Functional Nutrition
​ According to the Functional Nutrition Alliance, Functional Nutrition is: "The answer to some of the problems in health and healthcare today. A modality that works not just to support, but to educate the patient in what's going on in their body and how making uniquely targeted diet and lifestyle modifications will shift the terrain and help them meet their goals."
At Vital Roots Health and Nutrition, we embody Functional Nutrition as a holistic approach to health and wellness, using food and lifestyle modifications to improve, prevent, or reverse health conditions:
Focuses on the whole body
Functional nutrition practitioners consider the body as a whole ecosystem, with everything connected. Here we look at that ecosystem as a tree, with the branches being our signs, symptoms or diagnosis and all connected to the three roots of genetics, digestion and inflammation.
We assess a person's health history, lifestyle, and dietary habits to create a personalized health plan. People are all unique and very complex, and the causes of their suffering are unique. What leads one person to a common sign, symptom or diagnosis, will depend on a person’s history and life circumstances that culminate in something that has a similar name. This is the principle of bio- individuality, and there are a multitude of factors that apply here which is why we work from the mantra that
"we are all unique, and everything is connected".
Addresses root causes and considers many factors
Functional nutrition aims to identify and address the underlying causes of health issues, rather than just managing symptoms. We're taught as functional nutritionists that everything is connected and how those three roots respond and develop into symptoms is a result of the "soil" around the roots - epigenetics, environment, stress, diet, lifestyle and so on. To find the root cause or causes, we "back it up" - which means we ask the right questions, know how the body works, and have a trusted and Functional framework for systematically uncovering more information. For a person to truly thrive, there are things we must do before any of the fun, complicated, cutting-edge work can be done. We must look at things like nutrition and hydration, sleep and relaxation, exercise and movement. We "back it up" to the patient’s skillset that’s required to help them succeed. Modifications we recommend are based not on a protocol in a book or an idealized set of standards, but on the needs and resources of the individual. And, as practitioners who care about the importance of nutrition, we consider the role of digestion in optimizing the key nutrients we're looking to incorporate through dietary modifications! We “back it up” to the client's digestive capacities. And we “back it up” to basic physiological functions—like sleep, blood sugar balance and functional elimination. That’s how we get to those roots, differentiate client or patient care, and enable those that we serve to step into their healing potential.
Promotes optimal well being
As functional nutrition practitioners, we emphasize whole and high-quality foods, tailored supplements, mental health, exercise or movement and sleep hygiene. Since we're also certified in life coaching, part of our plan is to make sure that you achieve balance in your life to help minimize stress and environmental concerns that could be contributing to physical symptoms.
Aligned with functional medicine
Functional nutrition is a subset of functional medicine, which considers how interrelated every part of the body is. ​Part of our training is to read and interpret lab results so that we can work with the rest of your medical team or bridge the gap between your doctor and you by helping you interpret the information that they don't always explain in layman's terms in that 15-minute visit. ​​​​​​​​
