Show Notes
The concept of wellness has completely saturated American society these days. From prominent discussions on sober government web sites to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop. To help cut through the hype and misinformation often rampant around wellness claims today, we spoke with Novant Health integrative medicine expert, Dr. Russell Greenfield who has some thoughtful advice on evaluating the claims often issued under the umbrella of wellness.
Transcript:
Roland Wilkerson
0:06 So the concept of wellness is completely saturated in American society these days. You see it everywhere. From prominent discussions on sober government websites like the CDC, to Gwyneth Paltrow was famous; what many would call infamous website known as Goop. This is Roland Wilkerson with Novant Health Healthy Headlines to help cut through the hype and misinformation often rampant around wellness claims. Today, we spoke with Nova health integrative medicine expert, Dr. Russell Greenfield, who has some thoughtful advice on evaluating the claims often issued under the broad umbrella of wellness. And we should note that the idea of wellness, taking care of yourself, is at the core of integrative medicine, which focuses on treating the whole patient.
Dr. Russell Greenfield
0:52 I think you know, it's a little crazy out there. It's a little wild west, there's many, many, many products and all kinds of things. that people are saying we should buy, I think it's most important for listeners to understand, at least in my frame of reference, that health and wellness comes from within. And so really the role of a health care practitioner is to bring forth what we were all born with that innate capacity to heal, to be in balance, to respond well to treatment, if it is necessary, and to hopefully stay well through the long haul. We don't need a whole lot of external factors to build up our immune system or things of that nature, we need to participate in healthy means of living, we need to eat relatively well, we need to sleep relatively well. We need to manage our stress, we need to move there are certain compliments to conventional medical care that we might explore. And we need to honor and use conventional medical care where it is necessary. A big part of what we try to do Roland is, again make people comfortable with the idea that they don't have to choose between either or they don't have to choose between conventional medicine and a more natural approach to health and well being. There's a way to actually combine them. So we try to take that either or make it and help people participate more fully in their care and give them where possible, a greater sense of control over their future health. And we'll be.
in in in like in a sentence or two, what is wellness?
That's a tough one. But I can tell you what we think health is in my field. We define health as balance and balances, dynamic changes moment by moment, day by day. But what we really talk about here is resilience so that whatever comes our way, we can bounce back and get into that space of balance. So it's really comfort, resilience, ease. And what a lot of that means is again, building up what we were born with. So whether you use the term health or wellness, whatever the case may be, I think it's really more about helping people reach their true potential. And that means each and every one of us, including myself.
And I think her point here is that basically the great American money machine has recognized that in a rate of medicine is catching on. And so you've you've got some characters who they're not medical providers, but they're people pushing supplements, and, and other things. You know, in the name of holistic medicine when in fact, it's really not holistic medicine.
Dr. Russell Greenfield
3:20 It's true. And you know, just taking a look with social media and the internet and you can find all manner of information, anything that you really want to believe in to be honest with you, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's beneficial for us. So, you know, to the degree that we take a look at things like vitamin supplements and herbs, you know, it's fascinating. It is estimated that there are anywhere between 70,000 and 80,000 products out there that could be termed vitamin supplements and herbs, to be honest with you, my team myself, the physicians and physician assistants that I work with and the pharmacist, we believe in perhaps 20, maybe 25 of those products, but going into the health foods store or even our supermarkets nowadays, and certainly going on to the internet, it would be it would be easy for anybody could be convinced that any one of these things, any one of these 70,000 things could be beneficial for me. How do we decide? And does health really come in a bottle? We don't think so except with rare instances where perhaps a specific medication may be warranted, or even a specific vitamin supplement or herb might be warranted. But the majority of health actually comes from what we were born with. And the goal of a healthcare provider is to bring forth that innate healing capacity to its greatest benefit. And then if we need more than that, we can offer that too. We all need to take additional responsibility or maybe even most responsibility for our health and well being. So that means working with in my estimation, a good conventional medical practitioner, good primary care provider, etc. But it also means doing our homework, finding the good resources, finding the good references, find the good books to listen to finding the good people to learn from and do That in concert with our physician so that it's not separate, you know, you people are stuck in this equation of either or either they're going to use conventional medicine, or they're going to use this complimentary even alternative medicine stuff. And that might include vitamins, supplements and herbs. We try to take that either or, and make it an equation that looks more like and so for an otherwise healthy person, to be honest with you, the best opportunity for us as integrative medicine practitioners, is to work with somebody who is already well, and see we can make simple tweaks to their regimen to try and help keep them that way. So does everybody need a vitamin supplement herb? No. There are certain ones that were a little bit more fond of because it just so happens that people are a little bit more deficient. And let's say vitamin D as an example. probiotic therapy may be beneficial for a significant number of people, women over the age of 40 are more likely to be a little bit low in magnesium and so we might recommend those things. But beyond that, it's really based on the individual. So to make a blanket statement that everybody It requires a multivitamin everybody requires calcium or everybody should take coins MQ 10. I simply don't agree with that.
Gotcha. So let me go let me go deep on one little topic because a couple of people I work with mentioned it all the sudden, charcoal is getting a lot of attention these days. What's your take on that?
Dr. Russell Greenfield
6:20 Largely charcoal is being promoted as a way to detoxify, to get rid of toxins that were exposed to in the environment, and maybe even certain foodstuffs and things of that nature. Used sparingly, I would say, I don't think it's going to hurt anybody. The downside is to remember especially if you're taking medication or even vitamin supplements and herbs. Remember the charcoal is used primarily and as an emergency physician in my in my prior life, I can speak to this. It was used to actually soak up any toxins that somebody had taken, let's say in a suicide attempt or something like that, to soak up any that stuff's to soak up the medications that they took too much because it binds up Those things. Now if you're taking a prescription medication or trying to stay well, or even vitamin supplements and herbs, remember that charcoal is going to soak up all of that stuff too. So you're not going to get the benefit from your medications, or even the vitamins and supplements and herbs. When you take a look at the existing research about charcoal, whether people really need to use it or not, it's really weak. You know, I honestly don't believe that people need to use this. It's one of these. It's not a very nice word, but it really is one of these fats that kind of comes and goes, do I think that folks need to use charcoal in order to stay? Well? No. Do I think that people need to do what they can in order to minimize exposure to toxins in the environment? I do.
Um, so if you were going to recommend reading the whole topic of integrative medicine, would you tell listeners to start?
Dr. Russell Greenfield
7:47 I am very biased in this regard. And you should notice my teachers John and Dr. Andrew Weil, I say with him in the late 1990s. He is a best selling author and has been writing about this for a long time. I actually think his approach is, if you speak to it, you know, people would say, Well, he's not conservative. He's an integrative medicine guy. He's very conservative because he says, what could be more conservative and trying to prevent illness in the first place. So he talks about what a healthy diet might be, which is what we term an anti inflammatory pattern of eating. It's not even a diet. It's a mix of Mediterranean and Asian style fair because we have research suggesting that that can be good for us. He talks about the prudent use of vitamin supplements and herbs. He talks about stress management, getting adequate sleep, using compliments to good conventional care and using conventional medicine when it is warranted at seems like a pretty prudent course to move forward. So there are a number of different books out there. I actually think his best has to do with mood, and it's called spontaneous happiness. But part of the reason I think it's the best is because he talks about diet.
So how can patients with so many claims out there and a lot of this stuff's you know, is packaged in a very slick and convincing way. And the internet, it's hard to judge. What's your advice to consumers who read a lot of positive stuff about things and it sounds good to them. They figured why not give it a shot?
So to that hand, I would say to you, listeners that work with your primary care doctor, you know, if you bring something up that your doctor has never heard of you say, a doctor, I've got this cold. What do you think about me using this herb that I've heard is good for a cold. Your doctor may say, I don't even know how to spell like a nation. But together, we can look it up. That's the kind of partnership you're looking for. They don't necessarily have to know about all this kind of stuff. But they can say let's look at it together or I happen to know some good integrative practitioners in this community that I can refer you to. So folks shouldn't have to make these decisions in isolation because sometimes, you know, taking an herb when you're on a specific prescription medication may not be saved. may not Be in our best interest. Other times it really might be, but you need help. I think any of us need help in finding the resources, the reference material, and especially the experts that folks can sit down with, in order to have a non judgmental conversation about, hey, Doctor, what can I do to optimize my health and well being while maintaining safety, and also making it a rational, actionable course of action. So I think it all starts with, honestly trust and the primary care folks that we work with, and then bringing our questions to them so they can direct us and the folks to really talk to.
Even if you're not a physician, you can get access to an incredible amount of science today as an everyday person. And even if you don't understand every word of the the article, you could still get an idea of just how much research has been done. It's a great point. Thank you. Because, you know, the the manufacturers who do their own research, well, they're kind of biased with the way that they want the outcomes to appear. So we will unvarnished truth, we want the absolute, you know, the reality about is this beneficial Is it is it not beneficial. And so you can search out articles under what's called PubMed. That's p as in Peter U,B as in boy, and E, D as in dog, PubMed eyes all manner of articles. And so let's say as you nicely stated, you pull off an article about, you know, can cure the common cold. Maybe some of the verbiage in there is not understandable to you bring it to your doctor, and go over together. Now that's an agreement to your pharmacist and say, Does this make sense? I have allergies. Should I still take this I'm taking this medication does it interact? There are other websites you where you can look up this kind of information. But if you come to an integrative medicine practitioner, most of them will actually give you the websites where you can look up some of this information yourself because it's trusted is not biased, and it's really based in a good scientific piece of evidence.
So if you're intrigued by what you just heard and want to learn more, you'll find a podcast we did with Dr. Greenfield on the important role integrative medicine can play in cancer treatment. And further to that point, Novant Health is sponsoring a conference on the benefits of integrative medicine as part of your cancer treatment plan. It runs from 7:30am to 5pm Saturday, October 26th in Charlotte. The fee is $99 and includes breakfast and lunch along with an appearance from keynote speaker Dr. Andrew Weil, who's known for more or less popularizing the idea of integrative medicine. So whether you're a cancer patient, a cancer survivor, or a family member or friend of someone diagnosed with a disease, come learn about healthy ways to eat vitamins and supplements that may be appropriate in mind and body practices that can promote healing Thanks so much for listening.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai