Health Alert 197
A survey taken at the American Medical Association convention in June revealed that 66% of the attending doctors were either overweight or obese. Why are so many doctors fat? Is it that doctors don’t follow their own diet and exercise guidelines…or that those guidelines don’t work?
Today you’ll learn why physicians are as fat as the rest of America, the high cost you’re paying for their obesity, and the fat trap the USDA has set for all of us. I’ll also show you an incredibly simple way to escape the USDA’s misguided prescription and enjoy a healthy body for life.
* If Doctors Practice what they Preach, They’ll Still Be Fat *
If you needed weight-loss advice, would you listen to a doctor who was obviously obese himself? Probably not. And you’re not alone. A recent study shows that patients are less likely to heed healthcare advice from doctors who are overweight – especially when it concerns weight-control treatment. It’s clear that the “do as I say, not as I do” mentality doesn’t work here.
So why aren’t more doctors managing their own weight? Well of course, many doctors work too long. No big surprise there. Butt there are two things the AMA is doing wrong that are helping make doctors, as well as their patients, fat.
First, the AMA persists in endorsing the USDA’s food pyramid. The pyramid advises a very unnatural diet. With recommendations of 6-11 servings of grains a day. If you follow it, you will send a signal to your metabolism that the hunting is poor and you need to build body fat to prepare.
The fact is the food pyramid’s emphasis on carbohydrates has done more to contribute to our waistlines than to our health. And as long as the AMA continues to endorse the pyramid and its high-carb focus ( note that the president of the AMA chose a low-carb diet for himself to shed 42 pounds last year ) doctors will remain overweight.
The AMA’s second mistake is to advise that people do low intensity cardiovascular exercise for 60 minutes everyday. When it comes to weight control, intensity is more important than duration because most fat burning occurs after you finish the exercise session.
* A Simple, Sensible Solution To Weight Loss *
Fortunately, striking a healthy balance in your diet doesn’t need to involve counting servings on a food pyramid. It’s as easy as going back to what our ancestors ate. They ate lean meat, fish, berries, plants, and nuts. It’s intuitive and easy:
• Limit anything made from grains.
• Eat a quality source of protein with every meal.
• Eat any vegetable that doesn’t require processing.
As for exercise – cut that grueling hour down to an invigorating 10 to 15 minutes. Exercising for long periods is a waste of time, and leads to overuse injuries.
Instead of jarring your knees on a running track, do ten-minutes of calisthenics using your own body weight. You will burn fat better by exercising in short bursts as it retrains your body to store energy in your muscles for fast access instead of as body fat.
And the psychological benefits of short workouts are just as great. They’re long enough to release the endorphins that leave you feeling energized, but short enough to fit into a busy lifestyle. And they keep you from getting so bored, or so sore, that you quit.
A natural, low-carb diet and short, brisk workouts – here’s the foundation of a healthier AMA and a healthier America.
Al Sears, MD
Physician Slim Thyself, Reuters Health, Jun 16, 2004
Does Physician Weight Affect Perception of Health Advice?, Preventive Medicine, Volume 36, Issue 1, January 2003
Physician Slim Thyself, Reuters Health, Jun 16, 2004
Teaching Nutrition, Dr. Sears Health Alert #158
Physician Slim Thyself, Reuters Health, Jun 16, 2004
Fat Chance: How Physicians can Help Patients Lighten Their Load, American Medical News, Nov. 18, 2002
Teaching Nutrition, Dr. Sears Health Alert #158