What is Lifestyle Medicine?

Lifestyle medicine is an evidence-based medical specialty that uses therapeutic lifestyle interventions as the primary way to treat, prevent, and often reverse chronic diseases.

Unlike conventional medicine, which often focuses on managing symptoms through medication or surgery, lifestyle medicine targets the root causes of disease—specifically the daily habits and environmental factors that drive chronic illness.

The 6 Pillars of Lifestyle Medicine

Doctors focus on six interconnected areas of a person's life to improve health outcomes:

1. Nutrition: Prioritizing a whole-food, plant-predominant diet (vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds) while minimizing ultra-processed foods.

2. Physical Activity: Engaging in regular movement, aiming for at least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week plus muscle-strengthening exercises.

3. Restorative Sleep: Improving sleep hygiene and ensuring enough high-quality rest to allow the body to repair itself.

4. Stress Management: Using healthy coping mechanisms like mindfulness, meditation, or breathing exercises to reduce the physical impact of chronic stress.

5. Social Connection: Building strong, positive relationships and community ties, which have a profound impact on physical and mental health.

6. Avoidance of Risky Substances: Reducing or eliminating the use of tobacco, alcohol, and other addictive substances. 

Why It Matters

Chronic conditions like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and hypertension are responsible for the vast majority of healthcare costs and deaths globally. Lifestyle medicine provides a standardized, clinical framework to treat these conditions by empowering patients to take an active role in their own healing.