Book Review –Lies I Taught in Medical School by Robert Lufkin_ MD

Book Review –

Lies I Taught in Medical School – How Conventional Medicine Is Making You Sicker and What You Can Do to Save Your Life

By Robert Lufkin, MD

As a lifetime athlete and competitor, I want to stay healthy. My philosophy is “Quality Over Quantity” as I do not want to live out my last days in a nursing home.

What is the best way to increase the quality of my life? Eliminate disease, inflammation and pain to the greatest extent possible.

This book helped me to focus in on my diet and what could be causing my pain and inflammation, as well as how to avoid obesity, diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, Alzheimer’s and mental illness.

Here are the lies that Dr. Lufkin taught his medical school students –

• The Metabolic Lie: “Metabolism Is Just the Body’s Way of Digesting Food”
• The Obesity Lie: “To Lose Weight, Just Exercise More and Eat Less”
• The Diabetes Lie: “Sugar is Harmless, Other than Causing Weight Gain and Tooth Decay”
• The Fatty Live Lie: “There is No Treatment for Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease”
• The Hypertension Lie: “High Blood Pressure Is Best Treated with Drugs”
• The Cardiovascular Disease Lie: “Statins Are a Good Choice to Prevent Heart Disease”
• The Cancer Lie: “Most Cancer Is Caused by Accumulated DNA Damage”
• The Alzheimer’s Lie: “Alzheimer’s Disease Is a Progressive, Untreatable Disease Caused by Beta-Amyloid Accumulation”
• The Mental Health Lie: “Metabolism Has Little Effect on Mental Health”
• The Longevity Lie: “Aging Is the Inevitable Result of Accumulated Wear and Tear”

 

I enjoyed reading the book and my main takeaways are that decreasing sugar intake and processed foods, engaging in intermittent fasting as a lifestyle, and exercising and sleeping right are the best levers that I have control over. Cutting out sugary drinks, both diet and non-diet, is the #1 action item.

What you eat is important, but so is when you eat (an 8-hour window each day) and in what order. Fats and proteins first, then carbs.

Regarding what I should eat? A nice surprise! Butter, olive oil, avocado oil, eggs, meat, chicken, fish, vegetables and cheese. I love all these foods and will gladly reduce sweets and cookies to eat more eggs, cheese and butter.

Robert Lufkin, MD, not only worked as a radiologist but he also taught other doctors. His mother was a dietician, and yet he ate incorrectly for years until learning how to eat correctly. This book is full of technical details as well as practical advice.