Book excerpt: Stay on the cutting edge of today’s most promising trends in complementary and alternative medical treatments with Dr. David Rakel’s Integrative Medicine, 4th Edition. Written by physicians who are experts in both traditional and integrative medicine, this highly regarded, evidence-based reference covers therapies such as botanicals, supplements, mind-body, lifestyle choices, nutrition, exercise, spirituality, and more. Integrative Medicine, 4th Edition uses a clinical, disease-oriented approach, offering practical guidance for reducing costs and improving patient care. Helps you safely and effectively incorporate complementary and alternative therapies into your everyday practice, while focusing on prevention and wellness for a better quality of life. Uses the reliable SORT method (Strength of Recommendation Taxonomy) to provide evidence-based ratings, grading both the evidence and the relative potential harm. Explains how to make the best use of integrative medicine and the mechanisms by which these therapeutic modalities work, keeping you at the forefront of the trend toward integrative health care. Includes 13 brand-new chapters, covering hot topics such as personalized medicine, MTHFR mutation, food allergy and intolerance, the gut-immune influence on systemic inflammation and disease, chelation therapy, testosterone deficiency, adrenal fatigue, and much more. Features more than 100 significantly revised chapters and hundreds of new figures and tables throughout.