There are numerous schools of thought when it comes to health.  The allopathic medical profession, integrative physicians, naturopaths, nutritionists, vegans, paleo followers, and so on may vary on approaches to wellness but ultimately agree that a shift in nutrition can and do improve symptoms.   Eating a clean, organic, grass fed, low to no sugar diet can reduce the internal stress on the body.  But is that enough?

Often times, a “new” diet may not be everything that the body needs. It can in fact create a biochemical shift with reactions in the body, but it may not be enough.  Infections, nutritional deficiencies, malabsorption, heavy metals, toxicity and compromised metabolic pathways are obstacles that may prevent the body from responding positively to a shift in diet. 

Some of you more aversed health readers may question this thought process.  What about the high fat ketogenic diet? Or the “juicing” Gerson Therapy?  Both of these therapies have created immense results.     First, these specific therapeutic diets do involve mineral/vitamin supplementations and are not strictly a food diet.  Second, a highly specific fat diet can benefit many of the biochemical pathways but may not support any obstacles in detoxification.  My son was on the classical ketogenic diet: EVERY food item was weighed on a gram scale and recipes were calculated through an online calculator. Yet his seizures persisted and increased. Once we addressed his detoxification pathways with highly targeted supports, his seizures resolved.  I’ve also had clients that have been on very clean diets but heavy metals prevented the healing process, autoimmune symptoms resolved when infections were identified,  mental health issues responding positively with amino acids identified to support pathways.  In all of these chronic illnesses, nutrition wasn’t enough. 

As a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner my position is to identify the tools that the body needs to heal.   I do this by simply looking at two aspects:

1. what’s irritating the body
2. what resources the body needs

Nutrition is only one of many modalities.  Highly targeted supplementation, accupuncture, chiropractic, mental health, neurofield work, N.A.E.T., biofeedback, homeopathy and much more are other means to support the healing the process.  Specific diagnostic tests can help in identifying what is interfering in the body’s ability to heal and what supports are needed.

Nutrition is often the main ingredient to wellness, but there are many circumstances when it’s not enough.