Holistic: what the trendiest term of the moment means

Holistic is the adjective linked to the theory ofholism, it derives from the Greek ὅλος which meanstotal, whole, everything, and refers to a vision of the “whole” seen as a unicum and not as the sum of the parts of which it is composed.

This term was coined in the 1920s byJan Smuts, a South African politician, intellectual and philosopher, author of the work “Holism and Evolution” from 1926 where he expresses his theory:

«…the tendency, in nature, to form wholes that are greater than the sum of the parts, through creative evolution».

Jan Smuts

For this reason, holism contrasts with reductionism. In fact, a system cannot be explained solely through its individual components, because the sum of its parts will always be greater or in any case different from the parts taken individually.

The living being, the greatest example of holistic structure

Our organism represents the typical example of a holistic structure, because it cannot be considered simply as an agglomeration of the parts/organs that constitute it, but it is a complex unity-totality.

The human being perceived as the union of body, mind and soul, different parts whose sum makes us "unique and unrepeatable".

Just consider the emotions and experiences that a person goes through during their existence, but also the environment, nutrition, society, they are all fundamental and interconnected aspects for psycho-physical well-being of man.

Holistic medicine and its principles

Considering, therefore, man in his totality has led to a real cultural revolution and also a scientific one.

For years, in fact, Western civilization, as well as medicine, had a "fragmented" vision that did not evaluate the human being in his entirety, but focused only on the part in which the problem.

The holistic vision in medicine starts from the disorder/symptom, but is then oriented towards evaluating the individual as a whole, because often the origin of that disorder/symptom can arise "far" from where it manifests itself.

Even today, this "global" approach is not so in use, since the interest of medicine is still oriented more towards the disease and less towards the person, while the objective of holistic medicine is to re-establish the balance to the individual as a whole.

Lately, the contrast between "traditional" and "alternative" medicine is starting to become less evident and there is talk of a defined "integrated" approach. Therefore modern medicine is combined with the use ofnatural therapies, which have the aim of promoting the so-calledself-healing processes innate elements of the organism.

There are many holistic "therapies" and some of these have been very fashionable lately: Western massage, shiatsu, reflexology, naturopathy, acupuncture, osteopathy, meditation, relaxation, phytotherapy, aromatherapy, reiki, chromotherapy etc.

Holistic approach and nutrition

Although the term “holistic” was coined only a short time ago, the concept of man as unicum is instead something that has been developing for thousands of years in some parts of the world.

Just think of traditional Chinese medicine or Indian Ayurvedic medicine, which have centered their healing method around the individual as a whole: body, mind, emotions and vital energy or soul. Differently from what happens in the western medina where the symptom is above all the center of attention.

It is important to recognize the fact that the parts that constitute us are not "watertight compartments" and that our well-being is represented by the achievement of a psycho-physical balance.

At the basis of the search for this psycho-physical well-being there is also a correct nutrition, in fact, nutrition can be defined as our first medicine.

Especially for Ayurvedic medicine, but also for Chinese medicine, nutrition plays a very important role together with physical exercise and mental condition.

For example, foods such as moringa or turmeric in India are considered real medicines which would be able to prevent and in some cases even “cure” some disorders.