Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a Functional Medicine Health Coach and traditional Western medicine?
Functional Medicine Practitioners (or Health Coach) have a goal of treating the root cause of your symptoms. Traditional Western medicine is good at prescribing drugs for your symptoms. The drugs will help mask your symptoms, which may be necessary temporarily, but in the long term we should be trying to identify what’s causing your symptoms.
What type of experience can I expect when working with a Functional Medicine Health Coach?
A health coach helps you navigate the complexities of nutrition, exercise, and lifestyle choices, making health management accessible and sustainable. These are some of the ways we can help: personalized wellness plans, expert guidance, customized care, root cause healing, holistic approach (the importance of the whole body and the interdependence of its parts), support and accountability with sustainable change.
Are Functional Medicine Practitioners licensed medical doctors?
The short is answer is No. Many medical doctors are not taught the benefits of nutrition, exercise and detoxing your body in medical school. We do not treat, diagnose or cure diseases. We investigate what’s going on in your body to identify road blocks that could be in the way of healing and empower you to take action on your own health journey through building new habits and creating long term changes.
How do you know where to look?
The best and easiest place to start is testing. We partner with EquiLife labs to provide at-home testing that will test minerals, heavy metals, hormones, vitamin levels, gut bacteria, parasites, cortisol levels, metabolic markers, food sensitivities, toxicities in the body, inflammation levels and many more.
Are you certified to be treating people for their symptoms?
Yes! I am certified as an Integrative Health Practitioner by the Integrative Health Practitioner Institute. The term Integrative includes seven types of Natural Medicine: Ayurvedic Medicine, Bioregulatory Medicine, Herbalism, Eastern Philosophy, Orthomolecular Medicine and Functional Medicine. Dr. Stephen Cabral has studied all seven intensely for years so that he could not only heal himself, but help others heal themselves. Now he’s teaching people everything he has learned from his studies and treating hundreds of thousands of clients in his practice so we can do the same for you. Dr. Cabral teaches and certifies all of his students.
What happens after we test and find out my numbers are off?
Great question! Our partners at EquiLife produce tailored vitamins, minerals and supplements that are GSM certified, 3rd party tested with clinically studied dosages. Your lab results will help us determine what you need to add and what you need to remove. In other words, a detox protocol will help remove the toxins many of us are living with while a nutritious diet paired with supplements will put back what your body needs to heal itself. Once your body can heal itself you will see symptoms disappear.
Is that all I have to do to heal?
The above answer will heal your body tremendously. But as your health coach I don’t want you to revert to a lifestyle that got you sick in the first place. We will make a plan for nutrition, exercise, sleep scheduling, decreasing daily stress and making time for fun and social connections. All of the above is how we live our best natural lives that is long term and sustainable!
How much time will all of this take?
Once we receive test results and determine your plan, most healing/detox protocols take 12-16 weeks. I like to meet with clients multiple times, preferably once per month, so we can discuss progress and assist along the way. I want to make sure you are getting the results we want for you.
Is there anything else I need to do to remain healthy after our agreement has ended?
You will learn how to heal yourself by the time our agreement has ended. It is always good to test and/or detox at least twice per year. I am always happy to assist you through your re-testing and healing protocols if your bio-markers have changed. Depending on your bio-markers you may want to take daily supplements to maintain a heathy lifestyle.
(I test myself multiple times per year and take daily supplements to replenish my deficiencies.)
What are the typical costs for health coaching and lab testing?
The monthly cost for personal health coaching is a fraction of the national average for a personal health insurance plan, according to Healthcare.gov. I offer 4-month plans, but I’m happy to assist with lifestyle and lab testing as long as you need.
Because I’m a certified Integrative Health Practitioner I am able to offer lab testing kits at a discount of retail values. Our partners at EquiLife now accept HSA/FSA payments.
It’s a win-win.