Holistic medicine is based on healing principles and treatments that are intended to prevent dis-ease; and maintains health and wellness by facilitating the body’s innate abilities (to heal itself).

As an integrative system of health intervention and maintenance, holistic medicine is comprised of mind-body-spirit medicine and natural health treatments like chiropractic, naturopathy, homeopathy, energy healing, and massage therapy. The philosophy (of all of these complementary therapies) shared in common is the belief in doing no harm and treating the “whole” person, and not just the “dis-ease.”

Holistic medicine like chiropractic is typically administered by an educated and licensed D.C. (Doctor of Chiropractic). Integrating a combination of therapies, chiropractors will often design a treatment plan specific to the individual; which may include holistic nutritional counseling, bodywork therapies, and gentle spinal adjustments.

Homeopathy, another form of holistic medicine, was developed by Samuel Hahnemann during the 18th century. Homeopathy facilitates diluted remedies created with animal, plant, and mineral substances. Founded on the principles that “like cures like,” this holistic medicine field is not only gaining acceptance in the Western world, but is also finding its way into European and Indian traditional medical universities as part of comprehensive curricula.

Naturopathy is by far, one of the most inclusive holistic medicine systems available today. Naturopathic medicine entails a broad spectrum of natural healing modalities including acupuncture, colon hydrotherapy, environmental medicine, holistic nutritional counseling, chiropractic, homeopathy, herbal medicine, hydrotherapy, and even massage therapy, among other mind/body/spirit medicines. Like all holistic medicine methods, naturopathy is based on the philosophy that takes into account all aspects of life; and the interrelationship of physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. In doing so, natural health treatments are customized to meet the health and wellness needs of the patient as an individual, and not just for the treatment of symptoms.

Massage therapy is a fast-growing holistic medicine in these United States. While it is probably one of the most non-invasive forms of natural health care, it is one of the widely recommended treatments for stress, chronic muscle pain, and other common health issues. Licensed massage therapists generally administer basic forms of bodywork including Swedish massage, deep tissue therapy, and sports massage; however, some holistic medicine practitioners who have received more advanced training, may offer modalities like acupressure, craniosacral therapy, infant/pre-natal massage, myofascial release, Trigger Point therapy, and more. Additionally, some massage therapists may provide reiki and energy healing services.

Interested in learning more about this or other holistic therapies? Let professional training within fast-growing industries like massage therapy, holistic health, acupuncture, oriental medicine, Reiki, and others get you started! Explore holistic medicine courses near you.

What is Holistic Medicine?

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Anyone losing weight should be encouraged to base snacks and meals from whole food, which refers to food that has not been processed or manipulated with preservatives and chemicals. The food on your plate should resemble its source as closely as possible, like fresh chicken breasts instead of crispy chicken fingers with ranch dipping sauce.

I know what you are thinking. Whole foods taste kinda bland at first, right? And sweeteners add more calories so what is the point? Your first instinct would be to use something like Sweet & Low, or a similar sweetener that claims to be a healthier alternative to refined sugar. Even though it is not thought of as a food on your plate, it still goes into your body. You need to know how to sweeten your food safely.

Refined white sugar is harmful for any diet simply because it is so devoid of nutritional value of its own, it actually robs your body of nutrients to metabolize it evenly. Just like anything else, a little bit will not hurt too much, but your health will greatly improve with a significant reduction of white sugar in your diets.

How do you sweeten food safely without it being detrimental to your health and weight loss efforts?

Sweeten Food Safely Tip #1: Use Natural Sugars
Nutritionally complex natural sugars such as honey, molasses, and syrup are healthy alternatives to using any kind of sugar or artificial sweetener. Remember, these things come from the earth just like fruits and vegetables, and we all know how good those foods are for us on a daily basis.

Honey is sugar, but since it is natural and unrefined, it contains a host of nutrients and enzymes that have a multitude of beneficial attributes.  It will not cause the rapid rise and fall of blood sugar levels as does white sugar, and there are many varieties and flavors to choose from.

Sweeten Food Safely Tip #2: Choose Nature’s Candy
Ever wonder why you do not have to pour sugar over apples, grapes, blueberries, strawberries or raisins? It is because these foods are the candy of the produce department. They can be used as sweeteners in a variety of foods such as soy-based protein shakes, cereal, yogurt and oatmeal.

Just like everything else, unfortunately, our diets are often compromised by our willingness to bring these natural foods down to the American diet level. Dipping fruits into high-fat chocolate and caramel will not help your weight loss. It is no healthier to eat a Raisinet than it is to eat any other candy, despite the claim on the wrapper that is contains antioxidants. Stop falling for these sales gimmicks. Keep your foods natural and your taste buds will eventually revert back to the days before these altered snack foods even existed.

Sweeten Food Safely Tip #3: Limit Artificial Sweeteners
Anything containing aspartame is not a healthy choice for sweetening your food or drinks. Studies show that products containing aspartame can lead to poisoning, seizures, blackouts, headaches, memory loss, blindness, nausea, and gastrointestinal disorders. With even just one of these potential side effects, why risk your health let alone your weight loss efforts?

Just as drinking alcohol will not solve any of your emotional problems, fake sugar will not feed your body’s needs. Your body needs proper nutrition in order to perform at optimum performance, and that includes weight loss. The more you focus on working toward healthy nutrition, the more you will find your cravings for junk foods disappearing.

Even worrying about sweetening your food is not really the kind of mindset you need to live a healthy lifestyle. It is useful when trying to change your eating habits, but your long term goal is getting to the core of the problem by avoiding sweet foods altogether. But if you must sweeten… sweeten food safely! Keep a bowl of fresh ripe fruit nearby at all times to snack to to relieve your sugar cravings.

If you are craving something sweet, do not feel guilty. Over the years the American diet has slowly made us become dependent on sweet treats. The more time rolls on, the sweeter we want our food. This would be alright if becoming overweight was not a side effect, but it is taking its toll on society. Losing weight is about making small changes on a daily basis toward a healthier lifestyle…and for things to change, you have got to change.

Spas are places where a person can get a wide range of health treatments and beauty treatments that are meant to relax and relieve the person from stress and strain. Due to extreme stress in professional life, spas have become more popular offering relaxation treatments with a bigger price tag. The word spa is derived from Latin “solus per aqua”, which means health through water. The spa concept of immersing the body of the person in water to restore and maintain health is considered to be very important to life. According to Sebastain Kneipp, father of hydrotherapy, water and herbs mixed in the right combination; can be used to cure any illness. Today’s modern life style has made people feel sick, stress and exhausted. To maintain a good balanced diet, good exercise and enough rest has become a real challenging issue for both men and women. They get stress from working all the day and get even more aggravated when doing the household chores after the day’s work.

There are different kinds of spas like the day spas where the person has to make an appointment and get treated. Resort spas are like staying in a hotel, spas on cruise ships as one of the relaxing ways, medical spas which are run by medical practitioners to treat patients, home spas for daily indulgence in homes etc. The spa treatments include facials, massages, sauna and other skin and body treatments like pedicure, manicure etc. Some spas are dedicated to particular health aspects like weight loss regime or for back pain treatment.

Latest breakthrough in spa technology involves ultrasonic waves, ozone negative ions and far infrared rays into a single portable home spa machine. This machine provides relief from stress and from common illnesses. Studies have revealed that five minutes of ultrasonic bubble treatment is equal to massage done for an hour. Like the traditional massage of applying pressure directly on the body tissues, this too applies pressure by dilating the cells and penetrating the skin. This ultrasonic home spa provides relaxation and massage to the body, cleans deeply, provides internal warming, beauty contouring etc. For an aroma hydrotherapy to be done at home, one needs to add few drops of herbal oils like the sandalwood oil, citrus oil or lavender oil to enjoy and feel the natural healing of a waterfall, forest bath or a hot spring.

Health benefits of home spas:

Apart from making the person relaxed and rejuvenated, a home spa can even benefit them health-wise too. A home spa can improve the health of a person when used with bath oils and spa salts. It improves the removal of metabolic wastes and toxins from the body. It enhances the oxygenation of the extremities and joints, blood circulation is improved. The muscles are toned with a youthful and glowing complexion. It increases the metabolic rate, enhancing the power to burn calories quickly and promotes weight loss.

It normalizes the blood pressure levels, lowers the cholesterol levels, balances acid-alkaline levels in the body, boosts immunity, improves the flow of lymph, reduces aches and pains of the muscles and joints, enhances the mood and improves the digestive system.