Graduate Spotlight: Salomey Adomako's Journey from Nursing to Functional Nutrition Advocacy

Salomey Adomako is a registered nurse (RN) and a Functional Nutrition Alliance Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor (CFNC) in Simsbury, Connecticut. She is originally from Ghana, West Africa, and devotes a great deal of time to her Ghanaian community in Connecticut. Salomey specializes in working with women struggling with chronic health issues to support their health care and goals through diet and lifestyle modification. 

Can you share a little about your medical training prior to joining Full Body Systems?

Salomey: I am a registered nurse, having obtained my license seven years ago. Unfortunately, that education didn't include a lot of nutrition education. The only time that comes up is when we're talking about disease conditions. For example, when somebody goes on dialysis, we are taught that they're not supposed to eat too much potassium. Or if someone has diabetes, we know not to include a lot of sugar in their diet. But, there was no focus on any nutrition beyond that.

When did you know you wanted to offer your patients something different?

Salomey: My mom passed away from heart disease. She had very high blood pressure and diabetes. She was only 55 years old when she passed, very young. So I started thinking maybe women just die very early because I saw my community of Ghanaians where I live in Connecticut dying of cancer and heart disease at young ages. 

I kept thinking that maybe something needed to be done to help these women. Every time I looked, another woman was dying. Then, at the beginning of 2019, another woman died. She was 47 years old and left a child motherless. She died from colon cancer, and that was when I said No More. 

How did you find Functional Nutrition and Full Body Systems?

Salomey: I had gone to the hospital and was told by my doctor that my blood pressure was elevated. He even gave me a prescription. I refused to take it because I knew from my experience working as a nurse that people rarely ever come off when they go on certain medication. My doctor said to start the medication and stop when it comes down, and just exercise. I said no. I knew then there was even more reason for me to take action and find alternatives. 

That’s when I found a book on plant-based diets. I applied the principles which were based more on Latin food, and lost 30 pounds in six months. I waited to see if it would come back, and after a year, the weight didn't come back on. So I took to YouTube to get the conversation going, but it was when I was on Facebook after posting a video that Andrea's program came up. I sent a message, and someone on the team at the Functional Nutrition Alliance got back to me very quickly. When she explained everything, I said this is the program for me. I gave it a try, and I'm glad I did! 

Functional Nutrition gave me the tools that we never learned in nursing school. I see a lot of nurses posting out there that every nurse should go through this program. It's the truth! 

I keep telling people to join this program. To understand how the body systems work. It's been an eye-opener for me.

Can you share a client success story?

Salomey: I had a lady with cholesterol issues who reached out to me for help. Like we were taught in Full Body Systems, I explained to her what cholesterol really is, how we need it, but where we need balance. I used that understanding about cholesterol to help her manage her levels because she was very sensitive to any of the medication she was given. She was willing to use food and lifestyle changes, so we did that. By the time she went in for her next doctor’s appointment, her cholesterol was now in a normal range. It’s more evidence that Full Body Systems taught me how the body really works and what to do about it.

Have you shared any of your work with medical physicians?

Salomey: The funny thing is, I was talking to a doctor at work when I started Full Body Systems. At that time, Zantac (a popular antacid), had been recalled, and the doctor was on Zantac for her heartburn. She wasn't sure what she was going to do without the medication. Then after I made a video on the benefits of chewing based on my training with Full Body Systems, she came to work and told me she needed to confess… She hadn’t been properly chewing her food! For her, it all started when she had her two boys, ages seven and nine. She was so busy she was just swallowing her food quickly because she never had time to chew properly. And when she adopted this new habit of chewing and slowing down, it stayed with her. Even though the children are older now, she still does it, and it stopped her heartburn. Like Andrea teaches us, when approaching something that seems big, make sure we look at getting the basics right first. That's what makes this program very unique. 

What challenges have you had to overcome adopting a Functional Nutrition approach?

Salomey: My community is small, and they like the free stuff. So that was the problem for me. When I first started, I offered everything for free. People called, and I just gave free advice. In the beginning, all you're thinking is you want people to be well. You don't even think about money. But when you see the amount of time and care you're putting into this work, you start to understand that you need to be paid for doing this job. 

Now when people come to me and I offer my services, I explain my pricing. I still work as a nurse, but I’m working more in private practice because this is where I want to be helping people, especially from my community. People from Ghana, from my race, aren't into this kind of thing. When these people go to the hospitals with diabetes and are told to eat salad, they can't because it’s just not how we eat. So knowing these details to bring into my community is invaluable. I'm really, really excited that I have had all this training and new knowledge from Full Body Systems so I can help my people!

What would you tell someone considering Full Body Systems?

Salomey: Full Body Systems will enlighten you and give you the tools you did not have before -- just the knowledge base. Anytime you open your mouth to speak, people know that you know what you're talking about. It gives you confidence, and it puts you in a seat of leadership. Like Andrea tells us:  always sit in a place of leadership and make the patient the center of the care. 

Our goal is to empower those patients, and doctors are actually thrilled that their patients are taking charge!

Like Andrea says, this is the thing that makes you wake up every morning of your life and makes you want to get out of bed. You want people to hear this news and people to leave healthy. So I think if you're considering the Full Body System program, do it! 

You can find Salomey at http://www.ezrawellness.com

Read more from the Functional Nutrition Alliance:

Graduate Spotlight: Nicole Lui

Graduate Spotlight: Jacqui Bryan

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By: Functional Nutrition Alliance

Founded by Andrea Nakayama, we help coaches, clinicians, and health care practitioners across the globe transform healthcare with Functional Nutrition. We offer cutting-edge nutrition training programs, clinical guidance, and Functional Medicine thought leadership.