A Doctor’s Simple Formula to Prevent 80 Percent of Chronic Diseases

A Yale-graduate doctor discusses how lessons learned from our ancestors can help us live longer, better lives.

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There’s no shortage of health information online, with many claims about finding the key to health through various diets or lifestyle regimens. But often, differing approaches contradict each other, leaving many people overwhelmed and uncertain about how to improve their health.

The answer may not be as complicated as we think, however. What if it were possible to eliminate most of society’s chronic diseases, such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, through just a few fundamental changes to the way we live?

Dr. David L. Katz thinks that is possible. In an EpochTV episode of “Vital Signs,” host Brendon Fallon interviews Katz, a Yale graduate whose career specializations include public health and internal, preventive, and lifestyle medicine.

Eliminate 80 Percent of Diseases

People die every day, but do we know what they die of? The death certificate may say heart failure, but what caused the heart failure?

Katz came across an eye-opening research paper early in his career about the root causes of death in the United States. The authors identified 10 factors that explain nearly all of the premature deaths that occur in the country every year. Katz said that three of the factors—tobacco use, poor diet, and lack of physical activity—account for 80 percent of deaths and chronic diseases.

The paper sparked Katz’s interest in learning more. He said understanding the root cause of death may provide the answer to how we can reduce our risk of premature death and eliminate a vast portion of chronic disease worldwide.

Diet Over DNA

While Katz recommends avoiding tobacco and increasing exercise, the third item on the list may be the most important for health today.

According to research cited by Harvard Medical School, improving diet could prevent more than 400,000 deaths yearly.

Although genetics may play a role in some diseases, Katz said that diet usually has more of an impact than DNA. Thankfully, he believes achieving a healthy diet can be simpler than we think. Avoiding overeating and including plants sums up the basic rules to eat by.

Katz said we don’t have to overcomplicate our diets, adding that we can easily identify what any creature should eat by observing what it eats in the wild. Humans are no different. Historically, humans have eaten plenty of wild game and wild plants.

Early human beings lived in hunter-gatherer societies and were foragers. Depending on geographical location, the specific food types of the diet may differ. However, the fundamental formula stays the same.

Real Over Processed

Katz says to focus on eating real foods—often only one word long, such as apples, meat, or carrots.

Another rule of thumb is to eat foods that contain natural ingredients rather than chemical additives.

For example, the ingredient labels of highly processed junk foods contain long lists of chemical names, texturizers, emulsifiers, artificial colors, and artificial flavors, such as the preservative sodium benzoate or the flavor enhancer disodium inosinate.

Katz also stated that raw foods aren’t always more nutritious. In some cases, cooking food enhances its nutrition because it makes nutrients more bioavailable to the human digestive system.

For example, the compound in tomatoes that makes them red is lycopene, an antioxidant associated with better eye, prostate, and cardiovascular health, among other benefits. However, lycopene is fat-soluble, meaning that it is absorbed better when paired with fat. Since tomatoes don’t contain much fat, eating raw tomatoes makes it harder for the body to absorb and access this valuable nutrient. Katz said that this can be remedied by cooking tomatoes with a source of fat such as olive oil.

Beware of Diet Hype

Katz said the quality of our food is often just as important as the type of meat or plant we’re consuming. Understanding the conditions in which our food is made or raised helps us to choose the best quality of real foods.

For example, beef from cattle today contains much higher levels of saturated fat than the red meat from game that our ancestors ate. Grass-fed beef is slightly better than grain-fed, but wild-game meat such as venison is a leaner, healthier alternative.

Dr. David Katz highlights which type of meat is healthiest in "Cut Disease Risk Through Diet" on "Vital Signs" with Brendon Fallon.

Katz also weighed in on the carbohydrates debate, pointing out that many healthy foods contain carbohydrates, including fruits and vegetables. He said bad actors such as processed ingredients are what we should avoid.

Instead of focusing on general food components such as carbohydrates, sugar, fat, and so forth, Katz suggested focusing on real food, such as berries, beans, or unprocessed meat. Deli meats, for example, contain artificial chemicals and additional nitrates.

To learn how to offset the pesticide risk of certain fruits and vegetables, and how to cut the gas and bloating effects of beans and lentils, tune into the episode “Cut Disease Risk Through Diet.”

Katz cautioned against following absolutist diets often promoted on social media. For example, vegan and vegetarian diets completely rule out meat, while the carnivore diet eliminates vegetables. Katz advised including a variety of healthy foods in your diet, but to be mindful that it’s best to introduce new foods to your microbiome gradually. This may help avoid bloating and digestive issues and allow your body time to adapt.