A functionally trained registered dietitian specializes in the principles of functional medicine, addressing the root causes of symptoms with a holistic approach. Functionally trained dietitians go beyond calorie counting to consider nutrition, labs/biomarkers, stress, sleep, genetics, detoxification, gut and hormone imbalances, and environmental factors to create a personalized nutrition care plan for you.

Functional nutrition addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms.

Functional nutrition seeks to understand the root causes of system imbalances that influence one’s biology, genetics, nutritional status, and well-being. A comprehensive holistic nutrition assessment helps the practitioner design a personalized treatment plan, tailored to the patients unique needs and lifestyle to support the highest expression of health and healing. Each person is unique and this is recognized in a personalized clinical assessment, nutrition diagnosis, and intervention plan that engages and empowers the patient in this process to restore optimal function, manage symptoms and promote overall health and well-being. It is patient-centered care that involves comprehensive lifestyle interventions: nutrition, physical activity, stress management, sleep, social support, and environmental exposures.

Functional nutrition may involve the use of functional lab testing in order to reach the root cause of certain conditions such as gut health issues, hormone imbalances, or any nutrient (vitamin/mineral) deficiencies.

Functional lab testing helps in uncovering the root causes of health issues rather than just addressing symptoms by method of saliva, stool, or urine samples. Test don’t guess!

• GI-MAP Stool Testing for Gut Health
• DUTCH testing for Hormone Health

It involves the use of targeted and tailored supplementation that is highly personalized to each client.

Supplements are personalized to the client based on data obtained from a comprehensive functional nutrition assessment. Dietary supplements can be effective for restoring balance and speeding up results in many conditions and most common supplements have a good safety profile. Food based recommendations are still the most important part of the therapeutic intervention using a food-as-medicine approach to health and healing.

What can you expect during the initial consultation using a functional nutrition approach?

We dig deep into your health history looking at dietary habits, nutrition intake, medications, dietary supplements, physical activity levels, stress management, quality of sleep, and any environmental exposures. We use a hands on personalized nutrition assessment which involves a comprehensive initial patient questionnaire, symptom questionnaire, web based tools, apps, sensors, wearables data, and if needed condition specific questionnaires for IBS, IBD, GERD, SIBO, or SIFO. We do all of this while also taking into consideration your health and wellness goals in order to create a personalized functional nutrition care plan for you.