Join Basmati.com every week for a Q&A session with one of Basmati’s practitioners, Melissa Hill (FDN-P)! We know that there is a lot of confusing information out there, which can make applying health advice overwhelming. Sometimes, it’s best to ask a practitioner directly, so each week we’ll cover a common health question!
Do you have a health question you’d like to ask? Write to us at editors [at] basmati [dot] com and your question could be chosen and featured in a future column!
Q: What is Functional Diagnostic Nutrition®? How is it different? How is it useful? Who can it best help?
A: Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN) is a holistic discipline that uses functional lab work to identify malfunctions and imbalances at the root of most common health complaints. We don’t diagnose or treat any disease specifically, but instead help each client rebuild his or her health. Instead of chasing symptoms, we work to bring the body back to balance from the inside out. Essentially, we look for blocks, imbalances, or malfunctions within the hormone, immune, digestive, detoxification, energy production, and nervous systems. The information we get from these tests helps us identify the healing opportunities. FDN is a proven system that has helped thousands of people get well – and stay well – naturally.
Most of the lab tests used do not give black and white ‘answers’ like conventional tests do, as they are not diagnostic in nature, but rather give information into how the body is functioning in various areas and at various levels. Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® practitioners are trained in how to interpret these functional lab results in context with the clients’ situation and circumstances. We understand that you are a unique person, not a test result, and that what is ‘normal’ for one person may not be ideal for you. We take into account your personal history, lifestyle, and environmental factors that could be affecting your well being and contributing to disease. We then use the tests to identify where there are imbalances and malfunctions in the body determining which systems in your body are stressed and could use the most support. This gives us a starting point, but the ultimate goal is to bring the person, as a whole, back into balance and support the body’s innate healing ability. We employ a holistic healing plan using customized nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle habits. From this, we help create more favorable conditions in the body, correcting imbalances, which indirectly can help just about anybody get better.
Working with a FDN Practitioner can be of help for people with all sorts of health challenges and complaints: everything from thyroid problems, digestive issues, hormone/mood imbalances, autoimmune conditions, brain fog, poor energy, joint pain, headaches and more. Most of these common complaints are secondary to a deeper imbalance or dysfunction. The FDN method does a great job of bringing light to those (often hidden) underlying imbalances. From there we can use a multi-faceted approach encompassing diet, proper rest, exercise, stress reduction methods, and supplementation to bring the person back into balance and restore their health. Most importantly, through this process the client also gains a greater understanding of how their unique body works, where their tendencies to go out of balance are, and what to do about it when it happens, giving them the power and tools to take charge of their health now and in the future.
We believe that the symptoms that people experience are just the tip of the iceberg. That usually the body has been out of balance for quite a while before the symptoms appear. And that the can body heal itself given the right conditions. So, we employ a multi-faceted holistic healing approach using customized diet, lifestyle, and supplementation. From this, we help create more favorable conditions in the body and ‘rebuild health’ which indirectly can help just about anybody get better. An FDN practitioner doesn’t need to be an expert in any one disease or condition to help somebody. In fact, instead of zooming in on the singular symptoms they are experiencing, only looking at them one dimensionally, an FDN practitioner will always try to pull back the lens, zoom out, and look at the person as a whole. The healing process occurs by reducing or eliminating stressors, external and internal, then restoring function. The tests we use don’t give us any ‘answers’ per se in the conventional diagnostic way, although many times they will identify underlying infections or certain bacterial overgrowths that have been a chronic drain and stress on the persons’ system. But really, the tests help us identify where there are imbalances in the body or which systems in your body are stressed the most and could use the most support. This gives us a starting point, but the ultimate goal is to bring the person as a whole back into balance so that things will naturally work themselves out.
