Dr. Joe Scherger’s latest book

How many doctors do you know who are truly healthy and fit? Why is that? Aren’t they in the health industry? The answer to that is no.

Most doctors learned their trade in traditional medical schools which taught little about health and wellness, and a lot about medicine. We can be thankful for the latter, as we have many qualified doctors in this valley treating and saving those who are ill.

Fortunately, medical doctors who want to learn health and wellness can go “back to school” for board certifications in integrative and/or functional medicine, or they can simply self-educate through the newest science, research and literature available to us all.

But it takes a special doctor to take that step. It’s a very different world and there is so little time.

One of the busiest doctors I know is Joe Scherger, MD, MPH, vice president of primary care at Eisenhower Medical Center. While he has always considered himself healthy, he now says “much of what I thought was healthy nutrition has changed.” He learned through research and reading with William Davis, David Perlmutter, Mark Hyman, and Eisenhower’s very own Hessam Mahdavi, as his mentor physicians.

Fortunately for all the other busy doctors – and everyone else ready to take the step towards greater health and wellness – Dr. Scherger has summarized his newfound knowledge in a 97-page booklet called Lean and Fit: A Doctor’s Journey to Healthy Nutrition and Greater Wellness.

Much of the book discusses the benefits of a low carbohydrate diet backed by the latest research, and Scherger isn’t afraid to admit that what he learned in school may not have been right:

Like many physicians educated in the 1970s and for three decades after, I thought Robert Atkins was a kook. As the data accumulated that high cholesterol was a major risk factor for heart disease, and that eating saturated fat most likely contributed to this problem, how dare a physician recommend a diet high in saturated fat and low in the whole grains that provided fiber and other nutrients…Recent research is proving Atkins was largely correct. Carbohydrates are the main driver of excess body fat and the changes in the lipids that increase cardiovascular risk.

Lean and Fit is simple in its message, backed by the latest research, and easy to read – especially for those who feel they don’t have the time. I commend Dr. Scherger, and all the other medical doctors stepping outside the box to complement their medical education with the latest research on health and wellness. May you never lose your passion for learning!

For more information visit Lean and Fit on Facebook or call (760) 610.7300.