Lifestyle Medicine, Health Coaching, Prescribing Lifestyle Medicine, and Lifestyle Prescriptions® have been extensively researched. Here’s a small selection showing efficacy and the potential to stop and reverse a wide variety of chronic diseases.
The Science is clear, Health Coaching and Lifestyle Medicine research conclusively shows extensive benefits for health professionals, clients, and healthcare.
The selection of research papers and empirical studies below indicate a biopsychosocial connection and direct link between emotions, stress, stressful life events, traumas, beliefs, socioeconomic parameters, and illness; and they demonstrate the power of lifestyle medicine and comprehensive lifestyle and habit improvements.
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Lifestyle Medicine – Research
Here’s a small selection of research studies showing how our lifestyle habits affect our symptoms.
Lifestyle and Preventive Medicine
- Dr. Dean Ornish, considered the grandfather of Lifestyle Medicine, and his Preventive Medicine Research Institute could demonstrate in double-blind studies the direct relationship between lifestyle modifications (nutrition, stress management, fitness, social support) and diseases and our body’s ability to stop and reverse up to 80% of chronic health issues. Here are some of their findings:
- American College of Lifestyle Medicine – Evidence Overwhelmingly Supporting the Efficacy of Lifestyle Medicine
Health Coaching – Research
The “Compendium of the Health and Wellness Coaching Literature” study provides a good overview of the current research in health coaching efficacy.
Abstract
Health and wellness coaching (HWC) for lifestyle behavior change is emerging as a practice, role, and profession, in diverse health care, employee wellness, and community settings. Health care professionals apply HWC as a behavior change methodology for the prevention and treatment of diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic disorders. The purpose of this systematic review was to provide a comprehensive and organized compendium of HWC literature. To date, extant HWC literature remains scattered with no meaningful summary accessible. The lack of a comprehensive summary stems from a lack of consensus on HWC definition and standards. We applied a recently proposed, standardized definition of HWC to determine compendium inclusion criteria for peer-reviewed, data-based literature from relevant search engines (ie, PubMed, PsychInfo, and CINAHL). A systematic review process was executed and ultimately yielded 219 articles meeting HWC inclusion criteria. Of these, 150 were data-based and the remainder were expert opinion or review-style articles. A summary of results generally reveals HWC as a promising intervention for chronic diseases though further research is needed in most categories. The resulting HWC compendium organizes and describes the quantity and quality of available literature for the use and benefit of HWC practitioners and researchers.
Conclusions
The HWC Compendium provides substantial evidence for a clinical intervention yielding a positive impact on the chronic, often lifestyle-related diseases, scourging our modern health care system. Lifestyle behavior change as a treatment for chronic disorders is long recognized as effective, but viewed as unachievable in a sufficiently scalable manner. The Compendium brings together a body of literature suggesting HWC may be a valuable tool for improving the applicability of behavior change interventions in the treatment of chronic disease.
The HWC Compendium is useful because it identifies, quantifies, and analyzes existing coaching literature while categorizing it by clinical population. Furthermore, it helps bring to light both the strengths and weaknesses of the existing HWC literature. The Compendium should be viewed not only as an existing resource to utilize but also one to be expanded. Users should provide compendium group authors feedback on how to best evolve the Compendium. Moreover, closely examining the compendium raises addressable questions allowing prospective HWC researchers to identify important gaps in the coaching literature. They can then assist in expanding the knowledge base of the coaching profession by executing relevant and high-quality investigations. Using these mechanisms, the hope is to continue to expand and refine the HWC Compendium for the future benefit of the HWC community.
Lifestyle Prescriptions® Root-Cause Health Coaching – Research
Lifestyle Prescriptions® University research is focused on the efficacy of root-cause-based health coaching, Organ-Mind-Brain Anatomy, and the connection between specific stressors, emotions, beliefs & lifestyle habits affecting symptoms.
Here’s a list of completed Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coach SPECIALIST research project:
- Improving Health Outcomes in IBS – Eileen Strong, Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coach Specialist NEW !!!
Eileen completed a small case study project with chronic Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) diagnosed clients. All research participants had been diagnosed 20 or more years ago. 75% of participants cited diet control, hydration, exercise and relaxation as their main means of symptoms control prior to the study. All participants cited stress as their perceived main cause of symptoms at the onset of the study.
The Lifestyle Prescriptions® Root-Cause Analysis indicated:
100% of participants cited specific emotionally stressful events corresponding with the onset of (a) most recent flare up symptoms and/or (b) initial onset of symptoms at first diagnosis.
Some of these events were many years previous and participants still experienced emotional stress around their memories of these issues at the present time (i.e. “unresolved” emotional stress) It was these specific remembered stressful events which became the subject of the Root-Cause Health Coaching Intervention during the research project.
Using Lifestyle Prescriptions® Root-Cause Health Coaching protocols the following study results could be observed:
Ratings in Quality of Life (QoL) improved 75% over the course of the study.
100% of participants experienced immediate relief /reduction in either or both of (a) emotional intensity and/or (b) physical discomfort.
100% participants cited improvement in specific IBS symptoms like diarrhoea, constipation, abdominal pain, night sweats (before and after the interventions as part of the research).
100% confirmed they had learnt improved strategies to manage/respond to Stress as a result of the Project.
One of the interesting findings was that the overall perception of health (measured through a before & after questionnaire and the SUD scale) showed a measurable improvement with all clients (average 5-20% improvement). But the IBS/digestive organ tissue specific symptoms improved drastically (average - The Effect Of Emotions and Stress On Fertility – Aisling Killoran, Lifestyle Prescriptions® Infertility Health Coach Specialist
Demonstration of statistically significant improvement in health outcomes using Lifestyle Prescriptions® Root-Cause Analysis & Health Coaching Protocols.
In her study, out of the six case studies, four women who were medically diagnosed with unexplained infertility and were trying to become pregnant for over two years, are now pregnant and two have yet to become pregnant. - Beliefs Affecting Chronic Pain Responses – Jane Oelke, ND, PhD, Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coach Specialist
This study was created for the objectives to study belief patterns and their relationship to the location of chronic pain. Thought-provoking associations between the top two belief patterns, the level of pain, and the symptoms that make it worse were found.
The beliefs that “I am not strong enough” and “I have too many responsibilities.” correlate to the ability to control situations and the ability to deal with chronic pain. - The Effects of Emotions on Hormones – Cindy Hubka, Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coach Specialist
Cindy was able to coach eight women between the ages of 55 years and 70 years to decrease or eliminate their symptoms of hot flashes, night sweats and insomnia using Lifestyle Prescriptions® Root Cause Analysis Health Coaching.
25% of the women had their symptoms eliminated
75% felt their symptoms were at a level that each could deal with easily on their own with non-medication tools they had learned throughout the sessions. - Root-Cause Asthma Solutions – John Rhodes, Lifestyle Prescriptions® Asthma Health Coach Specialist
In a small research study John demonstrated the following results using Lifestyle Prescriptions® Root-Cause Analysis & Self-Healing Protocols:
40% of participants were able to stop using asthma medication altogether (confirmed by their GP).
80% of participants had Final Peak Flow measurements corroborating their breathing improvement.
- Empirical evidence of Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coaching practitioners demonstrated and documented with over 1,000 client cases
- Organ-Mind-Brain Anatomy Reference Database
Searchable online database for LPU program students and graduates listing 150+ organ tissue with 2,000+ symptoms and their relationship with stressors, conflicts, emotions, beliefs & lifestyle habits. - Lifestyle Prescriptions® University Specialists and Faculty Members researching aspects of the Art and Science of Self-Healing, the Organ-Mind-Brain Anatomy and efficacy of Lifestyle Prescriptions® Health Coaching Techniques & Protocols. New research findings will be available soon and published in peer-reviewed publications (and in many cases published as books).
Emotions & Health – Research
Find a small selection of research showing the relationship between unresolved emotional hurts and health.
- List of research projects related to emotions and their affect on our body
- Energy Psychology Research
- Human Emotions on the Onset of Cardiovascular and Small Vessel Related Diseases.
- Differences in anxiety among patients with early- versus late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
- Brain activity linking negative emotions to a lower immune response against disease (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1534743100).
- Depressed elderly people have fewer lymphocytes and T-cells – white blood cells crucial for fighting disease. Published in Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics (vol 72, p 253)
Traumatic Events, Stress & Social Impact – Research
- Life Event, Stress and Illness
- Pain and Emotions: A Psychosocial Review of Current Research
- 75 to 90 percent of visits to primary care doctors may be related to stress, only 3 percent receive stress management
- Stressful life events, personality, and health: An inquiry into hardiness.
- Stress and the Individual Mechanisms Leading to Disease
- Stressful life events: Their nature and effects
- Prospective Study on Occupational Stress and Risk of Stroke
- Life events, stress, and illness
- Relationship of daily hassles, uplifts, and major life events to health status
- Comparison of two modes of stress measurement: Daily hassles and uplifts versus major life events
- Influence of Life Stress on Depression: Moderation by a Polymorphism in the 5-HTT Gene
- The Somatic Symptom Scale (SSS-8) A Brief Measure of Somatic Symptom Burden
- Improving Physicians’ Interviewing Skills and Reducing Patients’ Emotional Distress
- Dr. Hamer research into the connection between traumatic events and cancer
- The Brain-Embryology Connection and natural laws of health, Dr. Hamer 1972
- Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Extensive multidisciplinary research covering all aspects of the relationships between psychology and medicine.
Green-Health-Social Prescriptions – Research
Over the last decade, there’s been increased awareness about the need to provide options to clients and add lifestyle-based prescriptions to increase compliance and health outcomes.
* To clarify, Lifestyle Prescriptions® is the exclusive worldwide trademark of Lifestyle Prescriptions® University and can only be used after being an approved provider by Lifestyle Prescriptions® University and Lifestyle Medicine University Foundation.
Lifestyle Prescriptions® practitioners are focusing on all 6 Root-Causes which include stress management, emotions, beliefs, social stressors, and lifestyle habits like nutrition/food, exercise, sleep.
Other non-trademarked names used are:
- Lifestyle Medicine Rx
- Green Prescriptions (prescribing exercise)
- Healthy Prescription (mostly focusing on healthy foods)
- Social prescriptions (focused on social lifestyle improvements)
- Nature prescriptions (like walking in nature, etc.)
- Nutrition Prescriptions (food and diet based)
Research showing the efficacy of prescriptions lifestyle includes:
- Making sense of social prescribing
UK doctors use social prescribing - Lifestyle Medicine: A Primary Care Perspective
Collaborating with patients and families to develop action plans such as lifestyle prescriptions, practicing and promoting healthy behaviors, and drawing on an interdisciplinary team of care providers. - Lifestyle Prescriptions for Physical Activity: A Review of the Clinical Evidence
- Prescribing healthy food
Prescribing healthy foods could bring cost-effective benefits - Green Prescription (Ministry of Health New Zealand)
Green Prescription research shows that a Green Prescription (GRx) is an inexpensive way of increasing activity for sedentary people. - The Long-Term Effectiveness of the New Zealand Green Prescription Primary Health Care Intervention
Dissertation research showing an increase in health benefit awareness, self-reported health benefits, and overall increase in physical activity - Green Prescriptions and Their Co-Benefits:
Integrative Strategies for Public and Environmental Health - Nutrition Prescriptions
Nutrition prescriptions are one way for physicians and other health care providers to outline a healthy, balanced eating plan for patients.
