Functional Nutrition
A higher standard of nutrition care that addresses the whole person
“Food is information, not just energy (calories). Food actually tells our bodies how to function by signaling exactly when and how each different type of cell should behave in every situation. So, we want the very best information to reach our cells in order to achieve optimal functioning.”
What is Functional Nutrition and why does it matter?
Functional Nutrition is about finding the right way for each of us as individuals to eat—using food to maximize the potential for health and reverse dysfunction or disease. There is no single “right diet” that applies to everyone. We all have different genetic backgrounds, different dietary preferences, and different lives. We all want to be healthy, but figuring out how to make food and dietary patterns serve that goal can be difficult. Functional Nutrition offers the concepts, strategies, and tools to make that happen.
For centuries, humans have relied on the food supply as a source of energy, health, and connection. However, in the last six or seven decades, changes in the food supply (and how we use it) have contributed strongly to the growing epidemic of chronic disease. Functional Nutrition developed out of a desire on the part of healthcare providers to change that picture.
Emerging science is very clear that food is a powerful influence on health. Food offers not only the calories that fuel our body’s metabolism, but it also contains many diverse components that play important roles in all our bodily functions. In certain proportions and amounts, poor-quality food can influence or create disease, and high-quality food can reverse disease and sustain health. In a very real sense, food is medicine.
Food also represents connection. In most cultures, food plays a major role in familial bonding, celebrations, and ceremonies. Through food, we connect with friends and family, and the memories we make with them are often recalled when smelling or tasting familiar foods. The action of eating also integrates the mind with the body, and this mind-body connection influences how we experience the world around us. The loss of the shared family meal with food prepared from scratch has been part of the transformation that is feeding the chronic disease cycle.
There are three basic elements in our diets:
Macronutrients—the proteins, fats, and carbohydrates that are the building blocks of all food
Micronutrients—vitamins and minerals
Phytonutrients—plant-derived substances that have a positive effect on health
Processed foods in the food supply interfere with the function of those basic elements. Processing practices include hydrogenating oils, adding sugar and sweeteners to foods, processing and bleaching grains, applying toxic agricultural chemicals to crops, and using trans fats in food manufacturing. These practices may increase the shelf life of food, make food look prettier, or make food taste sweeter. However, when they are the main component of a steady diet, they have the potential to cause harm and make us sick.
Food is…
Copyright 2014 The Institute for Functional Medicine