Functional nutrition is one component of functional medicine. In the functional health modality practitioners are trained to understand the etiology, prevention and treatment of chronic disease. Appreciation for the profound interconnectedness among the physiological processes of the body is paramount. Health is viewed as a state of vitality and maximized quality of life - not merely the absence of disease. Science-based patient care plans are developed maintaining respect for the patient’s unique biochemistry and the genetic and environmental factors (lifestyle choices, physical and social environment) influencing expression of this biochemistry. At all times the individual and their own unique set of circumstances remains the focus of care. Within these guidelines a practitioner in the functional health modality will create a personalized intervention plan aimed at restoring the individual’s physiological, psychological, and structural balance to treat illness and/or promote wellness. For more information about functional medicine please visit The Institute of Functional Medicine at http://www.functionalmedicine.org/index.asp . The preceding explanation of the functional health modality was adapted from this site.
Nutrition can go way beyond the everyday monotony of breakfast, lunch, and dinner - if you let it! In many cases good nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices can be the most significant and effective component of wellness and in some cases can even be your “medicine” – if you let them! However there is much, much more to eating healthy than simply choosing healthy foods most of the time. Although much more nutritious than the “Standard American Diet”, the “Standard Health Food Store Diet” could also be damaging your metabolism and leaving you short of energy, positive moods and optimal health. Specific combinations of macronutrients as well as micronutrients can have a profound effect on one’s physiology and therefore on one’s health and wellness. At One Little Step: A Center for Functional Nutrition your specific metabolic type and unique physiology will be some of the most important factors considered when developing the ideal wellness plan for you.
A practitioner trained in functional nutrition will focus on the nutritional factors that will be of benefit to a given individual with a given set of circumstances. This may include dietary modifications, meal hygiene, as well as the use of neutraceuticals. Most people are astonished to learn that the “healthy diet” that they thought they had been following really isn’t so healthy and is often the source or part of the source of their current health complaints. There is much more to eating healthy than just choosing healthy foods most of the time! Recurrent GI distress (constipatition, diarrhea, flatulence, gas, bloating), headaches, migraines, low energy, poor mood, insomnia aren’t just minor nuisances. They are symptoms alerting you that you need to make a change in your current lifestyle. They are warning of the potential for disease development. Determining the source of these complaints and alleviating the imbalance provides the best opportunity for preventing the development of full-blown disease. A practitioner of functional nutrition will work with you to unveil the source of these complaints and help you determine what adjustments need to be made in your current lifestyle habits to reverse the trend toward disease.
In addition a practitioner of functional nutrition will recognize other factors affecting an individual’s overall health and quality of life that may be beyond the scope of their practice and make appropriate referral(s). For this reason functional nutritionists generally work together with primary care providers and other practitioners to ensure that all aspects of an individual’s health are addressed.
In many cases you will come to One Little Step with a diagnosis from your Primary Care Provider. The diagnosis may be that “there is nothing wrong with you” or you may have been told that you have a specific disease, condition, or syndrome. You may not want to undergo the traditional treatment, pharmaceuticals may be contraindicated, or there may not currently be a pharmaceutical preparation available for your particular condition. In some cases you may want to get to the true root of the problem – not just disguise the problem for a period of time with medications. There are almost always safe, effective, natural alternatives for most common conditions. We will work together with your Primary Care Provider to determine if and to what extent Functional Nutrition will work for you in your particular situation.
So leave the food guide pyramid behind and begin your journey – a journey that will help you achieve your full potential, a state of health that reaches far beyond the absence of disease, a state of well-being that you never imagined – if you let it!!