Last weekend, the 14th annual Aesthetic & Anti-Aging Medicine World Congress was held in Monaco. The conference focused on aspects of anti-aging medicine, including plastic surgery, dermatology and nutrition. Here at The Zone, we believe in anti-aging from the inside out using the latest science in anti-inflammatory nutrition. We’re excited that Dr. Sears was one of three key note speakers for the conference this year because it means that the world of aesthetic medicine is beginning to understand that beauty starts within, and can be maintained with proper nutrition for a lifetime. Below Dr. Sears writes about his impressions of the conference.
Beautiful Location, Beautiful People and the Zone
Sometimes you have to go where the love is. In this case, it was Monaco for the largest aesthetic medicine conference in the world. What better place to discuss beauty than beautiful Monaco? As one of the Honorary Presidents for this conference, I was to give the keynote lecture on Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition and Aging.
Let’s be frank, aesthetic medicine is really about making people look more beautiful, and of course, younger in the process. So to a certain extent as a research scientist, this is not the typical audience I usually speak to. It is exciting that this branch of medicine is beginning to see the advantages of educating patients on anti-inflammatory nutrition.
Besides, who in his right mind is going to turn down an opportunity to educate these professionals in Monaco for three days?
Arriving in Monaco, it was everything you would expect; a beautiful location overlooking the Mediterranean, lots of Ferraris, and of course beautiful people. It was like attending a photo shoot for Vogue magazine on every street corner.
Entering the conference hotel overlooking (actually overhanging) the Mediterranean, I was struck by the number of mirrors. Then it occurred to me that beautiful and confident people probably don’t try to avoid mirrors. It was clear that the people of Monaco were doing something right to maintain their level of health and beauty.
Hungry for Knowledge
Unlike most medical conferences where the scientific talks are the reason for attending, in this case it was the exhibits. I was struck by the hundreds of exhibits with beautiful sales reps explaining to the beautiful attendees how to become even more beautiful. Needless to say, I felt like a fish out of water. So when it was time to give my keynote address, I expected a rather empty lecture hall. Much to my surprise, it was packed.
Even more surprising was that when I began speaking, the cameras in the crowd started clicking furiously like paparazzi at the red carpet for the Academy Awards. I thought that maybe they had mistaken me for George Clooney or were impressed by my youthful glow in the darkened conference room.
No, the photographic activity was for the slides on the screen. I realized that after decades of continuing to hear about promises for more beautiful skin and a longer life (with even more beauty), they had come to the conclusion that scientifically-based nutrition practices instead of hype might be the answer they were looking for to keep their patients looking and feeling beautiful for years to come.
Much of the science I used to explain how anti-inflammatory nutrition controls the aging process may have been new to them since most doctors do not study nutrition beyond the basics in medical school, but at least they had pictures of every slide to refer to.
Even though I am planning to post the lecture slides on the Zone Diet website in the coming weeks, I let them shoot pictures of the slides to their hearts’ content so they could get a head start explaining the importance of Zone nutrition to their patients and clients.
When it was time to leave the winding streets of Monaco to travel to Italy to give scientific lectures to medical audiences, I felt like a child leaving a beautiful Disneyland. It’s always fun to visit, but eventually you have to come back to the real world.
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