Doctor’s Orders: Eat Well to Be Well

[groovedaddy]

OAKLAND, Calif.

DR. PRESTON MARING was striding along a hospital corridor at double speed on a recent Friday morning, his tall frame, white hair and frequent gesticulations prompting waves of greetings from colleagues, who also took care to sidestep his forward momentum. His destination was the weekly farmers’ market he started in 2003, just outside the front door at the Kaiser Permanente medical center here.

“Since it’s mine, I made the rules — all organic,” he said as he skimmed by a line of stalls where fresh fruits and vegetables are sold to hospital workers, passers-by and even, he said, those bringing patients to the emergency room.

Dr. Maring, 64, a gynecologist and obstetrician with three decades as a surgeon, is well known as a former physician in chief at the hospital, the man who spearheaded the creation of its new pediatric neurosurgery unit.

But increasingly, his reputation and perpetual motion revolve around his conviction that in the health professions, the kitchen must become as crucial as the clinic. Food is at the center of health and illness, he argues, and so doctors must make all aspects of it — growing, buying, cooking, eating — a mainstay of their medical educations, their personal lives and their practices.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/22/dining/22doctors.html?th&emc=th

[SheilaT]

1. What a novel concept!

Eating a variety of fresh, nutritious foods instead of relying on various supplements.

It'll never catch on.

[groovedaddy]

2. It's just not convenient, is it? n.t

[SheilaT]

3. It's really not as inconvenient

as too many people think it is.

Fixing a meal with fresh ingredients does not need to be very time-consuming. I'm not talking about baking bread and making your own mayonnaise and ketchup. A quick salad, chop up some veggies, whisk together some vinegar, olive oil, a few spices, is maybe ten minutes of time. I have a counter-top electric grill which takes maybe five minutes to heat up, and I grill chicken and veggies all the time. 20 minutes, tops. It takes longer than that to go through a McDonald's drive through, or to heat a frozen meal.

Actually, I find the greatest advantage of doing so much of my own cooking is that it's a lot easier to exercise portion control, and that is another big factor in why so many of us carry more pounds than we should.

[Big Blue Marble]

4. I prepare most of my meals from scratch with

fresh natural foods. My meal preparation usually takes less than 15-20 minutes. It is highly relaxing and therapeutic to cook
our own foods. The key is meal planning. Know what you are cooking and have the ingredients on hand.

Tonight, we are having a delicious Asian noodle salad. It is awesome with peanut sauce and sesame seeds. Yum!

[groovedaddy]

6. I meant that in jest, but I think that's where most people come from. I really want to know what

I'm eating and that the food I'm eating was prepared in sanitary conditions. That's why I prepare alot of my own food, have a garden, go to the farmers' market, etc.

[supernova]

5. He's a rare bird in MD land

being at all interested in the relationship of food to health.

Beyond tell you "lose weight" most Docs don't have much to do with food. If you're lucky they will send you to a consult with a nutritionist down the hall.

:applause: for Dr Maring

[evirus]

7. this could end up spiraling out into woo woo land from many directions

just because something's "organically grown" doesn't mean its automatically better than something thats not "organically grown"

also a healthy diet might be a good way to prevent certain illnesses, but not all illnesses, a flu capsid doesn't glance at your stomach contents before latching onto a cell.