When you’re leading a busy life like so many of us are, we can’t help but become overwhelmed and stressed to the maximum limit our body allows until there are obvious negative symptoms that arise.
What we don’t realize is being overworked and stressed out regularly often leads to hormonal imbalance, weight gain and chronic diseases. These metabolic changes occurs when we neglect to support our body with the essential important nutrients to live a balanced lifestyle.
These changes often occurs when our hormones which includes estrogen, cortisol, testosterone, adrenaline, oxytocin, vasopressin and DHEA begins to fluctuate over time. Often these stressors can be either emotional, mental or physical.
Stressors can occur due to a lack of sleep, relationship issues, grief, depression, job, anxiety leading to post traumatic stress and so much more. When stressors contribute to chronic stress we can only imagine how harmful they are since our stress response is controlled by hormones.
Metabolic syndrome risk factors often lead to diabetes, weight gain/obesity, hypertension and heart disease (with increased cholesterol and triglycerides). The cause is often due to insulin resistance. Insulin is a hormone that helps glucose uptake from the cell of the pancreas by removing glucose from the blood after a meal. Other metabolic syndrome risk factors include age, increase weight gain, entvity, and other chronic disease. Often some signs and symptoms include:
1. Fatigue
2. Weight gain
3. Increased thirst/urination
4. Increased levels of Hb A1c
5. Lack of sleep/having trouble sleeping
The conventional medicine often makes patients stay on continued medications even if they’re not working and maintain their regular standard diet with a “wait and watch approach” to health. This can cause patients to become impatient and it may lead them down a wrong path until it’s too late. This approach can add more medications to a patient’s chart, less positive responsive to sticking to a healthy lifestyle and added diagnosis of other chronic conditions overtime.
1. Taking Control of Your Health
With a functional medicine approach patients/clients can be in more control of their health without feeling lost and unable to be heard from their doctor’s practice. There is nothing like a patienting feeling in control of their body and mind. This connection between the mind and body allows one to connect the dots when it comes to staying on track and yearning to finally get well and stay well for life.
2. Getting to the root of your weight loss
This is an important topic that most functional medicine practitioner address with new clients and patients. By addressing the underlying cause of your weight loss it takes the guessing out of the equation and applies a strategic game plan to each individual’s protocol/.
Your underlying factors may include mental, emotional, physical or spiritual issues that needs addressing at a deeper level. By understanding this approach it with give your functional medical doctor or practitioner a better understanding of how to develop your individualized health plan.
3. An individualized plan that is right for you
We can’t deny the simple fact that we are all uniquely made as human beings. What may be recommended for one person may not necessarily be a positive approach for another individual.
Conventional medicine unfortunately sees obesity as a chronic condition where they’re not sure how to approach or address the situation. The dietary approaches, physical exercise routines or specific foods may not be enough to get their patients health.
4. Address the whole person leads to better patient response.
A comprehensive approach to wellness includes lifestyle modifications to losing weight and keeping it off. Creating customized/ comprehensive protocols increases a patient’s chances of regaining their health.
i. The whole person approach focuses real foods: Avocado, wild caught salmon, legumes, nuts, grass-fed beef, non-starchy vegetables, low sugar fruits like berries, quinoa
ii. Eliminates or reduces excess sugar content: Hidden sugar even in coconut milk can make it difficult for someone trying to lose weight causing insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and added chronic conditions. By focusing on supporting the gut health through the right food (kimchi, kefir, medicinal mushrooms, protibitcs), can improve overall health.
iii. A well balanced sleep regimen: By not maintaining regular sleep this can increase you changes of chronic disease, including obesity. Weight loss become easier to manage when patients are able to sleep by getting at least 7-8 hours/night. Sleep rituals helps the body and mind wind down before sleep, reduce stress and balance the body’s circadian rhythm.
iv. Reducing and eliminating inflammation:
By eliminating omega-6 foods that causes considerable inflammation throughout the body can be beneficial for weight gain, gut issues, and chronic disease. Focusing on omega-3 fatty acids or anti-inflammatory foods: ex, wild-caught salmon, walnuts , flax seeds etc. one can only optimize their wellness in a very positive way.
Functional medicine creates a new paradigm shift for patients and clients. It gives them a new start on life by allowing them to take control of their health, address their weight loss that gives them a voice in their health plan and allows for better practitioner/patient connection(s). Obesity affects at least one third of American which can lead to metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, hormonal imbalances and other chronic condition(s).
Camille McClellan, MD, DNM, MBS
Naturopathic practitioner
McClellan Natural Health, Wellness & Nutrition
Free Naturopathic/Homeopathic Consults Available
