By Curtis Thill, M.D. 

 

I’ve been practicing medicine in southern Indiana for a long time – long enough to remember when nobody needed a government pamphlet to tell them that a bag of chips wasn’t dinner. Back then, real food was just called “food.” Turns out, Washington has finally caught up with your grandmother.

Nutrition history in the making

The brand-new Dietary Guidelines that you may have heard about – now available at RealFood.gov – have scrapped the old food pyramid and, for the first time in history, officially told Americans to avoid highly processed food. Think about that. The federal government is now telling us what many of our own mothers and grandmothers told us for free, every single day. Better late than never.

The new framework — called the New Pyramid — flips the old model on its head. Instead of loading your plate with bread and pasta first, the new guidance says: start with protein. Every meal. Quality protein from eggs, meat, fish, dairy, nuts, and beans is now at the top of the priority list, followed by vegetables and fruit, with whole grains taking a modest supporting role. Added sugar? It really has no place at the table at all. Neither do sodas, sweetened drinks, or highly processed snack foods.

As a family physician, this shift matters enormously to me because I personally see the cost of the old way every single week. Here are some sobering facts: half of Americans now have pre-diabetes or diabetes. Three-quarters have at least one chronic condition. These are not just numbers — these are my patients, my neighbors, and quite possibly you or someone you love. 

Positive changes work – and are easier than one might think

The encouraging news is that diet and lifestyle changes work. The American Diabetes Association’s own guidelines confirm that reducing refined carbohydrates and boosting whole, nutrient-dense foods has the strongest evidence for improving blood sugar of any dietary approach. You don’t need a prescription for an avocado.

So what does this look like on a practical Tuesday evening in Marengo, English, Paoli, or Bedford? It may look like a nice lean side of beef, a pile of green beans, and a glass of water. It may look like eggs and cheese for breakfast instead of a bowl of sugary cereal. It looks like reaching for an apple and a handful of walnuts instead of a bag of crackers. 

None of this is complicated. Most of it is just getting back to what our Indiana kitchens used to do naturally before the age of frozen convenience meals.

Now, food is only half the equation — and that’s where I want to tell you about something exciting. Southern Indiana Community Health Care (SICHC) has been offering a free program called Stronger Every Day, funded through the Indiana Department of Health. It’s designed to help people get moving in ways that actually feel doable. No judgment, no pressure, no special equipment required — just comfortable clothes and a willingness to try. If you’ve ever said: “I don’t know where to start,” this program was literally built for that answer.

Whether or not you dive into the free SICHC program or do it on your own, why should you begin exercising regularly? Regular movement — especially combining walking with some resistance exercise — improves insulin sensitivity, lowers blood sugar, strengthens your heart, and helps you maintain a healthy weight. Combined with the Real Food approach, it is genuinely one of the most powerful things you can do for your long-term health. More powerful, in many cases, than the medications that I might end up writing to treat other outcomes. 

I know change can feel overwhelming. I know that driving to a grocery store with a good produce section isn’t always easy out here, and I know that after a long day of work, the drive-through is awfully tempting. I’m not suggesting perfection. I’m asking for progress — one better meal, one short walk, one less soda. Those small choices compound over time in ways that genuinely matter.

For more information, visit RealFood.gov and Stronger Every Day. And if you need someone to walk alongside you on this journey, come see us. 

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A board-certified family physician, Dr. Curtis Thill has practiced medicine and planted organic gardens in southern Indiana for more than three decades.