Hi there, I’m Jessie White.
I’m a certified Functional Nutrition Counselor based in Brooklyn, New York.
I help people who are feeling chronically unwell learn how to nourish and strengthen their digestive and immune systems—which sit at the root of all other body systems—in an effort to build a foundation for their overall well-being.
With great compassion, I assist my clients in making nutritional and lifestyle choices that can profoundly support these root body systems, which in turn can begin bringing balance and vitality to the other body systems, and ultimately nurture the remarkable ability their body possesses to positively influence genetic expression.
With a gentle heart, I support my clients in building a new kind of relationship with their own self—a relationship with their whole person, and with their whole experience. This involves bringing awareness to all that makes them uniquely who they are—physically, emotionally, energetically—and regarding every aspect as meaningful and relevant.
I build comprehensive healing plans that take all of these distinct qualities into account.
Above all, I work with my clients in true partnership, inspiring them to see the choices they have and the great part they can play in their journey toward whole health and well-being.
My Journey
My own journey of battling with chronic health conditions, and seeking out Functional Nutrition practices as a means to heal, has been life changing. It has helped me to see that every one of my lifestyle choices has a direct impact on my health, or lack thereof. It has taught me that I cannot superficially treat my migraines, my acid reflux, or my anxiety for that matter, but instead I must bring balance and nourishment to the underlying causes of these symptoms. Most importantly, it has helped me understand that I must have daily practices in place to move my mind and body out of a stressed state, and into a more relaxed and restorative state, in order for ANY healing to happen. Gaining these functional perspectives on how to achieve holistic well-being, and (most importantly) putting them to practice on myself, has not only changed the status and trajectory of my own health, it has given me the genuine insight to help others do the same.
For many years I contended with a number of symptoms that neither general practitioners nor specialists could help me resolve. Not one of them ever paid heed to the fact that these dots (symptoms) could be connected in an effort to find their common roots, enabling their cause to be uncovered. None of them considered my whole person, and how the state of my body was intimately connected to the state of my mind, and to the state of my spirit. No one considered my unique biology and physiology, nor my lifestyle choices and circumstances. None of them asked me questions, such as what was I eating, how was I sleeping, was I exercising, was I hydrating, did I have a stress-management practice, did I feel connected to my community and have a sense of purpose? Yet, ALL of these aspects, habits, choices and circumstances contribute to the manifestation of dis-ease, and are critical to investigate in order to truly restore health from the roots on up!
Our healthcare system has made miraculous advances indeed, yet it is not built upon tenets that speak to, nor even value, resolving chronic illness. Society at large has a quick-fix, “bandaid” mentality, and as subjects to these systems, those of us with ongoing illnesses are given remedies that temporarily numb the branch yet completely disregard the roots. This only perpetuates the problem, or brings about the expression of another, as the underlying issues are not being addressed. A personal example of this is when I was given pharmaceuticals for the anxiety I was experiencing. In this case, the anxiety was merely the branch, yet there were a number of roots contributing to this anxiety that were overlooked, including my body’s inability to absorb vitamin B12 (which was discovered many years later). My anxiety ceased for awhile, but sure enough came back, along with other complications caused by this lack of B12 absorption. I was given bandaid after bandaid, and was inevitably always looking for new doctors, only to be put through this futile routine once again. I was eventually dismissed as neurotic and as a hypochondriac.
After years of not feeling seen nor understood (by medical professionals) as a whole, unique individual with legitimate conditions, and years with no resolution to my lack of well-being, I decided to take my health into my own hands. I knew intuitively that there must be a system of health that focused on resolving states of dis-ease and disorder as opposed to “treating” them. I knew there must be an approach to health care that regarded each one of us as unique, and that looked for clues and strived to find solutions at the root of one’s individual set of circumstances. So… I set out to find this.
Background
To back up a little, (or a lot for a minute), I grew up as the kid of artists and educators. My mother, a trained opera singer, chose early on in her career to become a special education teacher and work with underserved teens who needed great support with their schoolwork. I watched my mother not only teach these kids information, but transfer her own love of learning to them so they could discover this within themselves. My father, a prolific classical composer, teaches music theory and the works of his most beloved composers (to this day at the age of 90!) to some of the world’s finest, up and coming musicians. Again, it isn’t what he teaches as much as how he teaches it that opens up exciting worlds in which his students can enter and call their own. I was lucky enough to be gifted through osmosis their great passion to help others uncover gems in their respective selves, which in turn awakened the innate desire in me to work with people in the same capacity.
I, too, am an artist—a singer, composer, writer and dancer—with a concentration in theatre arts and movement analysis. After some years of performing and living the artist life in NYC, I grabbed that familial baton and embarked upon a fifteen-year journey as a teaching artist wherein I had the great honor of sharing my love of music, creative movement, theater, and yoga with young children through role-modeling and interactive play. I learned so much from these bright, little souls. It brought me tremendous joy when they let me into their worlds and allowed me to help them learn and grow! It wasn’t until I became a case-cracking detective in search of my own well-being, and enrolled in a Functional Nutrition program, that my heart’s pursuit began to shift. The desire to teach, nourish and help others grow remained, it was only the context in which I would do so that shifted.
Education &
Inspiration
It was Andrea Nakayama, owner and founder of The Functional Nutrition Alliance and the Functional Nutrition Lab, who burst open the portal through which I was destined to enter. I heard her speak so intently about the Full Body Systems curriculum she designed, and about her mission to build an army of a “new type of healthcare practitioner” who could help revolutionize our healthcare system. She discussed how this new type of practitioner could “fill the gap” in our current healthcare model, and serve those who were contending with chronic states of illness. She explained how this could happen through addressing the environments (areas) in one’s body where dis-ease had taken root. Andrea developed an approach to bring attention and healing to these root areas which she termed, “3 Roots, Many Branches.” Within this construct, the three roots are:
Genetics (primarily focusing on Epigenetics—the ways in which we live our lives that influence genetic expression)
Digestion
Inflammation
Andrea described more specifically how the real shift in our system could happen through educating people not only about the existence of these roots, but about the myriad ways these roots could be influenced by tending to the environments in which they live. She termed these environments the “soil.” We all have the ability to positively influence this soil—and ultimately change the course these roots will take—by adopting nutritional and lifestyle modifications. These modifications include: food, herbs/supplements, sleep, exercise, breathing deeply, connection with those we love, engaging in that which feels meaningful to us, and more. In this respect, each one of us has the potential to sit in the driver’s seat, bring about shifts in our own health outcomes, and do so through accessible choices.
Hearing Andrea impart her vision woke me up, so to speak. It was one of those moments in life of utter, unquestionable clarity. There my future path lay! I was determined to study Functional Nutrition, and intent upon helping to fill that gap in our healthcare system. This is how I was going to help myself, and this is how I was going to help others!
What does my work look like today?
I did indeed find that wellness paradigm I knew in my gut was out there. I also followed my heart and received a comprehensive education and certification in the art and science of Functional Nutrition. I became versed in the anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of all body systems—with a focus on their interrelated and interconnected qualities—while also learning how to thoroughly and compassionately support, counsel, educate and assist one on their quest toward wellness. Yet among all these incredible jewels, the most profound nugget of gold I received was learning how to make the “3 Roots, Many Branches” approach the foundation from which all my work as a Functional Nutritionist would stem. It is an approach that can bring a measure of healing, a level of autonomy, and a shift in health outcome to every one of us, no matter what the condition, symptom or diagnosis may be.
No matter what condition a client is contending with, I am able to help them bring increased nourishment, strength and vitality to their foundation.
With great attention to a client’s unique set of circumstances, I am able to help them:
establish nutritional and lifestyle practices which they can call their own.
foster sustainable change through transitioning the starting places of dis-ease toward the starting places of wellness.