30,000 Feet Overview of Lifestyle Medicine

Abstract

Chronic diseases account for the highest morbidity and mortality among adults and, increasingly, adolescents and young adults in the United States. This imposes great economic stress on the healthcare system. Chronic diseases can largely be attributed to several key harmful lifestyle behaviors, including poor diet, low physical activity, substance abuse, and stress, to mention just a few. Recent research demonstrates that sustained healthy lifestyle behaviors can not only prevent and treat but may even reverse many of these chronic diseases. The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) defines Lifestyle Medicine (LM) as "the use of evidence-based lifestyle therapeutic intervention—including a whole-food, plant-predominant eating pattern, regular physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances, and positive social connection—as a primary modality, delivered by clinicians trained and certified in this specialty, to prevent, treat, and often reverse chronic disease.” ACLM has worked to establish and update LM core competencies over the last decade. Many training programs have adopted evidence-based LM didactic and clinical training across various health professions students to ensure trainees meet these competencies. We aim to provide a brief overview of LM, discuss the six pillars of LM: nutrition, physical activity, avoidance of risky substances, restorative sleep, stress reduction, and positive social connection, and discuss their significance in wellness from the patient’s and the physician’s perspectives.