Integrative Medicine for a Balanced Approach

You can maintain the best health possible by optimizing nutrition and lifestyle as the foundation—and adding the best of conventional medicine as the situation requires.

The truth is, there is no single strategy, whether nutritional or medical, that is sufficient for every person in every situation. For instance, keeping your cholesterol in check with medication is not necessarily going to be enough to avoid trouble if you are eating poorly and not addressing excess stress. But, stated more proactively, you have so many opportunities to “stack the deck” in your favor.

The best way to optimize all of these important areas is to build a team of like-minded professionals: starting with a health care professional who empowers you to make the best lifestyle choices possible. Ideally, someone just as knowledgeable about nutrition and lifestyle issues as medication and procedures. Or at least one who is open minded to a larger view of health and can help to make appropriate referrals.

Similarly, I encourage patients who strongly prefer natural treatment options to also be open to the judicious use of medication and procedures when the situation is more urgent, and when less aggressive means have proven inadequate.

Here are some integrative health resources you may find useful:

• Integrative Medicine Graduates—This is a listing of physicians across the country who have received formal training in Integrative Medicine at the University of Arizona program.
  
• Natural Medicines—This database contains scientific reviews of over-the-counter products. The reviews are conducted and maintained by a respected group of pharmacists.
  
• ConsumerLab—This is an independent lab that analyzes the ingredients in over-the-counter products.