Treat the Cause Not the Symptom—Change Your Life Before it Changes You by Shane Idleman
We are at the crossroads: Obesity is an epidemic, plaguing the young as well as the old, reaching alarming levels in children. Diabetes is affecting millions, and cancer and heart disease are the number one killers in America.
Are there answers? Yes, but we must speak the truth in love.
Change Your Life Before it Changes You
Although I believed that I was healthy and fit, my 6’2’’ frame recently skyrocketed to over 230 pounds (my ideal weight is 170 – 190). My blood pressure and cholesterol levels were high, and my health was rapidly deteriorating. I was shocked! I knew that if I didn’t change my lifestyle, my lifestyle would change me.
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Like most Americans, I was killing myself to live—living in a fast-paced and stressful environment that can lead to unhealthy lifestyle choices. If you need additional help, please see my resources at the bottom of this article.
Doing the Same Thing Expecting Different Results
One definition of insanity is doing the same thing while expecting different results. Not only can the healthcare system not sustain it, but our quality of life is on the line.
Instead of grandparents playing with their grandkids, they are often barely able to get around. Instead of parents being productive, we are tired and worn out and our families pay the price. Instead of kids enjoying life, they are battling many health-related illnesses. We cannot continue down this path.
Thank God for physicians standing in the gap, especially during COVID! But we also need more physicians who understand how the body works and who can help their patients from the inside out by treating the cause, not just the symptom.
For instance, I cringe at the number of Type 2 diabetes patients who are sent home with even more medication, or the countless overweight individuals who leave their doctor’s office with high blood pressure drugs instead of real solutions that work.
They are told that these are progressive diseases and that there isn’t much that can be done. In most cases, disease is only progressive if we continue down the wrong path … the unhealthy path.
Please don’t misunderstand—I’m not suggesting that we don’t need medication from time to time. But shouldn’t that be the last resort, rather than the first?
