A Functional Medicine Approach To Diet And The Current Way I Am Eating

In this episode of heartbeat, Dr. Brooke Stuart dives into a discussion on a functional medicine approach to diet and the current way she is eating. Food can provide ways for you to implement what you have learned, embrace the human experience, and communicate with your body so that you can build a strong and intuitive relationship with it!

  • Why Reset?: Taking the time and making the space to reset your system can help you come into a better understanding of how your system works and functions. It can also help you to identify a baseline of health that would otherwise, in the day to day, be more elusive and less tangible- making the system, as a whole, more difficult to work with.
  • Elimination Provocation: When we eliminate certain foods, I recommend eliminating for 4 weeks, then we can then bring them back (aka to provoke) and observe for the system’s response or lack thereof. In an elimination provocation diet, I often recommend removing gluten, dairy, alcohol and all processed foods to start for 28 days and then, taking your time with bringing foods back in at a 2 to 3 serving dosage- one by one- observing for 3 days and then waiting for your system to come back to a baseline before moving onto the next “test.” It can take 5 days to two weeks for most people to come back to a baseline if they find their system in reactive state triggered by the food substance.
  • Self Study: You are unique- and taking the time to study the self pays off in dividends. When you understand how your specific system works and why, confidence, peace, amongst other beautiful states well up naturally.
  • Testing, Testing, 1, 2, 3: There is a time and a place for testing. I recommend looking into a core blood work up and engaging the elimination diet before looking into specialty labs. Although, they can be useful in tailoring treatments and interesting as a source of information, they do not always render themselves useful. This is not to discourage the ordering of them- it is just helpful to review pros and cons to manage expectations. Check here for more on functional medicine lab testing. 
  • IgE vs. IgG: IgE is a rapid immune response triggered by food, and IgG is a delayed response. This is where it becomes important to observe over several days. I recommend 3 days, and then let your system come back to a baseline before continuing to self study, test and “provoke.”

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More Resources

Check out our Mind Body Reset right here. This 6 week course is where you will have the opportunity to send your mind and body an empowering, new message of safety and peace through your presence and the same mindset, diet, lifestyle techniques and holistic therapies that I use in my private practice- as you establish a new baseline for your health and well-being and build a relationship with it based on the truth about healing.

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