What is Functional Medicine?

We are seeing a rise in popularity of Functional Medicine as more people seek alternatives to Western medicine. Most of the clients that come to me are women who have initially sought out support from Western medicine, but weren’t finding the resolution they were hoping for.  Unfortunately, many of them were dismissed by their provider, told that their labs look normal despite feeling chronically crappy, ridiculed and left feeling ashamed, or just slathered with medications that left side effect after side effect. When the Western, allopathic model doesn’t work, they find Functional Medicine, which is a science, evidenced based approach to health. 

Functional medicine is a form of personalized, integrative healthcare that aims to identify and address the root causes of disease by looking at the whole person, including their lifestyle, genetics, environment, and unique biochemistry. It is a patient-centered approach that views health as a dynamic balance of multiple systems within the body, rather than just the absence of disease.

It’s sort of like taking care of a plant. If your plant was starting to show brown leaves, you wouldn’t just tear the leaves off to mask the decay. You would look into why the brown leaves were happening in the first place. That might include looking into how much water it’s getting, the amount of minerals in the soil, the amount of sunlight it’s getting, if there were any bacterial/fungal/insect infections. You’d be literally digging down into the root of the matter and addressing that issue. 

This is the concept behind Functional Medicine. Functional medicine practitioners use a variety of tools and techniques to help patients achieve optimal health, including diet and lifestyle changes, targeted nutritional supplementation, stress management, detoxification, and other forms of natural medicine. They may also utilize conventional medical treatments when necessary, but they prioritize a holistic and individualized approach that seeks to empower patients to take an active role in their own healing journey. Because ultimately, we are our own healers. Our bodies heal themselves every day - we want to capitalize on that power. 


If you were to compare functional medicine vs. western medicine:

When it comes to conventional medicine, there are specialists for every area of the body, such as neurologists (brain and nervous system), cardiologists (heart), and gastroenterologists (GI tract). Traditional practices in conventional medicine are essential in dealing with severe or emergency symptoms.

Functional medicine practitioners focus on the body as an interconnected system of parts, which requires a holistic approach and comprehensive treatment plan. In Functional Medicine, the gut isn’t separate from the brain and what’s happening in your toe isn’t separate from your heart. Functional Medicine practitioners also recognize how the life system impacts the body’s response and the health of the body impacts the life system. Everything is connected. 

Check out the quick video I made a few years ago describing functional medicine with the use of my bonsai plant!