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Functional Nutrition in 5 Easy Steps

Do. Or do not. There is no try.

Before the reset can begin, every new patient undergoes a thorough case review, saving money and time in the long-run. Functional Nutrition is individually tailored and geared towards the individual person and her current conditions, lifestyle and goals which range from regaining bodily functions, desired measures or competing in the next Iron Man.  Therefore Chris wants to know you as intimately as you’re willing to disclose with him… but you will talk about bowel habits at some point. Find below a short overview what a typical Functional Nutrition consultation process will be like.

How does the 5 step ThinkFood process work?

00 Getting to know each other

01 The case review with Rayoscan and LivingMatrix
02 Preparation & functional detox – Your first functional nutrition prescription (fx.)
03 eat this.14 or eat this.30 – Personal Functional Nutrition Prescription
04 Re-evalution and specific testing if required
05 fx. Amended functional nutrition with regular check-ups


Getting to know each other

This is the meet and greet where you can come to the practice for one of our Monday Talks on Functional Medicine topics or a quick meet&greet at the reception area. You will learn how I believe certain conditions can be positively affected by nutritional and lifestyle changes and why. This is the time to ask questions and receive an informed opinion from an alternatively thinking but classically trained healthcare professional. You will likely be supplied with plenty of links and and tips for reading material relevant to your condition.  You should start reading to be enabled to take even better care of yourself in the near future. I believe in a relationship on the same informed level between you and myself.

The whole process and way forward will be explained to you and you will be invited to become a member of the practice and enter your details to our LivingMatrix (a very comprehensive Functional Medicine Electronic Patient Record) for you to fill in at home. You can then choose the way forward:

Once off case review with free Rayoscan Bioresonance Assessment (please enquire via email for costing)

Rayoscan health assessment
Energetic profile based on ECG-measuring of Heart Rate Variability to full resonance spectrum

a. 30min Rayoscan,
b. Interpretation and health evaluation by certified coach,
c. 60min Result dialogue and Bioresonance treatment,
d. 30x Rayotabs

My homework after the Rayoscan is to make sense of the energetic assessment and form a picture from this subtle energy reading that portraits your health. I am going to report this during the following Case Review Consultation. This usually takes 2-3 days which gives you enough time to also do your homework: you are going to populate your personal LivingMatrix with your details, medical history and self assessment, etc. so we can meet for the proper Case Review, also known as Intake Consultation.


01 – The case review

This is when we get more intimate and it’s time to disclose about your diet, sleep, emotions, ailments and bowel habits, yes. I deem the microbiome (aka microbiota: the combined genetic material of the microorganisms in a particular environment) as the hottest research topic since the discovery of vaccines by Louis Pasteur (Louis Pasteur was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization) and I like to quote my teachers from the Institute of Functional Medicine: “If in doubt, treat the gut.”.

But before expensive tests are ordered I need to know from you personally. Your own health related story and when it started to go downhill. The LivingMatrix will not only help to screen your whole body from head to toe for malfunctions or ailments. I will also take a few body measurements (i.e. waist/hip ration and weight) and might send you next door to the pathologist for functional blood (or other body fluids tests). This will help us to establish your current health status quo and guide the direction of the Functional Prescription for you should we jointly decide to continue working as a team for your health.

Further it will serve as a base line on which to evaluate our treatment success. In order to have something ‘measurable’ you are required to have a basic fasting blood test done with the pathologist which usually includes a lipogram (HDL, LDL,  total cholesterol particles and triglycerides), usCRP (ultra sensitive C-reactive protein, an inflammation marker), fasting glucose (your blood sugar), a Full Blood Count and if indicated basic kidney, liver or thyroid function tests.

This will give us a head-start on your treatment as it ensures a comprehensive understanding of possible factors involved and will highlight problems which should be double-checked with your primary care physician or specialist doctor that already knows about your condition. I will consult with your doctor before suggesting any drastic changes or refer to my preferred network of Functional Medicine practitioners. Most probably you have decided to continue on this journey with me and we are agreeing on a contract with regular follow ups for the period of 12 weeks.

3 Months eat this. Programme (please enquire via email for costing)

Rayoscan health assessment+ Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle recommendations
Including 3 months follow-up support

a. 30min Rayoscan,
(Health evaluation by functional medicine
Practitioner),
b. 90min Health Report Dialogue resulting in
Functional Medicine Prescription including:
c. Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle
prescription
d. 7 day follow-up and
e. 4 weeks follow-up
f. 8 weeks follow-up,
g. 12 weeks (3 months) follow-up,
h. Annual (group/email) support

 


02 – Preparation & functional detox – Your first functional nutrition prescription (fx.)

Detox can be a quite controversial topic. Very often more harm is done and the body depleted from valuable and important nutrients, vitamins and minerals. There is also a lot of money tried to be made by scaremongers that claim to have found the latest substance or device to help with you detoxing from anything that ranges from heavy metals, chemicals, pesticides & herbicides, mycotoxins, and what you can think of.

However getting rid of most of hindering ‘matter’ when embarking on a nutritional change or an elimination diet (a tool utilised to help healing allergic/ immune related conditions, food allergies or food intolerances, autoimmune disease, inflammatory disease, etc.) does help to establish a ‘clean sheet’ and a basis to work from. Psychologically it does help to mark the cross roads between old and new habits because it can also be a very physical experience to remember 😉

 


03 – eat this.14 or eat this.30 – Personal Functional Nutrition Prescription

This is what you were looking for. Pressing the “Reset” button. Maybe a little bit of pain or not your usual ’80-20-walk-in-the-park-x-day-new-years-challenge following the latest advice from the national version of the Me Magazine or Boys Health. Don’t get me wrong, they might be yummy and even healthy to an extend, but maybe you need some more individual guidance and hands-on support from somebody that knows about functional nutrition and the real life challenges you might face when putting it into practice in a work, family or holiday setting, trying to deal with weird cravings, .2kg of weight gain when you’re supposed to loose, or a brain fog you struggle to explain to anybody else.

But at the beginning it starts with a personal consultation and a joined decision of what your own eat this. prescription will consist of and how long it is going to take. But be prepared to talk about meditation or relaxation and bowel habits more than numbers on the scale. I consider weight loss the most welcome ADR (Adverse Diet Reaction) and weight reduction usually happens effortlessly, once you get used to normal portions and proportions and inflammatory foods are eliminated from your plate. While we see brilliant results on the eat this.14 programme, you should remember that it takes 21 days to form a new habit. So please allow me to strongly motivate for the Eat this.30 challenge whenever I get a chance to do so!

 


04 Re-evalution and specific testing if required

You will schedule regular check-ups with a practitioner at the Think Food Practice to re-evaluate your current progress. These check-ups are:

After 7 days, to make sure the new and maybe lightly unusual foods, food preparations and eating habits are properly followed. Most questions will arise during these first days and we will provide the best of answers for you. Sometimes one discovers the need for a little digestive support to kick-start the switch in fuel sources (previously easy carbohydrate focused, now more vegetable fibre, good fats and a decent amount of protein) is helpful.

After 14-28 days, to evaluate the first noticeable changes in health and well-being. Progress can now be evaluated more reliably. If you only look better, function better and perform better (physically, mentally, emotionally), we will motivate to change nothing but continue to progress with your eat this.14 or eat this.30 until you can not feel any better. If unforeseen (but unlikely) problems occur an appropriate supplementation, referral to a doctor or specialist, or further analytical testing can be advised.

1-3 months, during this time you will schedule monthly consultations and follow-ups.


05 fx. Amended functional nutrition with regular check-ups

For ‘normal’ people the eat this.14 or eat this.30 challenge will be like an epiphany after the initial challenge already. You continue with the given plan but are allowed to experiment – you actually need to try new things and learn how your body reacts to them. Singular meals may be substituted by something new or different. Surprisingly enough, a lot of patients resort to their previous favourite meal and find, that it doesn’t taste quite as good as it used to or doesn’t agree with them at all. You have started to listen to your body again. All ThinkFood patients rediscover a more refined taste sensation; your old palate is back. You might however come for an occasional check-in or a pep talk after a holiday indulgence – welcome to real life!