Frequently Asked Questions

The Greek physician Hippocrates said in the year 440 BC, “Let food be thy medicine and let thy medicine be food.”  This is the cornerstone of functional nutrition approaches. Functional nutrition is a highly customized plan for eating with health and wellness as the core goal. Using principles of functional medicine, functional nutrition approaches symptoms with in-depth lab tests that will give the functional nutritionist a deeper understanding of your health concerns. Your functional nutritionist may recommend an elimination diet to remove certain foods to determine if they are causing health problems. Nutritional deficiencies will also be addressed. Finally, evaluations go beyond your dietary habits and extend into your activity level, stress, and sleep as well as your biochemistry, gut health, hormone balance, and more.

Nutritional recommendations focus on whole-body health, not just symptom reduction. Everyone is different, and each person’s nutrition plan should represent these differences because the goal is the overall wellness of interconnected body systems.

Functional Medicine Addresses Other Health Challenges:

• Family health, including both adults and children
• Hair health, including thinning hair and alopecia
• Senior health
• Skin health, including eczema
• Weight management

A standard nutritionist following the conventional medicine model would suggest a meal plan based on the daily recommended dietary guidelines or nutritional facts, removing known culprits such as sugars and sodium from the diet. He or she might encourage preventive dietary recommendations such as breastfeeding, nutrition counseling, physical activity, and provide education about chronic diseases. This method treats patients the same based on the same symptoms, rather than personalizing nutrition based on individual needs. Standard nutritionists do not address root causes, seek to reverse chronic diseases, or run functional laboratory tests.

Functional Medicine Approach

The approach in functional medicine is to see the body and all of the systems as interconnected and work with the body’s natural healing processes. Functional medicine draws on conventional medicine as well as other areas of healthcare including nutrition, chiropractic, naturopathic, genetics, biochemistry, exercise science, Ayurvedic, and more to form a health-focused treatment plan individualized to each person.

• Addresses root causes
• Customizes treatment based on each person
• Eases symptoms of chronic disease
• Health-focused
• Identifies triggers
• Integrates individual lifestyle
• Optimizes nutrition
• Seeks to reverse chronic illnesses
• Uses in-depth lab tests to identify subtle issues

Conventional Medicine Approach

Conventional medicine takes a different look at the body than functional medicine. It is a system of medical doctors, nurses, and other practitioners that treat symptoms using medications, surgery, and radiation. It is also called allopathic medicine or mainstream medicine. Diagnostic testing can help pinpoint a disease or illness. It is very effective in treating acute illnesses and emergencies. All systems of medicine are useful when confronted with challenging illnesses. Still, conventional medicine may not be able to identify subtle health issues early on. Conventional medicine is not adept at addressing the root cause of illness before it develops into a chronic disease. There are times when functional medicine may work well together with conventional medicine.

• Better suited to emergency medicine
• Diagnoses illness
• Treats illness
• Treats patients the same based on symptoms
• Suppresses symptoms
• Uses medications, radiation, and surgery

Ayurvedic Medicine Approach

Ayurvedic medicine is another popular traditional medicine used since ancient times in Indian medical systems, over 5000 years. Using mostly plant-based herbal remedies and recommendations for lifestyle, diet, and exercise – Ayurvedic treatment is like functional medicine because it looks at the body as a connected system. The foundation of Ayurveda looks at the body’s constitution (prakriti) and life forces (doshas) to treat illness. This traditional Indian medicine is often used alongside conventional medicine and is considered equivalent here in India. Functional medicine and Ayurveda share many of the same principles and treatment methods. They both use food as medicine.

• Addresses root causes
• Eases symptoms of chronic disease
• Herbs, spices, and supplements are used
• Identifies imbalance in energy management
• Uses yoga, mantras, and meditation

Functional medicine seeks to improve your body’s function uniformly across all diseases aiming to heal the body to optimize its function, whether your main complaint is diabetes, poor gut health, autoimmune disease or nutritional deficiencies. This medical model addresses the root causes of chronic illnesses and treats them with a personalized nutrition, supplement, and lifestyle plan. This approach helps to prevent, treat, and heal your body system organs and tissues by correcting an imbalance in the body.

Functional Medicine Benefits Include:

1. Balance the immune system
2. Better quality sleep
3. Change mindset about nutrition
4. Decrease pain
5. Manage chronic disease
6. Improve brain function and memory
7. Learn how to focus on health
8. Normalize hormones
9. Optimize gut function
10. Promote joint mobility and comfort
11. Reduce exposure to toxins
12. Reduce inflammation in the body
13. Reduce reliance on medication and surgery as a treatment
14. Support longevity
15. Treat the underlying causes of illness
16. Understand your own body better

Depending on the tests, conditions, and recommendations made, most patients will see a difference within three months following the diet and lifestyle recommendations. Symptoms should be significantly improved and quality of life should be much better within 9-12 months. Complete reversal of some chronic illnesses is possible within a year, and others may take more than a year.

Make an appointment with Annie Kanwar, India’s first functional medicine nutritionist, fully certified by The Institute of Functional Medicine, USA. Annie and her functional medicine nutrition team will discover the root causes of your symptoms and create a personalized wellness plan for you. You don’t have to continue suffering with autoimmune disease, diabetes, fertility problems, or gut disorders. Make your appointment and get on track for a better, healthier, more energetic you.