Functional medicine is an evolution in the practice of medicine that better addresses the healthcare needs of the 21st century. By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners and health coaches spend time with their patients, taking a detailed history, listening to their background and stories, and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health and complex, chronic disease. In this way, functional medicine supports the unique expression of health and vitality for each individual.
By changing the disease-centered focus of medical practice to this patient-centered approach, our physicians are able to support the healing process by viewing health and illness as part of a cycle in which all components of the human biological system interact dynamically with the environment. The human body all acts together. There are many systems but they all influence each other to maintain homeostasis. Functional medicine takes this understanding of the body and instead of sending the patient to multiple specialists for each system, it treats the body as a whole. This process helps to seek and identify genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors that may shift a person’s health from illness to well-being.
Organic Acid Testing!
Lab testing is essential before treating symptoms. Organic acid testing tests the chemical compounds that are excreted in the urine. Organic acids can represent anemia, lethargy, hyperactivity, dermatitis and more. Often times, once lab work reveals what organic acids are present, an all-natural holistic approach is created to treat organic acids and repair damage.
What is “Leaky Gut”?
Hyper permeability, more commonly known as leaky gut syndrome is a common problem where there is inflammation in the pore-lining of the gut. The inflammation causes the tight junctions to open more than usual allowing toxins to leak in and out of the GI tract. This aggravates other body systems and in turn, results in systemic body inflammation. Health conditions that have been associated with leaky gut include but are not limited to:Â
-Rheumatoid ArthritisÂ
-Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
-Brain FogÂ
-Food Allergies/ IntolerancesÂ
-Inflammatory Bowel Disease
-Irritable Bowel Disease
-Joint ProblemsÂ
-EczemaÂ
-And more
Pathogens: What are they?
Pathogens are bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms that can cause disease. The most common pathogens we see today are bacterial pathogens, parasitic pathogens, and fungal pathogens.
The first step to overcoming pathogens is to have lab testing performed. Lab testing will provide your practitioner with the necessary information to determine what pathogen is overgrowing in your gut. From here, the plan can be created to properly assess the pathogen and repair a healthy gut.
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Let’s talk about stool testing! Although many individuals would prefer to do a serum test (blood draw), stool testing provides so much more information. Stool testing gives us the ability to see what bacteria in your gut are overgrown or depressed! With this information, we can create a personal treatment plan to ensure your microbiome is being fueled with the direct strands it needs to healthily replenish itself.
Two Brains? Studies now show the gut (ENS) and the brain (CNS) can function separately from each other! This gives us an all-new insight into the gut. The gut is extremely important and acts as our inner defense system and contains more than 100 million nerve cells. That’s more than our spinal cord! This new research is shining more light on how important our gut health really is and how it is connected to other health conditions, such as autoimmune. Start taking control of your gut health now!
We are seeing a significant amount of research pointing to dietary factors and autoimmune triggers. These studies show that the foods we eat are responsible for creating inflammation and an immune response throughout our system. To help reduce the amount of inflammation and dietary triggers you experience:
-Perform an elimination diet
-Eat local homegrown crops
-Eat organic
-Avoid artificial sweeteners, sugar, GMO, dairy, and gluten
Food is the ultimate medicine!
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