What are the six pillars of lifestyle medicine and why are they important?

January is a time when we all start to take a long, hard look at our lifestyle and how we can improve it to help us feel better and live longer. Many of us will have entered this month determined to eat more healthily, exercise more, or perhaps shake off a bad habit.

Dry January, in particular, has become a popular way to reset after the excesses of December and can be seen as a soft start, experimenting with healthy living before committing to a full lifestyle overhaul.

Here at GP London W1, we adopt a holistic approach to patient care, combining conventional and lifestyle medicine to support better long-term health and well-being.

Lifestyle or preventive medicine shares many things in common with our typical New Year’s resolutions. The major difference is that it is doctor-led and supported, meaning you make positive, evidence-based choices to change your lifestyle in ways that will improve your overall health, tailored to your needs, with ongoing support from your GP.

Lifestyle medicine is essentially a preventive approach, looking after your health now to avoid issues in the future. But it can also help you to feel better, healthier and happier, with more energy, in the here and now.

The tenants of preventative medicine

So, what are the six pillars of lifestyle medicine, and why is it important to focus on them?

1. Diet

We’ve all heard the phrase ‘you are what you eat’, and while that may seem hyperbolic, it is true that a healthy diet is the cornerstone of a healthy lifestyle. Eating balanced meals, full of whole grains, lean proteins, and a variety of fruits and vegetables, helps to boost your immune system, protecting you from disease and ensuring your energy levels remain stable throughout the day.

With lifestyle medicine, your GP can work with you to identify a nutrition plan that meets your specific needs and fits with your lifestyle. They can also support you to keep going when the temptation of sugary treats and highly processed foods feels like it’s getting too much.

2. Exercise

Making sure you get regular physical exercise is another great way to stay fit and healthy, increasing blood flow and improving circulation to keep heart disease at bay and balancing your insulin levels to avoid diabetes, as well as helping to keep your weight to a healthy level and strengthening bone and muscle to keep you fit and active for longer.

And the great thing about exercise is that it doesn’t just improve your physical health. The mood boosting effects of regular physical activity are well documented, meaning it can help keep anxiety and depression at bay, too. You should aim for at least 30 minutes of activity on most days, which could be anything from a gentle walk to a high-intensity exercise class, depending on your baseline fitness.

3. Sleep

It may sound obvious, but a good night’s sleep really is essential for both your physical and your mental health. Sleep deprivation has been linked to conditions like kidney disease, depression and stroke, as well as contributing to weight gain and low attention span.

Most people need at least seven hours sleep at night, and lifestyle medicine can help you achieve that: not only can your GP support you to plan a regular bedtime routine that fits in with your daily schedule, but actually many of the other pillars of lifestyle medicine – regular exercise, reduced stress and avoiding alcohol and nicotine – can also improve your ability to get a good night’s sleep.

4. Stress

These days, we all lead stressful lifestyles, and the advent of smartphones has done nothing to help, reducing our ability to switch off once we leave the office. A little bit of stress is an important and healthy part of life, but too much can contribute to serious health problems. It can also lead to over-eating, which, as we have seen above, brings its own risks.

As part of an overall lifestyle medicine plan, your GP can talk to you about the things in your life that are stressful, and help you work out how to reduce the things that can be reduced and how to manage the impact of those that can’t.

5. Social connection

Forging and maintaining positive relationships and social connections can have a huge impact on our emotional wellbeing. In these times where so many of us work from home, it can be very easy to go for days on end without seeing or speaking to another human being on a social level, and we often forget how important these social interactions are for both our mental and physical health: strong family or friendship connections can provide robust support for lifestyle changes like diet and exercise.

6. Avoidance of dangerous substances

We all know the dangers of substances like alcohol and nicotine, but that doesn’t mean we find it easy to avoid them.

With lifestyle medicine, your doctor can help you to recognise your specific triggers and work out how to handle them. They can offer support to get through the tough early days and motivation to keep going when temptation strikes later on.

GP London W1’s Dr Shuting Xiong pursued further specialist training in Lifestyle Medicine and now practises as a GP with a Special Interest (GPwSI) in this field.

“We all probably know what we should be doing to live a healthier lifestyle, but the training I underwent taught me how to give practical, sustainable advice and support my patients in a more meaningful way.”

Get in touch if you wish to discuss improving ongoing symptoms or long-term disease management through evidence-based lifestyle modifications.