Functional Nutrition Tip: The Web of Interconnections
BY: Andrea Nakayama
DATE: 2019-10-29
Listen to this post instead!
I recently returned from a symposium that was focused on the future of Functional Medicine. The event was buzzing with practitioners who’ve realized that working Functionally is the answer.
It’s both the answer to our global health crisis AND the answer to our individual desires to do 3 critical things:
help more people
grow our businesses, and
expand our reach in our own communities
Do you have one (or all) of those aspirations too?
I bet you do!
You probably recognize that the conventional models and methods are working less of the time. People are getting sicker and sicker, and only practitioners with specialized skills and insights into individualized therapies are getting results.
But wait!
You can be a part of the global solution AND create a thriving practice that helps the people you’re passionate about helping.
The best part: you don’t have to know everything, have a medical degree, or any other superpowers to have the successes you’ve been envisioning.
The Functional Reframe—Embrace the Connections
Did you ever sing that song in elementary school that went something like, “The knee bone’s connected to the thigh bone…The thigh bone’s connected to the hip bone…” and on and on from the tip of your toes to the top of your head?
Well, even if you didn’t have a silly singing ritual in school like I did, you get the point—our body parts are connected!
Not just the skeletal parts, but all the organs and systems that those bones protect as well.
Functional Nutrition realizes that not only is the knee bone connected to the thigh bone, but the liver is connected to the brain, which is connected to the stomach, which is connected to how well you slept last night, who your parents are, whether you have an older sibling, and what you crave for breakfast in the morning.
And that’s just the beginning of the inter-connections!
Out of Theory and into Practice
You may know this already in theory, but to take this concept of interrelatedness out of theory and into practice is a whole different animal!
It’s one thing to understand that over 70% of our immune cells are in the gut, but what does that mean in terms of real-life practical skills that you can use with the people you want to help—people with real immune issues like autoimmunity or cancer?
It’s these practical skills that I’m passionate about teaching, because the world needs coaches and practitioners who can help real people finally feel better. We need you to join our army of practitioners who want to learn a system for using food as medicine that really works.
One of my favorite Functional Nutrition tools is called the Functional Nutrition Matrix. It’s a clear, easy-to-use tool that helps you:
see the connections between your client’s seemingly unrelated symptoms
know where to start with each client
track your client’s progress
see what other practitioners have missed
find the root causes of your client’s suffering
Functional Nutrition isn’t another formula or fad diet.
It isn’t something that will go out of date, or be disproved.
What it will do is give you all the tools you need to help the people you want to help.
You choose your mission.
I’ll give you the tools to make it happen.
By: Andrea Nakayama, FxNA Founder & Functional Medicine Nutritionist
Functional Nutrition Alliance provides the comprehensive online Functional Nutrition training in the Science & Art of the Functional Nutrition practice. Learn to address the roots of your clients’ suffering with client education, diet & lifestyle modifications.