The Bioindividual, Functional, Holistic Approach

It's rare that you'll find a practitioner who takes an approach like I do. Let me explain what this bioindividual, functional, and holistic means.

First of all, just because someone uses the word holistic, doesn't mean that it's natural or that it encompasses enough to be effective.

Second, just because someone calls themselves a "functional medicine practitioner" doesn't mean they take a natural or holistic approach. A physician or health practitioner can get some training in functional testing and call themselves functional medicine practitioners if they choose to do so.

What is Holistic Healing?

Holistic healing is not simply an alternative approach. Nor is it simply an approach that is all natural.

Holistic health takes into account all the parts of you because they are all connected and influence one another.

Your emotions and your cognition are affected by the functions of your physical body. Likewise, your body is affected by the state of your emotions, the thoughts you have, and the beliefs you hold.

The way your genes express themselves is affected by the environment to which you're exposed.

And there is more.

The energy we can't see makes up more than 95% of the energy that exists. So, in addition to emotions and thoughts, our bodies are affected by other types of nonphysical energy.

There's even more. Part of the energy we can't see comprises the essence of who we are. We're more than our bodies. We can't leave our essence out of the equation in our approach to healing and expect it to be effective enough.

A truly holistic approach addresses and takes into account the physical, mental, emotional, energetic, and spiritual parts of you and your environment that affect you.

What is Functional Health?

A functional approach looks into the root causes of health issues from a biological mindset. It takes these into account when deciding treatments. So, a functional medicine practitioner not only treats symptoms, they also attend to the root causes to support the body in healing.

A functional practitioner will usually run specialized diagnostic testing to help identify root causes as well as the current state of the body's functioning. They may create protocols, either with natural supplements or medications. The mindset is to "test, not guess" before making treatment decisions.

What is BioIndividuality?

Our bodies have unique biochemistry. Although we have similar genes that make us human, they can have variants or mutations that cause them to express themselves in different ways.

We also have uniqueness within our personalities and our energetic makeup.

This is why a diet, medication, supplement, or anything else doesn't have the same effect for everyone. There are subleties within supplements, such as the forms of vitamins or doses, that, when adjusted, make a huge difference for people. There are specific adjustments that can be made to diets that are way beyond the special diets you hear about on the Internet, to reduce symptoms, lower inflammation, and allow the body to heal.

When we target our supports, protocols, and lifestyles to meet our personal needs, we find more success in healing. This is the bioindividual approach.

How does the combined approach work?

The body can heal itself when the conditions are correct.

Effectively supporting healing involves removing the toxins that you have accumulated throughout your life and bringing in the proper nutrition and energy you need to optimize your body's functions.

Toxic energy that harms us takes multiple forms that most people are not aware of. Toxins exist on many levels. A truly holistic approach takes these into account and incorporates guidance and tools for effective detox.

Uncovering these toxic exposures can be done in multiple ways; functional testing isn't always required. It can be helpful if needed, however.

So if you have been frustrated that you've tried working with various practitioners, but haven't made the progress you'd like, it's possible that their approach didn't address the entirety and uniqueness of you.