What is Integrative Medicine?

Integrative Medicine combines Western, mainstream medicine, with evidence-based complementary holistic treatments to create personalized treatment plans. Providers of integrative medicine emphasize the “whole person,” so that all of the factors that influence health, wellness and disease are taken into consideration, including body, mind and spirit.

A strong therapeutic physician-patient relationship is considered a key component for optimal health outcomes. Integrative Medicine uses many healing sciences to facilitate the innate healing capacity of the body and improve health.

It is important and rewarding to empower patients to learn healthy lifestyles and to become engaged in the medical decision making process. Around 40% of people use complementary and holistic treatments.

Some examples of these types of treatments are: massage, meditation, biofeedback, acupuncture, chiropractor, yoga, mindfulness, supplements and most importantly an emphasis on diet, exercise and lifestyle optimization to increase overall wellbeing.

5 Simple Recommendations to Inspire Health Creation

Create, experience and appreciate joy every day.
Meditate – Spend 5-20 minutes focusing on breath awareness. This can lead to a calm and still mind. Meditation research continues uncovering new benefits including improved memory, decreased blood pressure, decreased irritable bowel symptoms, improved insomnia and reduction in anxiety and depression symptoms.
Healthy Diet – Include in your diet: 3-5 servings each of a colorful rainbow of veggies and fruit; eat more nuts (excluding peanuts); limit or eliminate processed foods, fried foods, carbonated sodas, sugars, white and refined flours, added preservatives, added salt and artificial sweeteners.
Exercise – Incorporate 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week of exercise into your routine, using a combination of aerobics, strength training and stretching. If you are not currently exercising, try out a 10 minute walk every day this week.
Be attentive to our mind body connection. This is another way of saying “be mindful.” Thoughts and emotions can have both a positive and negative impact on our health.

Just Do It!

If you have gotten off track with your health resolutions this year, today’s the day to commit to a health creation program to restore your well-being and optimize your health!