Functional Medicine Articles
This Is the Connection Between Your Mind and Gut
The Mental State of Society By the numbers, there is no doubt that mental health disorders are reaching critical rates both within the US and globally. Johns Hopkins reports that 26% of adult Americans suffer from a diagnosable mental health disorder in a given year....
Aging, gut dysbiosis, and toxic exposure: How to spot the difference
The American Paradigm of Aging In every culture, the concept of aging carries certain expectations and ideas, including generally accepted changes within the body. Essentially, what is common is considered normal. The American experience has taught us that it is...
How to understand the brain-gut connection with Dr. Randy Vawdrey
Investigating a New Paradigm of Brain Health When you first joined the ranks of functional medicine practitioners, I’m positive it didn’t take you long to meet patients with complaints like these: “I’m tired all the time.” “I have frustrating bouts of brain fog and...
Heartburn and H. pylori: What you need to know
It’s your first patient of the day. She comes in experiencing bloating and heartburn. You do a little digging and don’t find much—only that she mainly has issues after eating rich proteins like eggs or meat. Because it seems like just another case of heartburn, you...
This is why gut health means more than probiotics
You don’t have to look too far to find frustrating and disparate advice, especially in the world of medicine. Perhaps one of the more notable cases in recent years involves the rise of probiotic supplements. For many medical providers, both those within the functional...
The most overlooked clinical factor in treating autoimmune disease
In my two decades of working with autoimmune patients, I have observed one factor that is the most overlooked and yet has the biggest impact. You may expect it to be one of the following: A food A supplement A diet However, it’s not any specific treatment. So what is...
Why heavy metal chelation can worsen a patient’s health
One of the more common approaches to autoimmunity in the alternative health world is heavy metal chelation, a process that pulls metals and other chemicals out of the body. But did you know that under the wrong circumstances — which are actually fairly common — this...
Three ways to spot an autoimmune patient
In the 20 years I’ve been working with autoimmune patients, three things have always stood out that separates them from other patients: No autoimmune diagnosis. Despite seeing numerous doctors and healthcare practitioners, they have not been diagnosed with...
How medicine – conventional and alternative – is failing autoimmune patients
With the media focus on cancer and heart disease, most people don't know we are living in the midst of an autoimmune epidemic. Some shocking stats: The American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association (AARDA) estimates up to 50 million Americans have an autoimmune...
Heartburn is a red flag for serious health risks
When a patient complains of subtle bloating and heartburn, typically doctors diagnose them with high stomach acid and prescribe acid-blockers. However, reducing stomach acid frequently compounds the problem because in many cases the issue isn't high, but low stomach...
Probiotics are not the magic bullet we think they are
We're led to believe there are good and bad bacteria, and that if you take good bacteria then it will support your gut health. However, we now know probiotics have a completely different effects from one person to the next. This is going to change how they are used in...
One-size-fits-all protocols fail many patients with gut symptoms
Gastrointestinal problems are some of the most common complaints functional medicine practitioners face from new patients. However, many practitioners treat the gut with a one-size-fits-all protocol — probiotics, digestive enzymes, gut supplements, and a gut-healing...