Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as the primary modality to treat chronic conditions. Some of these conditions include obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol cardiovascular disease and stroke, among many others. Lifestyle Medicine certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based life style change to treat and often reverse such conditions.
The lifestyle therapies focus on the six-pillars of Lifestyle Medicine and include:
• A whole-food, plant-based eating pattern
• Regular physical activity
• Restorative sleep
• Stress management
• Avoidance of risky substances
• Positive social connections
In Lifestyle medicine the patient is an active participant rather than a passive recipient of care. In this model the goals of the patient are the primary focus guiding therapy. Therapies are evidence based. Coaching techniques are used to help effect meaningful change.
Welcome to Living Well
We are Dan & Elizabeth Smithson a doctor/coach, husband-and-wife team,
passionate in helping individuals reach optimum health by Living Well.
More than just the absence of disease, or reaching your ideal weight,
Living Well includes all aspects of our physical, mental, spiritual
and social well-being.
Discover with us, why we do what we do, what is Lifestyle Medicine,
what is health coaching, and how we know we can help
guide you to a LivingWell lifestyle.
passionate in helping individuals reach optimum health by Living Well.
More than just the absence of disease, or reaching your ideal weight,
Living Well includes all aspects of our physical, mental, spiritual
and social well-being.
Discover with us, why we do what we do, what is Lifestyle Medicine,
what is health coaching, and how we know we can help
guide you to a LivingWell lifestyle.
You're not just living... you're Living Well!
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What is Lifestyle Medicine?
Lifestyle Medicine is a medical specialty that uses healing lifestyle interventions as the primary method to treat chronic conditions. Some of these conditions include obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and stroke, among others. Lifestyle Medicine certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based lifestyle changes to treat and often reverse these chronic conditions.
Certified Health & Wellness coaches are trained to create individualized solutions that support genuine, lasting lifestyle changes. Coaching provides trusted, science-based information, positive encouragement, accountability, and continued support. It's more than just knowing the science, it's understanding how to guide clients in their specific goals to live happier, healthier, purposeful lives.
Explore The 6 Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine
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If one or any of these six pillars of lifestyle medicine needs improvement in your life, then coaching provides the framework and tools to help you take that next step. Take control of your own health today. Choose to create the best version of yourself for all your tomorrows.
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Got questions? Here are some answers.
Whole foods are foods which are predominantly in their whole, natural form. An example is an apple or a pear as opposed to an apple pie or pear sauce. Plant-based means the food is primarily grown from the ground. Examples would include nuts, fruits and vegetables as opposed to most meat and dairy products.
One way of helping know if a food is “whole” is to ask if it was processed. In the example of the apple, the fruit as picked from the trees is a whole-food. It can be processed further to apple sauce by crushing it or into apple butter by crushing and then cooking it down to a more concentrated form. It can be processed further by adding preservatives, colorings, flavorings, and sweeteners to make a candy and so forth. Each processing step alters the whole-food and changes it’s nutritional value significantly.
Plant-based means that the predominant source of nutrition comes from plants. This is in contrast to getting most of our food from meat or dairy. Plant-based is not vegan or vegetarian. Dr. Joel Furhman coined the term “nutritarian” which we like. A “nutritarian” diet focuses on foods high in nutrition. It just so happens that few animal and dairy products fall into that category. Non plant-based foods add little if anything to a healthy diet so, if they are used they are uses sparingly.
Dietary Position Statement from the ACLM:
“For the treatment, reversal and prevention of lifestyle-related chronic disease, the ACLM recommends an eating plan based predominant with a variety of minimally processed vegetables fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds.”
The stages of processed foods are:
1. Unprocessed or minimally processed: Fresh fruits, vegetables, legumes, eggs, nuts, seeds. In general, if you can PULL it from the ground, PICK it off of a bush or PLUCK it off of a tree, it’s a whole food.
2. Culinary processed: Foods with added ingredients like salt, spices, butter, oils. Thinks of apple or apple sauce with some cinnamon on it.
3. Processed: Canned foods (including fruits and veggies), dried fruit, cured meats
4. Ultra-processed: Thinks of things you generally don’t make at home in your own kitchen like candy, soft drinks, pastries, chicken nuggets, etc.
The specialty of Lifestyle Medicine believes strongly in making recommendations and using techniques and tools which have been scientifically shown to be effective. On other words, evidence-based means science-based.
The American College of Lifestyle Medicine (ACLM) defines lifestyle medicine as:
Lifestyle medicine is a medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as a primary modality to treat chronic conditions including, but not limited to, cardiovascular diseases, type 2 diabetes, and
obesity. Lifestyle medicine certified clinicians are trained to apply evidence-based, whole-person, prescriptive lifestyle change to treat and, when used intensively, often reverse such conditions. Applying the six pillars of lifestyle medicine—a whole food, plant-predominant eating pattern, physical activity, restorative sleep, stress management, avoidance of risky substances and positive social connections—also provides effective prevention for these conditions.
Lifestyle medicine is a distinct field of medical practice which focuses on treating the underlying cause of most of our modern diseases.
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
An approach to medical care that is not currently considered part of conventional medicine. It uses complementary (meaning together with conventional medicine) and/or alternative (meaning in place of conventional
medicine) treatments that historically have not been well researched. Examples include naturopathy and homeopathy.
Integrative Medicine
Focuses on addressing the whole-person’s needs including physical, social, emotional, mental, environmental and spiritual. It typically does this by combining conventional, complementary and alternative medicine. It integrates experience-based complementary and alternative medicine methods with evidence-based conventional methods.
Functional Medicine
Focuses on the physiologic and biochemical functions of the body (from cells to organ systems) and investigates the balance and processes of cellular metabolism, digestive function, detoxification ands control of oxidative stress. It tends to emphasize testing of various hormones and metabolites in the body that are not well-proven or generally accepted with evidence-based medicine.
Mind-body Medicine
Investigates the interactions between the body and mind. It uses modalities such as relaxation, hypnosis visual imagery, meditation yoga, biofeedback, spirituality and tia chi, among others. Some mind-body techniques are evidence-based while others are unproven.
Preventive Medicine
Focuses on preventing diseases and death for the general public. It oversees the field of public health (like the CDC and Health Departments). It emphasizes population-based interventions which include immunizations, screening and protection from epidemics and pandemics.
Conventional Medicine
Also sometimes called “western” medicine or the medicine that is most widely practiced and accepted in western societies. This is the type of medical practice we, in America, are most familiar with and includes identifying and treating the cause of illness with medications and/or surgery. Conventional medical practice is attempts to be highly evidence- based and typically tries to avoid treatments not founded in science.
In this model the patient is usually the passive recipient of care while the provider dispenses or prescribes treatment. The provider is generally responsible for outcomes with little responsibility placed on the patient to make change or influence outcomes.