Functional Medicine and Nutrition
What is Functional Nutrition and How Can it Help me?
Functional nutrition is a holistic approach to wellbeing that incorporates all aspects of your health, diet, and lifestyle. At Aligned Medical Group we take into consideration your environment, activity levels, and overall health as factors in your lifestyle. We focus on you and your bio-individuality. Functional nutrition practitioners identify lifestyle factors in relation to your food choices and design plans that can be specified to meet your own unique needs. This holistic approach enables our specialists to assess your food choice versus your lifestyle to ensure you are meeting your health goals.
What is the Difference Between a Nutritionist and a Functional Nutritionist?
A standard nutritionist identifies a set of generalized nutritional guidelines that are applied to everyone. These nutritionists focus solely on nutritional facts and not how specific foods or food groups can affect the individual, without consideration of lifestyle and one’s individual needs. Standard nutritionists usually develop a recommended diet without much consideration of potential food sensitivities. If food sensitivities exist, an individual may be eating foods considered healthy, but it may not be meeting their specific needs. Heavy metal exposure, additives and preservatives, molds and even parasitic infection must all be considered. The goal of standard nutritionists is to generally prescribe a plan for the entire population, not specifically for you.
But at Aligned Medical Group, our functional nutritionist compiles data from your lifestyle and your health history to create a program that best supports you. Functional nutritionists evaluate your activity levels, the quality of your relationships, and your stress levels as indicators in your health plan. Like functional medicine, this is a patient-centered and holistic approach. Your functional nutritionist views food as having the ability to either heal or harm you. By using your food as medicine, your work with a functional nutritionist can promote a healthy lifestyle and optimize your healthiest, happiest self.
What Conditions can Functional Nutrition Treat?
As a holistic approach to improving your health, functional nutrition views your body as a whole ecosystem, and therefore not just treating symptoms, but resolving those symptoms at their source. At Aligned Medical Group, we evaluate your symptoms and look for potential food sensitivities, food allergies, and nutritional deficiencies. Functional nutrition can be used to help a multitude of conditions such as:
- Digestive/gut issues
- Autoimmune diseases
- Sleep disorders
- Immune system health
- Obesity/metabolic syndrome
- Pain management
- Anxiety and stress
- Depression
- Eating disorders
Your functional nutrition program can also serve as an important method of preventing illness and chronic conditions. Finding the right balance in your nutritional requirements will boost your energy and improve the function of your body’s entire ecosystem.
How ALCAT Food Sensitivity Testing can offer Functional Nutrition Insight
The ALCAT test is a powerful tool your healthcare provider can use to determine which foods and other substances are triggers for unwanted symptoms. The ALCAT food sensitivity test can measure sensitivities in over 450 substances and uncover those that may trigger inflammation, pain, fatigue, gastrointestinal issues, depression, anxiety and many others. Sensitivities, unlike allergies, may not present with symptoms until up to 3 days after exposure, making them difficult to diagnose. The data provided by this food sensitivity test is a critical tool for your functional nutritionist in developing your eating plan.
The ALCAT test is conducted from a small blood sample. At the laboratory, your white blood cells are tested against foods and other substances. The ALCAT will display how your immune cells react to the tested substance. The ALCAT testing method is extremely accurate and hailed as the gold standard in food sensitivity testing.
The results of the ALCAT food sensitivity test is essential in a holistic, individualized health plan. Identifying the foods that are a source of inflammation, your Aligned Medical Group functional nutritionist can personalize your eating plans that will substantially benefit you and optimize your health.
Functional Nutrition services at Aligned Medical Group
At Aligned Medical Group, we are a patient-centered and holistic practice. To develop the most effective wellness plan for you, our functional nutrition practitioners offer the most comprehensive services for our client, including:
- Genetic Testing: Tests that look for changes in your DNA. Genetic testing can help determine what health conditions you may be more susceptible to.
- Telomere Testing: A blood test that can measure the length of your telomeres (the protective cap on the end of your chromosomes). Telomeres can provide data regarding your body’s health such as how fast you are aging, and warning signs for chronic disease.
- Cellular Nutrition Testing: Tests that determine the health of your cells. Cellular nutrition testing identifies deficiencies of micronutrients in your cells.
- Lab Work-Ups with Our Medical Doctor: Testing how well your organs and systems are functioning. Although these tests can diagnose a disease or illness, we also utilize the results to find the cause of your ailment.
- Body Fat Percentages: A method of measuring the amount of fat in your body’s composition. This is valuable data for our functional nutritionists to determine the best wellness plan for your needs.
Make an Appointment with Aligned Medical Group for a Functional Nutrition consultation!
If you are ready to feel better and optimize the food you use as fuel, it’s time to speak with our experts in functional nutrition at the Aligned Medical Group. We provide a patient-centered, holistic approach to solution-focused care. Aligned Medical Group will customize a nutritional plan for you and help get you on your way to feeling and functioning at your best. For more information on functional nutrition, dietary modification, and supplementation; contact Aligned Medical Group at (610) 644-3166 or to schedule an appointment today.