About seven years ago Dr. Peter Attia was asked to treat an obese lady patient whose leg had a diabetic festering ulcer. Dr. Attia had to take the decision to amputate her leg. Years later when he looked back he did not regret that he had made the decision to amputate. In fact this was the right thing to do and may have saved his patient’s life, but he regretted the contempt he had felt for her and the dismissive way he had been towards her. Instead of showing empathy he had felt the need to judge her.
He came to the realization that he had been wrong in judging her when a few years later he found himself in the same boat. He found that he too had become overweight and had developed insulin resistance. This was the first step in his downward spiral to Diabetes and other related complications such as Heart disease, Cancer, Alzheimer, and other ailments. He had been doing all the right things: eating the right foods as recommended by the food pyramid and he had been exercising regularly. So if had done all the right things, how could this happen to him? Dr. Attia then made immediate changes to his diet and though he exercised less, he lost 40 pounds and also shed his insulin resistance.
It then occurred to him that it was not his obese lady patient’s fault to have found herself overweight and diabetic. She like him, had probably done everything as recommended by healthcare professionals and yet found herself spiraling into obesity and diabetes. Dr. Attia was forced to conclude that the system had failed the lady and instead of his judgment she had deserved his sympathy. Dr. Attia is now on track to find out the answers that will help patients like his obese lady patient. Like many other health professionals, doctors, and scientists, Dr. Attia has come to the realization that sticking to the traditional food pyramid is not enough to keep you healthy. He feels that a drastic change in the food pyramid is called for and his best guess hunch is that the overabundance of sugar and processed Carbs is the cause of most of our diet related health issues.
Thank you Peter for being human. Your talents in your field of profession are outstanding to first realize the core of problem and then to be brave enough to ask for forgiveness in front of thousands if not millions.