I was fortunate enough to give the opening keynote for Stanford’s Lifestyle Medicine “Healthy Aging” conference earlier this month. Lifestyle medicine is a burgeoning field that strives to optimize physical and mental health through seven lifestyle pillars as defined by Stanford’s program: Healthful Nutrition, Restorative Sleep, Movement and Exercise, Stress Management, Social Enhancement, Cognitive Enhancement, and Gratitude and Purpose.
Rather than just treating symptoms, lifestyle medicine uses evidence-based principles to develop preventive measures and address the underlying cause of disease. The ultimate goal is to increase longevity and improve quality of life for people of all ages and backgrounds. It’s an important field and is differentiated from functional medicine in that lifestyle is more of a holistic coach while functional medicine is more like a medical detective, focused on scientific metrics using lab tests and, often, supplements.
As I considered my talk that morning, I realized something was sticking in my craw regarding their pillars. Five of the seven are quite specific to the personal physical side of one’s life. I’ve long said that “illness” starts with an “i” but “wellness” starts with a “we,” so – while I appreciate that Social Enhancement is number five on their list, I wonder if it should be number one since social wellness has consistently proven that it’s the number one variable for those living longer, healthier, happier lives?
But, my bigger beef is with the seventh pillar: Gratitude and Purpose. Nothing wrong with those two qualities as ephemeral as they are, but I think they’re missing something that’s more transcendent. In secular terms, we might call it “Generativity,” the desire and ability to contribute to the well-being and development of future generations. Yet, I don’t think that quite gets it either. The people I know who are deeply healthy in their 80s or beyond often have a “Soulful Devotion” woven into how they passionately curate their life. What sustains them isn’t their ego, but their soul, devoted to something bigger than themselves. Often, this may have a spiritual or religious flavor as seen in religious pilgrimages like the Camino de Santiago or Maha Kumbh Mela.
What do you think about these seven pillars and would you recommend changing any of them?
-Chip
P.S. I love certain podcasts and listened to a couple of episodes this last weekend that I wanted to share with you. The Interview by the NY Times talks with author Rutger Bregman about Why We All Could Use More Ambition and NPR’s Fresh Air interviews journalist Amy Larocca about What Makes Gwyneth Paltrow Dangerous, based upon the idea that self-care has reached a fever pitch (these linked title don’t match the titles on the episodes – they’re my own stab at being a Headline Writer).