What is Nutritional and Functional Medicine?

According to The Association of Nutritional and Functional Medicine Practitioners, Malaysia (www.anfmp.org.my):

“Nutritional and Functional Medicine as a branch of complementary medicine, is defined by the Association as the application of cutting-edge health/medical science and evidence-based nutrients, phytochemicals, nutraceuticals to enable patients to maximise their health potential including treating, controlling and preventing chronic metabolic health disorders in which protocols can impact their hormonal, neurological and/or immune functions.”

Functional medicine is defined by the US Institute for Functional Medicine as:
 “Identifying and following biomarkers of function that can be used as indicators of the onset of disease, and also markers of the success of interventions …”

Nutritional and Functional Medicine (NFM) addresses the known cause(s) of a chronic health disorder/disease and recommends a treatment protocol that is drug-and-surgery-free.

Usually this involves the use of evidence-based non-invasive (or minimally invasive) diagnostic tests available to modern healthcare.

Physical data and biomarkers of physiological functions help in designing appropriate diet(s) that match(es) the nutritional/ physiological needs of the patients besides recommending lifestyle changes, detoxifying heavy metals, neutralising oxidants, and supplementing with evidence-based nutraceuticals and/or herbal extracts targeted at specific chronic health issues.

Consequently, NFM incorporates orthomolecular medicine practised in North America.

Balanced diet nutrition for liver, healthy clean eating concept

How is Nutritional and Functional Medicine defined?

Nutritional and Functional Medicine takes on the treatment & reversal of chronic health disorders. Its measurement of impact can be seen via physiological, hormonal & neurological improvements

WHY Nutritional and Functional Medicine?

  • Treats known causes, not symptoms, of major chronic health disorders (also known as “non-communicable diseases”);
  • Most major chronic health disorders are linked to poor diets & lifestyles. Consequently, these disorders are largely reversible;
  • NFM is medicine of the future:
    • a patient-centered naturopathic approach to healthcare;
    • its natural therapy is holistic by addressing the whole person, not just isolated sets of symptoms suffered;
    • its practice paves the way for personalised medicine in the coming decades;
    • it is a most widely-adopted branch of evidence-based non-invasive complementary therapy around the world;
    • its clinical practice is easy to integrate with other healthcare treatments/modalities including mainstream medicine and TCM;
    • studies published by local universities have shown 71% of Malaysians seek complementary treatments for controlling and/or reversing their chronic health/medical disorders; and
    • Statistics compiled by the Global Wellness Institute (2019) suggests the roles played by NFM within the global wellness industry has been valued beyond US$1trillion.

How we are different from mainstream medicine?

Nutritional and Functional Medicine complements, not competes with mainstream medicine. Nutritional and Functional Medicine goes one step further by looking at all aspects of dietary & lifestyle habits which affect chronic health disorders including diabetes, hypertension, cancer chronic allergies, etc

TREATING CHRONIC HEALTH DISORDERS

The chronic health disorders treatable by non-invasive adjunct nutritional and lifestyle therapy include:

  • Abnormal blood fats (hyperlipidemia)
  • Elevated cholesterol (hypercholesterolemia)
  • High blood pressure (hypertension)
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Yeast infection (Candidiasis)
  • Elevated uric acid (hyperuricemia)
  • Low metabolism (hypothyroidism)
  • Overweight or obesity
  • Gum diseases (periodontitis)
  • Chronic fatigue (adrenal insufficiency)
  • Allergies and skin problems
  • Insomnia and elevated stress
  • Tumour and malignant growth
  • Low immunity
  • Heavy metal toxicity
  • Abnormal thyroid functions
  • Poor renal functions
  • Chronic inflammation
  • Premature ageing

Besides genetic disposition, these chronic health disorders are generally the cumulative results of poor dietary and lifestyle habits.

ELDER WOMAN SICK PENSRI

How does Nutritional and Functional Medicine treat patients?

Our approach is similar to functional medicine in the West. We review blood test markers in the management of chronic disorders

Nutritional and Functional Medicine - A Global Perspective

 

The World Health Organisation’s collaborative efforts with Oxford University strongly suggest that the 38 million (now estimated at >40m) premature deaths from chronic diseases, are linked to reversible poor dietary and lifestyle habits. Consequently, the need for nutritional and lifestyle therapies is evident