West Texas Wellness Clinic

Dr. John Garcia believes that conventional medicine takes a reactive role in treating patients.

 "In other words, doctors wait until a disease is present before taking action," Dr. Garcia says. "At the West Texas Wellness Clinic, we take a proactive role, which means we consider prevention to be the best intervention."

 Dr. Garcia, a professor at Texas Tech University Health Science Center for 10 years, believes in working together with patients to promote their health and well-being. This vision led him to open the West Texas Wellness Clinic at 601 E. 7th St. in February of this year. The clinic welcomes walk-in patients for acute illnesses and offers a detailed patient profile and diet plan to help them battle overweight and obesity.

 "We can personalize a diet plan based on several categories, including diagnoses," Dr. Garcia says. "A diet plan can be individualized for a patient with diabetes and hypothyroidism or any combination of over 200 diagnoses. Our body composition analyzer calculates body fat percentage, fat free mass, total body water and body-mass index."

 Patients receive a food list based on the analysis that lets them see clearly which foods are helpful and which are detrimental to their conditions and weight loss objectives. The foods are marked in green (good for you), black (eat sparingly) and red (avoid).

 "The goal for overweight or obese patients is to lose fat and gain lean muscle mass through appropriate exercise," Dr. Garcia says.
  Appropriate exercise doesn't require joining a gym. "Walking 30 minutes a day most days of the week or riding a stationary bike for 15-20 minutes a day can produce significant benefits," he says.

 Dr. Garcia agrees that obesity is an epidemic in this country. "Two-thirds of adults are overweight," he says. "That's an epidemic. Obesity can lead to diabetes, hypertension and osteoarthritis, as well as several cancers including breast, prostate and colon cancer."

 Three years ago, Dr. Garcia himself was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension. Since then, he has taken an increased interest in diet and exercise for himself and his patients, and, in the process, has lost 35 pounds.

 "My personal philosophy is that weight loss is 80 percent nutrition, 10 percent exercise and 10 percent positive outlook," he says.

 The West Texas Wellness Clinic is located in a new building at 601 E. 7th St. Most insurance types, including Blue Cross Blue Shield, are accepted. For more information, call (432) 582-0300.