6 things you can do now to help reverse disease

According to Functional Medicine, improving health by reversing the root causes of disease is the way to go. However, identifying the root causes of dis-ease in your body that are causing symptoms can be time consuming and feel overwhelming. 

But what if you could work on improving the root causes of your dis-ease and symptoms on your own during the down times of working with your health care professional? Well you can! Your Functional Medicine health care professional will tell you that the first place to start is with diet and lifestyle factors. And the only one who can do the work to make these changes is YOU. 

There’s a TON of information out there about different dietary & lifestyle approaches and it can get overwhelming pretty quickly. So I’m outlining the very basics as health goals to strive for for all of us to address all the root problems. All disease states can be improved by improving our nutrition, exercise, sleep, and stress levels. 

Here are a few basics that you can start working on now that still improve the root causes. 

1. REDUCE STRESS

• WHY: stress raises cortisol levels 
• HOW: do things you enjoy, not what you think others would do or tell you to do. Options include just sitting and doing deep breathing for 1-3 minutes. Build up to several times a day. Stretching, yoga, meditation. There are a lot of APPS dedicated to stress reduction. However, I always find that messing with my phone and apps leads to more stress. So I try to keep it simple. 

 2. REDUCE INFLAMMATION

• WHY: inflammation is directly related to root causes of most diseases including metabolic dysfunction and heart disease. 
• HOW: Through your diet you can help reduce inflammation by reducing the amount of simple sugars and carbohydrates that you take in. Eating more healthy fats such as olive, coconut and avocado oils, butter and lard in place of the other oils which are mostly refined and unhealthy. 

 3. BOOST NUTRIENT DENSITY

• WHY: when we eat simple carbs and sugars, we overeat because we crave more and eat more of the same. But this doesn't give our body the nutrients it needs to actually function well. 
• HOW: focus on eating WHOLE foods that are as close to how they grow in nature as possible. This means cutting  down on refined foods that include packaged foods. Eat mostly vegetables, fruits, occasional meats and whole grains & legumes. This is why the Mediterranean style of eating is often recommended because it fits the bill and is a good place to start. This doesn't give free reign to eating tons of packaged pasta and pizza all day because the flour is refined and should be omitted or only eaten occasionally. ​

4. TAKE STEPS TO IMPROVE SLEEP

• WHY: poor sleep is strongly correlated with all diseases. 
• HOW: Stop eating 2 hours before you sleep because your body has to deal with the food before it can rest. Sugar, refined carbs and alcohol all contribute to that problem of waking up at all hours.

5. EXERCISE/MOVE DAILY

• WHY: exercise maximizes your body’s ability to detoxify and clean out all the dead cells and toxins your body makes. 

It increases your ability to make new cells that build health. 
HOW: Get up and move. Do things you enjoy, not what others tell you to do or what you think you SHOULD do but you won't because you hate that thing. Work at your own level and build upon that. 
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6. GET OUTSIDE AND GET SUN

• ​​WHY: people aren't made to be indoors all the time. We benefit from fresh air and the sun. 
• HOW: Try to get 10-15 outside without sunscreen to maximize absorption of vitamin D which helps us fight disease.