Lifestyle Medicine and the 6 Pillars of Health
More now than ever people are prioritising their health and wellness. As consumers in general, we’re more informed about our lifestyle choices and purchases. There’s a whole world of technology available to track and monitor various health and fitness aspects and businesses are putting more focus on workplace wellbeing.
With this at the forefront of everybody’s minds, it’s serendipitous and fortunate for us that Ü Health & Wellness have brought the emerging healthcare discipline that is Lifestyle Medicine to Kent and the South East. From what we’ve learnt so far, it is – quite literally – life-altering and something that everyone stands to benefit from.
The concept of Lifestyle Medicine
Lifestyle Medicine is a multi-disciplinary approach that focusses on using evidence-based lifestyle interventions to prevent, manage & even reverse chronic illnesses as well as improving overall wellbeing. The overarching ethos strives for long-term change and the healthy behaviours emphasised are known as the ‘6 pillars of health’ – more on that shortly.
Ü Health & Wellness
Ü Health and Wellness is an integrated clinic that comes to you – whether at home, online or over the phone. The team is made up of GPs, Nutritional Therapists and other healthcare practitioners who have adopted the Lifestyle Medicine approach to provide unique and personalised health solutions for long-term gain.
Services currently available are a GP service (online or at home), health checks and screening and nutritional therapy sessions (one-off and courses).
You might also see the team out in the community as they’ve been delivering talks and workshops on topics such as longevity, health span, bone health and more.
Why might you reach out to the Ü Health and Wellness team?
• High Blood Pressure
• High Cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Menopause
• Weight Concerns
• Muscle or Joint pain
• Gut concerns
• Poor Sleep
• Hormone imbalance (Female or Male)
Read their blogs which provide useful information on specific conditions and areas of wellness – insulin resistance and the importance of sleep are a couple of our favourite reads!
Dr Shiv Sivasothy, founder of Ü Health & Wellness
Dr Shivanthy Sivasothy is the founder of Ü Health & Wellness and has been a GP since 2008. Shiv trained at and worked for University College London (UCL) – which is consistently ranked as one of the top ten universities in the world. One of her most memorable experiences of this time is providing urgent care at the 2012 Olympics – not many people have that claim!
Shiv’s defining moment came in 2016 when she went to work/live in Canada. The Canadian healthcare system differs from the UKs in that it’s only partially funded by the Government. Regular medication (a typical management tool for diabetes, as an example) quickly becomes very costly and the total sum isn’t always covered by insurance. This motivates patients to view their lifestyle differently.
Wanting to apply this approach to the way she looked after her patients in UK, Shiv studied with the British Society of Lifestyle Medicine. In 2023, Shiv stepped down as Practice Partner at the GP she worked for and by the end of that same year, she launched Ü Health & Wellness.
Shiv says, “I’m YOUR advocate. I will take the time to look deep into your health concerns and their root causes and not just focus on symptom management. I will do the ‘looking’ to save your GP from doing it. I understand the pressures on local GP practices and the difficulties around getting personalised care with unrestricted investigations and treatment plans aimed at longer healthier living.”
So, what are the 6 Pillars of Health?
Eating healthy
In the words of Baz Luhrman, ‘your body is the greatest instrument you’ll ever own.’ Eating healthily is crucial because food is the very fuel and nourishment that your body needs to function optimally. Different food groups provide different benefits. A balanced diet supports overall physical health, maintain a healthy weight, reduces the risk of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes, makes you more resilient to illnesses.
There’s a number of TV documentaries on the impact of diet on your body. Do you remember Morgan Spurlock’s 2004 documentary “Super Size Me”? Spurlock ate McDonald’s food, three meals a day for 30 days to see what would happen to his body.
Moving more
The benefits of moving more range from physical benefits such as improved cardiovascular health, flexibility, strength and range of motion – to mental benefits such as releasing mood-boosting endorphins, increased energy levels and improvement of cognitive function and memory.
Sleeping well
Sleeping is the time when most of our body’s vital functions occur such as tissue repair, hormonal releases, and muscle growth among other functions. Good quality sleep improves concentration, productivity and cognitive function, allows your hormones return to a balanced state and gives your brain cells time to relax, regroup and reenergize.
Reducing stress & improving mood
Poor mental health can touch every area of your life and high levels of stress have wide-ranging diminishing impacts on your body (increased blood pressure, headaches, digestive issues, immune system), your mental state (anxiety, depression, mood swings) and your environment (putting a strain on relationships and affecting work performance). Life Medicine promotes tried and tested techniques for mindfulness and relaxation.
Being socially connected
Maintaining social connection and heathy relationships can reduce feelings of loneliness and isolation, provides you with emotional support, boosts your confidence and contributes to longer, healthier life. Nurturing lifelong friendships and making new ones makes life’s joys even sweeter!
Reducing/stopping harmful substances
Lifestyle Medicine encourages and supports you to be mindful of what you consume – by that we mean, what you put into your body and also the types of less positive behaviours and environments you surround yourself in. Things to review could include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, addictive substances and behaviours such as gambling or excessive internet or social media use.
Lifestyle Medicine comes to Sevenoaks
Case study – Steph Harrison
My Sevenoaks Community founder, Steph Harrison has been working with Shiv and the Ü Health and Wellness team since December 2023. After suffering for a long time, Steph has seen life-changing results – namely a reversal of her Osteopenia diagnosis! Steph’s case is an incredible example of what can be achieved in a relatively short time with the correct, dedicated support.
Here’s what Steph says…
“12 years after my treatment for breast cancer, and after a routine Dexa scan, I was diagnosed with Osteopenia, the precursor to Osteoporosis. On top of this, a severe reaction to the Covid vaccine (which had caused 80% muscle damage) meant I had to face huge changes in my daily routine. Going from someone who walked six miles a day to struggling with short walks was difficult to adjust to. In that time, I suffered a fracture to my right knee, limiting things even further.
Knowing I needed to get help that I wasn’t receiving from the NHS, I met with Dr Shiv, and through working with her and nutritionist Kat I have now reversed my Osteopenia. We’re continuing to work together on building my muscles and improving my general health. Ü Health and Wellness took the time to get to know me so they could provide the perfect plan to improve my health – something unique and invaluable for all of us.”
Dr Shiv with Steph (My Sevenoaks Community) and Ryan (OsteoStrong Tunbridge Wells) at Sevenoaks Chamber event
Getting in touch with Ü Health & Wellness
Email: info@theuclinic.com
Telephone: 07539035999
Follow and connect on socials: LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Tik Tok.
Dr Shiv is genuinely remarkable. Her incredibly caring nature will put you at ease whatever difficulty you face with your health. She performs in-depth examinations, recommends all the possible tests and gives you plenty of choices. She listens to your concerns and wishes, and she explains her findings in a way that’s easy to understand.
She also practices the functional, holistic side of medicine that treats you as a whole, trying to find the cause of an illness and not just give you medication, as restoring the body to its optimal health is the goal. She comes to the comfort of your home, which makes you feel at ease. It’s how our grandparents and parents used to be looked after by their doctor, knowing their patients and their families inside out.
I can’t recommend Dr Shiv enough, and I feel very blessed to have found her to look after me and our family.
– Verified patient on Doctify
