Functional Medicine

With the holiday season in full swing, there are parties, gatherings, and celebrations galore for many of us. Though it’s a favorite time of year for many and a natural time of indulging, being around so much food — particularly the heavier, calorie-laden and sugar-filled holiday dishes — can cause us to stray from our healthier habits and experience the effects of an unhealthy diet, such as weight gain, sugar hangovers, and bloating.

Did you know you can train your brain to develop a skill much in the same way you can train your body to develop a skill? Think back to when you learned how to ride a bike. At first, it probably felt completely foreign to your body. But over time, the more you practiced, your body slowly became used to the feeling of pedaling, keeping your balance, directing the bike, and paying attention to your surroundings. You naturally developed the muscles, coordination, and rhythm needed to stay on the bike. Eventually, it became a habit. It’s actually a very similar process when you are teaching your brain to do something like getting calm, focusing, and regulating your emotions — you have to train it.

We get it: making changes to your health habits can feel really overwhelming, especially if you’re just starting out. It’s true, there are a lot of components to managing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle: proper nutrition, regular exercise, stress management, treating underlying conditions, and staying motivated. While all of these components are important to bring to the table if you want to sustain a healthy lifestyle in the long run, there are plenty of ways you can start small and ease yourself into it.

Have you ever had a persistent symptom that just won’t stop bugging you? Maybe you’re struggling with fatigue, or your gut is constantly irritated? The causes of symptoms like these are often hard to get to the bottom of — and believe it or not, sometimes they may be caused by a problem somewhere else in your body that you might think is unrelated. But how do you find the root cause and treat the problem?

Have you ever promised yourself, “I’m going to eat healthier,” “I’m going to exercise more,” or “I’m going to lose weight,” but constantly found yourself falling back into your old habits? It probably comes as no surprise that healthy living and weight management are two of the most common areas where people want to improve. But what does it look like to work towards a goal of “living healthier” or “losing weight”? Can you clearly envision the steps you need to take to get there?

Calling all runners: how do you optimize your running performance while staying healthy? Like any sport, running can take its toll on your body over time, especially if you have improper form, injuries, inadequate nutrition, and unsupportive gear. Whether you run one mile or ten, it’s important to make sure you are employing healthy running habits so you can get the most out of your workout.

Summer is here, and you know what that means: lots of heat and lots of sun! With high temperatures and more sun exposure, your body has to work extra hard to regulate its own functioning. That said, there are two big things you can (and should) do to help with that process: hydrate and replenish your body’s nutrients.

Are you interested in taking a deeper dive into your health and wellness? Have you experienced any unexplained symptoms that won’t seem to go away? Your gut health, adrenal function, longevity, and more are all aspects of your health that influence your body’s general function and well-being. Oftentimes, symptoms like fatigue, gut issues, or inflammation trace back to deficiencies or complications in one or more of these areas. So, how do you gain more insight into this?

You know it. You’ve felt it. You’ve dealt with it. Low back pain can be a real downer, whether you’re feeling it when you’re sitting, standing, or moving around. You aren’t alone — low back pain is the second most common cause of disability in the US. Almost a third of American adults are afflicted with back pain, and among them, 85% suffer from low back pain that is non-specific, mechanical, and without a detectable cause.

Imagine you’re sitting in a meeting for work. Your boss is talking about planning for the next quarter. You have a notebook out and you’re scribbling notes. Then, you hear a ding from your phone, which is lying face-down on the table next to you. You start to wonder who it’s from, what it’s about, and if you need to check it. You quickly glance at it to make sure it’s not something pressing. In the time since you first heard the ding, you’ve completely switched gears in your brain and missed several minutes of discussion on the next quarter’s goals.