Jeffrey Bland’s daily routine as the ‘father of functional medicine’

Jeffrey Bland, 79, is considered the “father of functional medicine.” He’s devoted most of his lifetime to studying the origins of diseases to focus on prevention in healthcare.

The main question Bland’s research looks to answer is this one: “Could we move to a form of healthcare where we’re spending more time worrying about and focusing on how to keep a person from being sick than just treating the sick downstream?”

In 1991, he launched the Institute for Functional Medicine with his wife, Susan, to build off of the research he did under two-time Nobel Laureate Linus Pauling at the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine in the 1980s. He later launched the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute, of which he is the founder and president. 

Bland turned 79 earlier this year and still practices a lot of what he’s learned is helpful for living a long, healthy life. Here’s what he does every day to stay in good health.

Bland begins with his mindset. “I think you need to start off each day believing that you’re worthy of good health,” he says.

“For me, the first thing is to wake up every morning and just say how grateful you are to be there, to have another day and to do the best job you can and be healthy through your activities,” he says. “That sets the context for everything that follows.”

Every day, Bland does something that’s good for his body. “I try to get at least an hour of some kind of physical activity,” he says. “It could be run-walking, it could be some kind of aerobics. My wife [and I] have a reformer at home for Pilates.”

Bland also suggests keeping a health journal. Track your eating habits, goals you’ve set to improve your overall health and how you’re spending the hour a day you’re designating for physical activity. Through monitoring your daily behaviors, you can determine which foods, exercises, sleep habits and more tend to make you feel your best.

When it comes to his diet, Bland says he focuses on adding more color to his meals. Colorful fruits and vegetables, like strawberries and kale, have phytonutrients that give the foods their distinct colors and tastes, according to Harvard Health Publishing.

Eating plant foods that have phytonutrients can decrease your chances of developing chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease and cancer, the Harvard blog reports. Flavonoids have also been associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline.

Bland schedules at least an hour each day for “meditating relaxation” before bed.

“For me, it’s recreational reading. My job forces me to do a lot of technical reading,” he says. When he reads for fun, Bland particularly enjoys books about nature and adventure.

“I don’t go to sleep thinking about that last email or that last article or that last thing I was writing,” he says.

Bland’s work in functional medicine gives him a sense of purpose that extends beyond just himself, he says. He’s learned that whether its work, spirituality or philanthropy, having a purpose that positively impacts many, and connects him with others, is necessary for him to feel fulfilled in life.

It’s important to have “something that takes you out of the focus on yourself to the fact that you are part of this much broader system that is going to be here after you,” he says.

Contributing to his legacy daily fuels him: “Whatever you contribute is always going to be there.”

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