Dr. Walid Faraj, DO
Walid Faraj, of Restoration Healthcare, Inc., is a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO), Board-Certified Family Physician, and integrative and holistic medicine practitioner who specializes in Integrative Functional Medicine. Dr. Walid is a lead physician in the Restoration Healthcare Irvine clinic.
Born in Venezuela and raised in Southern California, Dr. Faraj grew up in a multi-cultural home where household members communicated in three languages — English, Spanish, and Arabic — often mixing words from all three, for better or worse, in a single sentence. This eclectic upbringing is perhaps part of what encouraged him to seek out and adopt diverse healing methodologies and perspectives. Family illness would add further impetus.
Dr. Faraj graduated medical school from Michigan State University’s College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2001, after which he started his family medicine residency at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center in Colton, Calif. During his residency, his father was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) — a progressive neurodegenerative disease. Once the diagnosis was confirmed, no further evaluation was ever initiated. Dr. Faraj’s father was simply given a walker, prescriptions for physical therapy and an antidepressant, and a recommendation to drink Ensure. Despite his formal medical training, Dr. Faraj felt hopeless and frustrated after the specialists concluded that “nothing else could be done.”
This experience sparked a commitment to never again be in such a helpless situation with family members or patients, and it initiated a 15-year quest to discover more effective treatments for chronic and often debilitating medical conditions. After his residency, Dr. Faraj spent the next seven years working in a Native American health clinic in Northern California, where he first experienced the healing power of a sweat lodge and the medicinal wisdom of tribal elders. He began to see how a strong sense of community and spiritual faith could help overcome many health obstacles. Further training led to board certification in integrative holistic medicine, and for the past seven years, he has applied these integrative modalities to help his patients restore and maintain optimal health and wellness.
Dr. Faraj’s emphasis is on supporting the immune system, which is linked to nearly all chronic health conditions. A firm believer that most illness starts in the gut, he places importance on lifestyle choices, particularly the power of food and the value of fasting. Being a family medicine provider who specializes in Integrative Functional Medicine, he sees patients spanning all age groups and varying levels of wellness. This includes patients who want to prevent illness and optimize wellness, to patients who want to reverse illness and improve their quality of life. He prides himself on collaborating closely with his patients to customize sustainable personalized treatment plans.