Food is medicine, not the cure

When I first found out about functional medicine, the biggest changes that I made in my life at the time were dietary. As a recent nursing grad, I had taken a course in nutrition, and had always been interested in eating what I thought was “healthy.” Boy, was I wrong.

I had struggled with my weight in high school and ultimately shed the pounds at age 15 by decreasing my calorie intake and working out a ton. Sound familiar? I lived on Special K, skim milk, protein shakes, and salads. Family and friends praised my discipline and slimmer figure. This reinforced these habits and kept an unhealthy cycle of restriction going.

No one realized it then, but this was the year my daily migraines were worst. The only time I found relief—no matter the drugs—was when I slept. So I slept a lot. I also passed out frequently. No one considered the nutrients and calories I was lacking at the time. 

I never remember my neurologist asking about my diet. He only cautioned me to avoid MSG, cheese, and chocolate. These were supposedly the only migraine "trigger foods" (insert major eye-roll here). I also remember being praised by this doctor for telling him that I “ate like a bird” in order to avoid massive weight gain on one of the drugs he prescribed me. He congratulated me that I had been able to maintain “only” a 10 pound gain, as many of his patients gained upwards of 50 pounds on that medication. Yay for side effects. Double yay for reinforcing terrible eating choices.

Imagine my surprise when I met with a functional doctor who told me that, because I had a leaky gut and Candida, many of my symptoms could be helped by eating cleaner, lower carb foods. This was when I began reading labels for ingredients instead of calories and became super strict about any form of sugar. By the time I found the anti-Candida diet, I had already yo-yo'd with my weight a few more times since high school. Losing 30 pounds on a Candida cleanse was a welcome side-effect. I felt great for the first time in my life. Migraines significantly improved, allergies completely gone, and weight loss to boot? You betcha I was hooked on this idea of food as a cure all. 

That was why I studied Functional Nutrition. I was so intrigued by the ways that food improved my health that I wanted to learn all about what other medical conditions it could solve. I dove deep into nutritional biochemistry and studied advanced clinical applications for food and nutraceuticals. I even built my private nutrition practice around this story that food was the medicine that healed me and counseled my clients in therapeutic diet protocols to manage their symptoms.

After the anti-Candida diet, I dabbled with Autoimmune Paleo, clean keto, low-histamine, and pro-metabolic diets. They all seemed healthy and I always focused on nutrient density and quality no matter which framework I followed, but none of them were the magical solution that I was looking for.

I got confused the longer I ate real healthy foods, focusing on avoiding my food sensitivities, and following so many “gut healing” protocols–doing all the “right things”–but I was still unable to reintroduce those foods without migraines or eczema flaring. I felt great on antifungal meds and supplements, but the symptoms and weight would always rebound whenever I would come off of them. Clearly we weren’t addressing the real root case. I felt like an imposter. Wasn’t food supposed to be my medicine?

Finding the CellCore protocol and learning the Foundational Medicine model changed everything for me. It gave me a lens by which to view my symptoms as messengers or clues into deeper dysfunction, specifically the dysfunction of essential detoxification pathways. 

Functional lab testing is great for helping to identify many issues that are not found with conventional lab work, but going after things like Candida, mold, heavy metals, or Lyme as a first step is a horrible idea, and now I understand why.

Functional Medicine has gotten pretty good at identifying toxins and pathogens as root causes, but what the functional community has yet to figure out is that these things cannot be fixed by food, nor can they be eliminated unless you take care of the issues downstream first.

We have to prepare a way for the toxins and pathogens to be excreted by supporting the body’s detoxification pathways. Introducing chelators or antimicrobials without supporting drainage is just asking for miserable herxheimer reactions and wasted time and money over a failed protocol, because the toxic byproducts that are stirred up by these powerful agents simply don’t have anywhere to go. It’s like stirring up dust at a construction site. Messy and unproductive.

Then we also have to consider the parasites. These critters come in all shapes and sizes, only 30% of which are even visible to the naked eye. They arrive on the scene when our body’s environment is dirty and vulnerable, and they feed on the very toxins and pathogens that we want to get rid of. If we don’t address these parasites, then the best we can do is decrease the pathogenic load and find a sort of remission of symptoms that could potentially reflare with any sort of immune-trigger.

Did you know that it is often because of the parasites that we even experience food sensitivities and allergies? We will never truly get rid of the toxins or pathogens or heal from their effects unless we open the floodgates and send the parasites packing. It truly is an amazing system.

This is why food alone is not enough to heal. Many foods can be problematic and cause intolerances or reactions until this foundational work is addressed. Food is an absolutely essential piece of the puzzle to nourish and support the cells and organs with the nutrients needed to facilitate optimal function. It can even be used therapeutically to mitigate symptoms as you work through the deeper foundational work. Clean and nutrient-dense foods matter, and dietary diversity will always be the goal for optimal nutrition.

We can’t rely on food alone for healing, and it is my mission to show you the exact steps you can begin to take to actually move the needle forward in your wellness journey.

If you haven’t taken my Detox Detective Quiz yet, it's the best place to start so that you can learn which part of the drainage funnel you need to tackle first and how. Let’s get draining!