What is Functional Medicine/Nutrition?
Functional medicine/nutrition is never one-size-fits-all, instead it is a highly customized holistic health perspective that takes an individual's unique specifications into account. Functional nutrition follows a systems approach that takes into consideration how interrelated every part of the body is, looking at the big picture of health by restoring optimal physiological functioning. While standard healthcare will try to suppress symptoms with medication, functional healthcare instead sees them as clues for understanding the underlying issues within the body.
Five Foundational Factors
MANY ROOT CAUSES: Dr. Dale Bredesen coined the term "36 holes in the roof" to describe chronic illness. There are many factors contributing to your suffering, and we need to address all of them. There is no single pill or protocol that will help you get well. We need to find all the holes in your particular roof, and plug as many of them as we're able to.
WE ARE ALL UNIQUE: Your physiology and associated dysfunctions are the way they are because of myriad factors that are unique to you. You do not fit into a pre-determined formula. You are an individual with a particular history, experience, body, and lifestyle. You also have goals and aspirations that are special to you. Kate works with all of these factors to create a custom-made plan for you.
EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED: By considering the impacts of seemingly unrelated factors on health, each client is carefully evaluated and provided with a well-researched and comprehensive holistic plan that takes all five pillars of wellness into consideration. Kate takes a systems-based approach, considering the interrelatedness of all parts of the body and looking at the big picture of health by bringing balance and restoring proper functioning.
ALL THINGS MATTER: It is not simply about changing your diet - literally everything matters. Kate takes a detailed history and asks important questions in order to begin work on clearing the muddy waters and working towards finding your root causes. You will identify the triggers that likely contributed to your current state of dis-ease, and start to reframe what has and hasn't worked in the past as clues to more effectively determine "what's going on in there?"
TEAMWORK: Kate is with you every step of the way! That means partnering with you and any other providers on your healthcare team that understand the need for a collaborative approach. Today’s health challenges are best served by practitioners and patients working closely together, with the patient's input being just as important as the practitioner's.
FIVE PILLARS OF WELLNESS
Three Roots Many Branches
There are three roots responsible for the majority of health issues seen by diet and lifestyle practitioners
- genes, digestion, inflammation - but there are many many more branches. These upstream "roots", when addressed, will positively affect the many downstream "branches" that are being fed - or starved - by those roots. The branches include any sign, symptom, or diagnosis. Many are shown on the image below, but literally any sign or symptom is a branch.
Kate remains focused on the importance of addressing the three roots of chronic illness, consistently attending short courses and conferences in order to maximise the "three roots toolbox" she makes available to clients. They are the key to solving your unique and complex puzzle!
Although Kate has a special interest in complex immune system disorders, her systematic approach and five tiered clinical framework can be applied to EVERY client experiencing chronic health issues, no matter what their ailment.
