Sunday, September 30, 2012

A Holistic Approach to the Healthcare Crisis

The debate is currently raging in the political, business, and public arenas over the best approach to medical insurance coverage for Americans. It is abundantly clear that our health care costs are painfully high and growing unsustainably!



Conspicuously absent is the recognition that the concept of insurance by definition is about covering eventualities that are unlikely to take place.

We need to do everything we can to make illness an unlikely event in our lives!
If we become healthier as a nation we will solve the healthcare crisis!
Can we accomplish such a challenge?

Fortunately many highly qualified doctors have pointed to holistic ways to achieve excellent health without costly medical interventions.

Take a look:
ANTICANCER LIFESTYLE

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
Credentials: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caldwell_Esselstyn
CARDIOVASCULAR HEALTH

Dr. Joel Furhman
Credentials: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joel_furhman
DIABETES PREVENTION
SUPERIMMUNITY
http://www.drfuhrman.com/

Dr. Mehmet Oz
Credentials: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mehmet_Oz
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE
http://www.doctoroz.com/

Although these esteemed doctors differ on many of their recommendations (I'm very sure I've never eaten a meal that Dr. Esselstyn would approve of...LOL), they all concur with the gist of Dr. Furhman's statement about nutrition in America:

"Those who eat the standard American Diet with an overabundance of calories but a very low nutrient per calorie intake are in a chronically malnourished condition. This combination of being overweight yet malnourished is the true life threatening epidemic in the modern world resulting in a medical care crisis and avoidable medical tragedies. With the ubiquitous consumption of low nutrient processed foods, nutritional deficiency has become the norm."

 "Health = Nutrients/Calories"

How do we avoid the outsized medical expenses currently typical near the end of our lives? Scott Nearing, famous for demonstrating how to live simply, also shows us a way of graciously exiting our earthly lives. In the words of his wife, Helen, he "quietly breathed away his life at home in Maine 3 weeks after his 100th birthday. He went with dignity, purposely fasting, after a long and good life."
http://www.amazon.com/Loving-Leaving-Good-Helen-Nearing/dp/0930031636#reader_0930031636
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0156004968/ref=rdr_ext_sb_ti_sims_3#reader_0156004968

Are we willing to accept the challenge
of attaining good health and long life
with low healthcare costs?