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In the first of
a series of articles on integrative medicine, Nutritionist Belinda
Rennie looks at how complementary therapists and medical doctors can
work together to help a person control their weight.
Integrative medicine combines best
practice in Western medicine with complimentary therapies to maximize
the body’s innate potential for self-healing. It involves a
partnership in which patient and practitioner address healing on all
levels: mind, body and spirit. Integrative medicine clinics are
gaining popularity all over the world where many therpapies like homeopathy,
naturopathy, Ayurveda and acupuncture are offered along with allopathic treamtent.
In Dubai, the Osteopathic Health
Centre work as a team; nutritionist, osteopath, physiotherapist,
stress counsellor and exercise specialist to
develop an individualized treatment plan focusing on preventing
and treating illness and moving towards optimum health. The main
health issues we deal with are weight control, digestive health, heart health, diabetes
and women’s health.
For weight control, the main focus
is on parameters of better health and quality of life providing expert guidance on the
physical, mental and emotional aspects of eating. In certain cases we ask
patients to have their doctor
conduct a comprehensive medical consultation with routine health checks and specific blood tests where
necessary to get a full picture of your health. This is especially
important for those patients over forty who have not had a medical in
over a year or who has a family history of illness.
But why focus on body composition and quality of life indices rather than weight on the scales?
Weight on the scales can be very misleading as it does not tell you
how much fat or muscle you carry. With an epidemic in obesity, people
are getting fatter but at the same time they are also loosing muscle
weight which is metabolically active tissue. Look at the health
implications of body composition:
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Healthy
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Unhealthy |
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A healthy body
composition program like IMP helps a person weigh less and look
thinner by causing excess fat to be lost and muscle to be
retained. |
Dieting and other fast weight
loss programs can help a person weigh less but it causes muscle to
be lost and excess fat to be retained
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Healthy body composition
encourages:
Healthy blood vessels, normal
cholesterol, glucose and insulin levels and hormone balance which
supports healthy cell function.
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Unhealthy
body composition increases the risk of developing high blood
pressure, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, insulin
insensitivity, diabetes, hormone imbalance and more. |
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Healthy
body composition produces significantly better overall health. |
Unhealthy
body composition can cause serious health concerns and disease. |
Improving your body composition is
the key to dealing with any health issues you may have making it the
cornerstone of any program. At the clinic we
offer personal exercise programs with individualized sessions and have
trained therapists that can deal with any underlying emotional, mental
or physical blocks. Referral to outside practitioners when necessary,
whether it is other complementary therapists or medical specialists is
part of the integrative approach in patient care.
The Nutritional component covers a
full dietary history and assessment, food sensitivity testing,
personalized meal plan and the Nutricheck computerized program for
nutritional deficiencies. We also use a MSQ (multiple symptom questionnaire) to assess what the major health issues are. Supplements are also recommended to deal
with any deficiencies.
Follow up consultations are
crucial to success. People on the program are given an action plan for
change with their own personal medical, nutritional, exercise and
lifestyle goals in writing, reassessed every three months. With
realistic goals in place your health becomes your responsibility and
with it, the power to shape your body for better health.
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