PREVENTION
IS BETTER
THAN CURE
By Dr. Cindy Cork
We’ve all heard this quote from Dutch philosopher Desiderius Erasmus (1466
to 1536) , but I think that Benjamin
Franklin articulated it best when he
said “An ounce of prevention is worth
a pound of cure.”
I believe that the majority of us would agree that staying healthy costs far less than being sick. The price of prescrip-
tion medications is exorbitant,
especially for those with no insurance.
Even in countries that provide universal health care, the costs are felt in more subtle ways. There are labor costs associated with hours missed from work; stress on health care providers and increasingly overburdened health care systems; the emotional toll on family members, and most importantly the pain and suffering of the person who is sick.
And when it comes to the subject of health, there is no shortage of advice from health professionals, health coaches, TV shows, magazines, or Google™. Most of it is centered around diet and exercise and can be confusing
™
as contradictions abound.
Some say that our diet should be low-fat, low-carb, high protein. Others insist that our diet should be high in fat and low in carbs. There are those who advocate eating only plant-based foods.
Some experts recommend high intensity exercise daily, while others say you can do thirty minutes of low-impact exercise and get the same health benefits.
And if you’re gullible enough, there are companies that will convince you that machine X will jiggle your fat away in only five minutes per day, and magic pill Y will miraculously chase away all your ills.
So what should we believe? Is there a “best” way to prevent disease?
It depends.
Each person’s body is different, so we respond differently to various methods. Although we all have the same number of chromosomes and the same DNA pairs
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