Twice a week I hit the doctor's lounge at the hospital to eat lunch. This particular day I was in a hurry, so I was grabbing my lunch to go. I overheard two doctors next to me talking about cholesterol. Feeling like I am an expert on the subject, I listened in and was very surprised at what I heard. It went something like this:

Doctor 1 - "My cholesterol is 220. What should I do about it?"

(I knew the obvious answer to this, but held my tongue. I had just lowered my cholesterol by 80 points last year by good nutrition alone, without any medications. You can read my cholesterol story by clicking here).

Doctor 2 - "Oh, that's easy. Just take Lipitor."

(I was shocked. Take a medication with potential side effects, when it would be so easy to lower it naturally?)

Doctor 1 - "Is that the best medication for it? I tried another medication last year, but it didn't work very well."

Doctor 2 - "Lipitor works great. Let me know if you want a prescription."

If I wasn't in such a hurry, I would have jumped in on the conversation and mentioned a few things such as "oat bran" and "fiber", but I've a feeling these two terms would have seemed like a foreign language to them.

It's amazing to me that so many people just jump to a pill to cure anything, when so many health problems can be alleviated by exercise and good nutrition.

Another reason I kept my mouth shut is that I already have a reputation at the hospital of being one of those crazy pediatricians who wants all his patients to breastfeed their babies. If I had publicly brought up the issue of good nutrition in the doctor's lounge, I might have lost my privileges at the hospital!