Holistic health concentrates on the wellbeing of the body, mind, and spirit in conjunction with one another and incorporates the use of alternative therapies, counseling, prayer, traditional Chinese medicine, conventional (Western) medical treatments, and healthy lifestyle choices to further its ideals (Eliopoulos, 2010). Meanwhile, holistic nutrition utilizes various combinations of foods and nutrients to help individuals maintain, balance, and achieve their optimal mental, physical and spiritual health (Perkins, n.d.). According to the scholar Hans A. Baer, “foci of the holistic health movement have included stress and stress reduction, reliance on natural therapies, therapeutic eclecticism, the notion of healer as a teacher rather than a medical authority figure, the belief that the body is suffused by a flow of energy, the belief in vitalism, and individual responsibility for one’s health” (Baer, 2003, p. 235). This paper seeks to explore the dietary principles involved in holistic nutrition, the importance and value of exercise, and the function of the immune system in regards to achieving optimal health from a holistic point of view.

In maintaining nutritional health, holistic practices find that it is important not only to consider the types of foods that are consumed, but to examine when food is consumed, what one does while eating, and the amount of food that is consumed (Eliopoulos, 2010). Health is dependent upon nutrition in that, if a person has dietary habits of eating foods that contain very little nutritional value, if they eat their meals quickly or on the go, or if they eat meals under stressful conditions, then the body, mind, and spirit will quickly be depleted instead of being energized in the way that food is supposed to refresh and replenish individuals (Eliopoulos, 2010). The saying that “you are what you eat” applies to holistic nutrition in that if a person eats healthy foods, they will in turn be healthy; however, if a person eats junk foods, their health will be a direct reflection of these unhealthy habits. By practicing self-care, reducing portion sizes, paying close attention to the amount of food and the types of food that are consumed, keeping a food journal, and incorporating various different types of fruits and vegetables into one’s diet over a period of time can bring about significant changes in a person’s energy levels, their weight, their moods, the alleviation of certain medical symptoms, and improvements in an individual’s overall health (Eliopoulos, 2010).

Holistic nutrition relies on self-care habits in which an individual takes in active role in seeking out efforts to maintain and improve their health (Eliopoulos, 2010). Individuals must choose the types of foods that they eat and pay special attention to the chemicals, nutrients, daily values, and vitamins contained within the foods that they select. National, state, and local guidelines help to support self-care and holistic nutrition values through the implementation of regulations and guidelines such as the Food Guide Pyramid, Nutrition Facts labels, Dietary Guidelines, recommended dietary allowances, and dietary reference intakes that are put forth by the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academies of Science (Eliopoulos, 2010). All of this information provided to the public should be taken into consideration when individuals choose what kinds of foods and how much of these foods that they should consume to bring about their optimal health goals, as serving recommendations, daily percentage values, and nutrition facts are crucial in making healthy, self-governed nutritional choices (Eliopoulos, 2010).

Holistic expert Cynthia Perkins claims that individuals can learn a lot about their body by paying attention to the thoughts, feelings and reactions that specific foods and supplements bring about when ingested, as deficiencies in nutrient levels can spawn certain physical and psychological symptoms (Perkins, n.d.). Further, while holistic nutrition is largely individualized and must be tweaked to pertain to the individual at hand, all individuals who wish to follow a holistic nutritional plan should keep the following principles and ideas in mind: all food should be organic as much as possible; individuals should avoid consuming junk food, processed food, or food with additives and preservatives; individuals should negate away from sugar and caffeine as much as possible; it is important to drink adequate amounts of pure water that are filtered and free of chlorine and other contaminants; avoid microwaves; steer clear of genetically engineered foods; identify hidden food allergies and food sensitivities; address nutritional deficiencies; and eat whole foods in their natural state as much as possible (Perkins, n.d.). However, any changes in diet or nutritional habits should be made gradually so that they are not as hard to stick with and can be easily maintained through self-discipline (Perkins, n.d.). It is also important to bear in mind that an individual’s needs may change over time in response to improvements in health or the balancing of essential vitamins and nutrients; therefore, dosages of vitamins and nutrients may have to be decreased or increased depending on the circumstances so that, what may work for an individual’s balance one day, may not be right for the next and will have to be adjusted accordingly (Perkins, n.d.).

According to Charlotte Eliopoulos, “the body is not intended to be stagnant. Every movement, each effort of the muscles to pump blood brings the life force to every cell and flushes or removes from the body all that is no longer needed” (Eliopoulos, 2010, p. 79). It is important for individuals to find and maintain a well-rounded exercise regimen that focuses on working all of the body’s individual muscles, improving and increasing one’s metabolic rate, and establishing a balanced and uninterrupted flow of energy within the individual (Eliopoulos, 2010). Not only does exercise improve the body’s appearance and the ease of certain bodily functions, but it also satisfies the mind and can bring about desirable effects in one’s mood and energy levels (Eliopoulos, 2010). Routine exercise and movement can benefit individuals by way of allowing muscles to grow, increasing one’s metabolism, reducing fat storages, multiplying blood vessels, strengthening bones, promoting sharper thinking processes, facilitating positive mood elevations, and promoting vitality and enthusiasm in relationships (Eliopoulos, 2010). Further, different types of exercise can benefit different parts of the body or different processes within the body; for example, aerobic exercise requires the heart and lungs to work harder, weight training develops muscle strength, and yoga and T’ai Chi enhance energy flow (Eliopoulos, 2010).

The concept of holism that claims that the body, the mind, and the spirit should be treated in unison with one another is in keeping with the traditional Chinese yin-yang concept in that it holds that elements of opposing phenomena, rather than being separate and distinct apart from one another, each hold within them the characteristics of the opposite in order to create a sort of interdependent relationship in which changes to one aspect will surely effect the other (Hepburn, 1988). Additionally, the concept of holism furthers the notion that health is the result of “diseases of lifestyle,” which argue that a result of failing to eat and exercise properly is essentially a failure to maintain one’s body, mind and spirit (Baer, 2003). Therefore, the yin-yang philosophy can apply to choosing a lifetime health and exercise plan in which the individual considers the foods that they put into their body, the amount or type of exercise that they complete, and the ways in which these two separate activities can effect one another so as to identify the ways in which certain combinations of different nutrients and movements can change or effect aspects of their specific moods, energy levels, weight control, and their overall health.

The body’s immune system helps to protect individuals from infections, illnesses, and diseases (Eliopoulos, 2010). Imbalances in a person’s health can adversely affect and threaten the immune system from operating efficiently (Eliopoulos, 2010). The immune system is made up of networks and pathways throughout the body that transport immune cells to “serve and protect” individuals from sicknesses and disease by identifying foreign bodies and initiating defenses against them (Eliopoulos, 2010). The immune system and the lymphatic system, which consists of lymph nodes made up of T cells that identify and check for bacteria or viruses within the body, are essential to maintaining good health (Eliopoulos, 2010). In order to maintain immunologic health, it is important that individuals closely monitor and make healthy decisions regarding their diet, possibly practice fasting to boost the immune system’s capabilities, exercise regularly, participate in diaphragmatic breathing exercises to increase lymphatic fluid movement, learn to manage stress effectively, and develop psychological traits that are consistent with strong immunity (Eliopoulos, 2010).

While immunological health is imperative, it is noteworthy to mention Baer’s claims that there are ten principles of health and illness that find the following to be true:
(1) Perfect health is not attainable; (2) It is alright to be sick; (3) The body has innate healing abilities; (4) Agents of disease are not causes of disease; (5) All illness is psychosomatic; (6) Subtle manifestations of illness precede gross ones; (7) Every body is different; (8) Everybody has a weak point; (9) Blood is a principal carrier of healing energy; and (10) Proper breathing is a key to good health (Baer, 2003, p. 237-238).
Further, holistic expert Sharon Hepburn finds that practicing holism can be more effective than biomedicine in some instances of illnesses because biomedical discourses are unable to tackle the aspects of sickness and illness that refer to social and environmental concerns that effect individuals and their health, and because some medical cures cannot be effective unless they are presented under ideal social and environmental conditions (Hepburn, 1998). Eliopoulos claims that making minor adjustments in health practices to prevent illnesses or disease is easier than waiting for these issues to develop and finding ways to care for and treat them once an individual is already effected (Eliopoulos, 2010). Not only is it important to take steps to improve immune function, but it is also important to look for signs of an imbalanced immune system that can include increased susceptibility towards infections, disorientation, disorganization, disidentification, and disintegration (Eliopoulos, 2010).

In conclusion, holistic health and holistic nutrition are imperative in maintaining, balancing, and achieving optimal mental, physical and spiritual health (Perkins, n.d.). In exploring the dietary principles involved in holistic nutrition, the importance and value of exercise, and the function of the immune system in regards to achieving optimal health from a holistic point of view, individuals can work towards effective self-care for the body, mind, and spirit. It is important to take into consideration the actions that we take and the habits that we employ so as to observe their effects on the body, our nutrition, and our overall wellbeing so that we may gradually introduce healthy alternatives that are easy to maintain for the time to come. References

Baer, H. A. (2003, June). The Work of Andrew Weil and Deepak Chopra: Two Holistic Health/New Age Gurus: A Critique of the Holistic Health/New Age Movements. In Medical Anthropology Quarterly (Vol. 17, No. 2, p. 233-250). Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3655336.

Eliopoulos, C. (2010). Invitation to Holistic Health: A Guide to Living a Balanced Life (2nd Ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Hepburn, S. J. (1988, March). W. H. R. Rivers Prize Essay (1986): Western Minds, Foreign Bodies. In Medical Anthropology Quarterly (Vol. 2, No. 1, p. 59-74). Retrieved January 26, 2013, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/649261.

Perkins, C. (n.d.). No-Hype Holistic Health Solutions: Holistic Nutrition. Retrieved January 27, 2013, from http://www.holistichelp.net/holistic-nutrition.html.