Developing Interventions to Address Priorities: Food, Dietary Supplements, Lifestyle, and Referrals

Abstract

Integrative and functional medical nutrition therapy is done within the context of therapeutic and healing partnerships. No two patients are treated identically in functional medicine. It is an equal investment of focus by both the dietitian/nutrition1ist and the patient to work together to identify where to apply the leverage of change – may it be nutritional or related to sleep, exercise, supplements, relationships, or stress management. The human organism is a complex adaptive system with countless points of access. Therefore, interventions at one level will affect points of activity in other areas as well. Changing an individual’s nutrition plan can have myriad effects on health, from reducing inflammation to reversing coronary artery disease or insulin resistance and even impacting cognitive decline.