Thoughts from Dr. Sarah
DISCLAIMER: THIS SUBSTACK DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. (See full disclaimer in the footnote.)
Hey, Doctor Sarah here. Ellen has asked me to take over this account for the time being.
Let me start by introducing myself. I’m a family doctor based in the small Iowa town of Beauvais. Now don’t go looking for Beauvais on a map. It’s a fictional town and I’m a character in Ellen’s book, Hidden Practice (for which she is currently seeking representation, just in case you’re a literary agent).
I grew up on the busy and very full (population wise) east coast. When I was eight years old, my family took a rare driving vacation a few hours north to Vermont, from our home in Greenwich, Connecticut. I will always remember the rolling green hills there. The peacefulness of the towns. How I longed to move there. To my eight-year-old mind those towns were perfection.
In one town, we saw a slightly shabby house with a gigantic porch. A sign hanging from the edge of the roof said, “Kevin Gavett, M.D.” My dad, a prominent New York City cardiothoracic surgeon, began the mocking immediately. “Good place for a loser physician. Can’t cut it so he hides in a small town as a family physician.”
As he continued, perhaps thinking he was bolstering what I now see as his weak self esteem, my thoughts drifted another direction. Suddenly I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I grew up. My dad thought I could have a role in medicine, maybe as a nurse. But from that point forward I knew I wanted to be a doctor. A nice one.
And at that point, I knew exactly where: a small town like Dr. Gavett’s. My dad would hate it.
I never imagined living in the Midwest though. If you want to find out how I ended up there, you’ll have to read the book. And anyway, that’s not why Ellen asked me to write a few installments on her Substack.
You see, Ellen originally started WholeLight to discuss topics in health, and healing in body, soul, and spirit. She wants me to write about some of these topics from the perspective of a family doctor.
While I start from a body perspective on healing, I fully believe addressing concerns of the soul and spirit are a very important part of healing. So it’s a good fit for me.
Today I want to briefly cover my holistic perspective and where it comes from. It aligns with what Ellen believes.
In the world of science, there are essentially two primary approaches: a whole viewpoint and a reductionist viewpoint. The whole perspective in science is also known as holism or holistic science. This approach, my approach, emphasizes the study of complex systems within a greater system that have or potentially have an impact on each other.
Holism is a theory about how the universe and especially living nature is seen in terms of organic or unified wholes that are more than the sums of their parts.
The reductionist perspective, sometimes called the purely analytical perspective, is often seen as more traditional in the scientific world. This approach can be defined as the analysis of complex things, such as data, into less complex constituents. This implies that a complex idea, or system can be understood in terms of its simpler parts or components.
Reductionism should be familiar to you. It forms the core of our primary education structure. For example, you may have learned to spell a large word by breaking it into two or more parts. Or you may have learned to multiply by breaking the multipliers into simpler factors. In my opinion, it’s great in education, not so much in understanding humans.
Here’s some fascinating research by a team out of Cornell University published in 2000 that illustrates the holistic approach.
The Cornell team decided to study the antioxidant effects of vitamin C from apples. Most people don’t think of apples when they think of vitamin C.
And indeed, when the researchers chemically analyzed a half-cup of a fresh apple, they found only about 5.7 milligrams of vitamin C. (By contrast the recommended daily amount of vitamin C for adult men is 90 milligrams, and for adult women 75 milligrams.)
However, when they analyzed the apple in its whole form, they found that same half-cup had an antioxidant, vitamin C-like activity that is equivalent to about 1,500 mg of vitamin C.
This big difference illustrates how essential it is to look at the whole. In the case of nutrients, when they are eaten in their whole form, other substances such as other nutrients or fiber can significantly alter the composition and health benefits. This is likely why studies of single nutrients may not show much benefit.
When I first read the Cornell study in medical school, it supported my belief in the importance of the whole. In particular, it showed me that to increase the wallop of a nutrient, we should instead get our nutrients in the way nature intended, instead of relying on pills.
Since it’s cold season, let’s talk some more about Vitamin C in its whole form.
When you’re sick with a cold, you’ve probably had someone suggest that you take more Vitamin C. Maybe you just do it as a mater of course.
But research has demonstrated that taking vitamin C when you start to get a cold doesn’t seem to help.
Research also shows that people who regularly supplement with C, don’t seem to get fewer colds. However, there is a little benefit for people who regularly take vitamin C but only in that when they do get sick they don’t appear to get as sick, and they get better about 10 percent faster.
At the same time, some of those people who regularly supplement vitamin C have a greater risk of getting kidney stones.
The picture changes when people get their vitamin C strictly through their diet. Not only do people feel better faster, there is no kidney stone risk.
In one study illustrating this point, participants who had colds and ate four kiwis a day felt better after just a day or two, compared to the control group that ate bananas instead. The banana eaters suffered sore throat and congestion for five days.
I think you’re starting to get the picture. Nutrients like Vitamin C are important, but they work best in context.
It’s not just about vitamins or other nutrients. We humans also do better when we’re treated from a whole perspective as well.
You’ve probably heard about the “new” trend of functional or holistic medicine, an approach to medicine that is what I do, that is, look at body, mind and spirit together. It’s not really a new trend, it’s more that medicine is waking up to the fact that reductionism often doesn’t help the patient heal, it just treats symptoms.
Unlike many holistic practitioners sprouting up today, I don’t make the patient go through a huge number of tests and I don’t suggest loads of supplements. I start my work with patients at the point where they are.
Is the patient stressed? Maybe that’s causing heart trouble. Is the diet poor? That can contribute to a host of things.
Of course such an approach takes time. Much more than insurance typically reimburses for. That’s why I love my small practice. The overhead is lower and the line to see me is smaller (just by virtue of local demographics, not because no one wants to see me).
In the coming weeks I’ll share some case studies with you and how I approached them from a holistic perspective, as well as other interesting medical news or things about myself. If there is a particular area of interest you would like to hear about, please share it in the comments and I’m sure Ellen will pass it along.1
The information, including but not limited to text, graphics, images and other material contained within this Substack, are for informational purposes only. In addition, the physician who “writes” material for this Substack is a product of the author’s imagination. Even if she were real, however, no material on this site is intended to be a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health care professional with any questions you have regarding a medical condition or treatment and before undertaking a new health care regimen. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you’ve read on this site. And eat your fruits, vegetables, legumes and whole grains. (Dr. Sarah had to add that last sentence. She likes having the last word.)