Diet and Lifestyle
Change is hard.
Shouldn't it at least taste good?
Fundamentals of Integrative Medicine
The four fundamentals of integrative medicine form the basis for lifestyle recommendations included in every consult.
The choices you make at home have a measurable impact on all other treatments - from prescriptions to IV therapies. Frequently, they are the only things patients need to feel better. Best of all, they are free (you have to buy groceries anyway, right?)
Stress
Diet & Nutrition
Good health starts with good food and a healthy gut.
The right nutrition can improve brain health, immune function, pain and energy. So, all CIH plans start with food.
Our doctor's approach to diet is based on two ideas:
1) Food should contribute to your wellness.
2) It must taste good for it to become part of your daily life.
Providers may prescribe food plans based on your lab results or specific condition. Words like “Mito,” “Keto,” or CIH’s own “Jump Start” may be thrown around during the visit.
In general, CIH diets all have two phases: a temporary, stricter "reset" phase; then a "replenish & sustain" phase.
The CIH Jump Start Diet:
The team at CIH has assembled some of their favorite recipes and techniques in order to create a diet that does serious heavy lifting for your gut and introduces you to the breadth of meals available, even with restrictions in place.
Movement & Exercise
Kickstart your health - simply by moving more.
Sedentary lifestyles lead to more than just weight gain and higher injury risk. Poor metabolism weighs on hormones that control cognitive function, mood, stress, sleep and energy.
You don’t have to be a professional athlete to reap the benefits. Our providers work with patients every day to fit movement into routines – from yoga to HIIT and everything in between.
If you’re looking for additional support, we partner with Chicago’s premier integrative and functional movement experts - The Movement Guild.
Stress
No one can eliminate all stress.
Building resiliency is the key.
Humans have a sophisticated stress response. Repeated and mild stresses like exercise or fasting are protective.
However chronic and unresolved stress is toxic, inflammatory and can lead to structural changes associated with cognitive decline, depressed metabolism and hormonal imbalances.
Practicing mindfulness or meditating are great ways to manage the stress response. For those looking for more support:
Sleep
Good sleep equals good health.
Sleep is essential to every process in the body, affecting our physical and mental functioning the next day, our ability to fight disease and develop immunity, and our metabolism and chronic disease risk.
In a circular manner, sleep not only affects our physical and mental state, it is also affected by our mood, diet, overall health, etc.
Unravelling a broken sleep feedback loop is critical to good health.
Health
Coaching
Make investment in your health stick.
Professionals in every field surround themselves with coaches. Why not give yourself the same support?
Study (this one from Harvard) after study (this from the NIH) show that patients who work with certified health coaches experience more meaningful and more permanent behavior change than those without.
Whether you just need one session to get organized, or want to meet with our health coach weekly, we are here to help you build behaviors that support your health.
Learn more about our health coach Jenny Rowland and Preserve Health.