What Is True Functional Health Care? And How to Use Beginner's Mind
Hello, I am Julie Donaldson and I am a clinical nutritionist with functional health care training. I specialize in restoring balance in complex, chronic and acute health conditions. I welcome you to peruse other articles that may be of interest to you in your health investigation!
“I can tell you I had no idea what I was getting into when I first reached out to Julie! I’d had so many experiences of quick fix “solutions”. Making a lot of changes was a challenge but it was, seriously, the best reach I ever made for my health!”
Functional health care, also often referred to as integrative health care, is impressively on the rise in the U.S. While the latest statistics are from 2022, they indicate a doubling of use of functional health care since 2002. Other information indicates a projected increase in use of functional health care of over 23% annually in the next decade. Particularly since the outbreak of SARS CoV-2 worldwide, many people began opting out of the sole use of traditional medicine practices and opting into more holistic and health-promoting practices. The virus and its extraordinarily variable effects on individuals spurred a lot of questioning about what health is and why one-size-fits-all approaches don’t work, even when they are “natural”. With increasing chronic disease rates and patient dissatisfaction with symptom-focused care, a significant transformation is occurring. Also, a major policy milestone was the formation of the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH, formerly NCCAM) in the late 1990s. This laid the groundwork for clinical research, inter-institutional collaboration, and data-driven recommendations for integrative therapies, further solidifying their role within mainstream healthcare. As people have been able to see many of their health concerns researched and published with peer-reviewed data, the acceptance of functional practices and therapies has increased exponentially.
Let’s dive into what functional health care is, isn’t and shouldn’t be. We’ll also talk about initiating new practices and how to use beginner’s mind more effectively.
What functional health care truly is
First, it is a practice that will help you get your head above water faster. In a study conducted by the Cleveland Clinic of over 7200 patients, those who participated in functional health care practices scored significantly higher on improved well-being after 6 months than those who received only conventional medical care.
The use of the word function within the name is “aligned with the evolving understanding that disease is an endpoint and function is a process.” The functional health care model uses a systems-based approach to health care that looks upstream of a person’s symptoms and considers the complex web of interactions within a person’s history, physiologic status, genetics, lifestyle/ environment, and contributes to their physical and mental functional status. It provides the support of natural processes to optimize and facilitate healing, balancing the body’s homeostatic mechanisms and innate wisdom.
In its essence, functional health care respects and involves the whole person, body, mind and soul. Its foundation honors the indisputable connections between a person’s biology and biography. That foundation also honors the interconnectedness of the body’s organs and systems. Everything relates to everything in functional health care - no problem exists in a vacuum or box of its own. An immune problem can be a toxic or neurological problem, for instance, and vice versa. A hormone problem can be a liver, detox and/or gut problem. A cardiovascular problem can have connections with toxicity and endothelial/immune stress. Low vitamin D, in spite of supplementation and sun exposure, reveals oxidative stress and poor immune “sweeping” in the body. Absolutely any problem in a body organ may have silent but important connections in the mouth & teeth, never considered or investigated in conventional medicine. There are endless examples, assessments and remedies. They are all individual, to whom functional health care always caters, never to the masses.
In the end, functional health care is a rich and rewarding opportunity to know and attend to one’s whole self intimately. It begins as a program and becomes a lifestyle. It is caring, personalized, comprehensive and data-based. It is something that gives us greater coherence - in our health and in our living as whole people.
It does require change and a lot of awareness building. We’ll talk more about this later.
In addition to providing nutritional care and targeted therapies based upon test results, it often includes external therapies such as:
grounding
exercise
red light therapy
acupuncture
massage, craniosacral therapy and lymph therapy
mindfulness and yoga practices
breathing practices
vagal toning
PTSD abd psychological therapies
What functional health care shouldn’t be
You, your children, family and friends are all unique puzzles, no one the same. (Be sure to read below at the beginner’s mind section to see how your children can really boost your healing!)
The #1 thing functional health care shouldn’t be is a “natural” program for the masses. This approach is very common, designed for economic gain, notoriety and perhaps in its most honorable intention for cleaning up some very general unhealthy American habits. There is no shame on the latter…it’s better than nothing, but a far cry from ground-up, individualized care. I am fond of telling clients if there one universal instruction applicable to everyone, it is to eat clean (organic) whole foods in every category. But that is the only universal instruction!
Secondly, functional health care should not be “treating” symptoms in an allopathic manner, simply replacing drugs for natural substances. This is, unfortunately, also very common. It is a contradiction of the very definition of “function” mentioned above. This approach does not honor the connectedness of the person, their body systems and psyche. At its worst, it pushes for a symptomatic “healing” with ignorance of other factors whose influence on the problem can keep it alive and even make it worse if not addressed.
In line with the above, it shouldn’t be a practice of ordering one test based on a symptom and slapping a “remedy” on the result.
What functional health care isn’t
Functional health care is not a full substitute for long-term medical health tracking & maintenance. Doctors are trained to look for and analyze health information in a certain way, and that has value. Many, many people have joined my practice in deeply jaded, disappointed and rebellious states as it relates to receiving any medical care. I do understand this, as their experiences have included failures to look at or include function, as well as dismissal and disregard when problems didn’t resolve. I will be the 1st person to acknowledge if doctors would promote functional care for what they cannot do/have not trained in, these issues might resolve.
While I cannot fix that problem, I can take the stand of integrity to do it myself! I can do what I do professionally and advise my people to continue to keep tabs with their doctors. The best of both worlds wins the long race. I frequently advise my people to get something checked out and/or to inquire about a medical procedure. It is a high percentage of these situations that ultimately require medical action.
Needless to say, functional health care is not a guarantee for healing. We are both complex and vulnerable creatures. Parts of us can be inaccessible to consciousness and proper action. We also live in an increasingly toxic world. It can become a full time job to try to prevent and/or remove exposures, especially for those whose systems are ineffective. Life must be lived also, not just managed. The funny, not-so-funny saying “The risk of being alive is death” is what we all face!
And, of course, functional health care isn’t covered by insurance (in most cases) and it isn’t inexpensive. Because of my own need for this type of care decades ago while having empty pockets, I personally have maintained a commitment to very affordable care. But it’s still out of pocket for most, and that makes it inaccessible for many. The Health Savings Account (HSA) option with many insurance plans is a godsend for covering or reimbursing functional health care - I advise clients to add it to their insurance coverage whenever possible.
Lastly, it isn’t fast. Beware the trap of expecting major shifts quickly. This is a trap associated not only with the conventional medicine approach of this-pill-for-that-condition but with our overall general “normalization” of fast responses in life. Healing takes time, but it also isn’t linear. Foundational supports create powerful but sometimes imperceptible changes, and small changes pile up into profound changes. This is what we seek. A quantum leap can occur after patience and dedication are practiced.
Here’s where the beginner’s mind comes into play
The above graphic helps some people and drives others crazy…! If you are possibly in the latter category, there may be a reason why, and that is that non-linear or unfamiliar practices are really uncomfortable for you.
True functional health care takes time and effort, learning new ways and practicing them.
It turns out that the beginners’ mind that is natural to children begins to decline after the age of 12. Another big shift (downward) occurs after the age of 60. As it turns out, before early adolescence, a child’s mind is less hindered. The growth of the brain that occurs at this stage, undergoing a “marked shift in weighting raw probabilities vs. more complex interpretations of events” generates caution & lower confidence for trying new things.
We become encumbered by these interpretations, exercising procrastination in learning & practicing new things. Survival in the adult world, in essence, becomes prioritized over freedom and learning. Add to this that the “new” brain also creates more judgmental comparison of the self to others and fears of being a fledgling - much of which can be related to “animal” survival as well. Remember, in tribal times, adolescence meant beginning your own family, surviving as an adult…and any “fledgling” behavior could look like weakness and therefore undesirable to the tribe. These instincts are still present in modern-day humans.
With regards to our comparison of ourselves to others, there is an unhealthy/unhelpful approach to this and a healthy/helpful one. The first is jealousy and creation of negative judgments on our limitations. The second is using comparison to inspire us to what we want for ourselves. Clearly, the latter is good, and it is also part of beginner’s mind - asking how to achieve what we are looking at and wanting.
As it relates to moving beyond these restrictions, research shows that expecting to teach a new skill improves the ability to learn it! This makes imagining teaching our children or other loved ones a new process actually helps us move more easily into the beginner’s mind to learn it ourselves. What a beautiful thing…
Here are a few helpful hints for tuning up the beginner’s mind (and if you’re looking for a deeper dive on this, consider Tom Vanderbilt’s book on the subject):
Claim your adult right to the luxury of learning for its own sake.
Take pleasure in the process (remember “function” is process also!).
Use deliberate practice to analyze right and wrong moves - observe other novices and how they experiment as well as experts.
Learn another new skill while taking on the 1st one - it actually reduces the “daunting marathon” perception.
Embrace humility - it improves thinking and decision making.
Imagine teaching your new skill to someone else.
When older people practice new skills for 6 months, their cognitive function improves, matching them with 30-year-old counterparts - another beautiful thing!
Whether you are just now considering functional health care or you’re familiar but still struggling with bringing it fully “on board”, these ideas can support you.
What is True Nature functional health care?
Here is a comprehensive list of what could be looked into with True Nature functional health care:
Personalized nutrition & ATP production
Immunity & immunosenescence
Toxicity & detox/methylation
Homeostatic mechanisms, including blood sugar regulation, blood pressure, body temperature, pH & fluid balance
Individual vitamin, mineral & antioxidant requirements
Exercise & relaxation
Hormone & glandular function
Heart, liver/gallbladder, kidney and GI function/pathogens
Nervous system balance
Moods, cognition & sleep optimization
Core beliefs, thoughts & feelings
Stress & coping patterns
External adjunct therapies for self & local community application
Why are people using functional health care more regularly?…
Multiple factors are converging to expand patient and provider interest in non-pharmaceutical interventions:
Whole-person focus: People increasingly seek personalized care addressing underlying causes rather than symptom management alone.
Research validation: Peer-reviewed studies confirm benefits of modalities like acupuncture, mindfulness practice, and therapeutic nutrition for chronic condition management.
Mainstream adoption: Programs within the Department of Veterans Affairs and academic medical centers now include integrative treatments for conditions such as chronic pain, metabolic dysfunction, and trauma-related disorders.
Shortcomings of conventional models: Many patients with complex, chronic conditions find limited benefit from brief, insurance-driven appointments and restricted diagnostic protocols.
Also, the credibility of functional health care has been strengthened by published studies, clinical outcomes, and growing demand. Therapies showing consistent benefit include:
Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Frequently used in pain management settings; recognized by the FDA.
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): Linked to reduced anxiety, lower cortisol, and improved quality of life.
Nutraceutical Interventions: Botanicals and micronutrients have shown benefits for inflammation, insulin resistance, and cognitive decline.
Chiropractic and Manual Therapies: Demonstrated effectiveness for musculoskeletal pain with minimal side effects.
Functional Nutrition & Personalized Supplementation: Integral to metabolic and gastrointestinal health protocols.
Need more information? support to begin or refine your process? Email me today at Julie@truenaturehealthconsulting.com.