Lifestyle Medicine Pillars

Movement is essential for physical and mental health. Fitness can be fun, and with some creativity, can be integrated into everyday life. Cardiovascular and muscle-strengthening activities help optimize health and longevity.

Nutrition science highlights a large range of dietary habits that can support long-term health. We highlight recommendations from trusted sources to empower individuals to make educated and delicious nutrition decisions.

Sleep is key for full body restoration. Developing a framework to optimize sleep can improve health outcome, intellectual function, and mood. Simple sleep lifestyle modifications can decrease risk for chronic disease.

Stress that continues without relief can upset the body’s equilibrium. Long-term stress can contribute to or worsen chronic disease. Evaluating external stressors and learning stress management techniques can modulate the stress response.

Humans are social beings. We are wired to connect with one another. Social connection can extend to include family, friends, community, or even strangers. Health benefits from social connection extend from longevity to chronic disease prevention.

New research has found that practicing gratitude has significant positive effects on our physical and mental wellbeing, helps you sleep at night, and even bolsters your immune system. An increasing body of research shows that practicing gratitude and reflecting on positive aspects of our lives regularly may increase our life satisfaction and our quality of life.

As our bodies age, our brains age as well. Cognitive enhancement refers to interventions aimed to enhance or preserve our brain's processing pathways, which naturally degrade over time. In doing so, our memory, concentration, attention, and information processing can be improved.