One Doctor’s Quest: WTF* is Wrong with Our Health?

Roberto Tostado, M.D., author of WTF* is Wrong with Our Health?, began his career in family practice. He quickly became disillusioned with the medical system he was part of. And he noticed a pattern in his chronically ill patients. “Knowing how to maintain optimum health with a sensible enjoyable diet should be common sense,” he writes, “but too many people continue to feed their diseases and chronic discomfort instead. And they’re encouraged by our medical system and massive pharmacological industry, which thrive on maintaining illness rather than preventing and healing it.”

In an interview, Dr. Tostado shared about his revelation and what he could do about it. “I shed my ego—not easy at all—and got away from thinking I had all the answers from my medical training. I didn’t want to be part of a machine anymore that was built on the premise of maintaining disease with pharmaceuticals when healing was possible with nutrition.”

He wrote this book, as he says in his introduction, “for people who are tired of dieting to lose weight; for those who are sick of being told that their diabetes is a life sentence; and for those who are sick and tired of taking all kinds of medications every day for years, with no end in sight. This book is here to help you understand that your health is grounded on what you put in your body—and that food can be your medicine or your poison, depending on what you choose to eat every day.”

Dr. Tostado has been helping people heal through nutrition for the last 17 years. As a functional medicine doctor, he treats his patients with food detoxification, plant-based bio-identical hormones, stem cell therapy, and basic food education. He doesn’t believe in medications anymore. “There are no side effects from broccoli, but there are tons of side effects from medication; just read the labels.” He also writes, “More visits to the farmers’ market means fewer visits to your doctor.”

His secrets to better health include these tips:

1. Eat the right fats: nuts, seeds, avocados, coconut oil, olive oil, milk, fish, and grass-fed lamb.
2. Avoid sugar and processed foods.
3. Eat plenty of organic vegetables and fruits.
4. Eat wholesome foods 80% of the time and leave 20% for your treats.
5. Detox regularly: a 3-week detox program twice per year is optimal.
6. Have your blood work done to measure your levels of hormones (thyroid, testosterone, cortisol), vitamin D, C-reactive protein, and homocysteine.
7. Sleep is the best anti-aging medicine around.
8. Laugh! Humor is important to overall health.

Dr. Tostado has seen incredible turnarounds in his patients. He asks them to change their habits for two weeks just to see how they feel. “When you feel much better after just a couple of weeks of cleansing your body, your brain loves it and wants to feel that way for a seriously long time. Shift happens!” His ultimate challenge to everyone is, “Dare to be healthy and happy.”