The Art of Reason

The need for artful incorporation of Hippocrates’ wisdom is great in today’s healthcare landscape. As conversation of nutrition broadens into multidisciplinary fields, his wisdom resonates: first, “we must make a habit of two things; to help; or at least to do no harm”. Second, we must modernize the ancient adage: “let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food”. And finally, health care providers will do well to be guided by his insight that “all disease starts in the gut”. Hippocrates’ keen observations during his era, modern science is confirming, hold keys to the plight of our times as we seek to find better ways to manage complex conditions commonly encountered in pelvic rehab practice settings and beyond.

Considered some of the oldest writings on medicine, the “Hippocratic Corpus” is a collection of more than 60 medical books attributed directly and indirectly to Hippocrates himself who lived from approximately 460 to 377 BCE.² According to the Corpus, Hippocratic approach recommends physical exercise and a “healthy diet” as a remedy for most ailments - with plants being prized for their healing properties. If -during illness states - employment of nourishment and movement strategies fail, then medicinal considerations could be made. This logos - the ancient Greek word for logic - is the art of reason whose relevance today is perhaps more poignant than in ancient times.

In this logos, by making a habit of helping, or at the very least, not harming, it becomes particularly important to identify the unique nutritional landscape that surrounds us. The Hippocratic Oath emanates reason. It is logical that we would seek to practice (healthcare) to the best of our ability, share knowledge with other providers, employ sympathy, compassion and understanding, and help in disease prevention whenever possible.² One of the most helpful and powerful aspects of rehabilitation is the gift of time we have for meaningful and instructional conversation with our clients. Our interactions with clients can and should address the realm of nutrition as it relates to the health of the mind and body. Because, after all - to help - is why many become health care providers in the first place.

Detailing a “healthy diet” in Hippocratic times was certainly simpler, as the uncontrolled variable of processed foods- as we know them- did not exist. Therefore, we reflect upon the quote: “let food be thy medicine and let medicine be thy food” and acknowledge that this modern food landscape is vastly different ¹ than in ancient times. Compounding the issue, our standard logic for helping has gotten somewhat out of order. And both medicine and food carry meanings today reflective of modern times. The issues of poly-pharmacy and the tragedy of medically prescribed unintentional overdoses (or intolerances) remind us of our ‘medicine first’ mentality and the unfortunate reality that medicine is not the cure-all we so wish it could be. Further, not all ‘food’ today is food. Real food sustains and nourishes us. Real food can also heal. We need to celebrate real food for being real food, and champion it’s miraculous ability to support, heal, and transform the human condition.

Finally, health care providers will do well to be guided by Hippocratic insight that “all disease starts in the gut” and to logically extrapolate the opposite: much healing can begin in the gut. It is through this ancient concept that we can organize our modern science and begin to concretely and intentionally help heal ourselves and others from the inside out. Once we understand the key role of digestion and our gut on our health and well-being, the rest is pure logic. We simply need a map for navigation of these universal concepts to go along with our renewed appreciation for the art of reason.

Let Nutrition Perspectives for the Pelvic Rehab Therapist help provide this map. Evolve your nutritional logos into a beautiful and nourishing framework by joining the hundreds of pelvic rehab therapists and other health care providers who have attended Nutrition Perspectives in Pelvic Rehab. Be inspired and empowered on your integrative journey. Live courses will be offered at three sites in 2019: March 1-3 in Arlington, VA, June 7-9 in Houston, TX, and October 11-13 in Tampa, FL!

Fardet, A., Rock, E., Bassama, J., Bohuon, P., Prabhasankar, P., Monteiro, C., . . . Achir, N. (2015). Current food classifications in epidemiological studies do not enable solid nutritional recommendations for preventing diet-related chronic diseases: the impact of food processing. Adv Nutr, 6(6), 629-638. doi:10.3945/an.115.008789

Biography.com https://www.biography.com/people/hippocrates-082216. Accessed January 11, 2019.