What Is Functional Medicine?

The world is becoming a place where more and more people are becoming more apt to getting heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases, or mental illness.  There are lots of conventional ways to fix illnesses.  A new way that is becoming more popular is functional medicine.  The problem with functional medicine is it’s not very well known on what it is, and it relies a lot on the patient to take part in their healing process. 

What Is Functional Medicine?

Functional medicine is when you take lab tests and look for natural healthy treatments.  A doctor will work on looking at a cause that is going on in the body such as inflammation and then treat the inflammation so that it doesn’t cause diseases.  Instead of when you go to a conventional doctor that will treat the disease that causes your inflammation.  

The Goal Of Functional Medicine

The main goal of functional medicine is to restore function back into your organs.  Meaning it tries to stop diseases before they start.  Functional medicine will use things like changes in your diet, exercise, meditation, nutritional supplements, and herbal treatments to help restore normal body function.  It does not focus on treatment of a disease.  So if you have diabetes instead of treating diabetes specifically functional medicine will look to change your diet and lifestyle to then prevent the problems with diabetes.  To change your diets to watch the amount of carbs you have, or to have you consider going Keto along with keeping your exercise daily.  Being overweight can lead to diabetes along with other poor lifestyle choices.  Functional medicine will show you how to change your life to help prevent these chronic diseases. 

Benefits To Using The Functional Medicine Approach

Lots of people like functional medicine because it is so personalized and individualized to each person.  It also gives the patient a lot of control in being a part of the healing process.  You will be coached by a functional doctor of learning what works with your body.  Along with this it gives you the power to be in control of what changes you make and tailoring them to yourself individually.  Learning how much sleep your body needs to thrive, or the right food or exercise choices you should incorporate in your daily life.  Instead of focusing on curing a disease and when the disease goes away, going back to normal.  This approach helps you create a healthy sustainable lifestyle for you to continue always.  Another benefit of functional medicine is that in the long run it can be hugely cheaper than conventional medicine options. 

Drawbacks To The Functional Medicine Route

Since it is very much based on how much work the patient is going to put in, it can be a difficult option for some people who have no time to devote to health research or lifestyle changes.  Some people like the ease of just taking a pill to help the inflammation, instead of changing their life routine or diet to decrease the inflammation in their body.  Functional medicine isn’t for everyone.  You have to be invested in the long run to be able to use functional medicine to work.  A lot of the accountability of doing the changes in your life is on you and some people don’t like that.  A functional medicine treatment can be complicated.  It can be changing your diet completely, implementing more exercise, and changing lots in your life.  If you aren’t committed to it the chances of it working aren’t high.  It is a more holistic approach to medicine which some people don’t believe in either. 

Conclusion 

Functional medicine may not be for everyone but it is a different approach to helping restore original function back to your body and organs.  It is a great personalized care that allows patients to be hugely involved in their care.  Looking at symptoms and fixing them instead of just fixing one disease within the body.  It is a good way to help prevent chronic diseases that may run in your family or that you have early signs of.