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Dean Ornish in his 2008 TED talk on "natural healing" presents a simple, low-cost and effective plan for disease prevention and management through lifestyle change. Ornish breaks down the areas of discussion into four basic subjects: diet, smoking cessation, obesity, and finally the "psychosocial" implications of health and how to address them in practice. The thread that runs through all these four topics is Ornish's insistence that "the body can heal itself if given half a chance." The lifestyle changes he offers by way of disease prevention are not just a better option than more drastic medical intervention when the disease has progressed, Ornish compares any kind of medical solution without prevention is like "mopping up a floor without turning off the faucet." And as he notes later in the talk, large-scale lifestyle changes may be viewed as disruptive, but the decision to have children is such a large-scale lifestyle change which does not seem terrifying or difficult to the average parent.
Ornish's "optimal lifestyle program" begins with diet: the ideal diet here is low in fat, and uses a lot of whole foods and plant-based foods. Ornish wants to emphasize, though, that not only are dietary changes an effective way of disease prevention, such changes...
He offers statistics where, in cases of coronary artery blockage, dietary change can help the patient recover as surely as drastic surgical interventions. (Part of the problem here, Ornish ruefully notes, is that insurance companies will cover the cost of an angioplasty but not of dietary changes. Yet he points out that eighty percent of patients could avoid the angioplasty merely through the dietary changes, which is cost-effective for those same insurance companies.
Ornish presents his "optimal diet" later, during his extended discussion of the obesity epidemic: it is low in fat and "bad carbs" (sugars, alcohols, white flours) and high in "good carbs" (whole grains, vegetables) and omega-3 fatty acids. He takes time to outline his quarrel with the notorious Atkins diet, which promotes weight loss through high fat content combined with low "bad carbs." He is happy to agree with the late Dr. Atkins on the necessity of reducing intake of "bad carbs" and their effect on insulin levels which hinder weight loss. But Ornish says that the Atkins diet mortgages one's health for the sake of temporary weight loss, and is based on a "half-truth" -- he shows how the high fat content of…
Health psychology looks at several factors and how they are involved in preventing threats to physical health. Most commonly, psychological, cultural, environmental, and biological issues are all addressed by those who study health psychology (Marks, Murray, Evans, & Estacio, 2011). In clinical settings, health psychologists work with others in the medical profession, conduct research, teach at colleges and universities, and work on showing people how they can change their behavior
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Health Psychology Response Past conducted research led experts to believe that men as a gender tend to not seek medical attention as often as they should for various health concerns. The purpose of this research study was to determine why it is that men under-use primary health services. Since reasons for this attitude towards healthcare are psychological, it necessitates a type of study which is subjective and based upon the individual
Health Psychology: Overeating Overeating is a health issue that results in obesity in individuals with an eating disorder that results in over-consumption of food products. Various programs are in use by the psychology profession to address the issue of overeating with many of them stating claims of success. This work intends to examine overeating as it relates to the principles of healthy psychology. According to the work of Prentice (2001) entitled
Social Media Trends: Health Psychology One of the most notable trends in recent years is the rise in interest in the field of popular psychology. People conduct personality tests on themselves, engage in self-diagnosis, and simplify psychological conditions (both common and uncommon) and apply them to their daily lives. The ubiquity of the Internet has made this even more accessible. Although self-help books have been best sellers for more than a
Health Psychology Issues Health psychology is the field of study in which psychological and behavioral factors of health, sickness, and wellness are examined. This paper has three parts in which the first part is dedicated to an investigation of a health psychology topic along with a broad literature review; the second part reviews a recovery process aided by a self-help group; the third part encompasses presents a behavioral health prevention report. People