First and foremost, I was an Ivim member that helped in my -100 lb weight loss journey, so I was pretty excited to read this.
Second, I need someone to explain to me why this is so controversial. Doctors aren’t taught that nutrition is a part of one’s health? This is common sense.
It also explains why dozens of doctors haven’t been able to “help” me with chronic pain over the last two decades - they are vastly undereducated.
The dilemma here is that though it makes good sense you know the curriculum will be dictated by those with the most money in lobby to try to convince Americans and eating GMO soy beans are the way to go. We live in a disaster country since citizens United.
It’s not just a disgrace it’s bad economics: • A 2019 survey by the Association for Nutrition and Medical Schools Council found:
“Most UK medical schools provide less than 2% of teaching time on nutrition, often integrated into other topics rather than as standalone teaching.”
When indirect costs (lost productivity, social care, absenteeism) are added, the UK economy loses over £27 billion annually to obesity (OECD, 2023).
A 2023 blog post by the Milken Institute discusses a report estimating that the annual U.S. cost and economic impact of obesity exceeds US $1.4 trillion, including direct medical costs and productivity losses.
Why not make it mandatory education in K-12 schools? Why just let the medical students be educated on it? The problems with poor choices begin early in life—change begins at a grassroots level and this is the epitome of the grassroots level!
At the age of 40, my husband’s cholesterol came back *slightly* elevated. The dr wanted to immediately start him on Lipitor. Never a single discussion about diet and exercise. I said absolutely not… he can eat less red meat, more veggies and go on some walks. Thanks but no thanks. He’s been fine ever since.
Plus, pharmaceutical companies have lobbied the “ideal number” lower and lower. The Cholesterol story is much more complex than those 2 numbers (LDL/HDL). It’s a brain protector, for one.
Pharmaceutical companies will lobby hard against this, not to mention the big food companies. Diet is integral to our health and everyone should understand it. I am 100% on board with this change, but also agree with others here that we need to start health education much younger. We also have to be wary of creating fear of food, orthorexia or trying to push specific agendas through this process. Not every way of eating is appropriate or healthful for every individual, but I am convinced that encouraging eating whole, minimally processed foods is a key to better health outcomes.
“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”
I believe more useful knowledge about how our bodies work, in addition to less reliance on big pharma and fake food companies, would turn around the obesity crisis in this country.
Our general physical health reflects the poor health of our bloated, indebted nation.
This is true in so many areas of the medical world. My sister's both work at a university and have spoke on what's not taught, and the ego the Dr's and professors have. I've been on my own neurological journey, and I stay curious and research, to the point where I'm knowing more than some of my neurologist. This just happened yesterday at one of my neuro appt. He's like you dig in, and I was never taught that, and he trusted me. He's one of the few I've come across that will admit he doesn't know the answer. Our entire medical system needs an overhaul, but food is a top priority, and I'm not sure how anyone can debate anything about this 🤔.
Sigh. I agree with everything you’ve stated. The problem lies in the delivery system. As some have already mentioned, our health system has relied too long on generally accepted longstanding information provided by the industry. Lobbyists need to be abolished IMHO, so we can actually research properly the effects of foods on the human body. Instead of sticking to the status quo, and truly researching Western as well as eastern medicines and holistic approaches would benefit everyone as we know not all humans are alike. Caffeine wakes up most people, yet when I take it I get sleepy - why do we not question that? And that a simple one. For too long we’ve allowed huge entities to tell us what is healthy and what isn’t, hello sugar industry!
I applaud any efforts that can and should be made to educate and explore human nutrition. Which should include how chemicals drenching soils affects the nutrition of food grown in it.
Hopefully they are able to push for fresh organic food vs processed food in schools-- even though republicans seem dead set on ensuring schools provide no food to their students... Also wondering how cutting health care and SNAP while opening up public lands to destructive mining and drilling is making America healthy again... Also not sure how protecting and pardoning pedophiles like Ghislaine is making our children healthier... Marjorie Taylor Greene is leading the future of the party after everyone realizes how much of a scam trump is.
My husband has been a chiropractor for more than 40 years, and is also certified as a Functional Medicine Practitioner. He has hundreds and hundreds of hours of education in nutrition, lab testing, the impact of lifestyle choices on health and longevity. Over those years, I cannot even count the many heartbroken patients who came to him for help after getting NONE from multiple MDs. What those MDs had to offer: drugs and surgery. And too often…arrogance. American healthcare is the best in the world for surgeries and emergencies, but for chronic conditions, unfortunately gets a big “L.” True nutritional education for medical doctors is long overdue (over and above the typical 11 hours total they currently receive, mostly centered on diabetes, etc?). Get some chiropractors to teach!
When my Endo DR told me the radioactive iodine treatment they gave me post thyroid cancer didn’t work and actually caused more issues AND my medical DR nearly killing me by prescribing the incorrect pneumonia medication, I found a Functional Health practitioner. She’s done more for me in 6 months than all the DR’s did to me my 57 years on earth. Though it is costly, and my insurance covers nothing, I’m at peace knowing she’s not throwing drugs at me or prescribing something that will shorten my life. God bless your husband for helping people!
First of all, Dr. Duncan’s article deserves appreciation; it is both courageous and touches on several long-neglected issues. Her emphasis on the lack of nutrition training in medical education, the impact of ultra-processed foods, the inadequate nutritional standards even within hospitals, physicians feeling unprepared, and the importance of preventive medicine are truly valuable points. In that sense, the piece effectively summarizes the visible side of the problem.
Yet when we look a little deeper, I believe a more fundamental layer is being overlooked:
What physicians should learn is not only nutritional science, but how the biological body was shaped through evolutionary history. Because the human organism did not evolve for the world we live in today; it evolved for the conditions of hundreds of thousands of years ago. Therefore, obesity, chronic disease, insulin resistance, loss of appetite control, and our vulnerability to processed foods are all consequences of this evolutionary mismatch.
If a physician, instead of simply saying “eat this, avoid that,” can explain why the brain treats high-calorie foods as rewards, why the body seeks sugar as if it were scarce, and why self-control breaks down in the modern food environment, then true and lasting change becomes possible. The issue is not a failure of willpower; it is an evolutionary mechanism trapped in a world it didn’t evolve for.
Our thought patterns and decision-making pathways are also products of this mechanism; we often believe we are choosing freely, while ancient impulses are choosing for us.
Medical education will achieve far more permanent results the day it incorporates this deep evolutionary understanding.
Yes! It’s wild to me that this argument even needs to be made... but thank you for making it.
First and foremost, I was an Ivim member that helped in my -100 lb weight loss journey, so I was pretty excited to read this.
Second, I need someone to explain to me why this is so controversial. Doctors aren’t taught that nutrition is a part of one’s health? This is common sense.
It also explains why dozens of doctors haven’t been able to “help” me with chronic pain over the last two decades - they are vastly undereducated.
The dilemma here is that though it makes good sense you know the curriculum will be dictated by those with the most money in lobby to try to convince Americans and eating GMO soy beans are the way to go. We live in a disaster country since citizens United.
It’s essential! It’s high time that we as physicians add nutrition expertise to our skill set.
Yes. As one physician said to me “I can’t learn anymore, because when I do it goes against what my employers want for my patients!”
It’s not just a disgrace it’s bad economics: • A 2019 survey by the Association for Nutrition and Medical Schools Council found:
“Most UK medical schools provide less than 2% of teaching time on nutrition, often integrated into other topics rather than as standalone teaching.”
When indirect costs (lost productivity, social care, absenteeism) are added, the UK economy loses over £27 billion annually to obesity (OECD, 2023).
A 2023 blog post by the Milken Institute discusses a report estimating that the annual U.S. cost and economic impact of obesity exceeds US $1.4 trillion, including direct medical costs and productivity losses.
Why not make it mandatory education in K-12 schools? Why just let the medical students be educated on it? The problems with poor choices begin early in life—change begins at a grassroots level and this is the epitome of the grassroots level!
100%
It already is but the nutrition they teach is USDA based and always will be - driven by interest groups not sound science or the good of the people.
At the age of 40, my husband’s cholesterol came back *slightly* elevated. The dr wanted to immediately start him on Lipitor. Never a single discussion about diet and exercise. I said absolutely not… he can eat less red meat, more veggies and go on some walks. Thanks but no thanks. He’s been fine ever since.
Plus, pharmaceutical companies have lobbied the “ideal number” lower and lower. The Cholesterol story is much more complex than those 2 numbers (LDL/HDL). It’s a brain protector, for one.
Pharmaceutical companies will lobby hard against this, not to mention the big food companies. Diet is integral to our health and everyone should understand it. I am 100% on board with this change, but also agree with others here that we need to start health education much younger. We also have to be wary of creating fear of food, orthorexia or trying to push specific agendas through this process. Not every way of eating is appropriate or healthful for every individual, but I am convinced that encouraging eating whole, minimally processed foods is a key to better health outcomes.
I love this!
Doctors take the Hippocratic Oath still, correct?
“Let thy food be thy medicine and thy medicine be thy food.”
I believe more useful knowledge about how our bodies work, in addition to less reliance on big pharma and fake food companies, would turn around the obesity crisis in this country.
Our general physical health reflects the poor health of our bloated, indebted nation.
And this will be funded by Nestlé, General Mills, American Beef Council, ...
Based on the research of ...
This is true in so many areas of the medical world. My sister's both work at a university and have spoke on what's not taught, and the ego the Dr's and professors have. I've been on my own neurological journey, and I stay curious and research, to the point where I'm knowing more than some of my neurologist. This just happened yesterday at one of my neuro appt. He's like you dig in, and I was never taught that, and he trusted me. He's one of the few I've come across that will admit he doesn't know the answer. Our entire medical system needs an overhaul, but food is a top priority, and I'm not sure how anyone can debate anything about this 🤔.
This has been a conversation for over 50 years and it has not progressed. The medical schools are unbelievably archaic in that sense.
Sigh. I agree with everything you’ve stated. The problem lies in the delivery system. As some have already mentioned, our health system has relied too long on generally accepted longstanding information provided by the industry. Lobbyists need to be abolished IMHO, so we can actually research properly the effects of foods on the human body. Instead of sticking to the status quo, and truly researching Western as well as eastern medicines and holistic approaches would benefit everyone as we know not all humans are alike. Caffeine wakes up most people, yet when I take it I get sleepy - why do we not question that? And that a simple one. For too long we’ve allowed huge entities to tell us what is healthy and what isn’t, hello sugar industry!
I applaud any efforts that can and should be made to educate and explore human nutrition. Which should include how chemicals drenching soils affects the nutrition of food grown in it.
As you can tell, I could go on and on…
There is nothing to argue! Just include it!
Hopefully they are able to push for fresh organic food vs processed food in schools-- even though republicans seem dead set on ensuring schools provide no food to their students... Also wondering how cutting health care and SNAP while opening up public lands to destructive mining and drilling is making America healthy again... Also not sure how protecting and pardoning pedophiles like Ghislaine is making our children healthier... Marjorie Taylor Greene is leading the future of the party after everyone realizes how much of a scam trump is.
My husband has been a chiropractor for more than 40 years, and is also certified as a Functional Medicine Practitioner. He has hundreds and hundreds of hours of education in nutrition, lab testing, the impact of lifestyle choices on health and longevity. Over those years, I cannot even count the many heartbroken patients who came to him for help after getting NONE from multiple MDs. What those MDs had to offer: drugs and surgery. And too often…arrogance. American healthcare is the best in the world for surgeries and emergencies, but for chronic conditions, unfortunately gets a big “L.” True nutritional education for medical doctors is long overdue (over and above the typical 11 hours total they currently receive, mostly centered on diabetes, etc?). Get some chiropractors to teach!
When my Endo DR told me the radioactive iodine treatment they gave me post thyroid cancer didn’t work and actually caused more issues AND my medical DR nearly killing me by prescribing the incorrect pneumonia medication, I found a Functional Health practitioner. She’s done more for me in 6 months than all the DR’s did to me my 57 years on earth. Though it is costly, and my insurance covers nothing, I’m at peace knowing she’s not throwing drugs at me or prescribing something that will shorten my life. God bless your husband for helping people!
That's beautiful!, Tonni. Glad you have a true partner in your health journey!
First of all, Dr. Duncan’s article deserves appreciation; it is both courageous and touches on several long-neglected issues. Her emphasis on the lack of nutrition training in medical education, the impact of ultra-processed foods, the inadequate nutritional standards even within hospitals, physicians feeling unprepared, and the importance of preventive medicine are truly valuable points. In that sense, the piece effectively summarizes the visible side of the problem.
Yet when we look a little deeper, I believe a more fundamental layer is being overlooked:
What physicians should learn is not only nutritional science, but how the biological body was shaped through evolutionary history. Because the human organism did not evolve for the world we live in today; it evolved for the conditions of hundreds of thousands of years ago. Therefore, obesity, chronic disease, insulin resistance, loss of appetite control, and our vulnerability to processed foods are all consequences of this evolutionary mismatch.
If a physician, instead of simply saying “eat this, avoid that,” can explain why the brain treats high-calorie foods as rewards, why the body seeks sugar as if it were scarce, and why self-control breaks down in the modern food environment, then true and lasting change becomes possible. The issue is not a failure of willpower; it is an evolutionary mechanism trapped in a world it didn’t evolve for.
Our thought patterns and decision-making pathways are also products of this mechanism; we often believe we are choosing freely, while ancient impulses are choosing for us.
Medical education will achieve far more permanent results the day it incorporates this deep evolutionary understanding.