In terms of health and wellness, we are usually advised to consider each symptom separately. Have a headache? Pop some painkillers. Have bloat? Take some antacids. Feel sluggish? Add more coffee.
What if you have chronic fatigue, brain fog, and digestion problems, which are your body’s ways of asking for something more profound to heal?
Here at Holistic Integration, we strongly believe that our body works as an ecosystem, not as a combination of separate organs. Our health begins internally, and one of the most influential means we can use to start the process of regeneration is the food that we put into our body. That is the cornerstone idea behind personalized nutrition coaching—something completely innovative and revolutionary that allows us to treat diseases with food.
What is Functional Nutrition?
While conventional dietetics may emphasize solely calorie intake, portion control, or even the generic food pyramid, functional nutrition takes into account what you consume from a cellular standpoint.
Every time you eat, you are giving your body messages, either inflammatory ones causing hormonal imbalance, stress within your cells, or supportive ones that will help repair your cells, keep you full of energy, and fight infections.
Our approach to nutrition coaching services is more than just providing you with a simple meal plan; we analyze your genetic background, your environment, lifestyle, and biochemical profile to create a custom solution that suits you only. The reason why? While one food item may be healthy for you, it might trigger inflammation in someone else.
Getting to the Root: Functional Nutritional Testing
What is the best way to get beyond guesswork and know exactly what your body needs? We use functional nutritional testing.
Many tests simply determine whether someone falls within a generalized “healthy range.” Functional testing, however, will look at optimal ranges and underlying problems that are not yet developed enough to be recognized as full-blown conditions. Some things that we might consider, depending on your specific needs and goals, include:
- Complete Gut Microbiome Panels: Determining the levels of bacteria/pathogens in your gut.
- Food Sensitivity/Allergy Testing: Determining which foods trigger an immune response in you.
- Micronutrient Panel: Identifying deficiencies in various vitamins and minerals.
- Hormone/Metabolic Biomarkers: Assessing the impact of stress, thyroid, and blood sugar on your overall health and well-being.
With all of this information, we can develop a very specialized plan just for you!
Warning Signs of Bad Gut Health
The digestive system is considered the core of your health condition. It stores around 70% of your immune system, and its job is to provide a huge amount of the neurotransmitters that are produced by your body (serotonin). In case something goes wrong with your gut, your organism will suffer significantly.
However, people get used to having their problems and do not even realize what the reasons for them may be. These are just a few symptoms of an unhealthy gut which need to be addressed:
- Gastrointestinal Issues: Frequent bloating, burps, heartburn, diarrhea, constipation.
- Excessive Tiredness, Poor Quality of Sleep: Insomnia, trouble falling asleep, waking up after a long sleep without any results.
- Skin Conditions: Eczema, pimples, redness, dry skin.
- Mental Disorders: Anxiety, depression, inability to concentrate properly.
- Craving Sugary or Carbohydrate Food: Overgrowth of bacteria or Candida causes it to take control of your appetite.
If you have any of these symptoms, it means that you need to act and restore your gut flora.
Food as Medicine: A Personalized Process for Healing
We will work with you in coaching sessions to show how you can use healing foods in order to minimize inflammation, heal your gut, and bring back balance to your metabolism.
Eating food as medicine is not about cutting down on tasty foods and eating only uninteresting, flavorless dishes; it is about finding foods that help you maintain your biological processes and are full of nutrition:
- Healthy Fats: Foods such as wild fish, avocado, and olive oil that protect your cells from inflammation and promote brain function.
- Phytonutrients: A variety of vegetables rich in antioxidants to counteract oxidative stress in the body.
- Probiotics/Prebiotics: Foods that contain bacteria that heal the gut lining in the body.
- Minerals and Water Intake: Feeding the body’s natural processes.
Ready to Take Control of Your Health?
Learn about what your body really needs for optimal health, we are the professionals to help you through the entire journey.
Let us show you how to heal with food. Click here to book your consultation with Holistic Integration and learn more about our nutrition coaching program.