Functional nutrition is a holistic practice that incorporates multiple aspects of one’s health including stress, diet, and lifestyle factors.
It takes into consideration different parts of your life and environment that may impact your dietary recommendations.
But is a functional approach to nutrition the best way to go?
Here at New York City Nutrition, our opinion is- yes! A functional approach to nutrition is a better approach to make sure you as the client are getting the care that fits your individual lifestyle and needs.
We use functional nutrition with our clients as registered dietitians because we find that it works best and leads to an increase in client satisfaction!
In today’s article, we will be going over what a functional nutrition approach looks like and what some of the benefits are! Let’s get started.
What is a Functional Approach?
As we mentioned above, a functional approach to nutrition takes into account the full picture of your health and lifestyle.
It looks into other pillars of health including stress management, sleep, food choices, exercise habits, and more. Here at NYCN, we focus on these six pillars of health: sleep, stress, movement, nutrition, gut health, and mindset.
There is so much more to your health than just what you eat. For example, your stress levels and sleep quality have a big impact on your health.
If you start to feel adverse symptoms, it may not just be what you are eating! It could be a lack of sleep, high-stress times, or an anxious mindset.
Functional nutrition takes all of these aspects into account when determining what dietary regimen you should follow and what the next steps in your treatment may be.
It may (but not always) involve functional testing such as gut health testing, hormone testing, and food sensitivity tests.
Check out our article here on MRT + LEAP testing for food sensitivities!
Functional Nutrition Benefits
There are many benefits of a functional approach to nutrition!
A few of the main benefits include:
- Taking your whole lifestyle into consideration
- Personalized for each client
- Prioritizes gut health
- Easier to put a routine into practice because your life is kept in mind
- Helps prevent the development of chronic disease
- Not a fad or restrictive diet!
- It is more than just about the food you are eating
Some people need targeted interventions with specific foods to help treat underlying health issues. Everyone is different, so nutrient plans should differ from person to person!
We have found that practitioners who take on a more functional approach to nutrition have greater client success.
Again, here at NYCN, we are dedicated to providing the best quality of care to our patients and this includes using functional nutrition practices!
Functional Nutrition: The Takeaway
Functional nutrition is valuable because it looks at the ecosystem of the body as a whole.
While it is powerful to eat wholesome food, it is also imperative to know that there is more to your health than what you eat!
Are you ready to take charge of your health and feel empowered through functional nutrition? Let’s get you set up with a complimentary call to see how we can best serve you! Click here to sign up today.
