Preventative Medicine
Robert Watine, MD, Barefoot Bay Internal Medicine
What is preventative medicine?
Preventative medicine is a proactive approach to protect, promote, and maintain overall health. For most, it is usually a paradigm shift from illness to wellness. If you had heart attack, it’s easy to start making lifestyle changes to prevent it from happening again. But, to intervene and avoid the problem before it happens, well, that is the art of preventative medicine. Unfortunately, nowadays, most folks don’t want to be bothered with it. “Can’t you just give me a pill and leave me alone?”
What can I do to stay healthy?
You need to be proactive instead of reactive. Diet, exercise and lifestyle choices can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, and other diseases. Give up the cigarettes and drugs. Don’t be sedentary. Eat healthy and exercise.
If you got heavy naturally, you should try to lose it naturally. It can be as simple as keeping your food shopping along the periphery of the store. That is where your produce, meats and fresh foods are located. If it is not on the outside parameters of the store, stay away. All those canned and frozen foods are processed – all the vitamins have been taken out and there’s no nutritional value to them.
Should I take vitamins and supplements?
Honestly, you don’t have to spend hundreds of dollars on supplements and vitamins. Eating foods enriched with the vitamins you need is enough. But if you want to use supplements, go ahead. But you should remember to take vitamins with a meal.
How about CBD oil and medical marijuana?
There are a lot of people out there who are excited about medical marijuana. I think it’s foolish – smoke is smoke, no matter how you cut it. You hear CBD oil cures everything – it’s like a fountain of youth. As a physician, I just wouldn’t take that chance.
How can I be proactive about my health?
It is always good to have a regular checkup with your doctor. It is a good time to evaluate your medications and schedule routine health screenings, such as colonoscopies, mammograms for women, prostate exams for men. When caring for your car, you don’t miss the 5,000 check-up and oil change. If you crack the engine block of your car, you can put in a new engine. But if you crack yours, you get put in the ground.
Regular exercise and proper nutrition are KEY. There is no magic formula. Human physiology is basic; it hasn’t changed. You must take care of your body. Exercise and nutrition – I can’t say it enough. It’s really that simple.
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