Ready To Thrive
(And Not Just Survive)?
Most patients want to feel healthy and be well, but often, the definition of being healthy is the absence of symptoms combined with a myriad of possible solutions. Our WellMatrix program is based on principles of the Blue Zones and wellness so you can increase your disease resistance while also restoring your vitality and wellbeing!
How We Take Our Clients From A State Of Disease Into True Wellbeing & Vitality
Most patients want to feel healthy and be well, but often, the definition of being healthy is the absence of symptoms combined with a myriad of possible solutions.
Perhaps exercising is the path to being healthy. Or maybe it is eating more vegetables and fewer processed foods. Choosing salads instead of hamburgers? Managing stress? Supplements? Avoiding plastic and BPAs? Statins for cholesterol?
There are populations, five to be exact, that have figured out how to be truly well.
These populations are found in the Blue Zones, or areas of the world in which the locals have low disease prevalence and routinely live well into their nineties, with many centenarians.
Researchers credit their remarkable health and wellness to their lifestyles: They eat diets consisting of mostly vegetables, fruits, nuts, healthy fats and proteins, and they often eat with family. Many families grow their own gardens and raise their food for themselves and their community. Their communities are important to them — families are tight-knit and homes are multigenerational. Many are spiritual, practice stress management activities and live in safe and healthy environments.
Increase Your Metabolic Reserves & Improve Your Physiological Resilience
Regardless of where we live, our bodies fight off various diseases, environmental toxins, physical ailments and other stressors. This is called physiological resilience.
Think of it this way: When you eat, your body must break down your food and then use it in a variety of ways. Your body may use some of this food immediately. You may store some of it for later use. Your body has built-in mechanisms to handle your food. You will produce insulin and other hormones, enzymes, and other chemicals to handle this automatically. Then, when you are done handling the digestion of your meal, your digestive system powers down until the next time you eat.
If your resilience is up to par, you do not know this is happening. However, you must have the right components for your body to digest, as well as perform millions of other activities, every day. Proteins and fats are used as building blocks. Vitamins and minerals are used to catalyze millions of chemical reactions every day. All these components are part of your metabolic reserve.
If your body begins to run out of those reserves, your resilience begins to suffer. If you do not have components to make specific enzymes, you will not be able to digest the proteins that you are consuming, which means the building blocks you need will not be available for growth and repair. If your body is overly focused on stress, it is using up metabolic reserve that may be needed somewhere else.
That’s why the WellMatrix Program is based on principles focused on increasing your metabolic reserves and improving your physiological resilience. It’s important that we focus on things like diet and nutrition, along with physical activity. But, when we look at the day-to-day signals that drive health resilience and disease resistance, there are many other influential factors that play key roles in overall health. The goal of this program is to not only increase your disease resistance but also restore your vitality and wellbeing.
Introducing The WellMatrix Health Resilience Program
The WellMatrix 4 Markers of Wellness
Most health care practices focus on disease care and dedicate hardly any time to the real prevention of disease. For example, rarely does the health care provider discuss vitality with their patients – instead spending time on history taking, testing, diagnosing and implementing a plan to help treat disease.
Once the patient is free of their specific illness, they are no longer connected to the practice until a new disease process afflicts them and then they return when the next crisis occurs.
Yet most clinicians know that if the patient slept well, diminished stress and ate a well balanced plant-based diet, their physiological resiliency would be high, and their metabolic reserves filled to the maximum.
To address this shortcoming of most conventional treatment plans, our WellMatrix Program has identified four markers of wellness to help provide a WellMatrix Index, a starting point for your journey into true health. These markers were developed after researching a plethora of ideas and opinions from experts in the health care field combined with the principles from the Blue Zones.
Learn more about your WellMatrix Index below!
Frequently Asked Questions
Functional medicine is a science-based, individualized approach to health that goes beyond traditional medicine. It finds the root cause of illness by focusing on gut health, metabolism, hormones, environment, and genetics. A personalized diet, nutritional supplementation, and lifestyle plan is designed for your unique profile to achieve health. The Institute for Functional Medicine’s website (ifm.org) has detailed information regarding our practice model.
Both functional and holistic medicine focus on the total body. Functional medicine focuses on interactions between genetics, environment, and lifestyle that impact health. Holistic medicine has a spiritual approach to the body, mind, and soul.
Functional medicine can help with many health problems, such as fatigue, sleep problems, indigestion, weight gain, and hormonal imbalances. If you’re on multiple medications, want to get to the root of your symptoms, or want more natural ways to optimize your health, functional medicine can help you.
As a board-certified internist, I am experienced with chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, cardiac, inflammatory, gastrointestinal, and autoimmune diseases. I also treat fatigue, weight gain, hormone imbalances, and gut dysfunction, such as bloating and gas.
Absolutely! In addition to treating illness, functional medicine also emphasizes prevention for health maintenance.
No, I am not a primary care provider. I will work with you as a functional medicine consultant to address the cause of your chronic health problems and discuss them with your primary care provider if necessary.
Dr. Shimizu is licensed to practice Internal Medicine (adult medicine) in the state of Hawaii.
Yes, when necessary.
I review the traditional labs obtained by your primary provider, such as cholesterol levels and blood counts. Depending on your health goals, I recommend further testing. Some examples are specialized metabolic tests, gut health, environmental toxins, or food sensitivity tests. Some of these specialized testing are not covered by insurance and are out-of-pocket.
Functional medicine is considered complementary alternative medicine; not all insurance plans cover this service. You will pay at the time of your visit, and I will provide a superbill for you if you wish to submit the claim to your insurance or apply to your flexible spending accounts (FSA). We currently accept traditional Medicare.
Rates: – Initial visit (60 minutes): $300 – Second visit (45 minutes): $225 – Follow-up visits (20 minutes): $100 – Initial Visit Package (first three visits included): $700
Go to Olena Center’s online scheduler to schedule an initial appointment. (make this a click here) You will complete health questionnaires and upload available medical records before your appointment. During the first visit, you and I will discuss your health history, family history, diet, and lifestyle habits. I will review different approaches to your health and make some suggestions for change at this time. I may also recommend laboratory testing. The second visit is generally 1-2 months later. At this time, I will evaluate your progress and further personalize your care plan. I may recommend additional dietary changes, supplements, lifestyle changes, and possibly medications. The timing for additional follow-up visits will depend on your customized plan.
