I’ve been anticipating writing this post for quite a while as it’s one of the core values behind my blog. So, functional medicine—what is it? In short, it is the science of building health.
Functional medicine is, in my own words, the optimal, big-picture way of approaching medicine. It is the pursuit of true health and longevity and the polar opposite of a quick or temporary fix.
It seeks to respect and consider the entire body, understand the root cause of illness and heal from the inside out rather than applying Band-Aids. If I could give every reader one takeaway, it would be to understand the impact functional medicine can have on your life.
What is Unique About Functional Medicine?
Some think of functional medicine as some sort or alternative medicine, but it’s extremely modern and science driven. Sadly, it is not standard practice in the U.S., but it is gaining more and more steam each year.
Keep in mind, standard does not equate to good by any stretch of the imagination. The U.S. ranks poorly in overall health as a developed nation—you can check this out in Global Health. Functional medicine is highly data-driven and considers many factors that are overlooked in standard medicine.
The unfortunate truth is that the U.S. health system is largely influenced by two things that have little to do with health: pharmaceutical and insurance companies. This is not a knock at our healthcare system but simply a fact about how our healthcare system is structured.
Most of us have had the experience of there being a better test or safer scan that insurance won’t cover. With regards to drugs, treatment thresholds are expanded to offer a drug to a larger group of people even when the benefit to this group is minimal and the side effects are substantial.
The reasonings for the things above are rarely related to health and often related to the bottom line or the influence of certain groups. Think back to when Americans were sold tobacco and sugar as healthy choices. These things didn’t happen because data was innocently misinterpreted, but because corporate influence on health policy can be huge.
Functional medicine physicians often work in small clinic settings where they can avoid some of the influences and limitations that are common within the U.S. healthcare system. The practitioners I follow are heavily focused on studying the least biased, most up-to-date research the world has to offer.
Key Elements of Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine is Individualized
Functional medicine treats people as individuals with unique histories, genetics, lifestyles and even beliefs. It provides the opposite of a one-size-fits-all medical model. Practitioners take time to assess individual risk factors and consider a person’s ability to heal themselves (i.e. adopt a new diet, incorporate exercise, utilize meditation, etc.)
Functional Medicine is Root Cause Oriented
Functional Medicine is often referred to as root cause medicine as it seeks to find the “why” behind symptoms rather than a treatment first approach. This is often why functional medicine is a slower process that traditional western medicine. That being said, it can save time in the long run and even provide lifelong relief from certain ailments.
Functional Medicine Recognizes the Body’s Ability to Heal
Functional medicine practitioners seek to work with the body by giving it what it needs it to heal itself whenever possible. According to Dr. William Li, author of Eat to Beat Disease, the body has five major defense systems that all play a role in healing.
These defense systems are angiogenesis (the formation of new blood vessels), regeneration (restoring or replacing damaged cells, tissues and organs), the microbiome (collection of all microbes, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses that live in and on our bodies), DNA and the immune system.
Many of us have heard of or even know a little about these systems, but most don’t realize that each of these systems needs support to function at its best. The most immediate support we can offer is what we eat. We are eating multiple times per day, and we can use these as opportunities to strengthen our natural defense systems.
A powerful example of this is demonstrated in a study showing that immunotherapy given to cancer patients with a certain bacteria was more effective. Essentially, the study shows that the health of your gut can help determine if your body will respond to a cancer treatment—wow!
Functional Medicine Utilizes Lifestyle
Functional medicine considers lifestyle and puts a strong focus on diet. Science tells us that what we eat has the power to influence our genes (for good and bad). If exercise, diet change, sleep habits, supplements, stress management or environmental toxins can remedy a problem, these things are utilized.
I can’t help but think, isn’t this the way it should be?
There are also things a person may need to stop doing in order to heal. Maybe a person sits for 12 hours a day or drinks alcohol before bed, which can disturb sleep. The list could go on and on.
Functional Medicine Understands Environment
Functional medicine recognizes toxins whereas beyond the obvious (tobacco smoke, asbestos, etc.) toxins aren’t typically talked about in standard medical settings. It’s common in functional medicine to discuss the connection between soil health and human health.
Spending time outdoors soaking up vitamin D and breathing in fresh air is on the prescription pad.
Most functional medicine practitioners can tell you which foods contain the highest concentrations of pesticides, which seafood contains high amounts of mercury and which beauty products contain harmful ingredients.
Many elements used to create our convenient, lightning-fast modern society, have the power to make us sick.
What is the Difference Between Functional Medicine and Integrative Medicine
Sometimes these terms are used interchangeably, but they are not exactly the same. Functional medicine is the process of finding and treating the root cause of illness and disease while building optomal health from the inside out.
The Institute of Functional Medicine offers this official definition:
“The functional medicine model is an individualized, patient-centered, science-based approach that empowers patients and practitioners to work together to address the underlying causes of disease and promote optimal wellness. It requires a detailed understanding of each patient’s genetic, biochemical, and lifestyle factors and leverages that data to direct personalized treatment plans that lead to improved patient outcomes.”
Integrative medicine refers to using the combination of western and eastern medicine to treat patients. There is quite a bit of overlap, and the two strategies often complement each other.
The Cleveland Clinic describes Integrative Medicine this way:
Integrative medicine focuses on you as a whole person and not just your illness or disease. While it seeks to understand the underlying cause of your symptoms or condition, it does so by looking at your complete mind, body and spirit. Integrative medicine uses an evidence-based approach to improve your health and wellness.
Integrative medicine believes your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs affect your health. It believes those needs rely on each other and affect your entire well-being. There are many different aspects to address, so integrative medicine uses a combination of therapies and lifestyle changes.
Why Doesn’t Every Doctor Practice Functional Medicine?
If functional medicine is so great, why doesn’t every doctor use it? There is a lot to unpack in this question, but it comes down to several factors including training, time, insurance restrictions and outside influence.
Most Doctors Don’t Have Functional Medicine Training
The functional medicine approach isn’t specifically taught in traditional U.S. medical schools even though the principles are the perfect steps to treating most anything. We’ve all heard by now how little nutritional knowledge is taught in medical school.
The U.S. healthcare design is excellent for treating acute medical conditions but not so great for building long-term health. Colleagues and patients will even sometimes report practitioners for giving unsolicited nutritional advice.
Most Doctors Don’t Have the Time to Teach Lifestyle Change
As far as time, most medical offices are not designed to practice functional medicine. It often takes a ton of investigative work to get to the root cause of a health issue. It entails nutrition and lifestyle coaching as well as less common testing and bloodwork.
Another roadblock is that we tend to be an easy button society. Knowing this, some informed professionals may doubt patient’s willingness to stray from societal norms (e.g., highly processed foods, sedentary lifestyles, frequent antibiotics).
Insurance Restrictions Limit Phyicians
As we discussed earlier, most insurance companies only cover basic, standard tests, which leaves many things out of pocket or even inaccessible. If a physician repeatedly recommends tests outside of the norm, they can jeopardize their contract with insurance companies putting their practice at risk.
Outside Influences Affect U.S. Medicine
Outside influence is sometimes used to make certain drugs, tests, scans, etc. standard even when they may not always be best. It is extremely difficult for a doctor to think outside of the box in many medical settings. The one-size-fits-all approach often dominates.
Historical examples of this include pharmaceutical companies, the tobacco industry, soda companies, the dairy industry, etc. influencing the healthcare recommendations.
The Exceptions
There are many amazing medical professionals who are slow to treat, aware of the body’s ability to heal and enthusiastic about making diet and lifestyle recommendations. These practitioners are practicing functional medicine without calling it that.
I will never forget the amazing tip I received from a pharmacist when I was expecting my first child. This was prior to learning about the functional medicine approach. My sinuses were producing mucus at record speeds, and I was given two different pharmaceuticals and several OTC options.
I was at my whit’s end and talking with a local pharmacist about my symptoms. She suggested it could be an uncommon pregnancy symptom rather than an infection. She told me to eat lots of fresh pineapple or try taking a bromelain supplement.
I immediately noticed a difference and realized I had been treating a non-existent infection (face palm). Sometimes the answer really is that simple.
The two physicians I had visited had quickly examined me and handed me an unnecessary prescription. This happens way more often than it should, which is why there is such a desperate need for functional medicine.
How to Get Started with Functional Medicine?
If you are in a small town or can’t afford anything beyond what your insurance covers, don’t lose heart! I started practicing functional medicine long before I began visiting a functional medicine clinic.
Check out my post “What Prevents a Cold” for a simple overview of our wellness strategy that I have put together after years of studying functional medicine.
Search for a physician who asks you lifestyle questions and starts with the basics of health including diet, exercise, supplements (in some cases), stress levels, etc. Seek out individuals who keep an open-mind and are thoughtful about treatment options.
Unless you are seeing a functional medicine physician, avoid visiting the doctor for every little thing. I read a printout in my former pediatrician’s office that suggested waiting three days for a fever to subside before bringing a child in.
It turns out, the wait and see approach is actually in line with most standard medical office policies, but we’ve just lost our patience for healing.
We have so much expert information right at our fingertips. We can read the data on when antibiotics are 100% effective and necessary. Did you know it takes six months (sometimes more) for your gut microbiome to recover from just one round of antibiotics?
Functional medicine is all about weeding out things that are not conducive with health and adding in things that are.
Resources for Functional Medicine
Dr. Jeffrey Bland is considered the father of functional medicine. He created the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI) and the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM).
Dr. Mark Hyman and the experts he collaborates with offer countless practical resources for all things functional medicine. His podcast The Doctor’s Farmacy is chocked full of life changing information.
Reseach The Blue Zones and snag a Mediterranean diet cookbook or check one out from the library. Regular exercise is incredibly powerful, specifically weight training, which is proving to be even more valuable than we previously thought.
We can learn what foods and toxins trigger inflammation, which can help with arthritis, eczema. asthma and much more. You can learn about types of health problems that occur from a lack of nutrients and what excess sugar does within the body.
Take a look around your home slowly replace items that contain flame retardants, add a quality water filter if you don’t have one, replace kitchen plastic with glass and break up with artificial fragrances. Here is an excellent non-toxic guide to help in these areas.
How Do I Find a Functional Medicine Professional?
If you wish to find a functional health professional near you, try this tool on the Institute of Functional Medicine website. As always, thanks for stopping by and trusting me to share information with you.
