Kristen M. Farmer, MBA, BSN, RN, CFNC, FNLP, CPHQ
Registered Nurse and Certified Functional Nutrition and Lifestyle Practitioner
Why Functional Nutrition?
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Functional nutrition is an approach that supports your unique issues, epigenetics, diet and lifestyle. It works to heal what is truly going on inside your body, targeting the unique changes you need to make, bringing you back into optimal health and balance. It is not a one size fits all protocol. It is getting at the root causes of what is going on for you and only you. It is root cause analysis of the many issues that triggered symptoms in you in the first place.
It is a functional approach that looks at 3 things:
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The uniqueness of you
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The interconnections between all your body systems
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The expression of your genetics impacted by your lifestyle choices, patterns, diet and history
In Short, It looks at you as an individual!
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Working one on one to understand your story, your history, your current reality after you have been told you have a diagnosis and need to "get healthy" is where we start. Health symptoms are at the end of a chain of events. By only treating symptoms you don't ever get to the root cause.
Helping you understand what is going on inside of you, how to implement healthy choices, and make connections between the root causes and your symptoms means you can finally reach healthy and happy. Functional nutrition focuses on restoring the optimal function of the body to resolve signs and symptoms while highlighting the important role of diet and lifestyle modification.
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As a nurse in the emergency department earlier in my career, I saw lots of sickness, and sometimes the same sick people over and over. I couldn't get over why I kept seeing the same people and we were never getting to the root cause of why they were there to begin with. It was always a "treat and street" mentality, or addressing the chief complaint, but never the root cause. I rarely saw them get better. This is "Sick-Care" not health care.
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For me personally, I went from doctor to doctor only to be told, "take this pill," or "you are just getting older." No one stopped to try and truly understand and explain what was happening to me. My fears and questions were dismissed, and, to be honest, I'm not sure they knew how to dig further. I got heavier, more uncomfortable, had increased joint pain and was miserable. That started me digging. I dug into the "why," and I didn't stop until I understood where it all stemmed from. Poor diet choices, lifestyle, lack of sleep, and stress. Lots of stressors were causing my hormones to go crazy, my weight to jump, my mood to take over the true me, and was the reason all along why my body reacted with an auto immune disease. I finally had answers, and the solutions were not more medications or succumbing to the age-old response of "you're just getting older and should expect to put on a few pounds." I called bunk and so can you.
Healing is an active word, it's a journey. It's a process that provides recommendations and clinical insights with determination, compassion, empathy and love.
Anne J-
34 y/o mother of two
"I was essentially a hot mess. I continue to struggle with long haul COVID, POTs, Sjogren's, Hashimoto's' and peripheral neuropathy-all that were "triggered" from the vaccine. I had met with specialist after specialist and no one really knew how to treat my symptoms. No one would admit that I had long COVID until I 1. saw Kristen 2. went to Mayo's long haul covid clinic and finally received recognition of what I had been experiencing for almost 2 years. I felt like I was crazy and that the doctor's didn't either believe me or just threw another pill at me to help the symptoms. No one was getting to the root cause of why this happened to me and how to treat it. Once I finally wrapped my head around what Kristen was saying, it took about a month for me to start seeing the shift. I finally felt heard and that there was help and a way to heal my body. This wasn't just another band-aid. I'm a nurse and being the patient is not easy. It's overwhelming and Kristen was able to explain why things were happening in a way that made sense to me and how my lifestyle plays a huge factor in my health. I am in a much better place now than I was when I started. I am much more aware of what I bring into my home, cleaning product, food wise etc.which is making my family healthier too. My mood is much better, I am feeling excited and optimistic about life and my continued healing journey. My skin has improved significantly in addition to the level of inflammation I feel and see. "
