Dr. John Hughes, D.O. is a Colorado osteopath who has also been classically trained as a medical physician. He practices integrative medicine, which aims to incorporate the best of all medicine addressing the primary mental, spiritual, emotional and physical causes of disease.
Dr. Hughes’ goal is to improve the health of the whole person instead of simply one symptom. His osteopathic clinics in Basalt and Aspen, Colorado emphasize the following practices:

Nutritional Medicine
Nutritional medicine includes nutritional supplementation and dietary advice.
Nutritional supplementation is necessary for many individuals due to the depletion of nutrients in foods due to cooking, modern agricultural practices, food additives, pesticides and distance from the ocean. Dr. Hughes practices with the understanding that many diseases result from a deficiency in a food, nutrient or mineral, rather than prematurely concluding that prescription drugs are needed.
Often, instead of prescribing a particular drug, Dr. Hughes attempts to understand what nutrient might be missing from an individual’s diet or environment. Whenever possible, Dr. Hughes recommends concentrated whole-food nutritional supplements and live superfoods from companies such as Standard Process and Designs for Health.
Dietary advice goes hand in hand with nutritional supplementation. Dr. Hughes bases his nutritional approach on the work of Weston A. Price, D.D.S. and the Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation, helping patients eat in a nourishing, intuitive, and enjoyable manner similar to that of their primitive ancestors and other primates.
Heavy Metal Testing/Detoxification
Dr. Hughes employs provocative urine testing to analyze the toxic heavy metal burden of each patient. He then offers oral or IV chelation therapy as necessary to detoxify patients from these metals.
Learn more about heavy metal toxicity in the video below.
Read more about the research behind chelation therapy and EDTA for heavy metal detoxification.
Our Colorado osteopathic clinic also uses aspects of botanical medicine to treat heavy metal toxicity. Botanical medicine is simply the appropriate, intelligent use of herbal therapies to assist with human ailments. Some examples of these therapies include herbal supplements that assist with heavy metal removal, detoxification, energy and vitality.
IV Nutritional Therapy
Supplement and Medication Review
Immune Support
Dr. Hughes uses that holistic understanding to address acute or longstanding infections, chronic diseases, skin disorders and other conditions. Many infections can be avoided by creating a strong immune system. And, when infections do occur, Dr. Hughes believes many can be treated in a sustainable way, without resorting to high-powered or addictive pharmaceuticals.
Bio-oxidative Therapy
When administered at low doses, ozone is known to have a powerful antimicrobial, healing and energizing effect on the body as it speeds metabolic processes and allows the blood to carry more oxygen. It is reported that Lance Armstrong used ozone to assist in his Tour de France victories.
Ozone can be effective at supporting the body in fighting infections, diverticulitis, eye disease, asthma, cancer or cardiovascular disease.* Dr. Hughes never recommends breathing ozone or using ozone in the blood at levels greater than EPA standards.
*Results may vary; no guarantee of specific results
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) is another highly potent way to use oxygen to address non-healing wounds, radiation osteonecrosis, transient ischemic attack (TIA), diabetic wounds, neurological challenges, and acute or chronic pain conditions. Dr. Hughes works closely with the HBOT team at the Colorado Center for Hyperbaric Medicine to provide world-class treatment for the above conditions.
Environmental Medicine
Most environmental therapies are aimed at eliminating or reducing human exposure to carcinogens and other toxins such as DDT, chlorine, pesticides, radiation, heavy metals and noxious chemicals often found in air, water, food and households. As an environmental physician in Colorado, Dr. Hughes leverages his knowledge of the toxins in human ecosystems to diagnose and treat patients suffering from multiple chemical sensitivities, heavy metal poisoning, pesticide use, etc.