Lifestyle Medicine: The Health Promoting Power of Daily Habits and Practices

Abstract

There is no longer any serious doubt that daily habits and actions profoundly affect both short-term and long-term health and quality of life. This concept is supported by literally thousands of research articles and incorporated in multiple evidence-based guidelines for the prevention and/or treatment of chronic metabolic diseases. The study of how habits and actions affect both prevention and treatment of diseases has coalesced around the concept of "lifestyle medicine." The purpose of this review is to provide an up-to-date summary of many of the modalities fundamental to lifestyle medicine, including physical activity, proper nutrition, weight management, and cigarette smoking cessation. This review will also focus specifically on how these modalities are employed both in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases including coronary heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and cancer. The review concludes with a Call to Action challenging the medical community to embrace the modalities of lifestyle medicine in the daily practice of medicine.

Keywords: cancer; coronary heart disease; diabetes; lifestyle medicine; nutrition; obesity; physical activity; weight management.

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: Dr Rippe is the editor in chief, American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, and editor of Lifestyle Medicine (CRC Press). He is also founder and director, Rippe Lifestyle Institute, a research organization that has conducted multiple studies in physical activity, nutrition, and weight management.