Are you addicted to food? Future doctors in Lansing are now being trained on lifestyle medicine
Author: Sarah Barber
"McLaren Greater Lansing residents not only learn how a healthy diet impacts patient health, but also learn how sleep health, avoidance of risky substances, social connections, physical activity, and stress reduction all play a major role in how doctors can help their patients stay healthy and happy."
Lifestyle Medicine is made up of six pillars that affect health. These are nutrition, physical activity, stress management, restorative sleep, social connection, and avoiding risky substances such as tobacco, drugs, or excessive use of alcohol.
While the concept behind lifestyle medicine isn’t new, up and coming doctors are just starting to learn how large of a role lifestyle medicine can play in impacting chronic diseases in their patients during their residency education.
“Medical schools and residency programs teach for the boards,” said Daniel Dubay, MD, physician and Associate Program Director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program at McLaren Greater Lansing. “Unfortunately, there are no questions on the boards that relate to our vast peer-reviewed medical research on lifestyle medicine.”
Physicians must pass one of the following board exams to be licensed to practice medicine in the United States: the United Stated Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination of the United States (COMLEX). Since these exams don’t require knowledge of lifestyle medicine, most schools don’t teach it.
McLaren is changing that. McLaren is the largest hospital system to offer the Lifestyle Medicine Residency Curriculum, which is an 18–to-24-month curriculum that prepares residents to become board-certified in lifestyle medicine.
According to the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, “heart disease, cancer, diabetes, stroke, and Alzheimer’s are the leading cause of death and disability in the U.S. Six in 10 Americans have a chronic disease. Four in 10 have two or more. Lifestyle medicine is educating, equipping, and empowering patients to protect their health, prevent disease and, often, even treat and reverse disease through the power of their own lifestyle choices.”
“Saturated fats, animal proteins, processed foods like oils and sugars, and even cheese which has casomorphins, are all addictive for humans. When you regularly eat these foods, you become addicted and it can be hard to get clean from eating foods that are bad for you,” said Dr. Dubay. “It may take up to a month, but then your taste buds change, and real food starts to taste good. When I eat a healthy meal, I enjoy it, but I don’t crave it or have the impulse to overeat.”
McLaren Greater Lansing residents not only learn how a healthy diet impacts patient health, but also learn how sleep health, avoidance of risky substances, social connections, physical activity, and stress reduction all play a major role in how doctors can help their patients stay healthy and happy. They also learn many techniques that help people improve their lifestyle.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80% of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes and 40% of cancer could be prevented primarily with improvements to diet and lifestyle.
If you are interested in learning more about lifestyle nutrition, click here. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Dubay or a resident in the multi-specialty clinic, click here. To learn more about becoming a resident or the residency program at McLaren Greater Lansing, click here.