SCIENCE, HEALTH
You might be wondering, why does Relish Life use the ACE Assessment? For decades the diet industry has treated weight gain and obesity as a primary problem. The diet industry yields short-term, superficial results to fuel its multi-billion-dollar industry. As your weight continues to yo-yo, you keep coming back for the next best diet, and so the cycle repeats itself, over and over.
However, what doctors and scientists have discovered is that unhealthy weight isn’t usually the primary problem. It’s often a symptom of a more significant issue. This groundbreaking research is a core belief in the development of our Relish Life program. Without addressing the root cause of weight gain, it’s nearly impossible to achieve sustainable weight loss and a happy, healthy lifestyle. We’re not suggesting this is the weight-loss magic bullet. It’s a key piece in the puzzle of unlocking your best self to achieve your goals. We have to ask the hard questions and be prepared to help you work through them. And that’s just exactly what we’re going to do. The ACE quiz is one assessment tool to unearth underlying problems that contribute to unhealthy symptoms such as weight gain.
ACE is an acronym for Adverse Childhood Experiences. It comes from the ground-breaking public health study that uncovered a stunning link between childhood trauma and adult chronic diseases. Researchers established a connection to heart disease, lung cancer, diabetes, and many autoimmune diseases. Additionally, they found a link to depression, violence, being a victim of violence, and suicide. The original ACE Study came from Relish’s Founding Advisor, Dr. Vince Felitti, who uncovered a pattern of childhood trauma in nearly all 286 patients surveyed at his obesity clinic.
Repeatedly, patients revealed how they used eating to soothe their anxiety, fear, anger, or depression. This behavior worked like alcohol or tobacco, or methamphetamines. Not eating pushed the limits of their anxiety, depression, and fear. Patients who lose weight saw an increase in anxiety, fear, and depression when just being obese solved a problem.
In the original ACE Study at Kaiser Permanente from 1995 to 1997, over 17,000 Health Maintenance Organization members from Southern California receiving physical exams completed confidential surveys to assess their childhood experiences, and current health status and behaviors. The CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study is one of the most extensive investigations of childhood abuse and neglect and household challenges, and later-life health and well-being. The ACE Study has published about 70 research papers since 1998. Subsequently, the ACE Study has had hundreds of published research papers based on its findings.
The ACE Assessment identifies 10 types of childhood trauma including physical, sexual and verbal abuse, physical and emotional neglect, exposure to family members who are depressed or diagnosed with other mental illness; addicted to alcohol or another substance; or in prison, witnessing a mother being abused, losing a parent to separation, divorce or other reason. Each type of trauma counts as one point. The higher the number of experienced traumas, the higher the likelihood of developing chronic diseases, social and emotional problems as an adult due to the early exposure to toxic stress. We’ve learned that exposure to toxic stress leads to negative changes in children’s developing brains and lead to changing how they respond to stress and damaging their immune systems so profoundly that the effects show up decades later.
It’s important to keep in mind that your ACE score is only one part of your treatment equation. While the ACE Assessment is a strong predictor of potential health risks, it doesn’t take into account positive childhood experiences that may have helped offset ACEs. Our team of experts will carefully evaluate your individual situation to create a plan to meet your specific needs. Click below to find out more about our program.
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