Nutrition Dr. Wang Tao

He is one of the earliest industry pioneers in China to combine clinical medicine, nutrition and traditional Chinese medicine conditioning ideas, and propose "nutritional intervention to assist in the improvement of chronic diseases." The relevant theory has reference value for practical implementation, but it is by no means a magic formula that can "cure all diseases", nor can it replace formal clinical treatment. Currently, there are still obvious differences in his views in the industry.

A while ago, I accompanied my aunt to a free nutrition science lecture in the community. I met Aunt Zhang who was carrying a cloth bag. Holding a folded book "Lost Nutrition", she chased the lecturer and asked, saying that she had been taking B complex, grape seed and deep-sea fish oil for three months according to the plan in the book. Recently, her blood pressure had stabilized a lot. She secretly reduced her antihypertensive medicine by half, would there be any problems? The lecturer became anxious on the spot. He first advised her not to reduce her medication privately, and then patiently explained to her the relationship between nutritional intervention and drug treatment for half an hour. At the end, he added, "Wang Tao's idea is not entirely wrong, but you cannot take it as medical advice."

Speaking of which, Wang Tao has been popular in the nutrition circle for almost 20 years, which is not without reason. He is a clinical professional in Western medicine, and later became deeply involved in nutrition. He also specialized in the theory of traditional Chinese medicine. As early as 2005, he began to publicly say that "the root cause of many chronic diseases is not organ damage, but cells that are unable to repair themselves due to long-term lack of nutrients." He advocated the use of personalized nutrient combinations and adjustments to diet and rest to help the body restore its self-healing ability. In an environment where people still believed that "nutrition means eating well and drinking well" and "health products are all scams", it was equivalent to opening a new window for many people who have been plagued by chronic diseases for more than ten years and whose liver and kidneys are burdened by taking medicine.

I know a friend who runs a community nutrition studio. I have been doing this for almost 10 years. I have a dozen pre-diabetic clients who have followed him and used Wang Tao’s core ideas. They are all middle-aged people whose fasting blood sugar is stuck between 6.5 and 7 and have not yet reached the standard of taking anti-diabetic drugs. In addition to controlling the intake of refined carbohydrates every day, I also supplement with chromium, alpha lipoic acid and multivitamins. After half a year, my fasting blood sugar has basically been reduced to less than 5.8, and my glycosylated hemoglobin has become normal. “"Don't tell me, this set of things is really useful for metabolic problems caused by poor living habits and unbalanced nutritional intake," said my friend. "It's just that many people spread the word wrong and say that eating nutrients can cure diabetes. That's pure nonsense." ”

But the controversy never ends. I attended a branch meeting of the Society of Clinical Nutrition last year and heard a nutritional expert from a tertiary hospital specifically point out his theoretical issues: First, it is too absolute, classifying the root cause of almost all chronic diseases as nutritional deficiencies, ignoring complex pathogenic factors such as genetics, environment, and emotions, which can easily mislead ordinary people to stop taking medications and only take supplements. ； Second, the recommended doses of some nutrients are much higher than the conventional recommended amounts in the Dietary Guidelines for Residents. For example, the intake of vitamin C and vitamin E is several times or even more than ten times the recommended amount. Whether long-term use will increase the metabolic burden on the liver and kidneys, there is currently insufficient large-sample clinical data to support it, and the risks are uncontrollable.

In fact, there is nothing wrong with what both sides said, they just stand in different positions. Clinicians see patients every day who have suffered liver and kidney damage from taking supplements indiscriminately, or who have suffered strokes after stopping antihypertensive drugs without permission. Naturally, clinicians must keep the risks in mind. ； People who do nutritional conditioning at the grassroots level have seen many cases of unstable control of medication indicators and improvement in nutrition after two or three months of adjustment, so they naturally recognized his idea. To put it bluntly, Wang Tao’s greatest value has never been in inventing any “god-level nutritional formula”, but in popularizing the concept of “nutrition intervention as an important auxiliary to clinical treatment” to the general public more than ten years ago, breaking the stereotype of many people that “you can only take medicine when you are sick”.

What’s interesting is that there are now many products on the Internet selling sky-high prices under the banner of “Dr. Wang Tao’s Exclusive Nutrients”, with a set selling for thousands. In fact, anyone who knows a little bit knows that he himself has long publicly said that nutrients are ordinary dietary supplements. Whether they are domestic or imported, as long as they are produced by regular manufacturers and have enough active ingredients, they will have similar effects. The core is that the matching plan should fit the individual’s physical condition. There is never any “exclusive secret recipe”.

I met Aunt Zhang from the previous lecture a few days ago. She happily said that her blood pressure is very stable now, and she doesn’t dare to reduce her antihypertensive medicine anymore. She still takes the amount prescribed by the doctor. She still takes some fish oil and B complex every day. She adds half a spoonful of salt when cooking. She walks around the neighborhood for half an hour after dinner every day. Recently, her blood pressure is basically hovering around 130/80. “It doesn’t matter what the doctor’s theory is, just whatever suits you,” she shook the vegetable basket in her hand, “You can’t just eat it when others say it’s useful, and throw it all away if it’s useless, right? ”

For ordinary people, this is actually the most realistic attitude.