I'm angry. It's not often that I feel perturbed after reading something, but an article in yesterday's New York Times did the trick.
In the business section, aptly positioned, was a piece about how Medicare is set to begin reimbursing doctors for obesity treatment in the new year.
A quote in the third paragraph cuts right to the crux. "In medical school, I learned more about treating malaria than I did about treating obesity", states Dr. Kaplan, who founded the company featured in this article.
His program will include three different diet options that a patient can choose from based on how much they want to spend and how quickly they want to lose weight. Their treatment includes bars, shakes, vitamins, as low as 800-calorie-per day intake and appetite suppressants.
He later goes on to add, "Obesity is a disease best treated by doctors".
Where do I begin?
What about one of the most respected physicians of all time? How about what Hippocrates said? "Our food should be our medicine. Our medicine should be our food."
How are obese patients going to learn how to properly eat after treatment? Eating poorly or not having the knowledge of how to properly eat or a combination of the two is what helped lead them to obesity in the first place, so taking a quick break from their habits while supervised by a doctor and receiving pharmaceuticals is hardly a good or lasting solution.
Why is Medicare going to pay for this? (I'm sure I'm opening a huge can of worms with this query, but let's get everything out on the table?)
And, here it comes...
Why not just try eating food, not eating things that are not food, and moving? Hello? Paleo!
