If you are truly healthy, your tastebuds will adjust and you will see healthy eating, not as a chore but as a privilege. Yes, you can actually learn to love it! Many people take a lot of medications, both prescribed and over-the-counter, and oftentimes they are unnecessary. If you immediately reach for a pill bottle for even the slightest discomfort, try phasing that out for more natural remedies like deep breathing, fresh air, and a more nutrient-rich diet. I also encourage anyone on prescribed medications to have an open, honest discussion with their doctor about options.
Here is a list of some common medications that I find to be overprescribed including their potential health-impacting side effects. The first think I look at when my patients have skin issues is the gut-skin connection.
You may have heard that sitting is the new smoking, and there are good reasons to support this dramatic claim. Prolonged sitting increases your risk for a wide range of diseases, especially diabetes and heart disease, and it is also associated with a shorter lifespan. Chronic stress affects just about every system of your body and can undermine your most puritanical health efforts. Making time for self-care, mindfulness, and other methods for stress management is essential to optimal health.
Just one night of poor sleep can spike inflammation levels and interfere with optimal thinking and functioning. Talk to your doctor about assessing and improving your sleep quality. If walking up stairs, carrying groceries, or getting dressed leaves you out of breath, you are not investing enough time or attention to your physical activity. Speaking of fitness, most of us should be sweating about six times each week.
Something is off — hormones, blood sugar, stress level — and all of these can sabotage your good intentions and quest for optimal health.
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Our articles may include products that have been independently chosen and recommended by Dr. Will Cole and our editors. If you purchase something mentioned in this article, we may earn a small commission. He received his doctorate from Southern California University of Health Sciences and post doctorate education and training in functional medicine and clinical nutrition. He specializes in clinically researching underlying factors of chronic disease and customizing a functional medicine approach for thyroid issues, autoimmune conditions, hormonal imbalances, digestive disorders, and brain problems.
Cole was named one of the top 50 functional medicine and integrative doctors in the nation and is the best selling author of Ketotarian and The Inflammation Spectrum. The first 3 minutes are free. Determining the root cause of your illness or health condition is a top priority for your functional medicine provider.
Your health history is the most important aspect of this determination. In order to create a health plan that works for your individual health goals, expect to take a deep dive into your health history to create a timeline that goes from birth until the present. Draw a line that ends where you currently are in your health. I had a car accident at 25, I got divorced at Throughout that time allow your subconscious to recall these significant life events and make a note on your timeline.
This exercise will prepare you to concisely deliver your story when you sit down with your functional medicine physician. Starting from birth, were you a vaginal delivery or a cesarean? Was there mold or radon in your home or exposure to toxins? You may also be asked about trauma experience, this could be physical, sexual, spiritual.
Family History: Is there a history of autoimmune conditions in the family? What type of cancers? Any viral infections? Social History: Do you smoke, drink alcohol — how much? What about recreational drug use? In addition, what is your family setup?
Are you married, single? Do you have children? How many and when did you have them? Learn more about Functional Medicine Assessments; a one time, deep dive to create a plan toward optimal health. This is a result of a customized program and support on every level. There are tests that can be done for heavy metals toxicity or microbiome tests to see if you have bacterial overgrowth or other types of infections. Waiting until you get used to one change before making the next is a good idea.
Whatever you do, you should start seeing results right away, because each step can have a powerful effect. Remember… habit puts willpower on autopilot. Changes in lifestyle and behavior can be tough in the beginning, but become effortless when you turn them into a habit. Before we subtract, we add. This first step will change your metabolism in a way that makes subsequent changes easier.
First of all, protein actually boosts your metabolic rate… that is, how many calories you burn at rest. The studies show that high protein diets boost metabolism by 80 to calories per day, compared to low protein diets 1 , 2. Second of all, protein can reduce your appetite, making you automatically eat less of other calorie sources 3 , 4. The people lost 4. Of course… adequate protein also has many other benefits, including increased muscle mass, stronger bones, lower blood pressure, to name a few 6 , 7 , 8.
Good protein sources include meat, poultry, fish, seafood, eggs and full-fat dairy products if you can tolerate them. Some people like beans and legumes, which are absolutely fine if properly prepared.
I recommend eating about 1. Eating more protein is the easiest, simplest and most delicious way to give your metabolism a nudge towards a lower body weight, reduced appetite and better health. It will also make the rest of the changes easier. Bottom Line: Adding more protein to your diet will boost your metabolism and reduce your appetite, giving your metabolism a nudge and making subsequent changes much easier.
The second step involves changing one of your daily meals… breakfast. Most people are eating cereal or something similar for breakfast, but that really is the worst thing you can eat at the start of the day.
Most breakfast cereals are loaded with refined carbs and sugar even the healthy looking ones. Eating this stuff for breakfast will spike your blood sugar, leading to a crash a few hours later… followed by cravings for another high-carb meal 9. Instead, eat eggs for breakfast. There are a few studies showing that if you replace a grain-based breakfast bagels with eggs, it can help you lose fat 11 , Eggs are best served with vegetables or a fruit… but you can have quality bacon with them if you want.
There really is NO valid excuse not to eat a healthy breakfast. Just set your alarm a bit earlier. Bottom Line: Eating a healthy, nutrient-dense breakfast with protein and healthy fats is the best way to start the day. Simply replacing unhealthy fats and oils with healthier ones can have a major impact on your health down the line. Most people are eating a lot of seriously unhealthy fats… including trans fats and refined vegetable oils. Although trans fat consumption has gone down in the past few years and decades, it is still way too high.
To avoid trans fats , make sure you read the label on anything you eat. Refined vegetable oils are also problematic. They have a different composition than other more natural fats, being unnaturally high in Omega-6 fatty acids. This includes corn oil, soybean oil, cottonseed oil and several others.
Without getting into the details you can read about them here , consuming vegetable oils may be leading to increased inflammation and oxidative damage in the body, potentially raising your risk of heart disease and cancer 13 , 14 , 15 , Grass-fed butter, coconut oil , olive oil, avocado oil and others.
Whole nuts are an excellent source of fat as well. Bottom Line: The relatively simple act of replacing trans fats and high Omega-6 vegetable oils with healthy, traditional fats should lead to some pretty impressive health benefits and make your body function better. Sugar is bad news … but sugar consumed in a liquid form is even worse.
If you were to add a whole food to your diet, you would automatically eat less of other foods instead.
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