Trey Bennett, NP: Looking Beyond the Symptom

Provider Spotlight: Trey Bennett, NP: Looking Beyond the Symptom

You know the feeling: Getting ready for a medical appointment that took weeks or months to book and left with more questions than answers. Excellent medical care does exist; it is just getting harder to find.

Imagine now a provider that cares for individual conditions: nutrition, sleep, stress, movement, weight, medications, metabolic health, and daily habits, and how they might all be connected. Lifestyle Medicine addresses these conditions and offers a medical framework to look at all the puzzle pieces, into an integrated big picture.

For this provider spotlight, I’d like to introduce a Lifestyle Medicine practitioner that checks all the boxes on whole person care. Trey Bennett is a highly trained nurse practitioner and the founder of Vitality Lifestyle Medicine in Lenexa, Ks. He is board certified in Adult-Gerontology and Lifestyle Medicine, Certified in Remission of Type 2 Diabetes and Reversal of Insulin Resistance with Lifestyle Medicine, Certified in Evidence-Based Nutrition, and has more than 15 years of healthcare experience including hospital-based care. He treats patients in-person from his Lenexa, Kansas office, and through Telehealth in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Oregon, and Washington. He founded Vitality Lifestyle Medicine to shift more attention toward preventive and proactive care rather than treating a progression of chronic illnesses.

What is lifestyle medicine?

Lifestyle Medicine is not simply healthy living, and it is not synonymous with alternative medicine or functional medicine, although there are many similarities across these whole-person care models. The American College of Lifestyle Medicine defines it as an evidence based medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions to treat, prevent and, in some circumstances, place certain chronic illnesses into remission. Its six major pillars are:

1) Wholesome nutrition

2) Physical activity

3) Restorative sleep

4) Stress management

5) Social connection and

6) Avoidance of risky substances (Grega et al., 2023.)

Instead of wondering, “What medication treats this diagnosis?” The clinician may ask, “What factors are contributing to this condition, and which of those factors can we change?”

Vitality describes itself as lifestyle first, proactive, and preventive with longer educational visits and individualized health plans. Patients do not have to abandon their existing primary care provider. Lifestyle Medicine can be added to a patient’s existing care team.

How can lifestyle medicine help me?

Lifestyle Medicine can be useful when a person wants a different perspective on health concerns. These include high blood pressure, prediabetes, elevated cholesterol, excess weight, poor sleep, chronic pain, low energy, swelling, stress, difficulty exercising, or a family history of metabolic or cardiovascular disease.

The evidence for Lifestyle Medicine is strongest in cardiometabolic disease. Lifestyle interventions are first line components for conditions such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. A 2025 American College of Lifestyle Medicine clinical practice guideline concluded that comprehensive lifestyle interventions can play an important role in treatment and remission strategies for type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes (Rosenfeld et al, 2025). Earlier landmark research showed that intensive lifestyle intervention substantially reduced progression from prediabetes to type 2 diabetes (Knowler et al, 2002). Trey has specialized training and earned a certificate in this area as mentioned above.

Recently inflammation has stepped into the spotlight, particularly in Lifestyle Medicine, lymphedema, and lipedema care. Lifestyle Medicine addresses the health conditions surrounding the person who has chronic inflammation. Trey Bennett, NP is exceptionally skilled at identifying blood work for inflammatory markers, along with lifestyle contributions to the surrounding problems with chronic inflammation.

This is especially important for lymphatic health. Obesity and lymphatic dysfunction have a documented bidirectional relationship. Obesity can impair lymphatic transport and impaired mobility associated with lymphedema can make weight management more difficult (Sudduth & Greene, 2002.) Lifestyle Medicine also supports regular movement as medicine. A recent systematic review of lower extremity swelling found a small positive change in outcome including physical function, quality of life, pain, and swelling reduction with exercise. (Wittenkamp et al., 2025). When you see Trey, he dives deep into your issues and often suggests an evaluation with a lymphatic practitioner for sustained support.

When should you book an appointment with Trey?

I booked an appointment with Vitality Lifestyle Medicine when my primary physician could not answer my question about my A1C (diabetes marker) creeping up over the last three years. I’m a relatively fit 45-year-old woman, and my white blood cell count was high for the last 10 years. My labs were all ‘within normal limits’ and were not severe enough to review during my annual visits. Trey looked deeper into my vitamins, minerals, and general nutrition to find my solution, not just the textbook answer. I had been taking more than five medications to reduce my inflammation and am now taking zero prescription pills after working with Trey.

Whole person care leads you to the right providers for your individual needs. Are your health issues affecting your ability to live your life? Are you curious about your swelling and if you have chronic inflammation? Are your tests not being explained to you in full detail?

In addition to Trey’s expert guidance on ordering lab tests, he has helped many clients with significant and sustained weight loss. One testimonial reports the client lost 70 pounds while working with Trey. His approach creates sustainable changes for the future health of this client.

Another client reports their cholesterol is now under control and no longer taking prescription medication. Lifestyle medicine is not anti-medication, rather asks whether some of the factors affecting a medical condition can be changed or reviewed for better alignment with healthy practices.

The future of medicine is changing, and you have a choice in the providers you trust with your care. Kansas City is lucky to have Vitality Lifestyle Medicine nearby.

To learn more about Lifestyle Medicine or schedule a free 15 minute discovery call or initial appointment visit VLMKC.com.

References

Grega, M. L., Shalz, J. T., Rosenfeld, R. M., et al. (2023). American College of Lifestyle Medicine expert consensus statement: Lifestyle medicine for optimal outcomes in primary care. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 18, 269–293. doi: 10.1177/15598276231202970

Knowler, W. C., Barrett-Connor, E., Fowler, S. E., et al. (2002). Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. New England Journal of Medicine, 346, 393–403. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa012512

Rosenfeld, R. M., Grega, M. L., Karlsen, M. C., et al. (2025). Executive summary of lifestyle interventions for treatment and remission of type 2 diabetes and prediabetes in adults: A clinical practice guideline from the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 19(2 Suppl.), 132S–154S. doi: 10.1177/15598276251325485

Sudduth, C. L., & Greene, A. K. (2022). Lymphedema and obesity. Cold Spring Harbor Perspectives in Medicine, 12(5), a041176. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa012512

Vitality Lifestyle Medicine. (2026). Lifestyle medicine. Vitality Lifestyle Health, LLC.

Vitality Lifestyle Medicine. (2026). Patient experiences and practice information. Vitality Lifestyle Health, LLC.

Wittenkamp, M. C., Christensen, J., Vinther, A., & Juhl, C. B. (2025). The effect of exercise in patients with lower limb lymphedema: A systematic review. Acta Oncologica, 64, 484–498. doi: 10.2340/1651-226X.2025.42560

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