Start Your Engines!

Using integrative medicine can at many times be compared to car maintenance. Many can relate to the routine maintenance and repair needed in automative upkeep and our bodies are much of the same. It's not only important to pay attention and listen to it when it begins to trouble us, but throughout the entire journey.

Recently, I've done more reading on eastern vs. western approaches to health and wellness. In one particular reading, a book entitled Between Heaven and Earth by Harriet Beinfield, the author compares the philosophy in the west as the doctor as a mechanic vs. the philosophy in the east of the doctor as a gardener. The mechanic only repairs damage once it occurs....."the mechanic view is that the body is made of distinct and seperate parts, connected and yet autonomous.....[In addressing disease] they could thereby remove it or treat it in isolation from other organ and tissue parts." Conversely, the gardener, more like a holistic practitioner, "cultivates life....is like the herbalist when he nourishes with compost, or adds minerals to the soil, use[s] maternal substances to promote growth.

A second difference in comparing Western treatment modalities to holistic healing is that a holistic approach stresses the importance of healing from the inside out vs. using a pill to mask the symptoms of the underlying problem. I believe many pharmaceutical drugs are used in this manner, especially in relation to psychosomatic conditions where the cause and effect correlation is unclear. I personally have never strongly supported pharmacologic treatment of some diseases or illnesses. Don't get me wrong, there's definitely a need and place for them, but the body is an amazingly powerful and refined organism. It can regulate, process, filter, metabolize, and cleanse naturally and self-sufficiently. American-style eating habits and intake of processed, convenience foods, however, undoubtably tax this system. As a dietitian, people often ask me what to eat. The truth is, however, many of us know the basics of good nutrition. Unfortunately, we are inundated with unhealthy fast food chains, preservatives, fad diets, and unwholesome on-the-go food items.

As defined, wellness is "the condition of good physical and mental health, especially when maintained by proper diet, exercise, and habits." (American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2006). I believe the key to this is habits. Patterns of action become habits, and we have the choice for these to be helpful or harmful towards our overall wellness goal. If we do not choose to invest in healthy food choices, whether it be a financial investment or the investment of time required for proper food preparation, we are not optimally running to our fullest potential. This, in time, much like neglecting to change the oil in our car, will wear us down. Habits, however, take time to develop. Just as we can't expect to be 10 pounds lighter the day after our first trip to the gym, we cannot expect to wake up after our first day initiating a detoxifying cleanse and expect an exponential increase in energy. Wellness is a journey.

At the end, we are a sum of our parts and it is imperative that we change our way of thinking and focus on restoring and maintaining balance vs. diagnose and treat imbalance. This is the only way to true wellness and holsitic goal attainment.