A Des Moines health coach makes a good case for eating healthier as a path toward reversing chronic disease — particularly obesity and Type 2 diabetes — and in the process creating more sustainable communities. I recently sat down with Ted Schierer, whose new book, “Living in Reverse,” outlines research that shows that chronic diseases that took decades to develop can typically be reversed in a matter of months or weeks. 

“The one interest I’ve had all my life is sustainability,” he said, “and as I’ve gone along and begun understanding the different types of sustainability better — personal, community, environmental and financial sustainability — all those things are impacted by wellness. Health care is the biggest sustainability issue — about 70 percent of chronic diseases are preventable.” 

Schierer became interested in disease reversal while doing research for his first book, which he wrote on the topic of sustainability. “All these eye-popping stats for health care started to emerge, as well as my own health journey,” he said. “Like most Americans, I ate [according to] the Food Pyramid my entire life. Then as I was doing research for this book, I realized that my diet was not a healthy diet.” 

In 2015, the USDA “finally took some of the clamps off of dietary fat, and made a statement that dietary cholesterol was no longer a concern …  and that the opposite was true, that higher fat, along with non-starchy carbs, leads to a beneficial result for most people,” he said. “Pretty much any whole-foods diet that leaves out processed foods that leaves out the simple carbohydrates and starches is going to be a pretty healthy diet.” 

Because obesity and Type 2 diabetes create an environment for the other diet-driven diseases such as heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s, it makes sense to address them with regimens such as the government’s Diabetes Prevention Program or the Mediterranean diet. 

Schierer’s message reinforces those put forward by Healthiest State Iowa, United Way of Central Iowa and other organizations I’ve covered. As Schierer remarked to me, hearing the message from several different sources may just solidify it for people and help some new wellness knowledge advance. 

Schierer has done wellness outreach Q&A events at Natural Grocers, and is open to working with employers or wellness organizations on similar programs, he said. He also has made his book’s content available as a resource on the Suggestic app from iTunes. He can also be reached at tschierer@jettphc.com or 515-230-8253.