Lifestyle Medicine

Lifestyle medicine is a branch of medicine, using evidence-based information, research, prevention and treatment of disorders, caused by lifestyle factors, such as nutrition, physical inactivity, and chronic stress.

Poor lifestyle choices like dietary patterns, physical inactivity, tobacco use, excess alcohol consumption – as well as psychosocial factors including lack of social supports and community contribute to chronic illness. Diseases such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, that were thought to be irreversible have been reversed through lifestyle interventions.

At Dr. Anna, our mantra is to sleep, eat, exercise, but this is actually very difficult to do for a lot of people and to sustain that. To be self-disciplined takes will and practice, and we can help with that; so that you never end up having to deal with chronic disease which costs our healthcare system billions each year. “In Canada, three out of five people over the age of 20 live with one of these preventable diseases…150,000 die from them. It is estimated that chronic diseases and other illnesses cost the Canadian economy $190 billion annually – the cost of diet-related disease in Canada in 2015 was estimated at $26 billion annually.” (CDPAC, 2018)

At the clinic so many of our cosmetic procedures help our patients look great on the outside, which builds self-confidence, but it’s equally as important to be healthy on the inside. These small, positive changes will reflect in your skin, your outlook on life, and you will be ready to take on the world and feel empowered!

Unfortunately, the people that really need health coaching, often can’t afford it. Education is important – there is a relationship between obesity, and low-cost and highly processed foods containing empty calories and no nutritional value. Among the reasons for the growing obesity in the population of poor people, are higher unemployment, low education, and irregular meals etc. We will be posting more lifestyle medicine Youtube videos, so feel free to check out ‘What Dr. Anna Eats In a Day’ on her Dr. Anna MD Youtube channel.

Some governments are starting to implement prevention programmes which are based primarily on educating the public about a healthy lifestyle based on healthy eating, daily physical activity, avoiding alcohol and cigarettes, and stress reduction. If we could make a change, governments should start taxing junk-food (just like we do nicotine and alcohol), and healthy food should be subsidized so it’s affordable for everyone. Food is medicine and along with lifestyle factors can prevent a lot of chronic illness.