Dear Carole,

An article published this month by Medscape, titled “How PCPs Are Penalized for Positive Outcomes From Lifestyle Change,” leaves one to question how much they can rely on some doctors to guide them to better health – especially if pharmaceutical medications are not part of their wellness plan.

According to The Commonwealth Fund, “people in the United States experience the worst health outcomes overall of any high-income nation. Americans are more likely to die younger, and from avoidable causes, than residents of peer countries.” Their 2022 report outlines the worsening health outcomes in the US, including “the lowest life expectancy at birth, the highest death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, the highest maternal and infant mortality, and among the highest suicide rates” along-side the accelerated spending rate seen in the US healthcare system. They also show that the US has the “highest rate of people with multiple chronic conditions” – all an indication of a broken system that does not work.

Lifestyle interventions, such as a healthy diet and exercise, are proven to be effective in helping to prevent many chronic diseases – some have also been shown to treat or reverse diseases without the side effects of medications. Common chronic diseases that can be especially responsive to lifestyle interventions include cardiovascular diseases, obesity, and type 2 diabetes.

How Doctors are Penalized for Reversing Disease

Unfortunately, according to the Medscape article, for reasons including limited time with patients and lack of incentive, the current system “unintentionally penalizes physicians for successfully treating or reversing disease through lifestyle behavior interventions while rewarding clinicians for meeting process measures — usually adherence to medication — regardless of whether health outcomes improved.” In the case presented, utilizing lifestyle medicine was also less costly than the medication, yet the physician was penalized despite helping the patient achieve their optimal health outcome. This type of system sets patients up to remain uninformed of the power and effectiveness of certain lifestyle interventions to help them stay well and to improve their current health conditions – even if their doctor has the patients’ best interests in mind.

The article concludes with supporting lifestyle interventions as a first line of treatment against certain chronic diseases, arguing that incentive should be given to doctors based on health outcome measures instead of being based on the continuous management of disease.

This is a simple reminder of the importance of acting for your own health and making it your job to be your own biggest health advocate… how well are you and your loved ones filling that role?

Simple, Proven Ways You Can Support Better Health

Eating well, getting enough exercise, managing stress, avoiding toxins, and getting plentiful sleep are all lifestyle behaviors that can contribute to our health. Studies have also shown that

• Up to 75% of the world’s population is vitamin D deficient; even when considering intake from both food and supplements, 65% of the US population remained below the daily requirements for vitamin D, according to NHANES data
• More than 80% are deficient in omega-3 fatty acids (below the recommended 8%)
• Over 45% of the US population are very likely deficient in magnesium

Measuring your levels is the only way to tell if you are getting enough vitamin D, omega-3s, magnesium, and other nutrients, and is a simple and easy step to take towards improving health. Other measures, such as the testing of toxic elements (including lead, mercury and cadmium), C-reactive protein (a measure of inflammation in the body) and HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar health), can help guide you towards other specific lifestyle behaviors that might need to be added or modified to support better health and reduce your risk of disease.

GrassrootsHealth offers at-home test kits for each of the above, along with educational materials for how to utilize supplements, diet, sunshine, and other lifestyle factors to help improve and maintain health. 

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Vitamin D & Omegas

Inflammation Panel

Immune Boost Panel

Children with Diabetes Research Foundation

The mission of CWDRF is to fund research leading to the cure and prevention of Type 1 diabetes. For over 20 years, they have been the venture capitalists of diabetes research, getting new, clinically relevant, innovative research off the ground.

CWDRF is currently funding the D*action Type 1 Diabetes Prevention project with GrassrootsHealth.

Highly Absorbed Magnesium

Dr. Carolyn Dean is a medical doctor, naturopath, and author of over 35 books including best seller The Magnesium Miracle. With 40 years of experience, she offers proprietary, unique formulations that give every individual at any stage of wellness or illness the necessary building blocks for sustained health, vitality and well-being.

Participate in our special Magnesium*PLUS Focus project offered by RnAReSet.



The Helen Knoll Foundation

The Helen Knoll Foundation (HKF) mission is to prevent breast cancer by empowering young women through risk awareness education, advocacy and access to age appropriate screenings. HKF with GrassrootsHealth is launching the Know YOUR Number campaign to help Stop Breast Cancer Before it Starts by working with local groups to provide vitamin D blood spot testing and project enrollment events.