Functional Medicine

 Functional Medicine views symptoms as the reflections of a few common interconnected imbalances.  This approach addresses the whole system, the ecosystem of the body, not just how different parts operate independently from one another.  Functional Medicine looks at patterns of dysfunction underlying chronic disease and offers a model of care that can prevent or reverse such illnesses.  It is based on the way our genes are stimulated by and respond to our environment (what’s going on around us and the kinds of behaviours we practice).  The guiding principle is that if we can change our environment and our behaviour, we can change the way our genes perform. Functional Medicine identifies seven core physiological processes that interconnect and define how we function.  In the Functional Medicine paradigm, a breakdown in these seven areas will lead to a host of symptoms we link to chronic illness:

1.) Digestion and assimilation   

2.) Detoxification and repair   

3.) Cellular communication   

4.) Cellular transport  

5.) Energy and structure. 

Chronic illness is an imbalance in one or more of these core physiological processes.  Such an imbalance is rooted in the interaction between our lifestyle, diet and environment and alters genetic function.  Over time, that altered function is evidenced in specific symptoms that we collectively label a disease. 

By changing your environment and addressing the modifiable lifestyle factors through health coaching, we can bring your core physiological processes back into balance and provide a personal roadmap for the journey back to health.  Sleep & relaxation, nutrition & hydration, exercise & movement, social relationships & connections, and stress. By changing the environment of these five factors, you tell your genes to express themselves in a way that creates optimal health.