What is Functional Nutrition? Beyond Calories & Macros

At its core, Functional Nutrition is embracing the full healing power of food & lifestyle to address not only weight management & performance optimization, but also prevent & manage chronic health conditions such as heart disease, auto-immune conditions, cancer, hypertension, digestive disorders & more. We work with clients in a therapeutic manner to support their bio-individuality & unique situations, making sure they feel heard & educated.  We move beyond fad diets & the dogma of the modern pop-nutrition to focus on re-establishing the fundamentals of nutrition to support root cause resolution as opposed to symptom-based treatment.  Through these fundamental values we can provide support for all clients, no matter where they are on their own personal health journey.  In addition to these core values I add my 25 years of culinary experience to show clients that this style of healthy eating can be EASY, & DELICIOUS!

1) The Power of Food - Beyond Calories:

A Food-First Approach to Health: A primary focus of a Functional Nutritionist is to recognize deficiencies in macro & micro-nutrients.  I put together eating plans that take the client from deficiency to sufficiency in these vital nutrients that play a MUCH BIGGER role than many people realize.

A pivotal point in my health journey was when I discovered how food acts as information to our body.  Specifically how certain nutrients in our food actually act as signaling molecules that directly influence how our cells & organ systems behave.  3 main areas that are DIRECTLY influenced by what we eat are:

Inflammation: "Anti-Inflammatory" is certainly a buzz word in health & nutrition, and is sometimes thrown around without proper understanding of the role inflammation plays in our body.  Minimizing foods that instigate an inflammatory response, increasing foods that help resolve inflammation withing the body and optimizing digestive health are all key areas of focus in Functional Nutrition.

Gene Expression: Epigenetics is a term used to describe the study of gene expression.  In simple terms we have certain genes that can be "turned on" or "turned off".  Many of these genes play a role in the development of diseases such as cancer and alzheimer's.  What we eat and our lifestyle have major influences on this genetic expression

Hormone Stimulation: Insulin is the most talked about hormone in nutrition, and it plays an extremely important role in the body, and is directly influenced by what we eat.  However diet & lifestyle also influence growth hormone, estrogen, thyroid hormone, testosterone & more.  Getting back to nutrition fundamentals as well as helping clients prioritize exercise & sleep are key to bringing hormones back into balance - and are key aspects of Functional Nutrition.

Nutrients also act as building blocks that our body needs to not only create new muscle tissues, but to repair neuronal circuits, create hormones & neurotransmitters, regulate blood sugar & cholesterol levels and more. Chronically low consumption of proper levels of these building block nutrients is a significant contributor to the development of chronic illness & disease.  As I said in the intro paragraph, bringing these nutrients back to sufficiency is a key focus of a Functional Nutritionist.

2) All Things Are Connected in Our Bodies & We Are All Unique:

What if I told you that your brain fog might be related to your constipation? Or that there may be a connection between your chronic fatigue & acid reflux?

Our bodies are made up of systems such as the Digestive, Neuronal, Endocrine (hormonal), Reproductive & Urinary. These systems are connected to each other and dysfunction in one system can cascade into dysfunction in multiple systems.  In Functional Nutrition we take a holistic approach to health & wellness in the body recognizing how each system can influence the other, and how this manifests uniquely in each client.  Our genetics, health history & lifestyle combine to result in our current state of health and this is what Bio-indivuality is.

3) Root Cause Resolution over Symptom-Based Treatment:

By combining the first two tenants of embracing the power of food and taking a systems-based approach to working with clients we arrive at Root Cause Resolution; or we should says cause(s) because there's often more than 1.  In Functional Nutrition we don't chase symptoms like cholesterol, blood pressure, memory fog, fatigue, weight gain as separate conditions.  Instead we view the symptoms as branches on the same tree, and that by focusing of the roots of this tree all branches will benefit.  These roots are the Nutrition & Lifestyle tenants we focus on in Functional Nutrition.

Chronic Disease is only getting worse.  In our current medical system it feels like there is a gap that needs to be filled, with a more personal, supportive & holistic approach.  That is what I, and others in the Functional Nutrition field, hope to do.