The term "integrative health" has been thoroughly colonised by the wellness industry. It now appears on websites selling adaptogen powders and on Instagram accounts with curated backgrounds of linen and terracotta. I understand why the aesthetic is appealing. But I want to say what I actually mean by it when I use it — which is something more specific and less decorative than the influencer version.
Where I started
My interest in health as a serious subject began not from a desire to optimise but from a particular problem. Several years ago I was experiencing a cluster of symptoms — persistent fatigue, digestive issues, sleep disruption, what I would describe as a low-grade inflammation of the whole system — that conventional medicine addressed one symptom at a time without ever quite connecting them or improving the underlying pattern.
I do not say this as a criticism of conventional medicine, which is exceptional at many things. I say it because the experience of being treated as a collection of isolated symptoms rather than a system led me to start reading more broadly about how the body actually functions, and that reading has not stopped.
What integrative actually means, to me
Integrative, as I use it, means looking at the body as a system in which everything connects. Sleep affects immune function, which affects inflammation, which affects mood and cognition, which affects sleep. Gut microbiome affects mental health, metabolic function, immune regulation. Stress affects every single other system. Food quality affects energy, hormonal balance, the condition of the gut, long-term disease risk.
This is not alternative medicine. This is biology. These connections are well-documented in the peer-reviewed literature. The integrative part is simply the commitment to looking at them together rather than in isolation.
The integrative part is simply the commitment to looking at systems together rather than in isolation.
What I actually do
I am going to be specific here, because vagueness on this subject is one of the things that makes wellness content useless. Here is what I do, and why:
I eat real food. Not in a complicated way — I do not count macros or follow a named protocol. I eat food that was grown or raised recently, by people I can usually identify, and I cook it simply with good olive oil and salt. This is the highest-leverage thing I have done for my health, and it is not expensive or difficult once you have access to the raw materials.
I sleep in a dark, cool room, and I am consistent about the time I go to bed and the time I get up. Circadian rhythm regulation is one of the most well-supported interventions in the longevity literature, and it costs nothing. I do not look at screens for the last hour before sleep. I use no alarm unless necessary.
I move every day, not intensely. I walk, I work in the garden, I carry things, I climb hills. The research on Zone 2 exercise — the kind where you can hold a conversation — is very consistent: it is the kind of movement that produces the most significant long-term metabolic benefits. I also do some strength work twice a week, because the research on muscle mass and longevity outcomes is very clear and becomes more urgent as you age.
I spend time outdoors in natural light, particularly in the morning, because the evidence on circadian entrainment via morning light exposure is compelling. I get sun on my skin without burning it, because the evidence on vitamin D and a range of health outcomes is substantial, and I prefer sunlight to supplementation where possible.
What I do not do
I do not take a large number of supplements. I take a few things I have reasonable evidence for at my age and in my circumstances — but I have stopped buying the expensive branded powders and the mushroom complexes and the things that cost a lot and have weak evidence. The wellness industry profits from the feeling that you should be doing more. I have decided to resist that feeling and focus on the things that are free and well-evidenced: food quality, sleep, movement, light, social connection, stress reduction.
Why Portugal changed this
Living here has been the most effective health intervention I have made, because it changed the environment rather than just my behaviour within an unchanged environment. The food is better. The pace is slower. I sleep more. I move more. I am less stressed. I am outdoors more. The people around me model a different relationship with time and with the body.
Integrative health, for me, has become less about what I do and more about how I live. The distinction matters. Protocols you have to impose on yourself are fragile. A life that is structured in a way that supports health is sustainable.