June 23, 2020

Meet the Producer of WFY's New Lifestyle Medicine Documentary

Meet the Producer of WFY's New Lifestyle Medicine Documentary

“Optimizing Life” is a new documentary from WFYI that features powerful stories of Hoosiers who find themselves in the midst of life-threatening health crises, and who turn their prognosis around by making changes to their lifestyles.

Producer Leigh DeNoon explores how these men and women adopted the “locus of control” – believing they have control over situations and experiences that affect their lives. They learn to eat better, move more, deal with stress and develop stronger relationships. 

We caught up with producer Leigh DeNoon to learn more:

How did this project get started? What prompted this idea? 

I became very interested in the topic of “food as medicine” after watching a TEDx Talk of a doctor who reversed her multiple sclerosis when she improved her nutrition. As my research continued, I ran across story after story of people reversing chronic diseases with lifestyle changes and I knew I wanted to make a documentary. I have several relatives with chronic diseases and the hope of them getting better was a major catalyst.

Are the HEALTH/WELLNESS CHALLENGES that hoosiers face unique or ARE THEY REFLECTIVE OF THE REST OF THE NATION?

With the emerging trend of lifestyle medicine, people are learning they have more control over their health than they were ever led to believe is possible. Scientists are finding that our genes respond to our lifestyle choices – the food we eat, the exercise we get, how well we sleep, manage stress and our relationships. As Eskenazi Health CEO Dr. Lisa Harris says, "our genes are not our destiny, our choices are."

Which Image or Stopry From the Film Do You See Sticking with You for Years?

What really surprised me about lifestyle medicine is how important love and support are to success. The patients I interviewed told me they were initially scared of having to participate in the group sessions, but then those meetings turned out to be the best part of their journey, feeling love and connection from people with similar issues.