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About This Story
Teresa consulted a life coach to work through her lifelong issues with food and weight. Now, she actually enjoys exercising, is eating much healthier, and has changed her outlook on healthy living and self esteem.
About the Common Therapies List
The therapies listed in the orange sidebar are not necessarily meant to treat conditions directly. Often they are used to reduce stress, therefore increasing a person’s ability to cope and/or heal.
Discuss & Share Your Stories
A Non-Extremist Diet
Joel S. Edman, DSc, FACN, Director of Integrative Nutrition
Jefferson-Myrna Brind Center of Integrative Medicine
Dietary and lifestyle changes are often difficult to maintain. Whether the goal is to lose weight, control blood sugar, reduce cholesterol and/or decrease heart disease risk, I have found that long-term success depends on developing an optimal and user-friendly combination of dietary guidelines, exercises, targeted nutritional supplements and relaxation techniques. It is important to start out with reasonable, realistic goals in each of these categories. Programs should be periodically re-evaluated and refined to produce the desired results with as much enjoyment and ease as is possible.
Modified Mediterranean Diet
Sandi Amoils, M.D., Physician Acupuncturist
Medical Director, Alliance Institute for Integrative Medicine
Our patients ask us on a daily basis about the many claims being made about various diets and weight loss programs. In our experience, most fad diets don’t have long-term results – and despite their best efforts, many people end up feeling disheartened. We look at weight not only as a pure calorie problem, but as a mixed hormonal/nervous system/metabolic issue. At our center, we recommend a Modified Mediterranean diet for optimal health. Studies have shown that this diet, along with a healthy lifestyle, lowers the risk of heart disease, cancer and other illnesses. Other benefits of this approach include less inflammation in the body, fewer wrinkles and improved lipid profiles.