Index Clinic

Because there is so little discussion of the patient's condition's cause with conventional therapy, functional medicine is chosen. Unfortunately, while this is not the doctors' fault, there is little time to spend with patients, thus treatments must be given swiftly. There is a minimal likelihood the practitioner will even get the chance to see behind the surface what is truly happening without more in-depth conversation.

From the standpoint of dietetics, the traditional approach to diet intervention would entail giving everyone with the same ailment the same diet. For instance, all people with heart disease would receive identical advice regarding a heart-healthy diet without taking into account their culture, preferences, cooking skills, or genetics. Similar to this, someone trying to lose weight would be told to follow the same general diet as someone else without taking into account anything they've tried before or having any idea of what foods suit them or don't suit them. These would be illustrations of traditional methods.

Let's switch now to the practical aspect. A functional nutritionist is more interested in how the body is working overall than in disguising symptoms. They are trying to figure out why the body isn't working properly and how to get it back to normal, healthy function. Symptoms are merely hints that point us in the direction of the true problem.