Functional Medicine
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual.
Functional Medicine Is Based On These Principles:
1. Every person is genetically and biochemically unique. Personalized health care and functional medicine treat the individual, not the disease.
2. Everything is connected. There is a complex and unique interaction between the gastrointestinal, endocrine, and immune systems, as well as the environment. A medical condition affecting one system may be stemming from somewhere yet, unnoticed.
3. Functional medicine is deeply science-based. It involves staying current on the most up-to-date and cutting-edge approaches to ensure that you are receiving the best care.
4. Your body has the capacity to heal and self-regulate. Disease is an imbalance of this process and treatment is aimed to restore your own ability to heal.
5. Health is not just the absence of disease, but a state of immense vitality.
You don’t have to have a disease to benefit from functional medicine, simply a desire for optimal health.
Why Do We Need Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend more time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions between environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors that influence health. The functional medicine practitioner will consider multiple factors, including:
Why Do We Need Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms. Functional medicine practitioners spend more time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions between environmental, lifestyle, and genetic factors that influence health. The functional medicine practitioner will consider multiple factors, including:
Environmental inputs:
The air you breathe and the water you drink, the diet you eat, the quality of the food available to you, your level of physical activity, and toxic exposures or traumas you have experienced affect your health and well-being.
Mind-body connections:
Psychological, spiritual, and social factors can all have a profound influence on your health. Considering these areas helps the functional medicine practitioner see your health in the context of you as a whole person, not just your physical symptoms.
Genetic makeup:
Although individual genes may make you more susceptible to some diseases, your DNA is not an unchanging blueprint for your life. Emerging research shows that your genes may be influenced by your environment, as well as your experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. That means it is possible to change the way genes are activated and expressed. By understanding the genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors unique to each person, a functional medicine practitioner can identify which bodily processes are affected. Some occur at the cellular level and involve how cells function, repair, and maintain themselves. Others are related to how your body processes and uses nutrients.
Why Choose Align For Life?
At Align For Life we take a unique approach to health and wellness through our 3-body systems model. This approach combines the principles of functional medicine with cutting-edge testing techniques to identify and address the root causes of chronic health issues, combined with personalized tools and coaching to ensure success.
By optimizing these three systems, we believe that people can achieve optimal health and vitality.
Interested in learning more?
Conditions we commonly treat
Weight Gain
Fatigue
Depression
Anxiety
Pain
Long Covid
ADHD
Allergies
Brain Fog
Insomnia
Skin problems
Sugar Cravings
Autoimmune
GI Problems (gas, bloating, constipation, diarrhea, heartburn)
Sex Hormone Imbalances (low sex drive, infertility, hot flashes, night sweats, PMS, PCOS)
Individuals looking to optimize their health
A Comprehensive Approach to Treatment
Prevention is key. Nearly every complex, chronic disease is preceded by long-term disturbances in function that can be identified relatively early on and effectively managed.
Changing how the systems function can have a major impact on health. The functional medicine practitioner examines a wide array of available interventions and customizes a treatment plan, including those with the most impact on your health.
Functional medicine expands the clinician’s tool kit. Treatments may include combinations of drugs, botanical medicines, nutritional supplements, therapeutic diets, or detoxification programs. They may also include counseling on lifestyle, exercise, or stress-management techniques.
The patient becomes a partner. As a patient, you become an active partner with your functional medicine practitioner. Such a partnership allows you to be in charge of improving your health and changing the outcome of disease.
Getting Started with Functional Medicine
We believe in finding the root cause of your illness with a focused program that builds back your health.
Your own personalized path to wellness:
- Seven targeted appointments alternating between Dr. Evans and Board-Certified Health Coach Theresa Davis to ensure continuity of care.
- Comprehensive specialty lab work to pinpoint underlying risk factors and root causes.
- Explanation of analysis with an in-depth review of your body systems with Dr. Evans.
- Customized treatment plan with time tested doctor prescribed protocols.
- Downloadable resources and tools to support you every step of the way.
You can expect to gain:
Program Bonus:
Priority scheduling ahead of waitlist Additional discount on all supplements All labs at “doctor cost”
Your own personalized path to wellness:
- Seven targeted appointments alternating between Dr. Evans and Board-Certified Health Coach Theresa Davis to ensure continuity of care.
- Comprehensive specialty lab work to pinpoint underlying risk factors and root causes.
- Explanation of analysis with an in-depth review of your body systems with Dr. Evans.
- Customized treatment plan with time tested doctor prescribed protocols.
- Downloadable resources and tools to support you every step of the way.
You can expect to gain:
Program Bonus:
Priority scheduling ahead of waitlist Additional discount on all supplements All labs at “doctor cost”
Program Structure - Each appointment will be approximately 2 weeks apart, totaling 10-12wks.
You will start with an in-depth consultation with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC – where you will review and explore your health history together, share your concerns and health challenges thus far, gain a beginning understanding of the Functional Medicine approaches to health and establish lifestyle changes that match your current readiness. You’ll leave this appointment feeling heard and prepared to meet with Dr. Evans.
In some cases, labs may be ordered prior to your next visit.
Your next appointment will be with Dr. Evans. – during this appointment Dr. Evans will help connect your health concerns and symptoms to potential root causes and together you will determine next steps.
In many cases this will include ordering functional lab tests (We prefer to test, not guess!) and developing your Lifestyle Plan for restoring health. You’ll leave this appointment with a better understanding of potential root causes and feel more prepared to discuss your lab findings at our next appointment together.
You will have a follow-up appointment with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC to continue implementation of your lifestyle changes, address any new concerns and facilitate completion of labs that have been ordered.
Once your lab results are in, Dr. Evans will meet with you to explain the meaning of your test results, methods to begin addressing the findings and your individualized therapeutic program.
Which may include dietary changes, nutritional supplements, exercise, and stress management advice.
Follow-up coaching session with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC to assist you in implementation of your new protocols and plan from Dr. Evans.
This session builds upon the progress you’ve made thus far in the program and will leave you feeling ready and impowered to see long-term change in your life!
You will have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Evans to assess your progress thus far, adjust supplement protocols, and determine next steps.
This appointment is usually 30 days after your Lab Review appointment.
Follow-up coaching session with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC to assist you in implementation of any new protocols or changes in treatment plan from Dr. Evans.
This session builds upon the progress you’ve made thus far in the program and assist you in next steps.
You will start with an in-depth consultation with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC – where you will review and explore your health history together, share your concerns and health challenges thus far, gain a beginning understanding of the Functional Medicine approaches to health and establish lifestyle changes that match your current readiness.
You’ll leave this appointment feeling heard and prepared to meet with Dr. Evans.
In some cases, labs may be ordered prior to your next visit.
Your next appointment will be with Dr. Evans. – during this appointment Dr. Evans will help connect your health concerns and symptoms to potential root causes and together you will determine next steps. In many cases this will include ordering functional lab tests (We prefer to test, not guess!) and developing your Lifestyle Plan for restoring health.
You’ll leave this appointment with a better understanding of potential root causes and feel more prepared to discuss your lab findings at our next appointment together.
You will have a follow-up appointment with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC to continue implementation of your lifestyle changes, address any new concerns and facilitate completion of labs that have been ordered.
Once your lab results are in, Dr. Evans will meet with you to explain the meaning of your test results, methods to begin addressing the findings and your individualized therapeutic program.
Which may include dietary changes, nutritional supplements, exercise, and stress management advice.
Follow-up coaching session with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC to assist you in implementation of your new protocols and plan from Dr. Evans.
This session builds upon the progress you’ve made thus far in the program and will leave you feeling ready and impowered to see long-term change in your life!
You will have a follow-up appointment with Dr. Evans to assess your progress thus far, adjust supplement protocols, and determine next steps.
This appointment is usually 30 days after your Lab Review appointment.
Follow-up coaching session with Theresa Davis NBC-HWC to assist you in implementation of any new protocols or changes in treatment plan from Dr. Evans.
This session builds upon the progress you’ve made thus far in the program and assist you in next steps.
