Biological Decoding Changed How I Practice Medicine—Here’s Why It Matters for You
I have been in the ‘lab’, learning and working on new concepts to enhance my understanding of health and disease. As a result, I am excited to introduce you to Biological Decoding—a fresh and fascinating approach that looks at the emotional roots of our illnesses and behaviors. Think of it as your body's secret code, where each organ has a unique job and is connected to specific brain neurons. Isabelle Benarous, author of Break The Code of Your Illness, puts it perfectly: “Biological Decoding aims to unveil the emotional meaning behind our health issues and life challenges.”
When I first stumbled upon Functional Medicine, it felt like my medical world was turned upside down. My traditional training left me skeptical and a tad overwhelmed. But with an open mind, I began to see how Functional Medicine filled in the gaps in my previous knowledge. Incorporating its principles led to remarkable improvements in my patient’s health, such as disease reversals and reduced medication needs.
To me, Functional Medicine isn’t about replacing traditional medicine; it is about adding a new layer of understanding of how our bodies interact with their environment. This perspective inspired me to create BioFIT Medicine in 2012. Over the years, blending traditional and functional approaches has significantly enriched my patients’ health journeys. Yet, even with these advances, something was still missing. I constantly ran into a wall to help move some of their health needles. This wall consisted of my patient’s perceptions and beliefs—the so-called Placebo Effect—playing a massive role in their healing or, in this case, lack of movement toward health.
This realization pushed me to explore meditation despite my initial doubts. After wrestling with three prior book drafts that I completely tossed, I turned to meditation. To my surprise, a single 20-minute session brought the whole book to mind. I wrote it out over a weekend, and it was a game-changer. This led me to dive into areas like quantum physics, gene expression, neurochemistry, subconscious programming, and epigenetics, to name just a few.
Our bodies aren’t just a collection of parts; they’re dynamic, energetic systems. Grasping this concept is critical to understanding the complete picture of health and disease. Biological Decoding ties the next layer of science all together with a neat little bow like Functional Medicine did for the physical elements of health. This thinking template explains eloquently how our emotions and thoughts influence our health. I discovered this approach when a colleague mentioned a conference on it happening simultaneously with another event I was attending. Intrigued, I switched gears and drove two hours to attend the Biological Decoding conference. It felt like meeting an old friend, much like my first encounter with Functional Medicine.
Biological Decoding, like Functional Medicine, isn’t here to replace traditional medicine but to complement it. For example, if you have digestive issues, conventional (allopathic M.D.) medicine helps decipher the many diseases it could mimic. Once it is determined it is truly GI in origin, the medical doctor might prescribe a medication. Functional Medicine would look at the physical elements of the dysfunction from the angle of the triggers leading to the physical symptoms. Then, they would guide someone to alter their lifestyle and offer supportive elements to help heal the dysfunction in a longer-lasting fashion. Biological Decoding would explore the emotional conflict that set up the energetic misalignment based perhaps on someone’s perceptions and emotions that led to physical dysfunction by a particular organ system like the GI tract, which resonates perfectly with quantum physics principles. I am sharing this next layer so everyone can understand that each thought template (Allopathic, Functional, and Biological Deodicing) has its place, purpose, strengths, and weaknesses.
As I incorporate Biological Decoding into BioFIT Medicine, I aim to help you uncover and address any obstacles to optimal health. Understanding and addressing your beliefs and emotions can supercharge your healing journey. I am sharing this new layer of my approach to help you achieve optimal health and understand the method to my madness (lol). What we have learned about longevity from the Blue Zones of our Earth (the locations on this planet with the highest concentration of people living over age 100) is that the connecting elements are real food, staying active, purpose, and community. The last two connect with Biological Decoding and its appreciation that thoughts and emotions lay the groundwork for health or disease.
For a deeper dive into Biological Decoding, check out Isabelle Benarous’s book Break The Code of Your Illness and her Spotify segment: Listen Here. I’m also working on a book that will explore these concepts in depth and is planned for release later in 2025. As always, I am so honored and grateful to each of you allowing me to be part of your health journey. Your curiosity and openness are crucial to unlocking your full potential, and I’m thrilled to be right there with you.
Your physician guide to health.
Kevin Hoffarth, MD, IFMCP
BioFIT Medicine