A Doctor’s Personalised Approach to Holistic Health and Natural Healing
There are millions of people who take medicines every day that will not help them1. As a conventionally trained doctor, I worked across various specialities, learning from some of the most respected professionals in each field. However, I began to notice a significant gap in our medical training. We were taught to focus primarily on treating symptoms with pharmaceuticals, yet we barely scratched the surface when it came to understanding the deeper causes of disease, inflammation, fatigue and much more. It became clear to me that true healthcare required more than just symptom management, it needed a holistic approach, where we looked at the whole person at a deeper level. While medications could be a temporary solution for acute conditions, long-term use could not only be quite harmful2-12, but cause devastating chronic nutrient depletion13-14 and ultimately create more health problems. Additionally, I started to question how it made sense to rely on medications in the long term that interfere with the body’s natural functions and potentially harm vital organs and systems in the body over time without exploring alternatives that support its innate ability to heal15. It was clear that we as doctors had reached a limit in our ability to manage chronic disease and ‘energy deficiency’ using conventional tools16. As I delved deeper, I realised that many vital discoveries and fundamental health principles were not being effectively communicated or taught in medical training. This left doctors without the tools to fully guide patients toward optimal health and vitality. In addition, some of the most crucial diagnostic tests were either unavailable or overlooked, and I noticed that standard lab work often failed to provide the comprehensive insights needed for long-term health management. This realisation marked the beginning of my journey to explore a broader, more integrative approach to health to address these concerns more fully. I began investigating the power of nutrition, lifestyle changes, the subconscious mind, and the ancient wisdom of systems like Ayurveda and Chinese medicine which are thousands of years old. These approaches offered not just symptom relief but also the possibility of reversing disease by addressing its underlying causes. The rest of this article may challenge some of the conventional wisdom you’re familiar with, especially what doctors and healthcare practitioners are typically taught, but I encourage you to read the rest with an open mind. It’s possible that the path to optimal health and lasting energy doesn’t lie solely in modern medicine, but in a balanced approach that integrates the best of ancient healing and modern science. The First Generation of Medicine: Breaking Free from Conventional Medicine Understanding the Limits of the System As a conventionally trained medical doctor, I was taught to focus on disease models, where treatment typically begins only after symptoms appear. While this approach can be helpful in acute conditions, it felt increasingly reactive and limited. This is in contrast to ancient forms of healing where a more proactive approach enabled a more comprehensive treatment even before symptoms appeared, for example through pulse diagnosis. The heavy administrative burden, tight schedules and reliance on standardised drug protocols turned me and my colleagues in to pill-dispensing technicians, focusing on quick fixes to manage symptoms, rather than reversing the root cause of illness. But medicine, at its core, is humanity’s most sacred healing profession. The focus should be on promoting long-term health and reversing disease, not long term medication dependence and associated side effects. The Gap in Medical Training: What’s Missing? In medical school, we had our own medical “bible” that focused extensively on matching certain doses of medications to clusters of symptoms. Yet, glaring gaps in training existed around nutrition, exercise, supplements, natural remedies and integrative therapies; crucial elements in true health. This felt like just the tip of the iceberg. Discussing alternative approaches with colleagues often led to confident scepticism with an unwillingness to investigate further. They were convinced that medical consensus, based on rigorous scientific research with strong mechanisms in place to ensure scientific integrity, meant we had already found the most effective treatments. But I started to question this mindset. Why Conventional Medicine Falls Short Doctors are taught to view randomised controlled trials as the gold standard of evidence. These trials typically isolate a single variable, such as a drug or intervention, and apply it to patients in highly controlled settings. But from a holistic perspective, this oversimplifies health. Individual differences, lifestyle factors, and the interconnected nature of our mind and bodies were being ignored17-19. Take nutrition as an example: A poor diet causes more deaths globally than any other risk factor20, yet nutrition research is often skewed by commercial interests21. The focus needs to shift from “blockbuster” drugs and population-based data to individual, personalised health responses, where individual factors guide treatment1, 22. The Bigger Problem: Profit Over Patients Public awareness is growing around the influence of large corporations which prioritise profit over nutrition; using similar strategies to corrupt scientific research in the agricultural industry21. The diversity and nutritional quality of our food supply have declined, further exacerbated by food processing23, 24 and post-harvest practices25, 26 creates a perfect storm for widespread health issues27, 28. Whilst organic farming offered a more nutrient-rich alternative, cases of fraud have exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains in that industry as well29, 30. COVID-19: A Wake-Up Call to The Flaws in Health and Science Systems Following the initial fear surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a rapid increase in public awareness about the state of our healthcare systems, exposing inherent flaws in our failing healthcare system31-36 as well as the influence of political and commercial interests on scientific research. The public witnessed firsthand the censorship37, 38, media oversimplification39, and the close ties between pharmaceutical companies, legislation, the medical community, research institutions and health organisations which created a system that was biased towards long-term, profitable drug treatments over more comprehensive, integrated and holistic approaches to health40-43. This stark reality exposed a troubling truth: from a commercial perspective, a patient cured means a customer lost. The manipulation of science itself seems