Medical Advice to My President
Photo Credit: Vanity Fair
As a doctor, I want to get a few things straight, Mr. President.
Right, left, or in-between, our country needs you. Your wife and girls need you. They need you in good health, and setting a good example, not least because talking about healthcare is so much more credible when we do what we can to not need it.
Here’s the bad news: You have not one, but two risk factors for heart disease: smoking and high cholesterol. You’re not a teenager anymore. It’s time to take this seriously.
The good news—great news, in fact—is that you can change them both. But frankly, I’m worried. If you have had trouble sorting out smoking and cholesterol, then millions of other Americans must be in the same boat, which is to say completely in the dark about the very same problems.
So let me lay it on the line:
First, smoking. Tobacco is a tough habit to break. I know. When my hospital banned smoking, I wondered how the doctors would take it—after all, the doctors’ lounge had a dull haze 24/7. But we broke that habit, and so can you. There is no magic here. Just keep trying until you quit for good. And it gets easier every day that goes by without a cigarette.
Second, cholesterol. Here, let’s clear up a few myths.
First, exercise won’t lower your cholesterol. It may bump up “good” cholesterol slightly and improve your basketball game or your stride, but you definitely can’t count on it to lower your “bad” cholesterol. It won’t.
Second, we almost certainly cannot blame genes. For the vast majority of people, high cholesterol comes down to diet.
Third, switching from beef to chicken and fish has almost no effect on cholesterol. It lowers “bad” cholesterol only about 5 percent–and that’s not enough.
The answer is behind your house, in the White House garden. Foods from plants have essentially no cholesterol and are free of the animal fat that causes the body to make cholesterol. If you skipped meat, dairy products, and eggs for even a few weeks, chances are your cholesterol would drop right into the normal range.
What’s that? You love burgers and chili? Fair enough. So make it a veggie burger. And I can show you a vegetarian chili that is so good, you’ll never know the difference.
And when you conquer your health demons, you’ll inspire every American child to do the same. Lest you think this is a trivial issue, one in five teens has an abnormal cholesterol test today, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And it only gets worse as they reach adulthood. One in three children is overweight, and one in three will eventually develop diabetes.
You can help them by stubbing out the smokes for good and adopting a healthy, plant-based diet. And as a shining example of good habits, you will have done more good for the health of the American public than any prior president.
People may disagree on how to make healthcare work. But I hope that a bit of advice on how to be healthy will reduce the risk you’ll ever need it, and help you stay well and strong. That’s food for thought.
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