I am a certified Functional Nutritionist. his means that the way that I look at food and conditions is unique. I focus on getting to the root cause of your health condition. You may be experiencing weight gain, inability to lose weight after following restrictive diets, constipation, acid reflux or GERD, or immune conditions like Hashimoto's or rheumatoid arthritis. There is a root cause for each condition.
Western and most traditional medicine is often focused on the symptoms of the condition and does not look at the imbalances driving the condition. When you go to the doctor, you probably have been given a specific diagnosis and are following up with this condition. There are many conditions such as prediabetes, fatty liver, high cholesterol, and any other condition. The doctor is usually just looking at the “leaves of the tree” or the symptoms of the disease and will prescribe medication or another intervention to manage symptoms.
I am trained to look at imbalances. When we do this, we get closer to possible causes that are driving this condition. I will look at how well you are detoxifying, and if you are creating energy efficiently from the food you consume. I will also consider gut health, gastrointestinal status, and inflammation from foods or habits that may be a part of your life. I will consider your mind-body-spirit connection which, believe it or not, has an impact on your overall health. So my job as a functional/integrative nutrition practitioner is to look at the root cause of conditions.
When we consider gut and gastrointestinal health, we must talk about the microbiome. The microbiome is like a rainforest of many different species of bacteria, fungi, and microbiota that live in our gastrointestinal tract. Certain habits like smoking, stress, not drinking enough water, or eating the same 3-5 foods that may not be the best for you, can cause disruptions in your microbiome. If the rainforest of species is not in harmony, the rainforest (the microbiome) is not going to have the best quality soil or the best environment to allow growth and flourishing. If you are feeling constipated, don’t have regular bowel movements, or are craving certain foods, there could be something going on within your microbiome. As a functional/integrative registered dietitian, it is my job to help you get to the root cause of what may be driving some of your imbalances and help to cause a certain condition.
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me and I am here for you. I hope you will find our experience working together beneficial. I hope it helps you discover the root cause of your health condition rather than just continuing to do short-term solutions based on symptom management and help you feel better long term.