Dying Teaches Us How To Live: A Doctor's Reflection

Death comes for us all, yet most of us live as though immortal. As a physician who's witnessed countless final moments, I've observed a heartbreaking pattern: people realizing too late that their health was never guaranteed, but rather the culmination of thousands of daily choices.

This episode dives deep into what the deceased might tell us if they could speak again. The bedside confessions are startlingly consistent: "I thought I had more time." "I was too proud to change." "I wish I'd started healing sooner." These aren't just emotional pleas—they reflect a medical reality that the scientific literature confirms. According to the Danish Twin Study, roughly 80% of our health span and lifespan is determined not by our genetics, but by our lifestyle choices. While genetics may load the gun, it's our daily habits around nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress management that pull the trigger.

Most chronic diseases aren't random acts of nature or bad luck—they're slow-building consequences of lives led on autopilot. The damage accumulates silently for years: high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, insulin resistance, inflammation. By the time symptoms appear, significant harm has often already occurred. Yet this sobering reality comes with empowering news: you still have time. You're not powerless. The body has remarkable capacity for healing when given the right conditions. Sustainable health isn't built through 28-day challenges or miracle supplements, but through consistent choices made over months and decades. What small change could you make today that your future self would thank you for? Because someday isn't on the calendar, and later is never guaranteed. Your body is listening even when you're not—what message are you sending it?

Go check out my website for tons of free resources on how to transition towards a healthier diet and lifestyle.

You can download my free plant-based recipes eBook and a ton of other free resources by visiting the Digital Downloads tab of my website at https://www.plantbaseddrjules.com/shop

Don't forget to check out my blog at https://www.plantbaseddrjules.com/blog

You can also watch my educational videos on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMpkQRXb7G-StAotV0dmahQ

Check out my upcoming live events and free eCourse, where you'll learn more about how to create delicious plant-based recipes: https://www.plantbaseddrjules.com/

Go follow me on social media by visiting my Facebook page and Instagram accounts
https://www.facebook.com/plantbaseddrjules
https://www.instagram.com/plantbased_dr_jules/

Last but not least, the best way to show your support and to help me spread my message is to subscribe to my podcast and to leave a 5 star review on Apple and Spotify!
Thanks so much!

Peace, love, plants!
Dr. Jules

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:11):
Hey everyone, welcome to Season 2 of the Dr Jules
Plant-Based Podcast, where wediscuss everything from
plant-based nutrition to themain pillars of lifestyle
medicine.
On medicine hey everyone,welcome back to another episode

(00:31):
of the podcast.
Today's episode might hit anerve and, honestly, that's the
point.
We're going to dive into atopic that's hard to talk about
but impossible to ignore, andthat will affect us all Death
and dying.
Now, before you hit pause,stick with me, because this
episode isn't just about dying,but about living and about what

(00:54):
we can learn from those who'vepassed, especially when it comes
to health, to lifestyle and tothe time that we still have with
the people that we love.
Now, my brain is always going100 miles an hour.
That's just how I'm wired, andI ask a lot of questions, and
often these questions don't haveclear or easy answers.

(01:17):
But here's one question thathas followed me throughout my
entire medical career Could wehave prevented this death?
And, as my colleagues wouldconfirm, we've seen it all.
Some patients will diepeacefully, surrounded by family
, surrounded by love, and othersgo suddenly from an accident or

(01:41):
a heart attack or stroke, andsome people die miserably after
years of suffering and years ofignoring their health.
Some people suffer slowly.
Some people are gone in seconds.
But every time it makes mewonder Was there something that

(02:03):
we missed?
Was this really just bad luck?
And could this person still behere if something had changed
either in the way they livetheir life, the way they eat,
the way they move?
Now, every single day, I meetpeople that walk around like

(02:25):
everything's perfectly fine.
Their blood pressure is 180over 110.
Their HbA1c is 8.2% and theirLDL cholesterol is like a 5.3.
But then they look at me in theeye and say I feel fine, I feel
okay, I don't want thattreatment or I don't want that
intervention because I feelgreat, and sometimes, that's

(02:49):
true, they do feel great untilthey don't.
Now, on a daily basis, Iintervene when some patients
seem to be either minimizingtheir symptoms or completely in
denial and I tell them look, ifI would have these numbers, I

(03:11):
probably wouldn't sleep too wellat night, because patients tend
to minimize what doesn't giveimmediate symptoms.
But our top killers typicallyhave risk factors that go
unnoticed and undiagnosed foryears, things like high blood
pressure, cholesterol, diabetes,sleep apnea, kidney failure,

(03:35):
liver failure.
They can often progress foryears without giving any
noticeable symptoms.
Yet in Canada, the top twokillers are cancer and
cardiovascular disease,conditions that are directly
linked to how we live our lives.
Now, maybe these patients havesimply never been told the full

(04:01):
picture, maybe they don't wantto know, because the truth is,
while facing your health can beterrifying.
We live in this state ofcognitive dissonance where our
brain basically blocks out thatnegative energy so that it
doesn't clash with ourperception of the life that we

(04:24):
live so that it doesn't clashwith our perception of the life
that we live.
But I'll tell you what's evenmore scary than facing the facts
Sitting by a hospital bedWatching someone realize that

(04:49):
they waited too long and it'stoo late Now.
Some people believe in wake-upcalls or aha moments, and others
say it's luck, and one of myfavorite quotes is luck is
opportunity meeting preparedness.
Now, I've never had anear-death experience, but I

(05:10):
came close once and years ago Ihad a severe allergic reaction
out of nowhere, got diagnosedwith cholinergic angioedema.
Basically, my throat wasswelling up, my face was swollen
, my eyes were swollen shut, Ihad chest pains and I had
trouble breathing.
Now, as a doctor that had beenin practice, I knew exactly what

(05:33):
was happening to me and Ipicked up the phone and called
the direct line to the ER andtold one of my colleagues get a
bed ready.
I'm coming in anapaphylacticreaction.
Now, in that moment that mythroat was closing and my heart
was racing for the first time inmy life, I thought this could

(05:55):
be it.
This doesn't just happen toother people.
Over the years I've sat withpatients in their final days.
Some of them could still speak,others just held my hand, and
if I felt close enough to thatpatient, sometimes I'd ask if

(06:20):
you could tell the world onething, what would it be If you
could tell the world one thing?
What would it be?
Now here's what I think we'dhear if the deceased could speak
again.
They might confess things likeI thought I had more time, or

(06:43):
don't be like me I was too proudto change.
My ego kept me from picking upthe phone and booking that
appointment.
I'd give anything for one morewalk with my grandkids.
A lot of patients keep sayingI'll start tomorrow, but then
tomorrow never comes, or thingslike I wish I'd started healing

(07:06):
mentally, physically andspiritually a lot sooner.
They might warn us that we'renot invincible, that the junk
food, the cigarettes, the energydrinks, the ultra-processed
food they don't feel dangerous,but the damage accumulates

(07:29):
slowly over time.
I have some patients thatadmitted to me that they had
laughed at some of the healthadvice that I gave to them.
They thought it was overblown,until they realized that it
wasn't.
One of my patients told me Ijust realized that pills will

(07:54):
never undo the years of damage.
Now I tell my patients you canfight biology for a while, but
in the end biology always wins.
We all will die someday, but howwe live and how we die, that's

(08:15):
up to us and for the most partit's directly linked to how we
live our lives.
There's a study called theDanish Twin Study where they
concluded that something like80% of our health span and life
span is determined by ourlifestyle choices, by what we

(08:38):
eat, how we move, how we connect, how we manage stress, how we
sleep and what we put in ourbodies.
Now a lot of people will sayheart disease runs in my family.
Now genetics do load the gun,but lifestyle pulls the trigger.

(08:59):
And there's this science.
There's new emerging science ofepigenetics, understanding that
we are not doomed by our genes,doomed by our genes.
We can actually modify howthose genes are expressed
through lifestyle interventionsand things we eat and how we

(09:21):
live Now.
Some people who have passed awaymight beg us to take care of
our body, to move every day, towalk, to dance, to try to find
happiness, try to find purpose,trying to live a life that's
aligned with our values.
And some people might say dyingslowly was a real nightmare.

(09:48):
One of my patients once told methat his greatest regret was
not cooking more with his family, making real memories out of
real food that feeds the bodyboth physically and spiritually.
Another one says that heshouldn't have waited, that

(10:11):
prevention matters, that lifeisn't just about surviving but
about living.
Now here's the truth.
Most chronic illnesses like type2 diabetes, heart disease and
cancers, they're not just badluck.
They're often the results oftiny micro-cho choices that we

(10:34):
make every day and thataccumulate over time.
But the good news is that wehave more control than we think
and lifestyle medicine works.
Nutrition, movement, sleep,stress, care, purpose,
connection it all matters.
And if you're listening to this, it means that you still have

(10:57):
time, more than they did.
Now the real tragedy isn'tdying, it's wasting the time
that we had, thinking that we'dalways have more.
And remember that you don'tneed to be perfect, you just
need to start.
Even small changes can rewriteyour whole story, and I've seen

(11:18):
patients completely turn theirlives around.
But sustainable change takestime.
It takes small improvements tocreate positive reinforcement
and build confidence.
Now, sustainable lifestylechoices they build over months
and years and decades.

(11:40):
I know the internet tends tooffer us quick fixes and
solutions and 28-day abs or6-week weight loss plans, but

(12:01):
the way you live and die will bedetermined by things that you
do 80% of the time over the longterm.
If you find yourself alwaystrying this new hack or this new
trend or this new fad that ismeant to rebuild your health
within weeks or days, you mightbe looking at the wrong place.

(12:21):
Now, before we close out thisepisode, I want to leave you
with this we don't get to choosehow our story ends, but we do
get to choose how it unfolds.
And every time you skip acheckup or ignore symptoms, or
every time you say I'll start onMonday, those moments they
matter, and so do the ones whereyou actually decide to show up

(12:46):
for yourself.
Now the truth is quite simplebut sobering.
Most chronic diseases aren'trandom acts of nature and aren't
bad luck.
They're slow buildingconsequences of the life we lead
and the life we ignore.
But you're not powerless.
You're not even close to beingpowerless.
You can nourish your body, youcan move with purpose, you can

(13:11):
rest, you can reconnect, you canrealign with what matters, you
can live a life where yourbehaviors are aligned with your
values.
Because if dead people couldtalk, I think they'd say don't
waste your time.
Don't wait for pain to be yourwake-up call.
Start now, while you still can.

(13:34):
So I want you to ask yourselfwhat's one small change that you
could make, starting today Nottomorrow, not next week, not on
New Year's Now whether it'simproving the way you eat, the
way you move and the way yousleep and the way you connect,
the way you manage stress.
You still have time.

(13:57):
Use it well Now.
Let's be honest.
Most of us live our lives likewe've got forever.
We scroll on our phones, wesnack on ultra-processed foods
and we stress on things thatdon't matter.
We tell ourselves that we'lldeal with our health later.
One of the hardest lessons thatI've learned at the bedside of

(14:18):
dying patients is that later isnever guaranteed and someday
isn't on the calendar.
And when the end does come,whether it happens slowly or
suddenly, it's not the bigachievements that people talk
about.
It's the missed moments.
They don't say I wish I hadmore money or I wish I had

(14:41):
worked more weekends.
They say I wish I had gone forthat hike with my kids and I
wish I called my mom more oftenand I wish I'd taken care of my
body before he gave up on me.
So here's what I want to leaveyou with today.
Health isn't about perfection.
It's about presence.
It's about being here fully andjoyfully for your kids, your

(15:06):
partner, your passions, yourpurpose.
You don't need a six-pack andyou don't need to run marathons
to be healthy.
You just need to startrespecting your body, feeding it
real food, letting it move,letting it rest, letting it feel
and letting it heal.
Your body is always listening,even when you're not, and if

(15:29):
there's one gift that you cangive your future self is live a
life that you won't regret.
So after this episode ends,don't just move on with your day
.
Take a minute, turn off thenoise and ask yourself what's
one thing that I've beenavoiding?
What would the future me, 10years from now, wish that I had

(15:53):
started today from now?
Wish that I had started today.
Either write it down or tellsomeone, or do something,
because as long as yourbreathing changes, possible,
healing is possible.
There's always hope.
You have time, but don't wasteit Right on.

(16:13):
Thanks so much for being heretoday.
Thanks for opening up your mindto hearing things that shake us
and make us feel emotion.
That was the point of the wholeepisode.
I reflect on life and I reflecton death regularly probably too
much but it does help me alignmy behaviors with my values.

(16:38):
Cool, you have an awesome day.
Keep an open mind and makesmall incremental changes that
accumulate over time.
We'll see you at the nextepisode, peace.