From the start of my career, I learned that the best of the best in our industry strive to learn. All of my mentors over the years have had the same mentality and so do the people/experts I constantly listen to via podcasts and read up on.
It is because of the influence of these mentors that I developed this hunger for knowledge, which led me to this book called Unconventional Medicine by Dr. Chris Kresser.
I’ve actually been familiar with him and his work through podcasts. Dr. Chris Kresser is a Functional Medicine Doctor based out of California and he provides great content available online, which I’ve taken advantage of over the years throughout my career. With that said, his most recent book, Unconventional Medicine, made such an impact on me that it has given me a clearer path for my career.
To generally summarize the book it talks about the status of our current health care system and how problematic it is for the patients, the doctors themselves, and the economic impact to the country. Here are some of the statics provided in the book:
- 1 out of 2 Americans is affected by chronic disease; 1 in 4 has multiple chronic diseases.
- 7 of 10 deaths in the U.S. are caused by chronic disease
- Chronic disease will generate $47 trillion in healthcare costs globally by 2030 if the epidemic is unchecked (Duff-Brown, 2017). That’s more than the annual GDP of the six largest economies in the world.
- 1 in 5 Americans struggles to pay medical bills, and three in five bankruptcies are due to medical expenses.
*There is so much more mind-boggling statics provided by the book so if interested please read it.
As a personal trainer & strength coach, to hear such statics about the current health condition of our country almost feels like a direct insult to what I do. No, I’m not a medical doctor nor do I plan on being one. However, I truly believe that as a trainer & coach it is absolutely vital for me to assist in any way I can to get, not only my clients, but everyone around me to be healthy and fit to their ideal want & need. In order for me to do that I believe it is very important to encourage the integration of healthcare professionals, which is the solution that Dr. Kresser mentions in the book, the ADAPT Framework. He pretty much talks about a health care system that integrates the primary care physicians, specialists, and even the allied health practitioners like a health coach or even a trainer like myself, all working together to help and treat patients. I envisioned this type of integrative healthcare long before I even read this book but to hear Dr. Kresser write out this exact belief of mine (in a much better-presented manner and way more precise than I ever could) shook me from the inside out and got me so excited for what may be ahead for me, my clients, and hopefully the health care system.
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