Events Calendar

“The power of plants to nourish and heal our body is simply amazing.”

Amy Zacharias, MD is board certified in both family medicine and lifestyle medicine. From a young age, she always knew she wanted to be a physician. She grew up on a farm in central Illinois, where the typical diet included meat at almost every meal. She was very active in sports, so she always had an interest in healthy eating and physical activity. She thought she ate better than most by consuming lean meats and very little processed food. It was not until later in her career that she realized the most important aspect of being a physician was preventing disease, and that a whole food plant-based diet along with other lifestyle changes is the best way to achieve optimal health.

She attended Loyola University of Chicago for undergraduate studies and then Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine in Maywood, Illinois. She then moved back to central Illinois where she completed her residency training in family medicine at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Methodist Medical Center. Upon completion of residency, she practiced traditional family medicine in a small town for several years. She also enjoyed serving as the Employee Health physician for her local hospital and the occupational medicine physician for several local employers. With these roles, she was asked to develop wellness programs to help keep employees healthy. She realized that educating patients about lifestyle changes to prevent and reverse disease was what she enjoyed most about being a physician.

After several years of family practice, she saw an opportunity to treat the patients she saw daily afflicted with chronic diseases. She also noticed that despite eating healthy and exercising regularly all of her life that she too began to struggle to maintain a healthy weight. Determined to find a better way to prevent and treat disease, she became board certified in lifestyle medicine.

In addition to her lifestyle medicine practice, Dr. Zacharias teaches medical students at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria. She is passionate about teaching patients and students how to cook and eat better in order to prevent and reverse disease. She has a love for cooking and has completed the Rouxbe Plant-Based Professional cooking certification. She has a special interest in helping patients achieve their ideal weight and helping athletes reach peak performance by following a whole food plant-based diet.

Join our Health team at our Health Festival on Saturday, September 10th! In this celebration of health, community members will have the opportunity to meet local health providers, get screenings done, learn about active living activities such as Spanish yoga classes, enjoy arts & crafts for kids and much more!

Bon Secours St. Francis Mammography Unit will be on site. We have a limited number of appointments available to females age 40 and older that are due for their annual screening and 35-40 years old needing a baseline mammogram. To secure an appointment please call 864-675-4875.

TABLE EXHIBITORS ARE WELCOME! We welcome organizations and agencies that provide services related to health in our community to participate in our festival. This is the perfect opportunity to build relationships in the community and get the word out about your services and resources. Please complete this form if you would like to be a table exhibitor. Spots will be considered for nonprofits and state/federal agencies. If you are a for profit business that wants to participate please email Vanessa Rodriguez at [email protected].

One in seven men will get prostate cancer, the second most common non-skin cancer in the United States. A new case is diagnosed every three minutes. The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is nearly 100 percent. Get screened. Gibbs Cancer Center is offering free prostate screenings for qualifying men ages 40-64 and for men with an increased risk of developing prostate cancer. Qualifying factors include uninsured men or men without a primary care physician who have not had a PSA test in the last year within the recommended age range.