An interesting weight loss study found that people who drank 2 cups of water before each of their three daily meals lost five pounds more than the unwatered folk in the trial. This was a small study, with only 48 people, all of whom were between 55 and 75 years of age. All the subjects were on a diet restricting their calories. Over a 12 week period those in the water group averaged about 15.5 lb weight loss, while the other subjects lost 11 lbs.
Now, someone can slap a fancy label on bottles of water, rename it and roll out a scientifically-substantiated advertising campaign. Just kidding, aren’t I?
Doctors and Diet
I became interested in the health effects of diet long before I thought seriously about going to medical school. As my interest grew, I found a physician who became my mentor and encouraged my nutritional studies. He also inspired me by demonstrating the effects of nutritional interventions with his patients. (See his books DIET AND NUTRITION and RADICAL HEALING, both impressively still in print after decades).
In medical school a few of us created a student group that brought in outside experts on healing alternatives to broaden our education. Although I am proud of that effort and the fact that the group is still functioning over 30 years later, I am dismayed that it is still necessary. A new study makes it very clear just how necessary. Even considering uncontroversial, basic nutrition training, medical education is woefully anemic.
That student group (we called it the Humanistic Medicine Committee), sponsored one lunchtime lecture every week. During the time I was there we also organized two weekend seminars. One of those was on birthing alternatives. Because we felt it was so urgently important, the first of these seminars was on nutrition. Just over 80 out of 460 first and second year medical students attended. Pathetically, those students DOUBLED the number of hours of nutritional instruction they received during medical school. For the others, the extent of their nutritional training was a one hour lecture each day for two weeks in our first year biochemistry class. The lecturer’s lack of enthusiasm for healthy nutrition was revealed during one of those lectures when he sniveled about “the odor of the rancid fatty acids from those organic muffins you in the back row are eating”. Guess where I sat. I was forced to do my own studies. Bizarrely, my medical school was renowned for much of the most important research on human nutrition ever since Ancel Key’s landmark studies of the effects of starvation on World War II conscientious objectors.
In the mid 1980’s the National Academy of Sciences recommended that US medical students receive a minimum of 25 hours of nutritional instruction. A new study shows that only a small minority of medical schools require that of their students.
I fully accept that my interests and perspective were and are unusual. That was evident even as a college undergraduate. When I went for the mandatory career planning interview required by my university, the counsellor unsuccessfully attempted to convince me that, because of my interest in nutrition I should become a dietician instead of going to medical school. However, I am confident that my decision was correct. Instead I wonder if, reflecting their disinterest in nutrition, many doctors should have been routed towards some other career.
The best solution would be for medical education to teach more nutrition, but the most important goal might be to educate docs about how important nutrition really is. If the medical community truly recognized the importance of a healthy diet, this ridiculous educational vacuum would be filled quite quickly. Just think of how much better hospital food might also become.
