Chapter 4
Preventive Care vs. Disease Care:
Changing the ParadigmEfforts at healthcare reform are doomed to failure unless we
switch from a disease care model to a preventive one. The only
way healthcare can be sustainable in this country and around the
world is for people to live lifestyles that prevent chronic disease—
period! No healthcare system can withstand the cost of chronic
disease treatment and management that will inevitably continue
to grow with a rapidly aging population. We must turn our dis-
ease care model into a preventive care model to be affordable and
sustainable.
The problem is that the economic incentives and political forc-
es to do this will be very difficult to change. No matter how well
intentioned, I’m not sure any administration or government can
change these competing forces, but I do know that you can change,
making the above political dilemma a moot point.
It’s all on you! You can make yourself healthy by just doing the 9
Simple Steps daily and consistently. You cannot lose. It’s not depen-
dent on the stock market or your boss—just you. And truly, there is
nothing more straightforward with a one-to-one response of effort
to results than applying these steps to your health.
Americans could dramatically reduce occurrence of chronic
disease, solve the healthcare crisis, and increase national produc-
tivity within months with these simple, cost-effective changes in
lifestyle. A simple five-food-group diet of vegetables, fruit, beans,
nuts and seeds, and whole grains—with minimal or no animal
products (plus exercise)—can create this dramatic change.