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Lifestyle medicine acknowledges that our daily habits have a big influence on our health. Eating well, exercising and getting enough sleep are all critical but just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to lifestyle medicine. We also need to pay attention to our daily exposures- that might mean looking at the cooking pans you use or the water filter on your faucet. It also may mean looking at the timing of your activities with the 24-hour circadian cycle.
What we eat, when we eat it and in what state of mind can all make a difference in our health. When we talk about lifestyle medicine and food, the “right” diet or food plan for one person may be different than what is “right” for another. Aligning your dietary pattern to serve your health is what lifestyle medicine is all about. Our philosophy is “food is medicine” and every patient receives some type of food plan.
Our body was meant to move and figuring out how and when you are going to move your body is part of the treatment plan. It may mean taking a walk for one person or trying to incorporate weight bearing and strength training for another. How to fit your activity in with your everyday life often is tricky and takes prioritizing. We help coach and give you the accountability that sometimes is needed to make these lifestyle habits stick and work with you to create achievable movement goals.
Sleep is something that is not valued in our society. We often live in an all access 24 -7 world to our health’s detriment. Prioritizing your rest and sleep is critical for medical issues such as weight management to blood sugar problems and even to immune system disorders. If you are not sleeping your body cannot be in “repair and restore” mode. We do what it takes to help people get to sleep. That may mean prescribing daily meditation or undergoing a sleep study, or salivary cortisol or melatonin testing. It might mean nutraceuticals or even pharmaceuticals. Sleep is that important.
Our daily lifestyle exposes us to chemicals and substances that our body has to manage. Included in this are habits of tobacco use, marijuana use, and alcohol use. Our skin products, makeup and even our cleaning products all can have a cellular impact. Heavy metal exposures from industrial areas and other sources can impact the efficiency of our body. Lifestyle medicine in this realm refers to those hundreds of everyday seemingly small choices that add up to a biological impact.
Also under the category of lifestyle medicine is the acknowledgement that we all live on the Earth as it rotates on its axis over a 24 hour period. Our genes evolved in this system and the efficiency of our body to metabolize and produce energy is influenced by the light and dark cycle. With lifestyle medicine we pay attention to how the timing of our food, sleep and even our activity has an effect on our health.
Humans need connection to other beings. Building what we call “social capital” – the friends, family and even pets are critical to our wellbeing. It has been observed that loneliness is a risk factor for negative health outcomes. Our everyday interactions with our community and the people around us are part of what we need to work on for better health and identifying that risk is part of lifestyle medicine.
Our thoughts influence our physiology. The negative impact of overwhelming stress cannot be overstated. Working on tools that can improve our resiliency to stress is often what is required for health improvement because it affects every system in the body – from cardiovascular (such as blood pressure), to the strength of our immune system to even our gastrointestinal health and cognitive function. Changing how we offset stress and our thought patterns can improve health in a myriad of ways. This can happen with the daily choice for example of meditating or spending time in nature.
Lifestyle medicine is all about changing the everyday habits to influence your health. Our job is to help you identify where your habits may be hindering Health and work with you on implementing an action plan in support of your vitality.
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