There’s a growing trend in society to learn more about substances like gluten. Behind this growing popularity is a group of doctors who believe food is the root cause of many of the worlds health problems. They believe drugs are not the answer to good health and that food in fact, is medicine.
Functional medicine looks beyond treating symptoms and is less concerned with making a diagnosis. It addresses the underlying imbalances of the person as a whole and deals with the root causes.
Functional medicine is generally unknown to the public but is becoming more mainstream thanks to TV personalities like Dr Oz and New York Times best selling authors, Dr Hyman and Dr Perlmutter.
To contrast functional medicine with traditional medicine, traditional medicine seeks to diagnose a disease and treat the symptoms. In functional medicine, the purpose is to seek to understand why there’s a problem in the first place, why function’s been lost, and what can be done to restore those functions.
It sounds like a very good model of health care. But it comes with it’s controversy. Opposers believe functional medicine comprises methods that lack scientific research and that the system is pseudoscientific. The research is growing however. Functional medicine is a combination of Chinese medicine, Western medicine and more recent scientific research. A Google Scholar search of “Functional Medicine” yields 4,120 results.
There is no order to this list. It is simply a selection of the top 6 blogs on functional medicine according to my opinion.
Top 6 Functional Medicine Blogs you Should be Reading
Dr Mark Hyman
Dr Mark Hyman is known as The King of Functional Medicine. He is the man who promotes eating fat as a way of losing fat. Dr Hyman was head-hunted by the Cleveland Clinic’s Centre for Functional Medicine to be the Medical Director when it opened up. He is also the founder of The UltraWellness Centre. His online programs have great success teaching his members to eat more fat and less sugar. He even has an endorsement from former U.S. president, Bill Clinton, on his website.
Dr Hyman is the author of:
Eat Fat Get Thin
The Ultramind Solution: Fix Your Broken Brain by Healing Your Body First
10 Day Detox Diet
Blood Sugar Solution
Dr Peter Osborne
Dr Peter Osborne is known as The Gluten Free Warrior. He is a doctor of chiropractic, doctor of pastoral science and certified clinical nutritionist. Dr Osborne is the founder of gluten free society and does much of his writing and speaking on nutritionally related topics.
Dr Osborne is the author of:
No Grain, No Pain
Glutenology Health Matrix
Dr Joseph Mercola
Dr Joseph Mercola is known as The Preacher of Alternative Medicine. Anyone known as a preacher, evangelist or campaigner is always going to receive public scrutiny. In many cases, these people are attempting to change public views from traditional beliefs. As a result, Dr Mercola has been controversial in his viewpoints. His opinion is backed by science however, and worthy of listening to.
Dr Mercola is the author of:
Effortless Healing
Dark Deception
Dr Mercola’s Guide to Optimal Health and Nutrition Magazine
Take Control of Your Health
(and many more)
Dr David Perlmutter
Dr David Perlmutter is known as The Brain Food Doctor. He is a neurologist most known for his work on how what you put into your body effects your brain. Dr Perlmutter writes about the science of food and how food controls your genetic destiny.
Dr Perlmutter is the author of:
Grain Brain
Brain Maker: The Power of Gut Microbes to Heal and Protect Your Brain - for Life
Dr Josh Axe
Dr Josh Axe is known as the Food-as-Medicine Doc. He is a certified clinical nutritionist, doctor of chiropractic and doctor of natural medicine. Dr Axe believes health can be transformed through natural remedies, healthy food and fitness. He writes about health in regards to food and is a co-founder of BurstFIT interval training.
Dr Axe is the author of:
The Real Food Diet Cookbook
The Secret Detox
Healing Leaky Gut
Dr Frank Lipman
Dr Frank Lipman is known as The Voice of Sustainable Wellness and is a pioneer of functional medicine. Dr Lipman completed his medical training in South Africa in 1979 and emigrated to the United States in 1984 where he studied acupuncture, Chinese medicine, functional medicine, nutrition, herbal medicine, biofeedback, meditation and yoga. This is essentially the basis of functional medicine - a wide range of knowledge and experiences in all models of medicine. Dr Lipman has expanded his tool belt of skills to treat his patients through a wide range of systems, operating between Western and Eastern medicine and combining all the systems in which he is trained.
Dr Lipman is the author of:
Total Renewal - 7 Key Steps to Resilience, Vitality and Long Term Health
Revive - End Exhaustion and Feel Great Again
The New Health Rules - Simple Changes to Achieve Whole-Body Wellness
10 Reasons You Feel Old and Get Fat
As you will have noticed, the commonality between these doctors is nutrition. They come from vast medical backgrounds, from chiropractic to traditional Western medicine, but the common theme is food. They all look at food as medicine and use a range of techniques to treat their patients and educate their followers.
Is there another functional medicine doctor you like to follow?
Share with us in the comments section below.
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