Читать книгу The Doctor’s Kitchen - Dr Rupy Aujla - Страница 11

Plates over pills

I want to make this clear so there is no doubt on this statement: food is medicine. It’s not my opinion, I’m not saying it because it’s fashionable and trendy, it’s quite frankly a fact.

We have a library of studies that demonstrate the effectiveness of nutritional interventions on lifestyle diseases that are society’s biggest killers. My job is to give you a flavour of the science and encourage you to value the importance of mealtimes. We need to understand that what we put into our bodies dictates how they function and deal with illness.

When I refer to food as ‘medicine’ I’m not talking about simply using ‘natural medications’ or food supplements instead of pharmaceuticals. I don’t advocate swapping your cholesterol-lowering drugs for a bag of nuts if you have abnormal biochemistry, for example. A traditional pharmaceutical model of healthcare where symptoms are treated individually is not the answer to our Western healthcare woes. It’s important that we don’t look at food like a ‘pill’. No magic bullet in the form of turmeric supplements, green tea shots or pomegranate juice exists, I’m afraid.

A complex interplay of diet, sleep, exercise and stress underlies the root cause of disease. This relationship between our environment and human biochemistry is alien to most conventionally trained doctors like myself, and we must redress the balance.¹ The reason why I’m so nutrition focused and I believe in the power of ‘plates over pills’ is because it’s the easiest, most cost-effective and evidence-based method of preventing and reversing disease. The effect of a Mediterranean diet on cancer,² diabetes³ and cardiovascular risk^4,5 is a simple example of this statement in action. By improving patients’ diets we can drastically reduce the likelihood of all three common debilitating conditions to a far greater degree than any number of pills or surgical interventions.^2,5

This is the direction in which medicine should be heading. Nutrition, along with other lifestyle factors, is where we need to concentrate our studies and resources. I’ve come across enough research and had enough personal experience in clinic with patients to judge that nutritional medicine is not a fringe concept. Dietary strategies are being trialled to reverse diabetes^6,7 and even address the tricky and controversial subject of dementia.⁸ The added advantage of taking a nutritional approach to tackling disease is the beneficial upshot of eating well, compared to the many side effects associated with medications. I’m always plagued with guilt whenever a patient suffers an adverse side effect from medication, of which there are many examples, from swollen legs as a result of blood-pressure drugs to an increased risk of fractures related to antacid medications.⁹

In general practice there is a clear need for medications, but where a cost-effective, evidence-based alternative exists and has a plausible mechanism of action I would encourage us as a scientific community to investigate and embrace it. I urge physicians and patients to explore the multitude of other treatment methods before we succumb to medications for chronic conditions. This needs to happen. Healthcare systems across the Western world are crumbling under the weight of growing financial demands^10,11 and no matter how much we invest in novel therapeutics we must always start with simple diet and lifestyle measures. I am here to empower you.

Discovering the plethora of studies demonstrating how effective lifestyle interventions are was revolutionary to me. In fact, our current guidelines for some of the most common lifestyle-related diseases reflect this. The first step to tackling diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol according to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is ‘Lifestyle Change’.^12,13,14 Yet most doctors wouldn’t know where to start when it comes to giving dietary advice and this poor ability to motivate our patients to embrace a healthy outlook is reflected by how over-medicated we are as a population. I’m convinced that our indulgence in pills over plates is a product of poor nutrition training in the medical curricula, which still stands at less than 20 hours of teaching during a five-year medical degree.^15,16 If medical students were encouraged to learn more about the impact of lifestyle, we’d have a much healthier nation.^17,18 Our lack of knowledge, short consultation times and patient demand for a quick fix creates a scenario where the easiest option is to provide pharmaceuticals. But, the first thing we should be asking before reaching for that prescription pad is, ‘What are you eating?’

Our population is plagued by obesity, stress and cardiovascular disease, and the prevalence of these conditions is rising fast.¹⁹ The answer to our epidemic of chronic disease is staring at us from the grocery aisles. I want to prevent the need for invasive devices, powerful prescription medications or painful procedures and offer a delightful alternative: eating fresh produce, colourful plants and igniting a passion for flavour! Best of all, the creativity and pleasure of preparing and eating good food is attainable for everyone.

The answer to our epidemic of chronic disease is staring at us from the grocery aisles.

Rather than using this section to bombard you with myriad papers, details of trials and large studies to prove a point, I’ve speckled all the recipes with bite-sized chunks of information to give you a sense of this interesting research. I’ve also included amongst the recipes some further information on my favourite ingredients and their amazing health benefits (see here). You might expect ‘health food’ to be bland and lacking variety, but I’m going to show you it’s the exact opposite. Flavour as well as function is what I’m passionate about, and diversity of ingredients is essential. Our health depends on it.