Table of Contents

What is functional medicine?
What is our approach using functional medicine?
How we aim to improve your health using functional medicine.

What is functional medicine?

Unlike conventional medicine, which often focuses on treating symptoms within specific areas of specialization, functional medicine looks at the body as an interconnected system that cannot be separated from its whole.

Functional medicine seeks to understand the origins of a person's health issues through comprehensive evaluation of history, lifestyle, genetic makeup, and environmental factors.

Functional medicine, therefore, uses a human focused approach to heal versus traditional medicine, which uses a disease focused approach.

Our tenants for optimal health and well-being involve lifestyle, diet, and activity.

What is our approach using functional medicine?

‍Detailed understanding of your history: We spend considerable time with each woman, gathering detailed histories that go beyond current symptoms to include environmental exposures, diet, stress levels, genetic factors, and more.

‍Looking beyond symptoms: Instead of focusing solely on alleviating symptoms, we look to uncover underlying causes of the illness, which often involves complex interactions between various bodily systems.

‍Personalized treatment plans: Based on a comprehensive understanding of your unique health profile, we individualize your treatment plan and may include a combination of dietary recommendations, lifestyle modifications, detoxification programs, and supplements.

‍Preventive health: We place a strong emphasis on disease prevention through the promotion of wellness, rather than waiting to treat disease after it occurs.

‍Human empowerment: We empower you to take an active role in your health through education and lifestyle changes, supporting long-term health and wellness.

‍Integration of best medical practices: We utilizes evidence-based practices from both conventional and alternative medicine to support your healing process.

How we aim to improve your health using functional medicine

We use functional medicine to provide a holistic and personalized approach when addressing various health processes, including healing the gut, reducing inflammation, optimizing immune function, balancing hormones, and increasing energy.

Here's how it works:

Healing the gut: Functional medicine emphasizes the importance of gut health as central to overall wellness. Strategies include identifying and eliminating toxic foods, enhancing the diet with gut-healing foods, and supplementing with probiotics and prebiotics to restore the balance of the microbiome.

Healing the gut also involves treating underlying infections or imbalances that may contribute to conditions like leaky gut syndrome.

Detoxification (remove toxin): Detoxification in functional medicine often involves dietary modifications to reduce intake of sugar and processed foods, which can contribute to inflammation and toxin buildup.

We guide our clients on how to incorporate whole, nutrient-rich foods that support the liver and kidneys in their natural detoxification processes.

Additionally, strategies to support metabolic pathways and reduce exposure to environmental toxins are implemented.

Decreasing inflammation: We will aim to identify the root causes of inflammation, such as dietary triggers, stress, sleep deprivation, or environmental toxins.

Anti-inflammatory diets rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and phytonutrients from fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats are often recommended, along with stress-reduction techniques and regular physical activity.

Optimizing immune function: By addressing underlying imbalances and chronic conditions, functional medicine aims to optimize immune function. This includes nutritional support to correct deficiencies, management of gut health, reduction of inflammatory triggers, and lifestyle modifications to manage stress and improve sleep, all of which are crucial for a robust immune response.

Balancing hormones: Functional medicine uses detailed assessments to identify hormonal imbalances and their root causes, such as stress, poor diet, or exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals. Treatment may involve dietary adjustments, lifestyle interventions, stress management, and targeted supplementation.

We also recommend bio-identical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) to restore hormonal balance for women whose hormones do not respond to food and lifestyle changes.

Increasing energy & reducing fatigue: Addressing energy depletion and fatigue involves a comprehensive approach to identify contributing factors such as nutrient deficiencies, hormonal imbalances, sleep issues, and chronic infections.

Personalized interventions focus on nutrient-rich diets, optimizing sleep habits, balancing physical activity with rest, and supporting adrenal and thyroid function.

Managing nutraceuticals: Functional medicine practitioners often recommend specific nutraceuticals—therapeutic doses of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other supplements—to address deficiencies, support healing processes, and optimize health.

Using our human-centered approach, we can address health concerns from the ground up by treating the body as an interconnected system.

This method allows for targeted interventions that not only aim to treat symptoms but also restore and optimize health.

Next Steps

Ready to book your consultation at Epiphany Women's Health? We are conveniently located in Peoria, IL, and we are here to help you live your best life.

Please call us, or book an appointment online.