Integrating Food as Lifestyle Medicine

Posted by Nancy in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Nutrition clients are acutely aware that obesity, mood disorders, various cancers, Type 2 diabetes, thyroid dysfunction, types of cancers, etc. may be preventable and treatable via a myriad of lifestyle approaches.

The flagship medical organization, American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) defined the founding 2004 movement of “Lifestyle Medicine” as the therapeutic use of evidence-based life style interventions to treat and prevent lifestyle related diseases in a clinical setting. It empowers individuals with the knowledge and life skills to make effective behavior changes that address the underlying causes of disease”.

Primary features of ACLM’s Standards of Life Style Medicine as outlined in Today’s Dietitian (December 2017) by author, Vicki Shanta are as follows:

* to promote behavior changes that allow the body to heal itself;
* to focus on evidence-based optimal nutrition, stress management, and fitness prescriptions;
* to have patients be active partners in their care;
* to treat underlying lifestyle causes of disease’
* to have provider educate, guide, and support patients to make behavior changes;
* to use medications as an adjunct to therapeutic changes;
* to realize that the patient’s home and community environment are assessed as contributing factors.

Working together to incorporate environmental, behavioral, fitness/stress reduction factors along with tailored meal and safe supplemental plans will enhance, enrich and empower our 2018 (and beyond) “individualized” Lifestyle Medicine movement!

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