What is Holistic Health? (How to Heal Naturally)

What is Holistic Health?

You may be wondering: what is holistic health care? Well, the basic concept of holistic health is that an individual’s health should be considered as a whole person, considering all factors. In a holistic approach, the interdependent parts of a person are considered in their overall health. This includes mental health and spiritual health in addition to physical wellness. Because it is not mainstream, holistic care is often considered alternative medicine.

Many people find holistic health due so as a result of necessity, after being turned away by many conventional doctors who do not understand how to view the complexity of human health as a whole. Modern medicine instead sometimes narrowly focuses on diagnosing diseases and prescribing pharmaceuticals to suppress symptoms.

Holistic Healing and Holistic Care

The holistic health concept is based on the belief that the natural health of a person is innate. (Humans are naturally healthy!) Holistic care strives to support optimal health by best supporting the body’s systems to function properly, such as the digestive, nervous, and endocrine systems. By supporting these foundational systems in a person’s body, their body is able to naturally detox, heal, and function optimally.

A holistic doctor understands how body systems are supposed to function optimally. In contrast to the diagnose-and-prescribe model of western medicine, the holistic health model focuses on addressing root causes to heal from diseases beyond symptom suppression. Instead of focusing on isolated symptoms, holistic health looks at a wide variety of factors.

For example: instead of going to many different specialists (gastroenterologist for the gut, endocrinologist for hormones, etc.), a holistic health practitioner could order functional medical tests and attempt to address multiple body systems simultaneously. The benefit of doing such would be that a person can heal in a way that best supports their body. This would save a person the frustration of being recommended to an endless list of specialists who fail to address the real root cause of dysfunction. 

Alternative medicine may include traditional Chinese medicine, herbal medicine, and dietary supplements as an alternative to pharmaceuticals. Integrative medicine may still include traditional approaches and conventional medicine. Note: Holistic medicine has limits and specialists may be necessary for very unhealthy people.

Learn Holistic Health Practices (How to Heal Naturally)

In order to naturally heal, you have to properly identify and appropriately address the root causes of bodily dysfunction. One cause may express many symptoms, or one symptom may have many causes. Holistic health encourages people to be careful investigators of their bodies. You must notice what is suboptimal that may be a clue of a potential health issue.

Stress management is one part that is especially important for your own health. The thoughts in your mind can physically affect you. For example, how you think about life stress can influence your blood pressure.