Why Hire a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner®?

September 1, 2016

The health of the average American is in decline.  Diabetes, allergies and obesity are at all-time highs and are showing no sign of decreasing.  In fact, if we keep going at the rate we are now, 95% of Americans will be overweight in 20 years -- and 1 in 3 will have diabetes.  While I am in awe of doctors and all that they do, I think that Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners® (henceforth known as an FDN-P®s), like myself, have much to offer in helping to resolve this crisis as well.

The first issue is time.  Doctors are seriously pressed for it and have to sometimes keep their appointments to 15-minute time slots in order to see an adequate number of patients per day.  An FDN-P®, on the other hand, typically sees clients for hour-long appointments, during which time we can more easily get a sense of the client’s issues and how to best resolve them.  We have usually studied a client’s health history before the first meeting, so we can get more in-depth during our first visit as well.

Another point in FDN®’s favor is the ability to order lab work.  In this way, we can be more helpful than a nutritionist, RD or Health Coach who is unable to run tests on their clients (I am not knocking any of these professionals, by the way – I am a Health Coach myself – but simply stating a fact).  An FDN-P ®can order full hormone work-ups, tests to determine digestive capability and labs to look for underlying pathogens like yeast or unfriendly bacteria.  These tests alone can help to resolve any number of problems, but in addition, through the FDN® Medical Director Program, an FDN-P® can also order any other lab a client may need or want which can then be interpreted by an on-staff doctor (saving the client the trouble of having to find a doctor if he/she doesn’t already have one).

That brings me to another benefit of hiring an FDN-P® – ease!  If you don’t have a doctor that you see regularly, or don’t have too many options in your local area, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners® typically offer their services via phone or FaceTime in addition to in-person, so that you can be treated from the comfort of your own home – without any travel or waiting rooms to deal with.

The most beneficial aspect of using an FDN-P® is that we work to find the root cause of an illness.  Our goal is to find the underlying mechanisms that are causing the body to malfunction, and then support those mechanisms, and the entire body, until function is restored to all systems.  I think that patients are too often given a quick fix nowadays – something to make their symptoms go away – and investigative work to determine why they have symptoms in the first place is not often completed.

And finally there is the nutrition training, which doctors simply do not get much of (I have heard it said that, in all of those years of medical school, only about a day is spent on nutrition).  There can be no doubt that what we fuel our bodies with determines how well they function, much like how a car runs on gasoline – you couldn’t fill it with Pepsi and expect it to run perfectly, right? 

But FDN-P®s can work synergistically with medical professionals, also, which is where I think the magic happens.  We can supply further details into a patient’s case or support the patient after they leave the doctor’s office – with diet and nutrition advice, help with stress reduction, exercise ideas, smart supplementation and tips for improving sleep.  Our goal is full client care and support at all times (unlimited email support is often included at no extra charge).  Now, doesn’t that sound like someone who can help you with your health concerns?

To read more about me and FDN® in general, please visit my website, www.better-fed.com, or the FDN® main page at www.functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com.