an integrative + Holistic approach to health & wellness

A holistic approach to healthcare is almost like solving a giant puzzle, where we must put every piece of someones lifestyle together in order to get a better picture of the person as an individual. A holistic approach to health & wellness looks at every aspect of someones health, including physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I believe healing through natural remedies, herbs, nutrition, supplements, and lifestyle modifications can be far more effective than prescribing drugs or surgery.

Maintaining good health takes conscious time & effort, but by eating a variety of nourishing foods, exercising frequently, sweating out toxins, spending time outdoors, and practicing various self-care habits that nurture your mind, body & spirit, you’ll be well on your way to living a life full of energy and vitality!

Side note: I am not a Naturopathic Physician, Functional Medicine Practitioner, or an Integrative/holistic doctor, however I’ve done heaps of research regarding herbal healing, natural remedies, our healthcare system, and how to heal the body holistically through nutrition. I intend for this page to serve as a reflection of my research and hopefully shed light on a topic I’m extremely passionate about. Hopefully you gain some inspiration and take charge of your health holistically & naturally!

Western Vs. integrative medicine

Western Medicine

• Western medicine (also known as conventional medicine) has its place, no question. It saves lives everyday, however where it excels in emergencies, it falls short on day-to-day lifestyle guidance. This is because your doctor doesn’t go home with you and nobody knows what you experience other than you. Most doctors are highly skilled in one area, but don’t have the time or expertise to know what lifestyle changes you need.

• Our health-care system is focused on treating symptoms as if they were the cause, this then allows doctors to ignore figuring out the real root cause of the disease. Conventional medicine usually stops at symptoms. We don’t typically treat the causes, instead we treat its effects and we convince ourselves that the individual effects of the problem are they themselves the causes. The practice of modern medicine focuses almost exclusively on treating symptoms as if they are the whole of the problem.

integrative medicine

• An integrative approach to health & wellness treats individuals as more than just physical bodies, paying attention to the mental, emotional, spiritual, and relational aspects of who they are. An Integrative approach views health as the ultimate destination and wellness as the path that gets you there.

• Integrative medicine is healing-oriented that takes account of the whole persons body, mind, and spirit, which includes all aspects of lifestyle. It emphasizes the patient to doctor relationship and uses natural remedies & herbal healing therapies.

• It’s important to do your own homework on different kinds of integrative & functional medicine doctors. These are MD’s who treat the body as a whole, looking not just at the physical self, but also the mental and emotional self too. There are so many options beyond western medicine & hopefully you’ll gain some ideas and inspiration from what I share!

let’s talk about our “health-care” system

Our healthcare epidemic:

• As a country we are quite sick, but how? If we’re spending so much money on top of the line healthcare, how are we not getting any healthier? How have so many diseases such as diabetes and obesity increased over time? It’s time we dig a little deeper and discover the root of the situation first.

• Trillions of dollars are spent towards our healthcare system, yet our health isn’t improving, nor are the side effects from popular pharmaceutical drugs helping us.

The sad reality of conventional medicine

• Rather than focusing on the underlying cause, Western medicine has decided to focus on the individual symptoms and call each of them a disease. The reason for this, as sad as it may sound, is that it’s great business for the pharmaceutical industry to identify thousands of different diseases and make & sell treatments for each of them.

• Scientists & physicians spend hours studying disease, but never consider why it happens or what causes it. Conventional doctors view each disease as a single bad guy where each condition is treated by its own separate specialist. For an example, if you have heart disease and diabetes, you get two different specialists, each prescribing different medications and procedures. Even worse, often times the two doctors don’t even communicate with one another about the medications they’e prescribed to you or how they’re effecting you.

• Conventional Physicians typically don’t take into account some of the most important factors in determining someones health, such as lifestyle, diet, stress levels, and physical activity. Often times they believe this method isn’t sustainable or reliable enough, so instead they prescribe a powerful drug to cover up the problem.

it’s what we’re taught that matters

• The “miracle cure” scientists have been searching for isn’t in the latest drug, most advanced surgical tool, or even the latest technique. These are all just the latest and greatest ways of treating disease, but not ways of preventing the disease. The real secret to health all comes down to what we’re taught. However few medical professionals are aware that our food choices can be a far more effective protection against disease than the common pills they prescribe.

• The majority of doctors prescribe medications and surgery because they’ve been taught that’s the most effective way to eliminate disease. Most conventional doctors even feel it may be unprofessional to tell a patient to eat better, and instead are quick to prescribe a pill for immediate relief. Medical schools, hospitals, and government agencies continue to treat nutrition as if it plays only a small part in our health. This is one of the largest reasons the standard american diet, aka the “SAD” diet is actually making us sicker.

the solution:

Well I have some good news (finally). We don’t need high-tech drugs, or advanced techniques to achieve vibrant health & vitality. Instead all we must do is simply change the way we eat and we’ll be able to dramatically transform our lives for the better. By changing the way we eat, I mean adopting a whole-foods plant-based diet. A diet that eliminates processed food, unhealthy fats, oils, conventional meat & dairy products, highly processed gluten products, refined sugars, and all the other toxic ingredients you may find in processed, packaged, or fast-food. The whole-foods plant-based diet consists of consuming around eighty-percent carbs, ten-percent healthy fats, and ten-percent plant-based protein from your diet. This diet is far more effective at addressing our biggest health issues than prescribing drugs, surgery, or even taking vitamins.

Our best bet at preventing + treating disease

Nutrition is the master factor to longevity

• So while our health-care system is pretty reactive, nutritional medicine is highly proactive in preventing disease before it even develops. Conventional medicine favors toxic drugs that our bodies dislike, whereas integrative medicine favors whole-foods that our bodies have been designed to eat and heal from for over thousands of years, therefore avoiding the negative side effects.

• Eating a whole-foods plant-based diet is truly our best way of preventing and treating disease. It’s better than any prescription drug or surgery. It’s time to end the war on our self through toxic drugs, and instead turn to nourishing ourselves with kindness by consuming sustainable whole-foods.

Why choose a whole-foods plant-based diet?

The biggest reason to consider switching to a whole-foods plant-based diet is pretty simple, it reduces oxidation within the body. What is oxidation? Oxidation is a basic chemical reaction that takes place not just in our bodies, but also in food itself and almost everything else in the universe. Oxidation is a process when atoms and molecules lose electrons as they come into contact with other atoms and molecules. For an example when you cut an avocado in half it turns light brown after a while, this is oxidation occurring. This process also happens within the body, and some oxidation is actually good.

Good oxidation: Oxidation helps transfer energy within the body, while also getting rid of harmful foreign substances (the bad guys) in the body, by allowing them to be removed from the body through urine. However, excessive oxidation has negative effects on our body, just as it would cause an avocado to go rotten.

Harmful oxidation: Oxidation produces free-radicals, which accelerates aging in the body. This can promote cancerous cell growth, and contributes to other problems associated with autoimmune diseases.

Protect against oxidation: Eating a high-protein animal-based diet actually enhances free-radical production, whereas eating a plant-based diet will help reduce free-radical production. Plants contain high levels of antioxidants which help fight off free radicals in our bodies. So by consuming plenty of antioxidants through a whole-foods plant-based diet will provide you with lower levels of oxidation, encouraging longevity, discouraging disease, and promoting an overall youthful complexion.

Whole-foods over PHARMACEUTICAL drugs?

There’s a time and place for everything

Some may think it’s unfair to compare pharmaceuticals to a simple diet, since the drugs are meant to treat symptoms rather than disease. Yes, there is certainly a time and place for conventional drugs & medications, such as saving someones life in an emergency situation. If someone is dying of a heart attack in the ER, it’s much more logical to give them a powerful drug to dissolve the blood clot than to give a wheat-grass shot. But aside from true emergencies, consuming a whole-foods plant-based diet is much more beneficial at preventing heart attacks before they happen.

Choose whole-foods over pills

I believe botanical remedies can do a much better job with far less toxicity than conventional drugs or surgery for the treatment of moderate conditions. Plants contain a wide array of chemical compounds working on many systems in the body. Whereas conventional drugs & medications only target one specific area, often times damaging other parts of the body or leaving unpleasant side effects. Medicinal plants offer more treatment options with fewer side effects because they are far more dilute & less absorbable than conventional drugs.

3 Integrative steps to maintain optimal health

Step 1: Eat a whole-foods plant-based diet.

• A conventional approach to dieting is notorious for inconsistency. You can’t stick to crazy diets for a prolonged amount of time and many of them are too restrictive, that they don’t nourish your body properly. Whereas an integrative approach to dieting promotes eating a wide variety of whole-food nutrients. It promotes eating real food, not in large quantities, and mostly plant-based. This way of eating isn’t your typical twelve-week diet plan, instead it’s a way of life and is fully integrated into your daily routine. Consuming a whole-foods plant-based diet is so vibrant, delicious, and sustainable that you would have no desire to go to old eating habits.

Step 2: Manage your fitness & physical body

• The key ingredient to achieving health & vitality is maintaining a physically fit body. An integrative approach to exercise focuses on incorporating fitness into your routine by expanding the number of activities you include into your daily tasks. Whether it’s running errands, walking to school, or even a little yard work, will lead to just as many benefits as going to the gym. Functional activity that keeps you moving can be just as beneficial for your health. (See my fitness page for workout inspiration).

Step 3: Have a Naturopath in your contacts

• It’s important to see a Naturopath or holistic doctor regularly so you can catch any problems before they develop into something larger. Whether you’re suffering from constant headaches, gut issues, joint pain, skin problems, or whatever it may be, a Naturoptah will help guide you to discovering the root cause of the issue, without jumping to quick conclusions or prescription drugs. If you aren’t feeling like your optimal self or you notice something isn’t quit right, then you might want to consider a few variations of functional medicine testing that integrative healthcare facilities typically offer.

Integrative & functional medicine Testing:

• GI Function test: Measures the levels and ratio of good versus bad bacteria in your gut.

• Preventative lab tests: Tests for nutrient deficiencies in your body.

• Organic acids test: Determines nutrient deficiencies/what nutrients & vitamins you need to supplement.

• Adrenal stress index test: Measures how your body responds to stress.

• Neurotransmitter test: Measures levels & messages of serotonin, dopamine, and epinephrine in the brain & body.

• Intestinal permeability test: Tests for leaky gut (permeable small intestine lining).

• Thyroid test: Tests for hyper/hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s thyroid disease.

• Iodine level testing: Measure healthy thyroid functioning.

• High sensitivity L-reactive proteins test: Measures inflammation in the body.

• Omega 3 + Omega 6 ratios: Measures points of inflammation through these ratios.

• Mineral analysis test: Measures levels of electrolytes in the body.

• Vitamin D & Iron tests: Measures levels of vitamin D & Iron in the body and determines if supplementation is needed.

• Oxidative stress test: Determines if you need more antioxidants in your body (early cancer preventative).

• Hormone imbalance test.

• Mercury & heavy metal test: Measures heavy metal concentration in the body.

Final note on integrative healthcare:

If you want to truly change your life and come up with a protocol for longevity, then it’s time to invest in yourself, take charge of your health, and try taking an integrative approach to healthcare. If you’re looking to discover the root cause of any issues you may have & how to prevent anything before the disease appears, than integrative healthcare will help you achieve your vibrant health goals! If you don’t want to spend the rest of your life on medications, getting sick constantly, gaining weight, suffering from skin problems, always stressed, lacking mental clarity & energy, then it’s time you discover the root cause of your problems by reaching out to a functional medicine physician or Naturopathic doctor.

References:

• Campbell, T. Colin, and Howard Jacobson. Whole: Rethinking the science of nutrition. Dallas, Texas: BenBella Books, 2013. Print.

• Campbell, T. Colin, and Dan Woren. The China Study: The most comprehensive study of nutrition ever conducted and startling implications for diet, weight loss, and long-term health. BenBella Books, 2004. Print.

• Greger, Michael, and Gene Stone. How Not to Die: Discover the foods scientifically proven to prevent and reverse disease. London, England: Pan Books, 2018. Print.