No one in their right mind would fix their health issues without consulting a physician, an expert in physical health. Yet we are very willing to do most of our lifes without consulting any other experts, even if we deeply care about most of it. What experts and/or assistants are very worth consulting either in terms of saved time acquiring relevant knowledge, ease of mind or greatly enhanced results? I am thinking along the lines of training alone versus having your physician assess your physical health once a year and contacting the trainer you meet once every month to adjust your exercise routine.
The tongue-in-cheek answer would be to say that they are not in their right mind.
But I’d rather ask: Is it worthwhile to consult a physician before a diet change? Since, from my lay understanding, dietary needs are highly individual I’d say yes. Except for the dietary change the vast majority of people need: To consume fewer calories and more vegetables.
Physicians can’t do magic. Dietary needs are to some degree individual but that doesn’t mean that your physician necessarily knows what’s best for you.
Healthy living is often about switching habits and that not something where physicians can help you much via a 15 minutes (or less) conversation.
If you suspect gluten insensitivity it can make sense to get tested by a physician but in many cases you just have to be aware of what’s happening with you. How does your body react to different kinds of food? What stands in the way of changing your habits?
Isn’t individuality of dietary needs reason not to consult a physician? In most cases it’s going to be impractical for a physician to study any individual patient’s requirements. They may also be legally or professionally prohibited from the kind of experimentation needed to find those requirements.
parental and relationship advice (at least it is offered quite a lot in Germany and we used it)
job and career advice—there is a whole profession for placing prospective youth into jobs and later on qutie some effort is made to help you find a job (though quality has declined a lot in Germany in the last years)
If reading scientific books counts as ‘consulting experts’ then quite a lot of topics (including diet above) count, or?
If reading scientific books counts as ‘consulting experts’ then quite a lot of topics (including diet above) count, or?
It very much does! But I was hoping to get some interesting suggestions, like specific books or professions, on here instead of the usual nagging that the question isn’t in the best possible format.
Yet we are very willing to do most of our lifes without consulting any other experts
That just isn’t true. Every time you call a plumber or hand your car to an auto mechanic or go to a class, etc. etc. you consult an “other expert”.
Reliance on on other people has its own built-in problems—e.g. the agency issue or deciding which expert to pick (say, you want to lose weight—there is a large variety of experts all disagreeing with each other...).
your physician assess your physical health
Physicians are rarely interested in or trained to assess physical health. What they do instead is assess lack of disease which is a different thing.
No one in their right mind would fix their health issues without consulting a physician, an expert in physical health. Yet we are very willing to do most of our lifes without consulting any other experts, even if we deeply care about most of it. What experts and/or assistants are very worth consulting either in terms of saved time acquiring relevant knowledge, ease of mind or greatly enhanced results? I am thinking along the lines of training alone versus having your physician assess your physical health once a year and contacting the trainer you meet once every month to adjust your exercise routine.
Quite a lot people do start diets without consulting a physician.
The tongue-in-cheek answer would be to say that they are not in their right mind.
But I’d rather ask: Is it worthwhile to consult a physician before a diet change? Since, from my lay understanding, dietary needs are highly individual I’d say yes. Except for the dietary change the vast majority of people need: To consume fewer calories and more vegetables.
Physicians can’t do magic. Dietary needs are to some degree individual but that doesn’t mean that your physician necessarily knows what’s best for you.
Healthy living is often about switching habits and that not something where physicians can help you much via a 15 minutes (or less) conversation.
If you suspect gluten insensitivity it can make sense to get tested by a physician but in many cases you just have to be aware of what’s happening with you. How does your body react to different kinds of food? What stands in the way of changing your habits?
Isn’t individuality of dietary needs reason not to consult a physician? In most cases it’s going to be impractical for a physician to study any individual patient’s requirements. They may also be legally or professionally prohibited from the kind of experimentation needed to find those requirements.
I see a lot of consulting in the following areas:
sports—esp. if happening in a fitness center
parental and relationship advice (at least it is offered quite a lot in Germany and we used it)
job and career advice—there is a whole profession for placing prospective youth into jobs and later on qutie some effort is made to help you find a job (though quality has declined a lot in Germany in the last years)
If reading scientific books counts as ‘consulting experts’ then quite a lot of topics (including diet above) count, or?
It very much does! But I was hoping to get some interesting suggestions, like specific books or professions, on here instead of the usual nagging that the question isn’t in the best possible format.
That just isn’t true. Every time you call a plumber or hand your car to an auto mechanic or go to a class, etc. etc. you consult an “other expert”.
Reliance on on other people has its own built-in problems—e.g. the agency issue or deciding which expert to pick (say, you want to lose weight—there is a large variety of experts all disagreeing with each other...).
Physicians are rarely interested in or trained to assess physical health. What they do instead is assess lack of disease which is a different thing.