What is Holistic Medicine?

With Michelle Honda Ph.D. Holistic Doctor

Get a Professional Consultation | What is Holistic Medicine? | What can Holistic Medicine help? | Frequently Asked Questions | About Dr. Michelle Honda | See case histories | Book an Appointment »

Holistic Medicine is a system of health care that uses natural substances to treat the patient and recognition that the patient's mental, emotional, and physical states must all be considered for a lasting effect. Holistic practitioners focus on identifying and correcting the cause of a condition, not simply the symptoms.

The foundation of holistic health sciences is the vitalistic philosophy of the "healing power of nature." This means that within every human organism there is a healing energy, which includes our immune system in the fuller sense of both the physical and the psyche, which is responsible for our wellness and our ability to heal and maintain health.

Following this first premise is the second, that the therapies used to support and stimulate this healing power of nature must be in "the gentlest, least invasive, most efficient manner possible".

The third premise is "to ascertain and correct the CAUSE". Holistic health practitioners do not simply treat the manifestation of the disease, but rather search for the cause and correct it.

To accomplish these goals, holistic health science incorporates many therapeutic modalities: food, nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, lifestyle and counseling.

Holistic health care treats the patient from the preventive stage all the way through to serious, chronic and debilitating disease. Therefore, people can go to holistic health practitioners for colds, bronchitis, allergies, as well as for heart disease, diabetes, and malignant diseases.

Holistic Health Practitioners understand that the body, mind and spirit are connected in complex ways – bio-chemically as well as energetically. Grounded in a variety of theoretical perspectives, holistic health practitioners share a broad view of health and wellness that addresses the multidimensionality of human beings. Only by examining the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, bio-energetic and socio-cultural dimensions of individuals can the holistic professional support clients towards optimum health and wellness.

Quite simply holistic health is a system which is concerned with the whole person (body, mind and spirit), rather than just the problems afflicting his/her various organs and systems.

Holistic health sciences recognizes and uses the fact that the body is a self-healing organism, working with the knowledge that if the right environment and opportunity for self-healing can be created - repair, recovery and good health will result, spontaneously and ill health will be prevented.

To heal in harmony with the natural functions of the body — without harm — is the underlying principle of the holistic system of health care. The intent is to support the natural healing potential of the human body as validated by modern scientific research. It is this combination of the healing power of nature and scientific methods that makes naturopathic medicine an important system of medicine for today's health care.

Holistic Medicine’s basic principles are;

1. Utilize the healing power of nature
2. First, do no harm
3. Find the cause
4. Treat the whole person
5. Preventative medicine

Utilize the Healing Power of Nature: Nature acts powerfully through the healing mechanisms of the body and mind to maintain and restore health. Holistic health practitioners work to restore and support these inherent healing systems when they have broken down, by using methods, medicines, and techniques that are in harmony with natural processes.

First Do No Harm: Holistic health practitioners prefer non-invasive treatments, which minimize the risks of harmful side effects. They are trained to know which patients they can treat safely, and which ones they need to refer to other health care practitioners.

Find the Cause: Every illness has an underlying cause, often an aspect of the lifestyle, diet, or habits of the individual. A holistic health practitioner is trained to find and remove the underlying cause of a disease.

Treat the Whole Person: Health or disease results from a complex interaction of physical, emotional, dietary, genetic, environmental, lifestyle and other factors. Holistic health practitioners treat the whole person, taking these factors into account.

Preventative Medicine: The holistic approach to health care can prevent minor illnesses from developing into more serious, chronic, or degenerative diseases. Patients are taught the principles with which to live a healthy life; by following these principles, they can prevent major illnesses.

Above all, holistic health practitioners respect the natural healing power present in all systems of the human body and they attempt to focus and mobilize that power in their treatment process. Holistic health practitioners have found that this natural healing power, if effectively mobilized, can destroy invading organisms, cast off toxins, as well as rebuild strength and vitality.

The origin of natural health care can be traced back to the ancient healing arts of a variety of cultures.

This type of health care had been practiced for hundreds, if not thousands of years. In the mid and late 1800s in the United States, the standard medical schools taught herbal, homeopathic, and nutritional medicine along with surgery and other more heroic type medicines.

Gradually, the pharmaceutical direction to isolate components of the herbs created more potent, but potentially more toxic drugs. Further, with the advent of antibiotics, the long-term adverse consequences of drugs was not understood and the slower, more gradual effects of natural medicine almost pushed it into disuse in the early 1900s. The current resurgence is due to recognition of both the accomplishments and the limitations of the current medical system and the efficacy of natural medicine.

Clinical Nutrition

Clinical nutrition has been one of the main cornerstones of holistic health since its inception. Studies from around the world, in a variety of medical traditions, have validated the benefits of holistic health's nutritional principles. A vast number of documented cases of physical problems, including heart disease and diabetes, have been helped by nutrition, without unpleasant side effects or complications.

Holistic health theory suggests that most illnesses are caused by digestive disturbances, nutritional deficiencies, toxicity or a combination thereof which have led to a toxic environment in the body. As the body is overwhelmed by toxins it cannot eliminate, the health or strength of the body breaks down and symptoms of various illnesses surface. Nutritional changes are a main component to changing the diseased situation because today's processed foods and poor eating habits are the source of many of the body's toxins.

To treat chronic illnesses, many times nutritional changes are the first step toward healing in holistic health care. For example, simple vegetable soups are often recommended because, as they are easy to digest and assimilate, they provide the body with vitamin and mineral nutrients without adding toxins to the body.

Herbal Medicine

Herbs are used by holistic health practitioners as medicine. As such, they can be extremely powerful and beneficial when used in the right dosage and in the correct combination with other herbs.

Though herbs are the main ingredient for some of the drugs used in conventional medicine, holistic health practitioners use herbs in a different manner than M.D.s use them. Most drugs prescribed by M.D.s are intended to impose an external order on the body. For example, a medicine prescribed to lower blood pressure forces the body to lower the pressure but doesn't correct the reason why the body has increased the pressure in the first place. Therefore, many patients taking blood pressure medicine as prescribed by a conventional medical doctor must continue to take blood pressure medication for the rest of their lives. Regrettably, the patient also endures the probable side effects: impotency, sexual dysfunction, and nervousness.

In contrast, a holistic health practitioner's goal is not to impose an outside order, but to correct the underlying CAUSE. In the case of a weakened heart, a holistic health practitioner would accomplish this by using herbs that nourish and strengthen the heart, such as Hawthorne berry, or herbs that disperse congestion or toxins in the body, such as dandelion root. When strengthening and detoxification occur, a patient's vitality becomes stronger, the root cause of the illness is addressed, and a permanent recovery becomes possible.

Dr. Honda has the ability to help a very wide variety of health concerns. Persons who are particularly drawn to her are; 1) persons who have an incurable problem 2) persons who have a mysterious un-diagnosable problem or 3) persons who have a chronic problem that is not healing itself via other therapies or modalities. In general, persons who are interested in alternative health also like Holistic Medicine.

HealingMyFamily.com / Renew You Holistic Health offers a FREE 15 minute telephone consultation with a Renew You staff person to assess and discuss your particular situation. We are happy to discuss your concern and health history to see if we can help you. Consultations directly with Dr. Honda are only available for a fee ($40.00 for 15 minutes).

If you have further questions, feel free to call us at 1-905-304-0111 or click E-mail us your questions>>. If we have answered all of your questions and you are ready to book an appointment, call or e-mail us today! BOOK AN APPOINTMENT>>