Lifestyle Medicine as the foundation of all medicine

Susan Benigas is the Executive Director of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM), founder of the nonprofit The Plantrician Project, and co-founder of the International Plant-Based Nutrition Healthcare Conference. She is dedicated to building the lifestyle medicine concept in the U.S. and globally.

In an interview with IIOL, Susan focuses on the following:

• The differences between functional, integrated and lifestyle medicine
• The focus and mission of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine
• What is the difference between lifestyle medicine and traditional medicine?
• Are physicians embracing the lifestyle medicine concept?
• How can lifestyle medicine become integrated into the medical curriculum?

Highlights

• Lifestyle medicine includes what we eat, how we sleep, how we move, how we manage our stress, the avoidance of risky substances such as tobacco, and having healthy relationships in our lives.

• It’s all the chronic noncommunicable diseases that are looming pandemics around the world. And lifestyle medicine truly is the antidote to that.

• Lifestyle medicine is in no way alternative medicine. It is the foundation of all.