Practicing functionally is a mindset—a mindset shift away from standard (allopathic) medical care, which utilizes protocols that work for a small amount of the population—toward a place of personalized care. 

In order to shed more light on the tenets and practices of Functional Medicine and Function Nutrition, and to highlight the approaches that functional practitioners embrace, I will paraphrase the teachings of Andrea Nakayama, renowned Functional Medicine Nutritionist, educator and speaker (and my mentor). 

FUNCTIONAL PRACTITIONERS AIM TO BRING HEALTHCARE BACK TO THE INDIVIDUAL.

Practicing functionally calls upon the practitioner to readily enter into a dynamic dance of discovery—to investigate, comprehend and act on what's unique and particular to the person sitting in front of them. 

Integral to practicing functionally is helping each client learn how to listen to their body, understand what's going on beneath the surface of presenting symptoms, and become their own greatest detective so they may champion their own course. 

Along these lines, functional practitioners embrace the belief that we all have far greater success when we begin to understand WHY we are doing something instead of simply being told WHAT to do. 

Practicing functionally involves looking at how our bodies have been impacted by our personal histories and our methods of self care. 

Diet and lifestyle choices are stimuli from which we learn a great deal by seeing how are bodies respond to them. This is where food and lifestyle practices meet physiology, yielding very different responses for each individual. 

FUNCTIONAL PRACTITIONERS DO NOT PRETEND TO KNOW THE ANSWERS, INSTEAD THEY WORK TO UNEARTH THEM.

Functional practitioners use tools that help map a client's personal history and track a client's choices and daily practices in order to step into their habits, patterns and behaviors. 

A functional practitioner works with humility, curiosity and compassion—utilizing frameworks (rather than protocols) that are evolving and dynamic—allowing for creative problem solving and real-time personalized care. 

THE BODY IS DYNAMIC AND THE PRACTITIONER MUST BE AS WELL!

Functional nutritionists work behind the scenes of the doctors (functional and allopathic), in partnership with their clients. They embrace an even greater "hands on" approach to adjust everyday practices, and transcend a client's relationship to their diet and lifestyle choices. 

In this sense, Functional Nutritionists become the bridge between what's going on in the doctor's office and what's going on at home. 

“Food and nutrition act as the first key, unlocking the powers of the body.

The powers of the body in full function act as the second key to unlock the powers of the heart to feel, love, and express, and of the mind to focus and produce, dream and innovate.

Then the fullness of the expression of the heart and the mind become the third key to allow us to tap into our BIG purpose — what we are here to do and how we can fully actualize that potential.”

—Andrea Nakayama