Recently, there is growing evidence that lifestyle changes – switching to a healthy diet and increasing physical activity – are sufficient to prevent and even treat diseases of all kinds, from diabetes to cancer.
Here are some examples. The authors of the study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, analyzed how a set of certain habits will affect the health of people at high risk of developing type II diabetes. Diet changes and increased daily physical activity, as well as smoking cessation and stress management, all helped the participants, each of whom suffered from high blood sugar levels (pre-diabetes), lower their levels and avoid the onset of illness.
A study published in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention, notes that brisk walking can reduce the risk of breast cancer in postmenopausal women by 14%. And in women who exercised more vigorously, the risk of developing this disease was reduced by 25%.
And it’s no surprise to anyone that physical activity can also help control symptoms associated with heart disease, obesity, and other metabolic and psychological conditions.
The list goes on and on. Many scientific works point to the effectiveness of “treatment without drugs”. Of course, the drug-free approach is not effective for everyone. It should be paid attention primarily to those who are on the verge of a disease that can still be prevented – like the participants in a study on diabetes.
Prevention of diseases is always preferable to their treatment. The developing symptoms can cause serious complications and additional health problems that will require even more extensive medical intervention, and drugs often have side effects. In addition, the treatment of certain diseases with medications (often expensive) helps to remove the symptoms, but sometimes cannot neutralize the causes. And the causes of many health problems are associated with the abuse of unhealthy foods, with low physical activity, with toxins (including tobacco), lack of sleep, strained social relationships and stress.
So why not use simpler strategies instead of waiting for the disease to arrive, or treating it with only medications?
Unfortunately, in most countries, the healthcare system is focused solely on treating disease. It is not at all profitable for such a system to promote preventive methods. That is why each of us must take care of ourselves and change our lifestyle so as to preserve our health as much as possible.