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Integrated Health Pyramid Model of Health

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The concept of wellbeing and the inclusion of the Spiritual realm of health as a source of strength and balance are now more widely accepted in modern western culture and medicine, unlike when I first conceived of the pyramid more than 20 years ago , when spiritual care was nothing more than a nod towards the patients belief system. I was just embarking on my career as a GP entrepreneur back in 2011 when I last wrote of the Integrated Health Pyramid and my outlook and practise have undergone a few upgrades and bolt on interests since then. Creating space for new projects gave birth to new opportunities and experiences; these have shaped and refined my integrated health model further, as has working in personal and corporate health sector. Here is the refined version of the pyramid model, which currently represents an ugrade to the traditional Bio-Psycho-Social medical model: The Integrated Health Pyramid helps patients and clinicians look at the whole picture of health o
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A Spring Walk in the Woods

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Forest Sunrise ©Ben Sinclair 2012 I've been looking into the Japanese practise of  Forest Bathing  which is a fascinating therapeutic activity. This is when individuals spend deliberate mindful time in the forest while allowing the environment to have effects on the body and senses.  A session of forest bathing may be made up of:  - seeing green trees and plants, taking time to note natural activity around you - touching the plants and trees, connecting to the ground - hearing wildlife and listening to sounds of the environment - breathing the air and noting the aromas given off by the trees and plants. My personal journey into integrated well-being began with a stress related illness (shingles and post-viral fatigue) during my A-levels. Ever since then I have been aware of the need to build activities into my life to improve well-being and combat the negative effects of stress. See my theory of integrated health here . View of the Solway ©Ben Sinclair 2
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Location: Lickey Hills Country Park, Warren Ln, Rednal, Lickey, Birmingham B45 8ER, UK
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Top 5 Tips for Valentines Day

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© Lifesweetlifeblog In case you have being living under a rock or are colour blind (like me) you may not have spotted the gush of Valentines trappings that have saturated the high street and shopping centres across the country, but you would be in the minority. Although this is a time to celebrate love and affection for our loved ones, it can be a challenging and stressful time for some. The need to perform (cough cough) and to create a perfect evening can cause pressure both physically and mentally. See our top 5 tips for staying positive this Valentine’s Day: 1. Hugs We all know hugs have the power to destress and bring us together, but there are hard facts that back this up too. Hugs can increase oxytocin and serotonin levels as well as build trust and safety in a relationship. We suggest a good hug for all occasions, and especially when celebrating this day of love. If in doubt, hug it out! 2. Dark Chocolate Copious amounts of chocolate are inevitably going to be
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If you would like to contact Dr Ben Sinclair for professional consultancy services or Private GP see below: Contact The Optimise Health Clinic: Call: 0121 3961323 Email: Enquiries@optimisehealthclinic.co.uk http://www.optimisehealthclinic.co.uk/ Follow: Dr Ben Sinclair LinkedIn Twitter: Follow @menshealthtips 
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Low Carb High Fat Day 48 #Maintaining Weight, Tummy Gone!

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So I started this 48 days ago and have some interesting results from almost 50 days of high fat low carb dieting. My weight has stabilised at around 87 Kg which is 2Kg less than when I started. My body composition has changed a little with overall body fat around 25-26% and muscle at 35-36% but a decrease in visceral fat which now varies between 7 and 9 depending on how religiously I follow the diet. I found over the Easter holiday that beer and chocolate push this visceral figure back up quickly! What is more interesting is that my belly has continued to shrink and is now at 92cm from 101cm so I am well into the safe range for heart disease risk and obesity, thus reducing my future risk of Diabetes and heart disease. I need a new wardrobe of trousers. I would like to point out that this weight loss and maintenance of a smaller abdominal fat layer is totally independent of exercise; in fact due to a foot injury I have reduced exercise over the period of the diet. My resti
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Low Carb High Fat Diet Day 12 #Twokiloslighter

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I have been on the diet for 12 days now. The last few days have become more challenging as I have begun to have some strange cravings - orange juice being one (which funnily enough I don't drink much normally) and I have needed some more variety than the trial diet period offers so have deviated from the diet plan a little to introduce some sustainability. My weight day 0 The scales don't lie and I cant believe how quickly weight has come off around my tummy. Both K and I have lost over 2 Kilos each - thats an average of a kilo every 5 days! I am running faster than ever but have noticed some muscle aches and twinges of cramps ( these are apparently common side effects when on a ketogenic diet due to lack of salt or dehydration) and K has continued to feel rough while I have only noticed the side effect of more mucus production when eating high cream recipes. We are both aware of how much carbs were part of our diet before, also walking into a supermarket you realis
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Low Carb High Fat Diet Day 9 #MyLovehandlesAreMelting

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It's day 9 and as usual with diets mine came unstuck on a weekend away. We went to visit friends in Northern Ireland for a Christening party and had a lovely time but strict diet habits are hard to maintain in new surroundings and despite our hosts best efforts to feed us bacon and eggs, my willpower was lacking and I ate some food which was off diet (sausage rolls and trifle) and drank some white wine (a glass scores 1), narrowly avoiding a brush with high carb Guinness (a bottle scores 13) while watching the rugby! What was interesting is that my weight stopped falling, but didn't go back up. I have plateaued at 87.7 Kg. My fat content went up to 25.4% (probably due to alcohol) but my visceral remains at 9. What is more interesting is that yesterday I ran my usual 4k run into work almost 2 minutes faster than my normal time over recent months, without really having to try hard! All this means that high fat working as a source of energy for exercise is sustainable w
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