Individualized Practice of Nutrition Science

Kathryn Tian

Registered Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine (Canada)

Registered Acupuncturist (Canada)

ND Candidate (Canada)

MD (Canadian Equivalence)

The national bestseller “Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy” was written byDr. Walter Willett and co-developed with the Harvard School of Public Health.Dr. Willett is a medical doctor and he suggests “a science-based, multiculturalapproach to healthy eating.” What I found interesting is that his approachactually indicates the new direction of nutrition science practice.

In Chapter 11 of his book, Dr. Willet mentioned, “Today theMediterranean diet is often held up as a prime example of healthy eating thatshould be adopted by all. But the Mediterranean diet isn’t necessarilyperfect.” As a matter of fact, up till now I found most of the teaching aboutnutrition is still sticking with the idea of Mediterranean diet, giving me afeeling that only Mediterranean diet is healthy. Dr. Willet’s book changed mymind. Dr. Willet pointed out that people’s diet is related to many factorswhich mainly depend on where they live. The places/countries people live inhave different geological, economical and political features, and thosefeatures have great impact on what people can get for their food choices. Dr.Willet stated that, “Also keep in mind that diets that seem to be good forpeople whose days are full of hard physical labor aren’t necessarily good forpeople who toil at a desk all day.” Based on these thoughts, he invented the “NewHealthy Eating Pyramid”. The base of the pyramid is “daily exercise and weightcontrol”, and from the bottom to top he listed whole grain foods, plant oil,vegetables and fruits, nuts and legumes, fish, poultry, eggs, diary or calciumsupplement, and red meat, butter and carbs. I think this pyramid is verywell-rounded and is supported by evidences; Mediterranean diet can be a goodexample of it but not all. Dr. Willet summarized that, “Given these choices, Idon’t advocate returning to a single humble diet or switching to a particulartraditional diet. Instead, what I am suggesting is a flexible eating strategybased on a completely rebuilt food pyramid that incorporates elements ofhealthy eating patterns from around the world and leaves plenty of room forcreativity and innovation. The Mediterranean diet offers a good blueprint forhealthy eating. But there’s plenty of room for fine-tuning, and other culturesalso have healthy eating strategies to offer.”

I am all for Dr. Willet’s theory. The food therapy in TraditionalChinese Medicine is a good reflection to his theory. In TCM, individualizedpractice is highly emphasized. Everybody and even the same person when he/sheat different stage of life needs to have “fine-tuning” for diet. Furthermore,people actually need to eat differently in different seasons. Chinese culturehas its own strategies for healthy eating and I can see the similarities withDr. Willet’s pyramid. The “flexibility” truly helps achieving healthy eatinginternationally.

In summary, Dr. Willet convinced me that individualized practice ofnutrition science is evidence-based. In the future, I will follow his theoryand prescribe to patients their own specific healthy eating formulae, so thathelp them achieving their optimum health.

Reference

Willett, Walter C. and Skerrett, Patrick J.Eat, Drink, and Be Healthy. The Harvard Medical School Guide to Healthy Eating.Chapter 11.