New Year Resolutions a Functional Doctor’s Perspective by Svetlana Kogan, M.D.

The New Year is here, and with it are people making resolutions towards a healthier lifestyle. Many patients ask me for the tips or steps on how to get started, and I wish it were as simple as everyone taking the same magic pill that would take their troubles away and cleanse them from their transgressions of previous years.

In reality though, holistic medicine envisions revamping your lifestyle to be as much of a spiritual journey as it is a physiological process. We are encouraged to identify the parts of ourselves which require a reset and proceed to address all these aspects, one by one, as much as is sustainable for a person.

The most important lifestyle factors we address are:

• Nutrition
• Exercise
• Sleep & Relaxation
• Emotional fitness, including the way the person handles stress
• Spiritual health, including relationships with the friends, family, and the higher conscience/G-d.

The key here is that for every change we are planning to make, we must take into consideration not only the patient themselves, but also his or her family and friends. Without their participation, New Year lifestyle changing resolutions will not be sustainable.

For example, it is very difficult to stop drinking alcohol if your best friend is an alcoholic who is not onboard with going sober. If you make a resolution to quit smoking but are married to a smoker – your chances of failing are higher. If you are trying to eat better, but spend most of your time around obese individuals who are not in the same frame of mind – your chances of resetting your lifestyle are slimmer. You get the idea.

While getting ready for our recent hurricanes, I was shopping for non-perishable foods for no electricity scenarios, and while throwing bags of chips into my shopping basket – I caught myself thinking that it had probably been at least 25 years since I ate such processed things. When it comes to healthy eating and preaching this lifestyle to my patients – I try to walk the walk and it hurts to realize that there are many people out there who still eat processed foods daily because this is what their environment fosters.

It comes down to education, rather than socio-economic status, to explain why people are brought up to make the wrong nutritional choices. In fact, in the analysis of 27 studies from 10 countries, it was found that eating healthier, fresh foods costs just $1.56 more /day based on a whopping 2,000 calorie diet. Studies suggest that social cohesion around eating healthy is critically important. So, make sure that you and your loved ones are eating better together this year. Get educated. Speak to your doctor about it.

Also make sure to pay attention to sleep quality improvement. How is sleeping better this year going to benefit you besides the obvious of feeling more well-rested? Good sleep helps us to lose weight, cope with pain better, improves our immune system, and decreases the inflammatory burden for the body by giving it time to detox. Once again, your partner who shares your bed has to
help you stick with your New Year’s new routine for getting better quality sleep.

And, of course, we must emphasize the importance of building strong and meaningful relationships this year. Belonging to a caring social network of people – whether it’s a religion or spirituality-based group – will prolong your life and decrease your risk for depression, suicide, and substance use.

Let your inner beauty shine through this year and always by leading a healthy and meaningful life, which incorporates feeding your cells with healthy food, moving your body with some kind of exercise which feels right to you, sleeping well, practicing a good relaxation technique you can relate to, and spending time with your tribe.

The author of ‘Diet Slave No More!’, Svetlana Kogan, M.D. is a Board-Certified Internal Medicine, Holistic & Functional Medical Doctor with 25 years of experience. Her website is CustomLongevity.com Office Phone: 239-676-6883