Community Highlights: Meet Trey Bennett of Vitality Lifestyle Medicine

Today we’d like to introduce you to Trey Bennett.

Hi Trey, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
Hi, I’m Trey Bennett, and as a Nurse Practitioner, I partner with people to optimize their health through evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine. I was born and raised in Kansas City. Growing up, my family struggled with health, but I was the most affected. I suffered from asthma, allergies, chronic sinusitis, acne, and obesity. I had my fair share of interactions with the healthcare system. I used to play baseball, basketball, and soccer as a kid. I can only imagine how much better I would have been back then if I were as healthy as I am now. This is one reason why I’m so passionate about prevention. Now, in the same zip code as my childhood home, I help people live longer, healthier, and happier lives at my Lifestyle Medicine clinic!

Early in my college education, my Dad kept nudging me towards studying Nursing, knowing that I loved science and helping people.

I decided to study Nursing while I lived in Duluth, MN, for a few years. I earned my Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and realized the satisfaction of helping others, especially when they couldn’t help themselves. Soon after, I moved back home to attend the UMKC School of Nursing, where I earned my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).  As a bedside nurse, I worked in a busy Medical – Telemetry Progressive Care Unit in KC’s best hospital. I began to recognize that the Standard American Diet (and lifestyle) led to the Standard American Diseases, some of which I had as a kid. I wanted a more significant role in helping my patients. As their nurse, I could improve their day, but I wanted to help people improve their health, quality of life, and independence. Instead of helping them in the hospital, I wanted to help them stay out of the hospital. I returned to Saint Luke’s College of Health Sciences to earn my Nurse Practitioner degree. I was planning to continue to work in the Acute Care setting until just before I graduated, when my father died before my eyes in an Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The reactive nature of the current healthcare system hit close to home, and I decided I no longer wanted to work in Acute Care. Don’t get me wrong, the Acute Care system is necessary, and I have the utmost respect for those working there; it just wasn’t for me. I had already wanted to be more proactive in my patient’s health, so it was a natural progression.

I took a job in Integrative Health, but I realized I would need to establish my clinic to treat patients as I would friends or family.  I opened the doors of Integrative Health Providers in 2017 to be the change I wanted to see in health care. My very first client was a Lifestyle Medicine patient – she wanted to reverse her type 2 diabetes. My research to help her led me to find Lifestyle Medicine. I was quickly impressed, which led me to study with the American College of Lifestyle Medicine and earn my certification in plant-based nutrition and then my certificate from the International Board of Lifestyle Medicine. I soon became less fond of my original clinic’s name, Integrative Health Providers, and decided to change it to Vitality Lifestyle Medicine, and we became Kansas City’s first Lifestyle Medicine clinic. I have realized that I cannot ethically practice within any other field in health care because this is the most effective area of medicine I’ve ever practiced! I have over 15 years of experience in health care, and my practice focuses on health promotion, disease prevention, and longevity through personalized evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine strategies.

We all face challenges, but looking back, would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
As I’ve built the practice, I’ve faced the usual growing pains of any small business. Initially, I had  focused on helping patients and letting others handle the business. This stems from my regret that healthcare has to be a business. We should all have access to excellent health care, and I hope this process will be simpler someday. Recently, I realized that if I wanted to keep my doors open and continue practicing Lifestyle Medicine in my hometown, I needed to get involved in the business. I’ve been hands-on ever since. My greatest challenge is getting the word out about our Lifestyle Medicine clinic in Kansas City, which accepts all primary insurance. The entrepreneurial spirit is in my blood, and I’ve recently started embracing my roots as an entrepreneur because both of my grandfathers were local Flower Shop owners/operators. My paternal Grandfather, Everett Bennett, owned Crestwood Florist, and my maternal Grandfather, Orland Luther, owned Luther Florist. My Dad got me started with a neighborhood mowing and landscaping business as soon as I could push a mower. That led to a lawn and landscape business I owned and operated until I graduated from Nursing school.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Vitality Lifestyle Medicine is my solution to what I see as a broken healthcare system in America. We know that 90% of healthcare visits, hospitalizations, and costs are spent on conditions that respond to Lifestyle Medicine. I’m passionate about utilizing evidence-based Lifestyle Medicine to prevent, treat, and often reverse symptoms and conditions such as Heart Disease, Diabetes, Obesity, and many more. I’ve always been interested in longevity because I never met three of my four grandparents due to lifestyle diseases cutting their lives short. Treating a lifestyle disease requires lifestyle medicine. Otherwise, you’re just managing the illness. We offer a fresh perspective on your health, focusing on prevention, healing, performance, and longevity by maximizing your health potential and working toward your health goals. My patients are happier with the higher level of care I can provide, and I’m more satisfied with my career because I get to see my patients get better! This is my calling. Trust the diagnosis, but don’t trust the prognosis because your body can achieve extraordinary things with Lifestyle Medicine!

What do you specialize in?
My expertise is in helping people who are experiencing high cholesterol, high blood pressure, prediabetes, type 2 diabetes, and obesity, among many other conditions, shift their lifestyle to achieve their health goals. Together, we develop a personalized plan for an intentional lifestyle strategy to achieve health goals. Common health goals among my patients include improved quality of life, achievement of ideal body weight, reduction of medication (or supplement) use, decreased inflammation or pain, accomplishing improved lab values, disease-proofing the body, and extending healthspan. These goals can be daunting for people, especially if they have tried and failed in the past. Many of my patients have given up on the medical system helping them after losing faith in our broken system. We have extensive experience helping hundreds of people achieve their goals, providing a unique level of support and accountability, all while accepting insurance.

Instead of treating the symptom, we seek out and treat the cause, which leads to better health, happiness, vitality, and independence for years to come. A quick fix to a health issue can lead to problems since the fix is often narrowly focused on a symptom rather than the cause. In contrast, with Lifestyle Medicine, we often see multiple symptoms or conditions improve simultaneously! Lifestyle diseases have a few things in common: 1. They slowly encroach on your health and quality of life; 2. They are silent killers, 3. They are often reversible if caught early enough and treated by an expert in Lifestyle Medicine. Many people are walking around with warning signs and lab levels that could be improved. If you seek care for a lifestyle disease in an acute care setting, they often ignore early warning signs and use a band-aid approach. While acute care is necessary to help treat acute illnesses and emergencies, this philosophy of care is limited to lifestyle diseases because it focuses on short-term health and managing symptoms. The longer a symptom or condition is ignored or unknown, the harder it is to reverse and heal the damage. As the son of two educators, it’s understandable why I believe healthy Lifestyle Medicine education, not more medications or procedures, will get us out of this health crisis we find ourselves in as a nation. Thus, the role of education over-medication is a guiding principle in our practice.

What are you known for?
Vitality Lifestyle Medicine is Kansas City’s original board-certified lifestyle medicine clinic. I was the first nurse practitioner in Kansas to be certified in lifestyle medicine, and I am still the area’s only dedicated lifestyle medicine clinic.

What sets you apart from others?
What sets us apart from other clinics is that we help people discover true health while minimizing pills and procedures. We make it easy for everyone to benefit from this powerful treatment approach by accepting all major insurance and Medicare. Our clinic is built on a strong health plan foundation so we can help more people as an in-network provider. If an individual’s insurance won’t cover our services, we offer discounts and are sensitive to financial limitations. I truly want to help you save on your healthcare costs and reduce the risks and side effects that come from depending on pills and procedures. Our mission is to promote and engage the health and well-being of Kansas City and beyond by providing accessible, high-quality Lifestyle Medicine that exceeds patient expectations. My patients also appreciate my time getting to know them and creating a personalized plan. I describe myself as a health coach with diagnostic and prescriptive authority. I utilize a lifestyle first, supplements second, and medications third approach. Although I can prescribe medications, my favorite way to use my prescriptive authority is to safely deprescribe or lower medication dosages as the patient gets healthier. My patients often want to reduce or avoid daily medications, or they are tired of side effects. One of my favorite parts about Lifestyle Medicine is that the long list of side effects gets replaced by benefits, and since we’re focused on building a foundation of health, risks remain low. We review your labs in-depth, so you know your numbers and how to improve them. I translate your health information into health advice that, once implemented, your body manifests into improved vitality, creating healthy lifestyle momentum to carry your wellness forward. We partner with patients on a Lifestyle Medicine solution for sustainable health, happiness, and vitality.

What are you most proud of brand-wise?
I’m proud to say we are quickly expanding into several states with telehealth services. Currently, I am offering Telehealth Lifestyle Medicine services in AR, AZ, CO, IA, KS, NE, and WA. I’m excited to add more states to the list and increase access to life-changing Lifestyle Medicine care across the nation!

Most people don’t know that I was almost an art major before entering Nursing. My creative outlet has become a passion for creating unique designs for our product line. I work with local graphic designers to make t-shirts and merchandise printed in the USA with eco-friendly and organic options. Check out our KC collection in our shop, and watch for new designs and collaborations! This is where my whole family gets involved. From my Mom helping table our booth at events to my wife and daughters offering market research, design advice, and modeling. We’ve had a lot of fun creating products and collections with our original and new designs. We hope you enjoy them!

What do you want our readers to know about your brand, offerings, services, etc?
You don’t have to go through your health challenges and struggles alone! We partner with you to optimize your lifestyle to achieve your health goals. We offer many services, including most of your typical primary care services and some extras based on prevention, health, performance, and longevity. We have launched enrollment for our online course, Chasing Vitality 2024, which will begin in mid-January. See our website for more details. We constantly evolve and innovate by adding products and services to serve our patients and clients better. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to our email newsletter for upcoming events and the rollout of new services.

Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check?
My favorite app for dining is by far, Happy Cow. My favorite two podcasts are the Exam Room and the nutritionfacts.org podcast. My favorite authors are Dr. Greggor, Ornish, and Fuhrman. Check out our blog (link below) for inspiring health information and Kansas City healthy restaurant guides.

Pricing:

• We offer a free 15-minute virtual (phone or telehealth) initial consultation.
• We accept all primary medical insurance and Medicare.
• See our FAQ page for help confirming coverage.
• If we are out-of-network with your plan, we offer a time-of-service discount.
• We are sensitive to financial limitations and will work with you to find a balance.

Contact Info:

• Website: VLMKC.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitalitylifemedkc
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VLMKC
• Other: VLMKC.com/blog

Image Credits
Dan Meyer, SKYMO Design