At Eat Drink Live Well, we take a Functional Medicine approach because, quite simply, we couldn’t imagine practicing any other way. It’s a powerful, effective way to help you understand your health, connect the dots between symptoms, and find ways to support and bring back balance to your well-being.
What is Functional Medicine?
Functional Medicine is a science-based, patient-centered approach that looks beyond symptoms to find and address the root causes of chronic health issues. Instead of asking, “What drug treats this disease?”, Functional Medicine asks, “Why is this happening?” and, more importantly, “How can we restore balance?”
We take time to understand your unique health journey, paying attention to how genetics, diet, environment, and lifestyle interact. It’s about identifying what’s out of balance, removing obstacles to healing, and providing the body with the right conditions to thrive. The result? A truly personalised, holistic approach that supports long-term wellness.
Functional Medicine vs Conventional Medicine
Functional Medicine doesn’t replace conventional medicine; it complements it. Conventional medicine excels at managing acute conditions like infections, trauma, and emergencies. But for chronic conditions such as autoimmune diseases, digestive issues, hormonal imbalances, and unexplained symptoms, Functional Medicine shines by addressing underlying triggers rather than just masking symptoms.
This is particularly true for conditions like histamine intolerance, mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), mould illness, and brain fog—areas where our clients often feel unheard and unsupported. Many arrive at our clinic after years of searching for answers, feeling frustrated that conventional approaches haven’t helped. Functional Medicine allows us to dig deeper, uncovering the complex interactions between inflammation, the gut, detoxification pathways, and immune dysregulation that contribute to these conditions.
The Functional Medicine Tree: Addressing Root Causes
Imagine your health as a tree. If the leaves are wilting, you wouldn’t glue them back on—you’d assess the soil, water, and nutrients to support healthy growth. Functional Medicine works the same way, focusing on foundational lifestyle factors:
- Nutrition – Real food tailored to your needs
- Sleep – Quality sleep to support healing
- Stress Management – Mind-body techniques to reduce chronic stress
- Exercise & Movement – The right balance for your body
- Detoxification – Supporting your body’s ability to eliminate toxins, which is critical for those struggling with mould illness and chemical sensitivities
- Relationships & Social Connection – Because connection impacts health
By strengthening these “roots,” the rest of your body functions better, leading to sustained improvements in symptoms and overall vitality. This approach is especially powerful for those experiencing brain fog, chronic fatigue, and persistent inflammation—all of which are common in clients with mould exposure, histamine issues, and MCAS.
How Functional Medicine Works in Practice
Every person is different, and that’s why our approach is fully personalised. Even if two people have the same diagnosis—say, IBS—their root causes could be completely different. One might have an imbalance in inflammatory gut bacteria, one may have histamine intolerance, another might have food intolerances, and a fourth could be dealing with stress-related digestive dysfunction. Our job is to uncover these unique factors and create a targeted plan.
A functional medicine approach includes three key steps:
- Identify Imbalances – Using in-depth case history analysis and, where needed, functional lab testing
- Remove Obstacles to Healing – Addressing inflammatory foods, toxins (such as mould exposure), and stressors that push the body out of balance
- Provide the Right Support – Using nutrition, lifestyle strategies, and supplements to help the body regain equilibrium
This method is particularly effective for addressing complex and persistent health concerns that have been overlooked or dismissed. Many of our clients tell us that Functional Medicine provided the missing piece in their health journey, offering insights and solutions that they hadn’t found elsewhere.
Functional Nutrition: The Foundation of Functional Medicine
At the heart of Functional Medicine is Functional Nutrition—a personalised, food-first approach that recognises food as information for your cells. Your genes, environment, and health history determine what diet is right for you. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, we help you discover what foods support your health and what may be contributing to symptoms.
For example, those with histamine intolerance may need to focus on reducing histamine-releasing foods, while those with mould toxicity may benefit from specific nutrients that support detoxification pathways. Personalisation is key, and our approach ensures that nutrition is targeted to your unique needs.
Why Choose Eat Drink Live Well?
Functional Medicine is an increasingly overused term. But there’s a difference between having ‘training’ in functional medicine and full certifications in nutrition and functional medicine (plus years of clinical experience). Becoming a Certified IFM practitioner isn’t an easy (or cheap) career path and involves completion of Foundational courses and Advanced Practice Modules (Gut, Detoxification, Immune, Energy, Cardiometabolic and Hormones) plus submission of a detailed case study and completion of a rigorous 4 hour examination. Bredesen ReCode 2.0 and CIRs (Chronic Inflammatory Response) certifications are equally as rigorous. At Eat Drink Live Well, as well as our nearly 40 years of combined clinical expertise, we also hold certifications in exercise, homeopathy and in Affective Liminal Psychology/behaviour change.
We’re dedicated to evidence-based practice and personalised care. We integrate cutting-edge nutritional science with lifestyle interventions to help you take control of your health. Whether you’re struggling with unexplained symptoms, mould illness, MCAS, brain fog, or chronic fatigue, we work with you to uncover the root causes and guide you towards optimal health.
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For more information on Functional Medicine, visit the Institute for Functional Medicine.