While San Antonio, Texas is one of the more exciting and visually stunning cities in America, for residents of the city, there’s a dirty little secret: according to San Antonio health stats, it’s one of the most unhealthy cities, when you look at the numbers.

Two primary concerns have stricken the city, and one is affected by the other: diabetes and the city’s unhealthy dietary habits.

The metro area of San Antonio is home to around 1.8 million folks, and of those roughly 65 percent are considered overweight or obese. And amongst children, the numbers don’t tell a better story as 32.4 percent of kids ages 10-17 are considered overweight or obese.

Startling numbers, and if you take a quick look at society today, with more people (kids and adults) glued to the television, or video games, smartphones or tablets, and while these activities promote a lot of sitting and staring, these same people are encouraged by soft drink and snack food corporations to gorge on unhealthy foods (particularly junk food and sugary drinks), our new age, modern, sedentary lifestyle is causing a 21st century battle of the bulge, and in truth it’s not much of a battle.

Two Problems, One Common Link, and a Battered Lone Star State

Let’s look at diabetes first. Diabetes rates (type 1 and type 2) in Bexar County are at 14.2 percent, the national average is 9.3 percent. Think about it this way, in and around San Antonio, 1 in 7 of your neighbors has diabetes.

Now, the obesity rates in Bexar County are 28.5 percent (adults) and 34.7 percent for senior citizens and kids (ages 10-17) clock in at 32.4 percent.

So, just looking at these highlighted numbers, it’s no stretch to conclude that a poor diet and equally poor lifestyle can cause diabetes or severely impact those who have it. And in looking at San Antonio health stats for the metro area, it’s apparent that too many of these proud Texans are sitting around loafing than getting up and exploring The Lone Star State.

Functional Medicine and How to Win the Wildly ‘Expanding’  West

One approach to tackle this epidemic is to complete change course and say goodbye to the tired traditional approach people have had with lifestyle choices and health care.

Functional medicine is starting to gain in popularity in this country, particularly with San Antonio functional medicine wellness centre is taking root throughout the area.

Functional medicine takes a different approach to medicine, as it focuses on holistic and natural medicines and therapies. Healing with an focus on the individual, tailoring programs towards each person’s lifestyle, with the goal of getting the maximum the body (and its organs) can accomplish towards healing, by looking at lifestyle choices, like what we eat, drink, how we exercise, and of course, also factoring in the mind, working to eliminate stress by helping each individual with healing techniques to inspire the mind and the body.

Functional medicine physicians, like those at San Antonio functional medicine wellness centre’s, will tackle nearly any health condition, searching for the underlying cause, as well as treatments, using holistic and natural practices and medicine.

Twenty years ago, San Antonio functional medicine wellness centre’s were unheard of (or at least, small operations), but now, they are easy to locate and focused on healing the whole body and mind, without leaning on traditional medicine’s over-reliance on prescribing a pill for anything that ails you.