ABOUT ME

Hemali Patel, Pharm.D., FAAMFM

My passion in life is to empower people with knowledge on how to incorporate healthy choices into everyday decisions so they can optimize their health and live life to the fullest.

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I am a functional medicine practitioner and have been helping women and men achieve hormonal balance for over 15 years. My approach focuses on looking at the whole body and finding the root cause of imbalance to help with mood, gut health, blood sugar imbalances, cardiovascular health, auto-immunity and thyroid imbalance. I help people use diet, lifestyle and nutrients to reduce doses of prescription medications and even work to get off them.  

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 I received a Doctorate of Pharmacy from the University of Georgia, went on to complete a pharmacy practice residency, worked in the hospital and community setting for many years before fully focusing on functional medicine and pursuing a fellowship and board certification in anti-aging, metabolic and functional medicine.  

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While working in the traditional health care setting, I realized that many chronic illnesses could be prevented by lifestyle modifications and optimizing vitamin and nutrient status.  This approach can minimize the use of prescription medications and associated side effects.

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​I have learned to use my background as a pharmacist to help navigate the best of what traditional therapies as well as holistic therapies and functional medicine have to offer.  Understanding side effects, possible nutrient deficiencies, metabolism and long term consequences of prescription medications is very important. And, understanding the role of diet, lifestyle, environmental and toxin exposure as well as nutrient replacement can go a long way to reduce medication usage and fix the cause of the medial problem.

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The conventional medicine approach oftentimes uses prescription medications to address a specific symptom, but that medication does not address the root cause of the problem but rather works as a bandage to just treat the symptom. The functional medicine approach looks to undercover the root cause and fix the root cause. One symptom can have many causes and in order to be successful at getting to the root cause, all of these need to be addressed.

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In conventional medicine, patients and health care providers are very quick to start medications without exploring what was causing this ailment to occur and how simple changes could avert it from becoming a future medical problem. 

Many chronic diseases and medical conditions can be reversed with diet, lifestyle changes and nutrients that have little to no side effects. 

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So many times, I saw patients that were on the brink of developing a medical condition that were just blasted with such potent medications without really trying to just fix the cause.  Our current health care model just doesn’t allow enough time to delve deeper to explore these issues.  While being blasted by these medications, they experienced side effects that led to initiation of yet other medications and before you knew it, addressing the root cause of the original ailment was long gone.  

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Our bodies are so very resilient and can withstand so many daily insults of poor diet, environmental toxins, suboptimal sleep and stress.  Many times, the body will take years of insult before exhibiting symptoms, all the while undergoing huge metabolic shifts inside, in attempts to normalize these insults.  These lifestyle habits that have developed over the course of many years, often take some time and patience to change and therefore can take some time before we see results, unlike conventional prescription medications that can elicit a change in lab work or symptoms within a shorter period of time, but may not address the cause.  In order to reap the benefits of a holistic and integrative approach and positive lifestyle changes, remember to be patient. 

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While certain medical conditions and emergencies require immediate correction, such as an infectious disease, an asthma attack or very high blood sugars, just to name a few, other conditions such as borderline elevated lipids and blood sugars are best treated and reversed with lifestyle changes rather than reaching for the most potent prescription medication on the market.  Often times, a combination of lifestyle changes, supplements and prescription medications can achieve great results, while minimizing toxic effects.  By reserving potent medications for when we really need to utilize them, we can benefit tremendously from the advances of modern medicine while limiting adverse effects and empowering ourselves to be the gatekeepers of our health and wellbeing. 

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When healthcare providers prescribe lifestyle changes such as dietary changes, stress reduction techniques and rest, keep in mind that these practices can be just as powerful, if not more for lifelong health than prescription medications. 

The key to health and longevity is to eat mindfully, keep active, reduce stress and toxin exposure and be knowledgeable.

Now is the time to take control of your health and the best way to do that is to be informed.  Informed about your lifestyle habits, sleep and stress in your life, the food you eat, the effects of nutrient deficiencies and the effects of toxins around you.    I invite you to join me in taking the first step.