Hello readers,
Thank you so much for joining Seedlings Nutrition on our functional nutrition and apothecary blog! Whether you're on a health journey or just want to learn more about nutrition and medicinal herbs, we're happy to have you here!
You may be wondering what functional nutrition entails. Have you ever gone to the doctor with a laundry list of symptoms just to be told that all of your labs are normal? There's nothing more frustrating or invalidating. Or, in another scenario, you're given a medication to alleviate a symptom...but then that medication has a side effect. So what happens next? You're given another medication and before you know it, you're relying on multiple medications every day to feel "well". This can feel like a really challenging way to live that isn't sustainable or representative of optimal health and wellness.
Functional nutrition is different in that it utilizes food as medicine and investigates addressing the underlying causes of symptoms, rather than treating the symptoms exclusively. That's not to say that all medicine is bad. It's not, and there are certainly numerous cases in which medication is needed either temporarily or long-term and that's ok! Another benefit of functional nutrition is that it can address drug-nutrient interactions to ensure adequate nutrient stores, while also focusing on key nutrients that may enhance the efficacy of specific medications.
Another aspect of functional nutrition is viewing each person as an individual with unique genetics and biochemistry. Taking into consideration what makes you "you" is vital for creating nutritional and lifestyle habits that will truly bring you to a place of optimal health. Utilizing functional testing is at the core of functional nutrition in addition to reviewing conventional labs from a functional nutrition perspective- identifying signs that you are straying from the pathway of health rather than waiting until you are in a full-blown disease state. Functional nutrition is not only beneficial for managing, and in some cases, reversing some disease states, but also in preventing disease.
Where do medicinal herbs come into all of this? Well, just as the bulk of our dietary intake and the addition of supplemental support help us meet our specific nutrition needs, herbs do as well. Herbs are a wonderful tool that are just as powerful and effective as diet and supplements. Herbs can easily be incorporated into your daily life through cooking, teas, tinctures, salves, teas, supplements, and more!
If any of these topics interest you, I invite you join in this written journey with us!
Best health to you all!
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