The problem with functional medicine no one is talking about

Do I think natural medicine is worth the hype?

Do I think functional medicine is worth the hype? Do I think it could make your health worse? Why don't I practice functional medicine anymore? Let's dive in.

Where it started

11 years ago, I wrote an article titled: functional medicine is the future of medicine. I really believed that. I had just discovered what it was and I began searching out the best diagnostic training programs and teachers to become a functional nutritionist.

I loved all the concepts functional medicine talked about: testing not guessing, finding the root cause, personalized care, finding your toxicities and deficiencies, removing the harming agents before adding the healing agents. . .

Fast forward to today → almost everyone has seen a functional or natural medicine doctor. They are aware of all the functional medicine terms - gut health, MTHFR, parasites, SIBO, mold, autoimmune disorders, peptides, heavy metals, all the things.

I’m mostly talking to the people that already know a lot about health. They already eat clean, avoid toxins, take care of their body. The ones that are doing everything ‘right’ but are still having problems. Because I see that a lot. That was me.

I wanted to bring up some issues I have seen over the years in the functional medicine world for those that have gotten really into it and some alternatives that might be better.

Problems with Functional Medicine

1. Gives labels to the mind that could do more harm than good

Functional medicine is all about testing any substance that could come out of your body. Blood, poop, pee, saliva, hair - all with the intention to find what is 'wrong' in your body.

So you did all the testing. You find out you have mold, or leaky gut, or MTHFR, or parasites or hormone issues, or that you are allergic to everything.

That makes people feel relieved at first. Like they found what is making them feel terrible. Like they have something they can now blame their symptoms on. But. . . from there is where it can take a turn.

You spent thousands of dollars for testing. And now you are going to have to spend thousands more on supplements and protocols to fix whatever you have going wrong. You are put on a strict elimination diet.

The problem is, what you focus on, you get more of. The more you focus on your symptoms, the worse they get. The more you focus on trying to find what is wrong, the more you will find. The more you identify with and own your diagnosis, the more it manifests in your body.

It's a vicious cycle.

I get it, the first testing a had done 11 years ago, I felt incredibly overwhelmed and stressed about everything that was found and what I needed to do to fix it. I did it all for while. All of the crazy diets, cleanses, and supplements, but then I realized that living in joy, gratitude, pleasure, and love is what actually healed me.

When people are told they can't eat this again or that they have to be super vigilent of their envirnment, that energy of restriction and fear creates a biological response of inflammation. It's putting you into a sympathetic state, which shuts off your body's healing response.

What I have seen: The way that you are labeled gets stuck in your psyche causing possibly more problems than if you hadn't found out. When you are so focused on the issue you have been labeled with, that alone could be stopping the healing process. Just because you have an autoimmune disease doens’t mean you’ll always have it. Just because you couldn’t eat ‘that food’ doesn’t mean you always won’t be able to. Just because you have ‘XYZ’ gene doesn’t mean you can’t shut it off. If you get diagnosed with something, don’t make that your identity, convincing yourself you will have to live a certain way forever.

2. Is that root cause really the root cause?

I love how functional medicine does try to find the root cause. But often, what they say is the root cause - I don't think actually is, I think it's deeper.

For example, someone may say the root cause to your symptoms is hormonal imbalance, food sensitivities, thyroid off, autoimmunity, mold toxicity, etc. The thing is, that's not entirely true. The tests are indeed showing your body is low on testosterone and progesterone, your thyroid is not working correctly, your immune system is not functioning, and you are reacting to food and other environmental things. . . but that's not the root.

The root is WHY is your body reacting in that way to those things? What's causing your hormones to be low? Why is some part of your immune system overreacting?

I think the real cause always is within a combination of the psyche and mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical factors. Functional medicine does not treat all of those, it just treats the body and envirnment, which is just part of the equation of total healing.

Instead of throwing a supplement or pill to balance hormones, why not find out why your hormones are off in the first place?

Instead of eliminating the foods, let's find out why your body is reacting to them?

Instead of thinking the cause of your symptoms is just because of something physical (food, genes, mold, Lyme, gut, age, hormones, etc.), why not remember that you are 99% energy, not physical matter, so why put so much weight in the physical when you are less than 1% physical? Doesn’t make a lot of sense when you stop to think about it.

I rarely think any physical issue is solely because of something physical going on AND there are non-physical ways to treat physical symptoms, that don’t involve restriction, overwhelm, or fear.

3. The cycle of more

People were always coming to me asking me 'what's the best testing for ___"or “what supplements should I take for _____(insert symptoms)”.

I see that everywhere. People still want a magic pill, but instead of medication, they want a test to show them a problem and a natural pill to fix that problem.

Some health influencers and functional med docs take advantage of this human reaction. They share information and their supplements and tests to solve whatever pain points their niche is dealing with. And people buy it up. Especailly if that person is very convincing and can get the person to truly beleive in whatever cure they are offering. Often times people’s belief about the diet or supplement that will heal them is actually what helps, not the actual diet or supplement.

It's easy to make money on, take this and this will happen VERSES Well, your symptoms are a combination of your psyche, past events and how you perceived them, emotions, thoughts, biology, and environment so we need to explore all of that.

It's a cycle of always being in search of the next practitioner that may be better than the last one, the next test or supplement that will change everything for them, more information on the latest and greatest trends, becoming more strict with their diet.

It's a cycle of always looking for something outside of yourself to heal yourself. Practitioners, food, supplements, information. . . when in reality, no one can know you or help you as much as. . . you.

Alternatives

A doctor I worked with years ago once told me, if you want to avoid cancer, do all of the things now that you would do if you already had it. Eat how you would, move how you would, love others, view life through the lens of what actually matters.

Because I am pregnant right now, I have been using that same concept for gestational diabetes. I never drank the gross toxic glucose drinks for any of my pregnancies and people always ask, aren't you worried? What if you have it? Well, I act like I have already been diagnosed with it. I am doing all of the things I would do to fix it if I did have it, now.

I think this really applies to functional medicine.

I always had such a pain in my heart when I was practicing functional medicine because I knew that so many people around the world cannot afford to do these things. Surely, they had to be another, effective way.

Before you spend the thousands on testing and supplements, which is where most docs want you to start, make sure you have the fundamentals of health mastered first. Because I have found that often, those fundamentals take care of the problem, so you never need further expensive testing and treatments.

The truth is, whatever you would find out with the testing, you would need to do the fundamentals to heal it. So why not start there?

Instead of spending so much time searching for what's wrong with your body, start by adding in what's right and healing, and often, what is wrong is crowed out.

Before you see a doc, start here:

1. Perception is the best prevention (and cure!)

If I ever get a tattoo, this saying might just be it;) Everything in your body is responding to how you are reacting and what you are interpreting and believing about the events of your every day life. Your cells listen to what you are saying about the situation to determine how to react.

It's not stress, it's your perception, the story you are telling about what is happening, and your reaction that causes the issues.

It comes down to your individual perception and how you are taking in the world and what your thoughts, feelings and beliefs are about life.

Ultimately, it's not about the thing (food, emf, mold, parasites, gut etc) it's more about your relationship to the thing than the thing itself. It’s about calming your nervous system around that thing.

It's exploring that your psyche and how you perceive life and situations could actually be the root cause of your symptoms. And that symptoms are not a bad sign, they are there guiding you to deeper levels of healing and becoming the core of who you have the potential to be.

If you take a pill or hormone or supplement to artificially correct the symptom (which it can!), that’s not getting to the root of why it’s there in the first place or solving what it’s trying to communicate with you.

Our perception we are in control of. We are not in control if we are in an environment with mold or the EMFs that are all around us. And we don't have to be. Our job is what we are believing and reacting to it all and what body state we are predominantly in.

So first, one needs to examine the story they are telling about their health, their environment, and their life.

German New Medicine is a new paradigm of health that shows how your symptoms are adaptations that come from a conflict shock and that symptoms are a good sign because they mean you are actually in the healing phase. Determining where your symptoms are coming from using the 5 biologcal laws is how I help people now, more on this soon!

2. Intentionally generate a healing state

Are you living in fear, bitterness, discontentment, stress, shame? Are you worried about your symptoms? Do you worry about food or other things in life or the environment that could harm you?

Start there. Because your body can't heal from anything if it's constantly in a sympathetic state. Spend some time noticing what state you are predominately in throughout the day and that will tell you a lot. Start intentionally generating love, oxytocin, joy, gratitude to put your body in to a state it can heal.

When you are consistatnly in a healing state, your body that can correct anything you have going on.

I have a four-step process of how you do that here.

3. Nutrition and hydration

Once your get your thoughts and body state mastered, then focus on a healing diet. Whole, organic, real food, eaten in a slow and aware state. Clean water with added minerals. No processed food, fast food, vegetable or seed oils. It doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

4. Sleep and light

Light informs every cell in your body. Ten minutes of light in the morning, 10 minutes of the sunset light at night, avoid blue light at night the best you can.

5. Movement

WALK - getting movement all throughout the day. Do whatever you need to do so you move consistatnly. I think walking is the most under talked about way to improve your health and change your body and mind. Moving regularly throughout the day will keep the mind, emotions, and body flowing and processing.

6. Outside

Fresh air, grounding, sun - every day. Our biology needs this to function and heal. Grounding is the number one way to neutralize inflammation. Easy, but are you actually doing it?

7. Community and connection

You need people to help you through the hard and unexpected seasons of life. Connection is truly a medicine just like disconnection is a disease.

8. Purpose and passion:

Often times when I'm feeling tired or depressed or unmotivated, it's because I am not working on something that lights me up. Sometimes people experience symptoms of being tired or unmotivated and think there is something wrong with their body, but often, it’s because they don’t have anything they are excited about or something worth getting out of bed for.

My point is there is so much you can do on your own before you spend thousands of dollars and do any strict protocols. There is so much potential in exploring the pyche and your perception first.

I loved this piece by Dr. Melissa Sell:

“It’s not the gulten, it’s not the cheese. .

It’s not the germ, it’s not the sneeze. .

It’s not the chemicals in the fabreze. .

It’s not the toxins, it’s not the mold. .

It’s the conflict in your soul.

It’s the unresolved problem, the source of distress.

It’s the situation that’s been disturbing your rest.

Your symptom is inviting you to find a solution.

It’s a call to growth, to personal evolution.

It’s a time to get quiet, self-reflect, contemplate. .

Trust yourself, trust your body, and listen to innate.”