Food First
Functional medicine is a whole-body approach to disease prevention and health restoration and looks "upstream" to determine the root cause(s) of symptoms and diseases. Nothing happens in isolation within the body. For example, skin issues can be directly related to imbalances within the gastrointestinal tract and painful joints can be caused by food intolerances (this is different than food allergies).
Everyone is unique and it takes a highly individualized approach to correct the underlying dysfunctions and imbalances within the body. In some cases, health can be completely restored after years of problems.
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Functional medicine is an evidence-based approach that supports your body’s natural biology to assist its inherent ability to heal. There are four major pillars of health- nutrition, movement, sleep, and stress management. The functional medicine approach uses these four pillars as a lens to view and restore the health of an individual. However other individualized aspects, such as genetics, are also examined.
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Food can work for us or against us. The functional medicine model views food as medicine and utilizes food as a therapeutic approach to restoring health. Although I address all of the pillars of health, my specialty is in nutritional support for optimizing the functionality of the body.
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Where the conventional model fails, the functional medicine model thrives. Some say that functional medicine is the “evolution of medicine” because it addresses the cause(s) of chronic disease at the root, versus just suppressing symptoms. There are many people suffering with chronic conditions that could improve their health, and lives, using this systems-based approach. Additionally, we as a country simply cannot sustain the cost of health care as a result of the growing number of people with chronic diseases. Of the 3.2 trillion dollars spent on health care in this country annually, 86% of that cost is due to chronic disease, and it’s on the rise.
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How do we know functional medicine is working for people all over the world? Because of the growing number of conventionally trained practitioners that are crossing over into functional medicine to meet the high demand of people desperately in need of assistance in improving their health. This approach to health restoration and optimization has been the answer for many people and may give you the solution you’ve been searching for to address YOUR health issues.
"Food can work for or against us"
