Dr. Zeke answers the question “What is functional medicine” and gives examples of care.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine is a transformative approach to healthcare that focuses on understanding and addressing the root causes of health issues. Unlike traditional medicine, which often targets symptoms, Functional Medicine looks at the intricate interplay between genetics, environment, and lifestyle factors that contribute to disease.
Key Features:
Root-Cause Focus: We investigate underlying factors rather than just treating symptoms.
Individualized Care: Every treatment plan is tailored specifically to you.
Lifestyle Integration: We emphasize nutrition, physical activity, and stress management for holistic health.
Is functional medicine for you?
Functional Medicine is particularly beneficial for individuals who:
Feel Frustrated with Conventional Care: If you’re not getting the answers or relief you need, a deeper look at your health through functional medicine may help.
Desire Personalized Health Solutions: Our approach is tailored to your unique health history and lifestyle. Every body is different. The cause of your condition may be different than someone else with the same condition. The treatment needs to be different too.
Are Open to Lifestyle Changes: Candidates willing to make dietary and lifestyle adjustments often see the best results. Change is hard, but the results are worth it.
Seek a Collaborative Partnership: We believe in working together to navigate your health journey. We have the knowledge, but it is your life and your body. We can guide you, but you are in the driver’s seat.
Dr. Zeke goes over who makes a good candidate for functional medicine and why.
The Functional Model: Supporting System Physiology
Functional medicine does not treat, cure, or manage diagnosed medical diseases. Instead, our clinical focus is entirely dedicated to evaluating, supporting, and optimizing the underlying function and biochemical pathways of your body's primary systems.
Chronic symptoms are simply the signals of underlying system imbalances. When your cellular biology is given the correct environmental inputs, nutritional resources, and metabolic foundations, the body's natural capacity to self-regulate is restored. When systems function optimally, many individuals experience a profound resolution of the structural and symptomatic issues that originally brought them into care.
Connecting Your Diagnosis to System Function
When conventional medicine hands you a diagnostic label, functional medicine looks at the system-wide breakdown beneath that label. Rather than chasing the disease names directly, Dr. Zeke works to systematically evaluate and nutritionally support the physiological foundations underlying these common diagnoses:
If you have been diagnosed with: Autoimmune Disorders, Hashimoto’s Hypothyroid, or Respiratory and Sinus Issues
We look at: Immune & Barrier Performance — Evaluating environmental sensitivities, tissue hyper-reactivity, and systemic inflammatory pathways.
If you have been diagnosed with: Digestive Issues, Food Intolerances, or Chronic Inflammatory Gut Conditions
We look at: Digestive Barrier Integrity & Microbiome Curation — Rebuilding the intestinal lining, optimizing digestive enzyme outputs, and balancing microbial ecosystems.
If you have been diagnosed with: Hormonal Imbalances, Infertility, or Thyroid Dysfunction
We look at: Endocrine & Cellular Communication — Supporting hormone clearing pathways, optimizing tissue receptor sensitivity, and restoring natural circadian rhythms.
If you have been diagnosed with: Blood Sugar Issues, Insulin Resistance, or Metabolic Syndrome
We look at: Glycemic Control & Mitochondrial Energy Production — Optimizing cellular fuel utilization, stabilizing blood glucose patterns, and supporting healthy weight loss.
If you have been diagnosed with: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Migraines/Headaches, or Chronic Pain
We look at: Metabolic Homeostasis & Cellular ATP Output — Tracking down systemic energy leaks, clearing cellular waste, and resolving mitochondrial sluggishness.
If you have been diagnosed with: Mood and Anxiety Disorders, Cognitive Decline, Brain Fog, or Childhood Developmental Disorders
We look at: Neuro-Biochemical & Cognitive Resilience — Supporting the gut-brain axis, balancing neurochemical precursors, and optimizing age-related cognitive vitality.
If you have been diagnosed with: Cardiovascular Issues, High Blood Pressure, or Chronic Bone/Joint Disorders
We look at: Vascular Vitality & Structural Repair Mechanisms — Curating microvascular health, tracking lipid pathways, and managing long-term longevity optimization.
Our fundamental goal is to empower you with the data, strategies, and lifestyle frameworks required to restore true physiological balance, shifting your biology from a state of named dysfunction back into a state of vibrant wellness.
How It Works
First we do a comprehensive health history and detailed physical exam and a “basic” screening set of labs. We say “basic” in quotes because they are actually far more comprehensive than you are likely to get from a conventional doctor, but they do not include the specialized functional labs. Functional labs are more expensive so we try to only order the ones we need in order to get a complete picture of your health.
Once we understand the entire web of issues going on in your body, we develop a specific plan that includes diet changes, lifestyle modifications, and targeted, high-quality supplements to “pull on a thread” of the web and get your body functioning properly again.
Then we would do periodic follow-ups to make sure you are improving as expected and meeting your health goals.
Example: If you have diabetes, your conventional doctor will do blood work to check your sugar level of your blood then prescribe you medication to reduce your blood sugar. This is based on reducing the amount of damage done by your condition. The Functional Medicine approach would do a detailed history and comprehensive lab work to look for all of the potential underlying causes of diabetes, such as insulin resistance, pancreatic cell fatigue, autoimmunity, chronic inflammation, nutrient deficiencies, chemical exposures, etc. Then we would work with you to develop a personalized plan that uses diet changes, lifestyle modification, and targeted nutritional supplementation to address those underlying causes. Then the diabetes often improves on its own as the body is able to regulate itself again. We don’t actually treat the diabetes, we treat the underlying functional causes of the diabetes to improve your health.
Functional Medicine Vs Conventional Medicine
Functional medicine and conventional medicine work great together.
Functional medicine practitioners work closely with family doctors and medical specialists of all types to make sure you are getting the best care from everyone on your care team.
Functional medicine is not a replacement for conventional medicine. You should still have a primary care doctor and the appropriate medical specialist. We each have different skillsets and fill in the gaps in the other models (that is why functional medicine is considered “Complimentary Alternative Medicine”).
We encourage all of our patients to combine functional medicine with conventional medicine for the best results!