What can doctors do to encourage healthy, life-extending lifestyle changes?
A landmark paper published in Europe more than a decade ago entitled “Healthy Living Is the Best Revenge” found that doing just four simple, healthy things compared to nothing can have a powerful impact on preventing chronic disease. We’re talking about 80% less chronic disease risk, 93% lower diabetes risk, 81% lower heart attack risk, and halved stroke risk and 36% lower cancer risk. Think about what that means. The potential to prevent disease and death is enormous. In the United States alone every year, there are half a million first heart attacks, half a million first strokes, one million new people with diabetes, and one million new cancer diagnoses. The message is clear: Practicing a few healthy behaviors can have a big impact.
What are those four elements of mythology?
- I have never smoked
- not obesity
- the average hour of exercise is about half an hour a day
- following the principles of a healthy diet, including more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, and less meat
Follow those four simple rules and boom! Enjoy an almost 80% reduced risk of major chronic diseases.
What does that mean for the risk of death? As I discuss in my video How to Extend Your Life Expectancy 12 to 14 Yearsthe same combination of four healthy behaviors predicted “a 4-fold difference in mortality between men and women, with an average effect size of 14 years.[ears] in the chronological age,” meaning that people were dying at such a low rate that it was as if they were 14 years younger. “Finally, the Life Expectancy Program,” announces a commentary on a study that conducted a similar analysis of the impact of healthy behaviors on life expectancy. living in almost every other high-income country for a woman and 75½ for a man in the United States, just basic self-care can propel you to a life expectancy of 93 if you’re a woman and 87½ if you are a man.
The bottom line is that it’s never too late to turn back the clock. Just changing to the basics—at least five daily servings of fruits and vegetables, walking 20 minutes a day, not smoking, and maintaining a healthy weight—leads to a significant reduction in mortality even in the next few years. We are talking about a 40% lower risk of dying in the next four years. Indeed, “making the necessary changes to stick to a healthy lifestyle is very important, and…
Besides, when I realized that 12 to 14 years of life expectancy was based on data from health professionals, I got excited about all the possible results. If health professionals start to be healthy, they can become role models for healthy living and potentially save more lives than just their own. But that might have been a dream. Practicing what you preach can sometimes backfire. Apparently, “beauty shows can ironically shut down the very people they are trying to inspire.”
It is logical to think that not being a hypocrite and trying to walk will lead to positive results, encouraging the confidence of others. Don’t you want a dance teacher who can dance, a music teacher who can play, and a health professional? But “this simplistic view fails to take into account concerns about diminishing value rather than superior professional behavior arousing others”—that is, that might make people feel inadequate. For example, do you know that vegetarians are often the target of ridicule and hatred? This is because they may appear morally superior and make other people feel inferior.
There was a good demonstration of this situation in a study where “rebels who walk on the high road threaten the self-respect of others.” Participants were asked to complete a “racist task,” and those “well-behaved rebels” who refused to do so were cheered on by spectators but scorned by their fellow participants. Why? Because the stance of these rebels was “a clear proof of their stupidity.” Isn’t that interesting?
Therefore, when doctors present themselves as the “picture of health,” patients may think they are holier than thou, which may unintentionally alienate those who need the doctor’s help the most. It’s easy to imagine how someone with a weight problem might feel threatened and judged by a triathlete’s doctor. But what should we do? We want healthy doctors. Doctors who smoke are less likely to tell their patients to stop smoking, obese doctors are more likely to recommend weight loss, and doctors who don’t exercise are less likely to talk about exercise. What doctors can do to put patients at ease is to emphasize that their role is to help people meet their personal health goals, whatever they may be. Research shows that when doctors take this approach, it increases the appeal of “health-oriented” doctors to obese patients. Therefore, physicians can model behavior without inadvertently alienating those who will benefit most from their counseling.
Doctor’s Note
For more on lifestyle medicine, see the related posts below.
