The Different Sectors of Health and Wellness
Why integration is the key to a healthy life
There is so much debate about picking sides when it comes to medicine.
Instead of thinking about how to utilise the benefits of each practice, people have these beliefs, much like with politics or religion that their way is the only way. This is fundamentally wrong.
Every single person is an individual. I came across a word recently that I shout from the rooftops. BIOINDIVIDUALITY. Every single person must be treated as an individual.
The most classic debate around this topic is nutrition. In one corner we have the vegans who shout murder at anyone who doesn't eat just plants. We then have the Keto camp who eat bacon with everything. We have the Paleo corner who debate the potato and hate sugar. Whilst veganism might work for one person, it may not work for another due to various factors such as genetic disposition and pre-existing health conditions that require animal protein in their diet. Same goes for any other labelled diet. If one style or way of eating works for one person and keeps them healthy, leave them be. The one thing that they all agree on is—no processed food! Simple. Whole, real foods.
I recently went to see a GP and told him I was training as a Naturopathic Practitioner. His response was outstanding. He said he 'didn't believe in any of that' because he believed only in science.
Now, I hate to break it to you, but nature and science are the same thing. Nature is science and science is nature. Naturopathic medicine is the study of rebalancing the body through natural methodology. If we go to anywhere outside of the western world, Africa, South America, Asia, they are still working with natural medicines. In China, Traditional Chinese Medicine is used alongside modern medicine as an integrated approach. They use acupuncture during open heart surgery to sedate the patient, instead of a general anaesthetic which is toxic and hard on the body. In Mexico, they combine western and natural methodology to create harmony within the body. Whether you have Lyme disease or cancer, it is possible to regain that balance. It's similar in India. They use Ayurvedic medicine to re-create the balance missing through the knowledge of the elements.
The fundamental mistake of the western world and the approach to medicine is shunning the natural approaches instead of integrating and understanding that the body is a whole. If we look for the root cause of disharmony, then we can fix and solve that disharmony.
Functional Medicine was founded in 1991 by Dr Jeffrey Bland PHD. It is the study of the body as a whole not as piece or as a symptom. Dr Bland understood that just because your arm hurts, that doesn't mean the issue is solely in the arm. The body is a whole and should be treated as one, much like those ancient practices and natural methodology. This method takes away from the saying 'a pill for every ill'. It looks beyond the use of predominantly pharmaceutical medication and incorporates many different teaching styles from around the world for mind, body and soul wellness.
Once we integrate the teachings, understandings, and research of all of these methods, then we get a full understanding of what goes on in the body. Shunning something because it's not modern, is incredibly ignorant. There are many examples of where modern medicine hasn't worked and of course vice versa. That is why moving forward, the best thing we can do for society and ourselves, is incorporate and educate on the basic teachings of each segment and try and incorporate them into everyday living.
Below are the key pillars of health and wellness and how they operate.
- Western Medicine -
A system in which medical doctors and other healthcare professionals (such as nurses, pharmacists, and therapists) treat symptoms and diseases using drugs, radiation, or surgery. Also called allopathic medicine, biomedicine, conventional medicine, mainstream medicine, and orthodox medicine.
- Functional Medicine -
Functional Medicine is a systems biology–based approach that focuses on identifying and addressing the root cause of disease.
-Naturopathy -
A Naturopath is a health practitioner who applies natural therapies. Her/his spectrum comprises far more than fasting, nutrition, water, and exercise; it includes approved natural healing practices such as Homeopathy, Acupuncture, and Herbal Medicine, as well as the use of modern methods like Bio-Resonance, Ozone-Therapy, and Colon Hydrotherapy.
-Traditional Chinese Medicine -
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is a broad range of medicine practices sharing common concepts which have been developed in China and are based on a tradition of more than 2,000 years, including various forms of herbal medicine, acupuncture, massage (tui na), exercise (qigong), and dietary therapy.
- Ayurvedic Medicine -
The traditional Hindu system of medicine (incorporated in Atharva Veda, the last of the four Vedas), which is based on the idea of balance in bodily systems and uses diet, herbal treatment, and yogic breathing.
-Nutritionist-
A person who has studied nutrition on a scientific level, who helps people form healthy eating habits to improve health and prevent disease. They may provide nutritional counseling, meal planning, and nutrition education programs. Nutritionists may also look at how the environment affects the quality and safety of food and how it may affect health.
-Energy Healing-
Energy Healing is a form of healing that manipulates, restores, or balances the flow of energy in the body. The energy is channeled through the practitioner to the client, helping remove energy deficiencies and blockages, which then activates the body's own natural ability to heal itself.
- Shamanism -
Shamanism is an ancient healing tradition and moreover, a way of life. It is a way to connect with nature and all of creation.
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