hbp-rainbow-chart-english.pdf
A high intake of potassium-containing fruits, vegetables, and whole grains will help. Taking potassium from unnatural sources may be risky to your heart rhythm. So stick to mother nature’s offering.
How do you know if you have pre-diabetes?
Those glucose monitors are affordable. Buy one and check your fasting blood glucose. If it is more than 100 mg/dL or more than 5.5 mmol/L, you have pre-diabetes. If two hours after meals, your blood sugar spikes above 140 mg/dL or more than 7.8 mmol/L, that also puts you in the warning zone.
Check your sugar intake and refined carbohydrate intake. Most likely, you’re overwhelming your pancreas from too much of these. So cut off the sugary drinks and switch to zesty water. Instead of drinking 100% fruit juice, eat the whole fruit and benefit from the fiber that decreases fructose absorption and the energy expenditure derived from the thermal effect of eating. Imagine how much calorie you consume by gulping down that orange juice in a split second compared to the calorie you need to use to peel off the fruit and chew it before it hits your gut.
Just remember, for all these pre-disease stages, you don’t need any meds. The MedDiet is enough. Pre- means preventable.
Sadly, some people prefer an ounce of pills over a pound of fruits and vegetables. Even supplements have lost their meaning. They’re supposed to supplement our diet, not become the basic food groups.
By getting omega-3 or vitamin C from pills, we miss out on the fiber, phytonutrients, or macronutrients like protein that natural food sources can give. Let’s not shortchange ourselves.
Let our food be our medicine. And should we be in a situation wherein we need the medication, let food help us wean off from our drug and not add to our health problems. Find a healthcare provider who believes that Food is Medicine and work with them to regain your health.