Participants: Timothy Howe and Sheryl McWilliams
Series Code: WM
Program Code: WM000396
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00:01 The following program presents principles
00:03 designed to promote good health and is not 00:04 intended to take the place of personalized 00:06 professional care. The opinions and ideas 00:09 expressed are those of the speaker. 00:11 Viewers are encouraged to draw their own 00:13 conclusions about the information presented. 00:36 Hi and welcome to 'Wonderfully Made'. 00:38 I'm Sheryl McWilliams. Today, we're gonna be 00:40 talking about lifestyle choices, 00:42 these are choices that we make everyday 00:44 that affect our life, our long-term health 00:47 and to help us discuss this topic is 00:49 Dr. Timothy Howe from Parkview Adventist 00:51 Medical Center. Welcome Dr. Howe. 00:53 Thank you Sheryl, it's a pleasure to be 00:55 with you today, thank you. I understand that you've 00:59 been involved with the lifestyle education program. 01:02 It's called lifestyle choices. 01:04 Tell me about that program. 01:05 Lifestyle choices is a program that we've had 01:09 in operation at Parkview Adventist Medical 01:12 Center for the last ten years. It's a program 01:16 where we teach people about choices 01:18 they can make that will make their life better. 01:21 And from what I understand in the 01:25 program there are some pretty interesting results, 01:27 people's cholesterol at the end of the two week 01:30 program go down by approximately 50 points 01:34 that seems like a lot to me. 01:36 It does seem like a lot, but that's indeed what 01:39 we found in two weeks time their cholesterol do 01:43 drop about 50 points amazing. 01:47 And their blood sugar goes down, their blood pressure, 01:50 their weight, that seems like a lot to do in ten days. 01:54 How did you come up with the ten day program? 01:56 Well at the beginning of the study, not study, 02:00 but this program I thought well how long should we 02:03 have it, I thought and then I thought about 02:06 Daniel in the Bible. He is asked for only ten days 02:11 and I figured well if that was good enough 02:13 for Daniel, it ought to be good enough for us too, 02:16 and so we started the ten day program. 02:19 Well it seems to be working well for the 02:21 folks who were going through it, 02:22 share with our audience the basic premise of 02:25 the program. What the folks do? 02:27 Well the program is quite simple actually 02:31 they come to the program center. 02:35 We usually have it either at the hospital 02:38 or at the Adventist Church next door in 02:41 their fellowship hall; we feed them supper 02:44 and then give them a take-out breakfast 02:47 and lunch, so they get three meals for Sunday 02:53 through Friday for two weeks. 02:56 And I understand that the supper is the literal 02:59 translation of the word light evening meal. 03:01 That's correct, we give them a light evening meal 03:04 not a heavy one. If you eat too heavy in the 03:07 evening I'm afraid, we won't get the results 03:10 that we want in those two weeks. 03:12 So breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince 03:15 and supper like a pauper if at all, that's right, 03:19 that's right. So, there is a physical activity 03:22 component, that' correct, currently we give them 03:25 supper first and then we have them exercise 03:29 for about 30 to 60 minutes. Okay and then 03:34 following that there is a demonstration 03:36 it's usually a cooking demonstration 03:38 or natural remedies demonstration, 03:40 something that these folks are involved with, 03:42 so that they have some practical information 03:44 and then what happens. Then there is a lecture, 03:47 several different people lecture, 03:50 I lecture some of the time in fact you lecture 03:53 some of the time too, just like that, 03:55 and several other physicians' lecture 03:57 throughout the course there is about an hour 04:00 and a half of lecture after the exercise time 04:05 and we cover a wide variety of topics. 04:08 Wonderful! There are many of us in the audience, 04:11 who are very interested in programs of this nature. 04:14 But, may not have the luxury of traveling to 04:17 Maine or to other lifestyle centers around the country. 04:21 How can they go about incorporating these 04:23 principles into their life at home 04:26 or in their own churches or communities? 04:28 Well the principle Sheryl is really very simple. 04:32 One of the reasons why we chose this program 04:37 and this model is, I was doing some thinking and, 04:40 you know, first I thought well, I'll have a program 04:44 for diabetes and then I'll have a program for 04:47 high blood pressure and let's see we should have 04:50 one for cancer, certainly people are interested 04:54 in cancer and heart disease, but as I began 04:57 to think I thought, you know, 04:59 the answers are all the same regardless of 05:02 which disease you have, we want you to do 05:05 the same things to reduce your risk 05:07 or to reduce your blood pressure, 05:09 your blood sugar, the answers are all the 05:12 same regardless of the disease. 05:14 So let's start off with the diet, 05:16 with the nutritional plan, what does the 05:19 lifestyle choices program promotes 05:21 so that our audience family could, 05:24 could perhaps do that at home. 05:26 The first thing that we tell them actually 05:29 is we want you to drink water nothing else 05:33 during this week, but water, we don't want 05:36 you to drink it with your meals other 05:38 than maybe a sip or two, but we want you to drink 05:42 a minimum of 6-8 glasses of water a day 05:45 that's number one. That's kind of a big one 05:49 when you think about, you know, the amount 05:50 of soda that folks were drinking tea, 05:53 coffee and that sort of thing is this water taking 05:56 the place of the tea and coffee or is it supper. 06:00 For our program, we have a take the place 06:03 of not separate because we want the very best 06:07 results we can in two weeks that's not much 06:11 time. So, I encourage the participants 06:13 I say this is the scientific experiment on you, 06:17 you try it, you may suffer for the first few days 06:21 when you are coming off of that caffeine, 06:23 you'll find out that you are addicted to it. 06:26 It is an addictive drug, but if you do come off 06:29 of it, go through the withdrawal 06:31 and get on just water instead you'll find that 06:34 you do feel better, you do have more energy 06:37 and it will help us in our results at the end. 06:41 And then in the program we also encourage 06:44 folks to not consume water or drinks with their meals, 06:48 why is that? The reason we don't want them 06:50 to be drinking with their meals is it inhibits 06:54 digestion, it dilutes the digestive juices, 06:58 they don't chew their food as well. 07:00 If you have a sandwich and a glass of milk 07:03 you take a bite, take a swallow, 07:05 you don't even have to chew it and the way 07:07 you go when you can get the food down much 07:09 more rapidly, you tend to overeat 07:11 because part of the reason that you feel 07:14 full is there is a little counter up in your brain, 07:17 believe it or not, they counts the number of times 07:20 you chew and if you are washing your food down 07:23 instead of chewing your food and then swallowing 07:26 it normally you tend to overeat, 07:29 that's one of the reasons, the other is I mentioned 07:32 is if you drink too much, you dilute your digestive 07:35 juices and it inhibits good clean digestion. 07:39 Okay, before the nutritional plan 07:42 we encourage plenty of water and water only 07:45 between meals, that's right, what else? 07:47 The other thing is the exercise component 07:51 and we want people to exercise a minimum of 07:55 30-60 minutes a day not necessarily vigorous 07:59 exercise, we are out their sweating, sweating, 08:02 sweating, because many of our participants 08:05 can barely walk. I think of one lady, 08:07 who in order to get into the program 08:10 she had a walker and she weighed quite 08:13 a bit of weight and she would walk about 08:15 30 feet and then sit down in a chair 08:17 and then walk about 30 more feet 08:20 and sit down by the end of the program 08:22 she was walking several 100 yards at a time 08:25 without a stop, amazing how much that could 08:27 be accomplished in two weeks. 08:29 But we don't start with super vigorous exercise, 08:33 but walking it is the best exercise. 08:37 And is interesting how many people don't 08:40 walk very much in their life, that's right many 08:43 of us don't walk. I found that walking for me 08:46 is one of the best exercises. 08:49 People say well, where do you walk in Maine 08:52 in the winter, do you walk outside. 08:55 I say well yes I walk outside, my wife 08:58 and I actually walked together and we walk 09:01 usually around 5 or 5:30 in the morning. 09:04 They say you walk in the dark, 09:05 I say that's right, I light a gas lantern 09:09 and I call our dog, and my wife and I 09:13 and the dog go for a walk with the gas lantern. 09:16 They say, but isn't that cold and you know what 09:17 I say, there is no such thing as bad weather 09:21 just poor clothing and that's certainly true. 09:24 Okay, so we drink plenty of water, 09:27 we get physical activity and then we do encourage 09:30 folks eat a health diet most of us know that 09:34 we need to eat a healthy diet. 09:36 But many of us don't know really what that means. 09:38 So what does that mean in this program? 09:41 I tried to keep it very simple because it is 09:44 really simple, when you go to eat a healthy 09:49 diet what you need to remember is this whole 09:53 food whole and go for the colors' it's really 09:58 that simple. That sounds really simple. 10:02 But I still don't know if I really understand 10:04 what that means. I hear that 'whole food whole' 10:07 what is that? Well, let's put it in another way, 10:10 if you want to eat good food, get your food 10:14 from the farmer right out of the field rather than 10:18 out of a box, get your food before it's been changed. 10:24 Oh, yes you can cook it, I am not all for only 10:27 raw food although some people say that's the way 10:29 to go you know if you eat only raw carrots, 10:32 you won't get as much nutrition from 10:35 the carrots, as if you eat some cooked 10:38 and some raw. I certainly wouldn't want to eat 10:40 my sweet potatoes raw you would have to do 10:43 a lot of chewing there and you wouldn't absorb 10:45 the beta carotene and the vitamin A 10:47 and the other carotenoids nearly 10:49 as well as if it were cooked. But still I want 10:53 you to eat that sweet potato before someone 10:56 has gotten a hold of it and extract it this 10:58 and extract that, and then just giving you a part 11:01 of it, that's the thing 'whole food whole' 11:05 whole grains, whole wheat flour, 11:09 not white flour, white rice, no brown rice instead, 11:15 it's much better for your body, 11:17 it allows the sugar in more slowly and reduces 11:20 your risk of many diseases when you eat 11:23 whole food whole. So folks coming to the program, 11:28 they learn to drink water, they are more physically 11:32 active, they are eating well. But as I look through 11:35 the agenda of the program there are other topics, 11:38 which are covered as well, topics which did not 11:41 just a fact physical health, but there are 11:45 talks on spiritual health as well. 11:47 If I not very interesting and unique, 11:50 why would you consider talking about 11:52 spirituality in a lifestyle program? 11:55 Well you know Sheryl, we think about health 11:57 often just as physical health or just a spiritual 12:03 health. You go to church, you get your 12:05 spiritual health, you go to your doctor, 12:07 you get your physical health, where do you go 12:09 for your social emotional health, 12:11 I don't know? But I do know that if you want 12:14 health, total health, you need to put them 12:17 altogether and that's what we try to do 12:20 in the program, so we do have a lecture on 12:24 spiritual health, we have a lecture on philosophy 12:28 of health, we have a lecture on values 12:31 clarification. Okay now wait, what exactly 12:34 is values clarification. Well many people say 12:37 I want to be healthy and you know, 12:41 I know I shouldn't eat too many sweets 12:45 and I know I should exercise regularly, 12:48 but you know I just can't get around to it, 12:53 so we have them clarify what they really value 12:57 and face up to the fact that they may not value 13:01 what they say they are valuing. 13:03 Often, if we are confronted with this 13:07 apparent discrepancy it helps us make 13:10 good choices. I also I have them choose just 13:14 one thing that they want to change each night, 13:17 the first night of course is exercise and water 13:22 and we tell them please stick with this through 13:25 the program. You know Sheryl, if they only change 13:29 one habit as a result of the program, 13:32 they are going to be healthier, just one, 13:35 and if it's only water I am happy, 13:38 they will reduce their of heart attack just 13:40 drinking adequate water as that thins the blood, 13:44 they will reduce their blood pressure, 13:46 they will reduce their weight just by drinking 13:48 an adequate water. Simple changes, 13:51 small changes make big differences. Interesting, 13:56 I also find it interesting that in the program 14:00 that folks actually go on a grocery store tour. 14:03 Yes, they do and you know, I think that the 14:07 grocery store tour and the label reading 14:10 exercise is one of their favorites. 14:12 I am not sure about the local grocery store 14:15 how much they like it, although I think they 14:18 don't mind it too much as long as we choose 14:20 their store every time, but learning to read 14:23 labels and be an informed eater and buyer a food 14:28 is very important. And I find that one really 14:33 can't find very helpful foods and very helpful 14:36 healthful choices in the local grocery store by 14:39 focusing primarily in that produce section, 14:42 avoiding the boxes and the bags and cans 14:45 and that sort of thing, lots of good bean choices 14:48 something that I find interesting is when the 14:52 isle of the canned beans to actually 14:54 pull those cans off the shaft and compare labels 14:58 because frequently you find that from 15:00 manufacturer to manufacturer there 15:03 are large discrepancies with regards to the 15:05 amount of sodium, with the amount of sugar 15:08 that are in products, so the graduates of this 15:11 particular program learn to do that. 15:14 It's very important to become a label reader, 15:17 there are many products that are 15:18 in cans and boxes that are good, 15:21 but you need to be careful and be a label reader, 15:24 even in the so called natural foods it's very 15:29 important to read the label and learn to recognize 15:33 how people, how the industry can actually 15:36 sort of fledge things, so the products looks 15:39 a little better than it really is. I think that's 15:43 is very good advice, I know in my life there is 15:47 a natural food store near my home and I tend to 15:49 frequent that store and I find folks just 15:52 pulling things right off the shallow oh it's in the 15:55 health food store. So, it must be good for me 15:57 without ever reading the label so that label reading 16:00 really is important. I think one of the most important 16:03 things that we can teach people is just 16:06 because it's natural doesn't mean it's good for you. 16:10 You can never turn your brain off, you always have 16:13 to think. The other thing that the program encourages 16:16 people to do is to make a scientific experiment 16:21 of themselves to try things and see do 16:24 I feel better eating this way, do I have more 16:27 energy if I exercise. I remember one participant 16:32 Sheryl, who came, he was in his 60s, 16:35 about retirement age and at first he really 16:38 didn't like the program. He had a hard time 16:41 giving up his caffeine, he said you know, 16:43 I just feel terrible, I have a headache, 16:46 I just, I don't know if I can hang in there, 16:49 by the second week, the beginning of the second 16:52 week he came up to me and he said, 16:54 I haven't felt this well, since I was sixteen, 16:59 that's right and we hear that quite often. 17:01 Yeah, that's great, so again the water, 17:05 the physical activity, the good nutrition, 17:07 stress management, values clarification, 17:12 the grocery store tour. I understand there 17:15 is also cooking component, there is one evening in 17:18 this two week program, where folks actually 17:20 break up into groups and they prepare food 17:24 to themselves, so they get that hands on 17:26 work of actually preparing food and 17:30 they seem to enjoy that. Yes, I think they do 17:33 and part of the program is longer than just the two 17:36 weeks. We have a part, where they come back 17:41 every month and they prepare the food 17:43 and they provide the recipe for other participants, 17:48 the other part of program that I think is very 17:51 helpful is once you have been through the program 17:54 you can come again anytime you want for 17:57 free for the lectures and many people do 18:00 come back and get sort of retooled 18:03 and re-encouraged to do it again 18:06 and that's important because as you know 18:08 with health we all tend to fall off the 18:11 wagon from time to time and we need that 18:14 little shot in the arm if you will to get us 18:16 going again and doing what we know we should. 18:19 I think the food preparation component 18:23 is an important one. I know where I am from, 18:25 we boil a lot of our food, we fry a lot of our food, 18:29 we smatter butter on a lot of our food, 18:32 so we may have a wonderful ear of corn 18:34 or stock of broccoli, but we don't necessarily 18:37 prepare in healthful ways. So, how do you teach 18:42 people to prepare the healthy food in a 18:44 healthy way? Well fortunately, 18:47 I don't do everything in the program Sheryl, 18:50 because although I like to cook that is my forte, 18:53 if you have any questions you can ask 18:55 my wife about that, she is better at the 18:58 cooking than I'm, but we do have people 19:01 yourself included who come and teach the 19:04 people how to cook that do cooking demonstrations 19:07 and then as I mentioned afterwards they are 19:10 involved in cooking as well. It's the most 19:12 difficult thing, but you know stop and think. 19:15 How many different dishes, main dishes 19:19 do you actually prepare? How bad if you add it 19:23 up unless your gourmet cook, you really only cook 19:26 about ten different dishes and so if we can give 19:32 them just ten, just ten they have transformed their 19:37 lives and if they only use half of them 19:40 and had half good recipes and half from before 19:44 that were high fat, high sugar, 19:46 high saturated fats, even then we've made big 19:51 difference in their lives. Absolutely. 19:54 So for those of us, who aren't able to attend 19:57 the program like this by incorporating more 20:00 water into our life, by getting out 20:03 and getting physical activity and just walking 20:05 or useful labor. Useful labor is important 20:09 that's a very thing good to do, but you know 20:13 you could always take a vacation to Maine. 20:15 One of the reasons we designed the program 20:19 the way we did is so that if you were still 20:22 working in the area, you could come, 20:25 leave work just a little early, come in the 20:27 evening, have the lectures, the exercise, 20:30 the food, go home enjoy your program. 20:34 If you want a vacation in Maine that's fine too, 20:37 come and sight see during the day and then 20:39 come to the program at night and go home not 20:42 tired and worn out like most of the vacations, 20:44 but energize a bit lighter and feeling the best 20:48 you have in years. Very good idea, one piece of 20:53 the program is actually teaching folks 20:57 how to get involved with some natural remedies 21:00 specifically hydrotherapy they teach them 21:02 how to do warm foot baths and that sort of thing. 21:06 Is that something that you find more and more people 21:09 becoming interested in. Yes, you know, 21:11 I think people are very interested in natural 21:14 remedies, we find there are more and more drugs 21:18 to treat diseases with, but you don't find health 21:22 in a bottle, you find it making good choices 21:25 that's very important and I think people have 21:28 begun to realize this and they want more 21:31 treatments that they themselves can do. 21:34 Treatments for high blood pressure for instance, 21:37 we teach them just keeping their extremities warm 21:41 will lower their blood pressure and if it's high 21:44 in the evening when they have come home 21:46 from a long and stressful day a warm foot bath 21:49 will lower their blood pressure nicely. 21:52 It doesn't drop it too far, but just down about 21:55 five to ten points relaxing warn foot bath 21:59 and I'll tell you in the Maine winter that's not 22:01 a bad thing to do. This sounds really good to 22:03 me right now actually. So for folks, who are 22:09 interested in going through the program 22:11 many of them seem to grab a hold of it 22:14 because of the outcomes and I think that's really 22:17 important part there by implementing these 22:20 basic lifestyle principles they can have long 22:23 lasting affects on our life, lowering our blood 22:26 pressure, lowering our weight. There are 22:28 actually been folks come through the program, 22:30 who have been able to reduce the amount of medication 22:33 and in some cases eliminate it altogether, 22:36 absolutely that's one of the my chief goals 22:40 with the program is to reduce the bill at the 22:44 pharmacy, you know, pharmaceuticals cost 22:48 so much today. I have patients whose monthly 22:52 pharmacy bill runs in the neighborhood of 22:55 2 or 300 dollars. And if I can just get them to 22:59 go over into a lifestyle change then that 23:04 pharmacy bill drops remarkably. 23:07 If they follow the program for long enough almost 23:10 all of them get off of their medications completely. 23:14 The people that are most responsive to this 23:16 type of program are those with diabetes type II 23:20 and also high blood pressure, high cholesterol, 23:24 those diseases are very responsive to 23:27 lifestyle changes. It's not uncommon 23:30 at all to take people off of their medicines 23:33 entirely within the two week period 23:35 and certainly those that don't come off, 23:37 we often reduce them markedly. 23:40 It is important for them to have their sugar 23:42 monitored closely during this period, 23:45 but that's quite doable as most diabetics 23:47 they monitor their own sugar on a daily 23:50 often 3-4 times a day basis. 23:53 When you are talking about reducing 23:57 or potentially eliminating medication 23:59 that could potentially be a huge cost savings 24:04 with regards to the cost of health care. 24:06 And we're talking about simple lifestyle 24:08 interventions not rocket science here. 24:11 Interesting that simple methods can have 24:15 not only long lasting effects on our health, 24:17 but actually save us some money as well. 24:19 That's exactly right Sheryl, you know, 24:21 it's very important to me in this program not 24:24 to look just at the progress 24:28 or the benefit down the road. 24:30 I want them to benefit now and if they don't feel 24:34 better by the end of the program. 24:37 I know that they are not going to sustain 24:40 the changes, is very difficult for me to say. 24:43 Well I'm gonna be a good boy today so that 24:45 when I'm 65 or when I'm 75 or 85 I'll feel a 24:50 little bit better. What changes I make today, 24:54 I want to make feel better today and we find if that 24:58 is the case in our lifestyle program. 25:01 If you follow those simple rules, plenty of water, 25:05 plenty of sleep, regular exercise, whole foods whole, 25:11 breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, 25:15 supper like a pauper, if at all you feel better now, 25:20 and your risk of long term disease will be definitely 25:25 decreased. I think it's wonderful that God has 25:29 given us what we need in order to achieve 25:31 wellness and by incorporating those simple practices 25:36 in entire life they can be helpful. 25:38 What are the things that folks tend to experience 25:45 in the program are side effects for few days, 25:49 for example, by the third day many folks find 25:53 that their bowels are working better than 25:56 they did before why is that? Well they find not 25:59 only that their bowels are working better, 26:01 but they find initially that they have a bit more 26:04 gas as their body gets used to all of the fiber, 26:07 they find lots of changes and I'm glad the program 26:10 is two weeks because after the first 3 or 4 26:13 days they are not so sure. But after the first week 26:16 almost everyone is convinced. 26:18 This is the way for me especially when they 26:21 see their blood pressure drop, you know, 26:24 the average blood pressure drop in this programs 26:26 is 10 points, you say well 10 points that's 26:29 not much, well that's the average amount 26:32 that a medicine will drop at 10 points, 26:35 further more if you drop your blood pressure 26:38 10 points that's all from 140-130 or from 26:43 130-120 you will reduce your risk of having a heart 26:47 attack by 50% and you will reduce your risk of 26:52 a stroke by 75%, amazing small changes make 26:58 a big difference. And by teaching folks to prepare 27:07 food simply instead of frying or bake or instead 27:08 of sautéing in a lot of oil to consider sautéing 27:10 in water. Folks that's a different way of life 27:13 and it's a different way of thinking. 27:14 It certainly is, but small changes make a big 27:18 difference. It's important for them to think not 27:22 only about the physical, but the spiritual. 27:25 People won't make changes in their lives unless 27:29 they sense their life has value and that's why it's 27:33 so important that we include the spiritual component 27:36 unless I feel that God loves me and cares for me 27:40 and there is a reason to live what's the point in 27:44 making changes, that's why it's so important 27:47 for us to realize that we are children of God. 27:50 Change is worthwhile not only for now, 27:54 but for eternity. And God does love you 27:58 and he has provided natural ways to help us 28:01 achieve long lasting health and wellness. 28:03 Thank you for joining us today on 28:06 'Wonderfully Made' thank you 28:07 Dr. Howe for being with us. Thank you. |
Revised 2014-12-17