I’ve been meaning to share this story for quite some time now, as it dovetails beautifully with the theme of this blog…
Recently, I listened to a podcast (@ 29 min. in this link) with Dr. Joseph Maroon, University of Pittsburgh neurosurgeon, professor, ironman triathlete, author of Square One, among other books and notable accomplishments. In fact, if you listen to nothing else in this blog, I would encourage you to consider listening to this half hour podcast. You will not be disappointed.
An advocate now of preventative medicine, he shared some rather alarming statistics.
For example:
2/3 of our population is obese or overweight (greatest source of inflammation in our bodies)
15-20% of our population has Alzheimer’s, aka, Type III Diabetes: 1 in 9 over 65; 1 in 3 over 85
However, Dr. Maroon wasn’t always an advocate for preventative medicine with respect to body/mind/spirit connections (Epigenetic approach) – a lifestyle he now promotes. Rather, it was from a traumatic event in his life.
His life-altering moment came when he experienced adversity first-hand shortly after his father died, and his wife left him. At 41, overweight and prediabetic, he left his job as a neurosurgeon to run his parent’s truck stop pumping gas, cleaning bathrooms, cooking, among many other things running a truck stop entails. It was during this time that a metamorphosis happened to him after a friend asked him to go for a run. Barely able to walk around the local high school track, let alone run with his friend, he decided nevertheless to stick with it. Over time his endurance improved and before long he found himself able to run longer and longer distances. During this time, he began to read and research foods for optimal athletic performance. He also began to pray, meditate, and ultimately learned how to eat (as he puts it) the ‘human diet.’ The rest is history.
It was from this experience and subsequent life choices that he realized he needed to change his paradigm as a neurosurgeon; not only for his own health, but for his patients as well. Returning to neurosurgery a year later he realized some key things that helped to make him the man he is today:
1. Your genes are not your destiny: You can control 80% of your choices (environment, diet, spirituality, exercise); while 20% is your genetics (cannot be controlled) and/or something unexpected or accidental happens.
2. Virtually all disease is metabolic in nature, and caused by inflammation (root cause), including neurodegenerative diseases (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, ALS, Stroke, Epilepsy, MS).
3. Virtually all aches, pains, fatigue, depression, irritability complaints are related to diet.
4. Sugar/glucose is the food cancer needs to grow and survive.
5. Our bodies do not require carbohydrates, and in fact, the brain prefers ketones, a clean burning fuel to glucose.
6. Following a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, aka, the ‘human diet’ – a diet human beings have been eating for 3 million years – returns the body’s metabolism to its optimal health.
Needless to say, this podcast held me transfixed. It not only reminded me that in addition to wise dietary choices, other important aspects to life help to round out, if you will, the other aspects to ‘living spherically’ I hope to address in this blog. Happy listening and reading!