Regenerative healthcare / agriculture

Written by: Dr. Fred Harvey, MD

Spring is in the air and my food forest is popping with life! Bananas and papayas are growing fat. New pineapples are crowning. Lettuces, mustards, and brassicas are growing tall; tomatoes and squash are ripening. The mangoes and lychee are flowering with bees everywhere! The diversity of plants in the yard has increased exponentially. At the same time, the soil microbiome has also grown healthy. We see many more insects, worms, and fungi in the soil. This was a barren grass plot three years ago when we started to regenerate the land on my home lot. Regenerative agriculture is critical for planetary health. Extractive agriculture steals vitality from the land and that in turn reduces crop nutrients and abundance. There is evidence that regenerative agriculture directly affects human health. In one study, asthma rates were lower in an urban area after an organic community garden was created in the neighborhood.

The basis of regenerative healthcare is in the same principles as regenerative agriculture which are conservative in nature. Both systems utilize holistic management practices, leverage the natural power of the organism through proper nourishment of the system using organic materials, clean hydration, and improving microbial diversity within the system. They conserve the integrity of the system, minimize aggressive interventions, and improve ecosystem diversity. This is how Functional Medicine practitioners view healthcare. We approach each individual as a diverse and complex ecosystem that needs to be holistically managed to optimal function. Regenerative medicine uses the definition of a “process of replacing, engineering or regenerating human or animal cells, tissues or organs to restore or establish normal function.” In Functional Medicine we believe that the body has the ability to regenerate if we find the root cause of the dysfunction, remove the cause, and implement dietary and nutritional supplementation to help the body establish optimal function.

I had two rotator cuff tears, four years ago, after doing excessive power yoga with poor posture. I did not believe that surgery was the kindest way to approach the dysfunction. First, I s

on Monday, 15 February 2021.