“To the people, food is heaven.”
– Chinese proverb
Functional Medicine shifts the focus from the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered, preventive approach. It addresses the whole person—not just an isolated set of symptoms. Working together in partnership, we’ll discuss your history and look at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health, as well as complex, chronic disease. In this way, Functional Medicine at Blossom Health, supports the unique expression of your health and vitality.
FM looks at the BIG picture when it comes to health, symptoms, and treating disease. It acknowledges that the body is one integrated system, and that all of these systems are interdependent. This means that in order to resolve a health issue, we don’t just match the symptom with a drug in order “cure” or manage a disease. FM addresses the “why”, not just the “what”. An integral component of FM is nutrition. We don’t focus on fad diets like keto, or one special one. Rather, we generally recommend a whole foods, anti-inflammatory, organic meal plan, and add variations depending on each patient’s health issues and goals.
Old (traditional) model: headache = aspirin or NSAIDs.
With FM, we get to the root cause or causes and reverse engineer a solution based on deductive reasoning and common sense.
New (functional) model: headache = xyz, and we solve for xyz.
Here’s some variables to consider when it comes to finding the root cause/causes of your headache:
- Hormone imbalances
- Poor digestion
- Autoimmunity
- “Tight” muscles (trigger points)
- Exposure to environmental toxins
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Deep dissatisfaction with life, depression, anxiety
- The first stage of a common cold
- Dehydration
All of the above represent the condition your body was in BEFORE your symptoms began to manifest. Any one or combination of these variables could be causing your headache. A pill, although it will help you feel better, won’t solve the underlying problem.
There is nothing magic about Functional Medicine. Its principles apply to all types of medicine, whether it’s traditional medicine or TCM. In fact, both systems accomplish the same goals, but use different “languages” to accomplish those goals. Through appropriate blood chemistry, food sensitivity, stool, or saliva testing, we gain further information about what’s really going on. We then prescribe nutritional supplements to address the root cause.
FM takes a more proactive than reactive approach to health. In other words, we don’t wait until something is seriously wrong before taking action, and our goal is to restore health by gently guiding the body back to its natural tendency to heal itself, rather than wait and then pick up the pieces later when full-blown disease has manifested.
Another principle of FM is that it moves away from the traditional disease-matched-with-a-drug centered focus of medical practice to an approach that’s centered on the patient.
The foundations/pillars/of wellness:
- Gut health
- Hormone balance
- Reducing your overall toxic load
- Emotional health and life purpose
My practice is deeply grounded in the philosophy of Functional Medicine. I spend time with my patients, starting with a thorough intake (and possibly) testing in order to gather the correct data I need to get to the “root cause.”