Why Lifestyle Medicine?

I recently started reading Dr. Marcela Madera’s book Evident, and one question stopped me in my tracks:

“Are we just mopping the floor instead of turning off the faucet?”

It’s a simple analogy, but it captures a profound truth about modern healthcare.

Today, medicine is incredibly powerful. We can:

• Lower blood pressure

• Control blood glucose

• Reduce cholesterol

• Prevent complications
  

These are life-saving advances and they matter. But when it comes to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity, we have to ask a harder question:

Are we addressing the root cause, or just managing the consequences?

Most NCDs are driven by modifiable lifestyle factors:

• Poor nutrition

• Physical inactivity

• Chronic stress

• Poor sleep

• Substance use

• Social disconnection

  
  

Medications help control the downstream effects of these behaviours. But they don’t “turn off the tap.” So the cycle continues. Disease develops, medication is prescribed, parameters improve but underlying drivers remain, so over time, more medications are added.

If we only focus on prescriptions, we are essentially mopping the floor while the tap remains open. Lifestyle Medicine asks a different question: How do we turn off the tap?

It shifts the focus from:

• Treating disease → Addressing root causes

• Short-term fixes → Sustainable behaviour change

• Transactional care → Relationship-based care
  

Lifestyle Medicine doesn’t reject medications. It complements and strengthens care by addressing the upstream drivers of disease.

It asks:

• What is driving this condition?

• What can be modified?

• How can we support sustainable change?

  
  

Because when we turn off the tap, we don’t just manage disease;

We create the possibility for remission, prevention, and lasting health. References:

• Evident, Dr marcela Sandoval Garza, 2025.

• Is primary care essential? Starfield B, Lancet 1994