Functional medicine looks at the interplay between our genetic inheritance, our lifestyle, stress and our nutritional status with regard to the condition of our health.
Specifically it looks at exactly how the nutrients we are deficient in, the toxins we are exposed to, and the choices in our present diet, may lead to many chronic diseases that never seem to clear no matter what medication we are taking.
We often have an idea we are doing something that is causing ill health but we have no idea what to change. FM offers solutions to the problem and advice on how to implement the solutions. FM does not treat any one specific disease. It turns your body into a fully functioning, healthy system and the chronic diseases tend to take care of themselves within the healthy body.
Functional Medicine investigates the underlying cause of the dysfunction as opposed to just suppressing symptoms.
i. It’s the difference between turning off the stove and just putting a lid on a boiling pot.
ii. It’s the difference between treating the fire instead of blowing away the smoke.
FM is based on the cell and its function within an entire system no matter where that cell lies – whether it’s in your brain, your heart, or your bones. To create and maintain a healthy cell, we ask two questions.
i. What do you need more of – real food, sleep, exercise, nutrients, etc.
ii. What do you need less of – medications, stress, alcohol, toxins, allergens, food allergens etc.
Five common things that make us sick are toxins, diet, stress, allergies, and infections.
We help you rebuild your system just like we would rebuild a city, using basic building blocks.
We need quality raw materials to build an infrastructure, and we need access to a power plant – (healthy mitochondria). We need your cells to be able to communicate with each other (healthy hormones) and we want to be sure your cells have a sewage system. We need an effective transport system to bring in raw material and get rid of rubble (vascular and lymphatic) and we need to protect our city with good defenses. (Immune System)
In FM we investigate the sources of your poor health. Are your cells protecting you from the outside? Or maybe are they attacking you themselves. What are you doing to nurture yourself (one of the most important things we can do for our health)? Where are your weak points and where do you need to reinforce.
We want to know about YOU. What went on during your childhood, your family history, your life patterns? All those are factors that affect how you are doing today.
We want to know what you do to chill out and how you create movement in your life.What you eat and drink and what you are doing for love and meaning in your life. We don’t focus on your disease, we focus on you and creating a vibrant, health ‘you’.
Just to share good news about being mindful of what we eat and the benefits thereof. I have recently cut out gluten and dairy from my diet as advised by Julie. This is in support of my mom who is suffering from arthritis. She has been experiencing extreme pain and medication would just relieve the pain for a while. Since the gluten and dairy free diet both of us are feeling much better. I have stopped taking allergex before bed for my sinuses. I feel less heavy and particularly happy about how regular I am :). Its tough avoiding pasta, pap, cheese and cookies but it is worth it the minute you feel the difference in your body. My mom used to complain about pain on her shoulders, elbows and wrists. This used to affect her sleep. Now she feels less pain overall and this is only in week 4:). She can even stand in her tiptoe with no pain on her knee and sleep like all of us. It is amazing how a small diet adjustment improve your overall health just like that?