Integrating Functional Medicine Principles into Daily Life
The principles of Functional Medicine include recognizing health as positive vitality, biochemical individuality, the dynamic balance between internal and external factors, the web-like interconnectedness of disease, the need for patient centered-ness and the enhancement of organ reserve.
This might sound rather a lot to incorporate in to daily life however a few simple measures can help navigate the complexity when starting:
Be your own advocate, take charge of your health, Functional Medicine is not a passive ride.
Reorient your focus. Know that your individuality will be respected and addressed in to a customized care plan. This does however, include a lot of work on behavior change. Take one step at a time to ensure it becomes a habit and know that setbacks are normal and not permanent.
Begin with nutrition. Health, most often, starts in the gut. Cutting out the bad is a good place to start before incorporating in the good. Often eliminating processed foods, or a common food component such as gluten (should your individual needs require it) automatically ushers in healthy replacements. Help your gut function more efficiently by taking 5 deep breaths while sitting before your meal and chew thoroughly to release nutrients.
Start moving. There is no medicine known to man (or woman) that equals the wide ranging effects and efficacy of exercise. Start small, but stay consistent. You may naturally want to progress as you become more proficient.
Actively assess your relationships. Are they adding to you or draining you? Can you work towards change or true acceptance where necessary?
These approaches if maintained regularly, will automatically bring positive changes to sleep, breathing, digestion, energy, mood and stress management as well as body composition and future disease risk.