I am a traditionally trained western medicine physician. In spite of clear and considerable progress over the past century, chronic diseases are now on the rise. It's been said that 80% of diabetes and 90% of heart disease can be prevented through lifestyle choices. This made me realize that although western medicine has an important role to play in treating and managing disease, integrating lifestyle medicine is just as important, if not more. Lifestyle medicine focuses on the importance of what we eat, how we cook, how we exercise, and mindfulness in the overall health of an individual. We have long said that an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure, but never really acted on this in our daily diet or living.