The key component of an integrative approach to medicine and health care is that the human body has an intrinsic capacity for healing. If you get a cut on the surface of your body, it will heal naturally over the next few days. That same healing that you see on the surface of the body also goes on inside the body. However, that principle has been completely lost in modern medicine.

Integrative medicine is certainly not opposed to the use of medication, but when we do use medication, it should be in the context of an integrative treatment plan that begins with lifestyle change. A keystone of lifestyle change is dietary change, and if medication has to be used, the principle that should be followed is you start with the lowest dose of the least potent agent, and you can always work up from there as needed. But often, with lifestyle change alone and the use of natural remedies and all the things that are not really taught in conventional medical training, it is possible to avoid the use of medication or to use it minimally.