Why This God-Focused Doctor Says You Should Throw Away Your Scale

The United States has a problem, one that threatens the future of every person who lives here. And it has nothing to do with the contested presidential election, racism or even the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Mark Sherwood says this problem stems from what we put into and onto our bodies, most of which take us far away from God’s perfect design. The problem begins with our mouths, he says. But the solution has nothing to do with weight loss, which is typically the first idea we turn to when we consider our health.

“People tend to fall into the teaching that disease is destiny, or perhaps aging is destiny. … we don’t want to own that,” Sherwood, a naturopathic doctor and co-host of the Healthcare’s Missing Link podcast, told Dr. Steve Greene on a recent episode of Greenelines on the Charisma Podcast Network. “We want to instead focus on how to optimize function in life and our idea of wellness, all to the glory and manifestation of God working through us and shining through us and speaking to us to really be able to do all we want, when we want, as often as we want, relatively pain free.”

But this doesn’t mean we should focus on weight loss, Sherwood said. “Weight loss as a goal should be avoided for everyone. And I mean what I’m saying, because it’s really about composition; it’s about function. In our clinic, we serve people from all over the country and the world. We don’t have a scale; we have a body comp machine that does give us a metric called weight. But I don’t care what people weigh as much as I care what the composition of their body is.

“And frankly, scale weight as a target of success is a horrible idea,” he said. “Because I can give you examples that show weight loss decreases health. And I can show you examples where weight gain would increase health. Just because one goes down in weight does not mean health improved. And just because one went up in weight does not mean health is improved. It’s that that simple.

“So it’s best if we throw away the scales if we don’t know how to interpret them in proper context,” Sherwood said.

So what can we do instead? Listen to the entire episode of Greenelines here to hear Sherwood’s four-point prescription for optimal health along with multiple other ideas for ways you can boost your immunity and allow the systems God has placed within you to operate as He intended all along. And be sure to listen to Healthcare’s Missing Link on the Charisma Podcast Network for spiritual truth and practical encouragement for how you can live in total health and function. {eoa}