University Lecture Series
TV doctor Art Ulene
By Laban Pelz
The Collegian
Though a physician himself, Art Ulene said a doctor’s prescription can only go so far in helping a person achieve what he called “real vitality.”
He cited studies that show regular exercise can reduce the risks of heart attack and stroke by as much as 30 percent and can cut a woman’s chances of getting breast cancer in half.
“I challenge you to find any doctor’s prescription that can produce these results,” Ulene said Tuesday from the Satellite Student Union, where he was this year’s first speaker in the University Lecture Series.
Some audience members received his new book, “Dr. Art Ulene’s Vitality Challenge,” free and he was available for signings.
Ulene, whose career has largely been centered on television to promote public health (he has appeared on NBC’s Today program for more than two decades), said real vitality is the ultimate state of wellness that only occurs when all parts of a person: mental, physical and emotional, are in balance.
“If you wake up feeling refreshed and looking forward to the day. When you remain well when others are sneezing. If you can jog two to three miles and still have energy for more, then you have real vitality,” he said.
Ulene said medicine relies too much on precise measurements to determine if a person is healthy.
“If we [doctors] don’t find anything grossly wrong with you, we say you’re fine,” he said. “Prescriptions don’t deal with issues involving patients.”
Lack of self-esteem, uncontrollable obesity and headaches caused by stress are some things outside of scientific medicine, Ulene said.
Ulene listed 20 things a person can do to improve his or her health. One is to maintain a healthy body weight and though most people have heard this, Ulene said the trick is to lose body weight slowly.
“Listen to the power of small changes,” he said.
Ulene said a person who drinks three glasses of whole milk a day can lose 22 pounds in a year if the person switches to three glasses of nonfat milk daily.
He also said a person should limit one’s alcohol intake to no more than two drinks a day. He cited some benefits of drinking small amounts of alcohol as opposed to none, but “of course I don’t recommend that those who don’t drink begin,” he said.
Another step for people looking to be healthier is to eat more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and fibers. He defended grain products as helpful in reducing cancers and other health problems.
“That’s why I was so furious with the Atkins diet,” he said. “Why would you give up whole grains, which reduce the risk of so many things, so you can lose two pounds in a year, which, by the way, you’ll gain back?”
Ulene also recommended nutrient supplements, which 20 years ago he thought only served to “enrich one’s urine.”
Ulene will speak at a conference today in downtown Fresno dealing with childhood obesity. He said he wants to use media to attack health problems.
“This is a problem so huge and so complicated that we have to work together and enlist partners, some in unusual places,” he said.
Ulene said he would like to see television, newspapers, schools and supermarkets collaborate, for if this problem isn’t addressed, “a generation of young people will face a lifetime of illness.
“Schools can stop serving foods high in calories and low in nutrients and supermarkets can offer special rewards for families when they buy vegetables.”
Ulene dismissed economics as any factor keeping children from eating healthfully, pointing out that stores make more money from selling vegetables than Oreo cookies.
“It’s a mistake to blame childhood obesity on any single issue. We know that food, television and even the absence of parents add up. We need to make lots of small changes that are beneficial and not painful.”
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