Work With Me

Biochemical individuality to the rescue!

And this, my friend, is biochemical individuality and is a very important concept to understand. You are the expert on your own body, and do not let anyone tell you otherwise.

What is Functional Nutrition and how can it help me?

As a functional nutritionist, I use a variety of testing in my practice such as bloodwork, stool and hormone testing, and food sensitivity panels to assess and remove blocking factors, while rebalancing and strengthening your system using a highly customized step-by-step approach.

This plan will include diet and lifestyle recommendations and a supplement program based on your unique needs as identified through your lab results.

A whole food nutrient dense diet

is at the core of all healing.

It all starts with diet! I agree with Michael Pollen’s maxim, “Do not eat anything your great-grandmother would not recognize as food.”  For the average American, nearly half of their caloric intake comes from nutritionally depleted foods. No wonder the Standard American Diet spells “SAD.”

It is hard to give up our junk food; however, eating whole foods can be an exciting journey with endless possibilities. When we realize that unrefined carbohydrates can taste great, that good fats are essential to our mood, energy, and hormone balance, and that appropriate amounts of protein from clean sources builds muscle and supports the nervous system, healthy eating becomes an essential part of our self-care. We need to eat well to support a healthy metabolism. It is not just about calories in and calories out. It is about the type of calories we consume and having the right balance in both our macro and micronutrients.

TEST DON’T GUESS

In order to customize the program to your unique needs, we need to get some data specific to you.

What foods are triggering inflammation? Are you deficient in particular nutrients that are needed for optimal health?

What kind of digestive support is needed? Is stress causing your hormones such as cortisol to be out of whack? Is stress negatively impacting digestion and metabolism?

Often, where I start with clients is to take a closer look at digestive health and food intolerances. 

With regards to food intolerances, there is specific testing that will illuminate which foods are causing inflammation in your body right now. This is key to learning which foods are provoking your body to produce inflammatory chemicals like cytokines and prostaglandins. Food intolerances can manifest immediately or up to a several days after ingesting a food, thus they can be hard to assess without testing. 

We will also learn which foods are moderately and highly reactive, as well as which foods may need to be rotated daily. These foods are then eliminated for 12 weeks to reduce inflammation in your body and allow your system to rebalance and heal.

At the same time as we are eliminating inflammatory foods for the short term, we will also be addressing gut health using comprehensive stool testing. This type of testing will provide information on how you are digesting your food, the state of your microbiome (the balance of good and bad bacteria), as well as detecting any pathogens that may be present. Based on the results of this test, I will craft a protocol that will rebalance and strengthen your system, support the digestive process, and support eradication of any microbes that are blocking your healing. 

Why start with the gut?

Optimal health starts with a healthy gut. Good digestion allows every organ and system in your body to function optimally. 

We also know that a large part of the immune system resides in the gut (70-80%), and many in the wellness space believe that the root of autoimmune disease starts with digestive dysfunction. 

Also, you could be eating the most pristine, whole foods diet in the universe, but if you are not absorbing, breaking down and assimilating the nutrients from your diet, your overall health will suffer over time. 

Often clients with digestive dysfunction struggle with chronic fatigue, skin issues, hormonal imbalances, and immune challenges such as getting sick frequently. 

So, to get your health back on track, the best place to start is healing the gut and addressing inflammatory foods. If you are working on improving gut health, but you continue to eat foods that are a problem for your system, it will be hard to get on the other side of your symptoms. 

What other testing and approaches are used?

For many clients, I also look at blood chemistry as it provides a window into all the systems across the board. For example, it will tell us the state of your immune system, check for elevated inflammatory markers, and provide information about nutrient status. 

As a nutritionist, I do not look at blood work to diagnose or treat, but instead, to assess where to prioritize our approach with regards to diet, lifestyle, and targeted professional line supplements. 

With blood chemistry, there are the broad lab ranges and the narrower functional ranges which is where optimal health resides. The functional ranges let us know when you are trending too high or too low on a particular marker, so we can work from a prevention point of view. 

There are many other labs that I run depending on the client’s health priorities. For clients that are struggling with hormonal imbalances or mold toxicity, we can get a window into those issues by utilizing more advanced testing. 

Every client is a bio individual, so my process is customized for each person depending on their goals and priorities as well as their symptom presentation. 

How do I know if this is for me?

This is for you if:

• You are willing to prioritize self-care and put yourself on your to do list.
• You can commit to no more excuses.
• You believe you can feel better, but you just don’t know how.
• You are ready to take action, be coachable, and move beyond your health issues to live your best life.
• You will not give up when there is a bump in the road.
• You do not expect overnight results.
• You understand that I do not have a magic wand. This is a team approach, and it takes work and patience.

This is NOT for you if:

• You have debilitating fatigue that requires medical attention.
• You are looking for a substitute for your doctor.
• You want overnight results.
• You want me to “fix” you.
• You will give up as soon as you encounter a bump in the road.