What is Functional Nutrition?
You are at the point of reading about functional nutrition meaning you’re likely looking for answers- answers for that constant bloating or unpredictable digestive issues. Maybe it’s more than that: headaches, brain fog, bad PMS symptoms? Functional nutrition is simply nutrition that treats our functionality. It follows the central dogma that a person is a whole being with a long life story and that is likely what is playing into symptoms, not just a surface problem. Functional nutrition uses food to heal. From functional medicine, it addresses 7 core bodily imbalances:
Assimilation (ex. digestion, absorption, microbiological imbalances)
Defense and Repair (immune and inflammatory imbalances)
Energy (oxidation-reduction imbalances and mitochondria)
Biotransformation and Elimination (detoxification)
Communication (hormonal and neurotransmitter imbalances)
Transport (circulation imbalances)
Structural Integrity (imbalances from cellular membrane function to the musculoskeletal system)
In order to address these imbalances, functional nutrition uses evidence-based dietary and lifestyle modalities to support balance. It focuses on a personalized approach on how to
remove what is causing imbalance, and
provide what causes balance
…simple enough, right?
The principles of functional nutrition also encourage biochemical individuality, the understanding that everyone has a unique gene expression and therefore reacts to things differently. This is important to consider when taking nutrition advice. It also hones in on the web-like interconnectedness of our bodily systems. Though you may want help healing your skin issues, we may need to first address your gut, or your detox system.
The goal of functional nutrition is to address a root cause of imbalance using food and dietary changes, alongside additional lifestyle factors if necessary. Rather than just putting a bandaid on a symptom, like giving you gas-x to help your bloating. We want to look at what’s causing the bloating in the first place?
Okay so that’s a pretty cheap example, but this goes even further. Young women all around the nation are being prescribed oral contraceptives for managing their cramps or acne, even if they aren’t sexually active. 15 years later and they’re struggling with hormonal imbalances or even fertility issues. With functional nutrition, perhaps there are ways to manage these symptoms at a root level that don’t have as scary of side effects.