As a functional medicine health coach, I want to offer you hope, not hype. Hope that stirs up your courage to try again. Because there is a way for you to overcome illness, pain, chronic conditions, and yes, weight loss resistance. My approach doesn’t begin with a strict exercise program, guilt, or a long to-do list.

It starts with functional lab tests and scientific data.

When you can understand the state of your body’s health you can build a predictable plan for weight loss and to heal your body from illness.

In this case study, I’m going to share with you how I helped one of my clients achieve the health benefits she was after. This is Kathi’s story.

You’ll find it interesting because first, she’s an experienced fitness coach who was struggling with weight loss, and second because of what we discovered along the way.

Meet Kathi

Kathi is a go-getter. Anyone who knows her would tell you she’s energetic and fun to be...

Remember puberty – that awkward, sometimes uncomfortable phase of childhood that somehow meant you were turning into a young woman? Do you remember how old you were when it hit or when you first got your period? Well if you have a daughter, chances are she has or will be experiencing puberty much, much younger than you did. It’s called “precocious puberty” – the appearance of secondary sex characteristics like pubic hair or breast growth before age 8, or the onset of menarche before age 9 – and impacts at least 1 in 5,000 U.S. children, and the rate is on the rise.

Currently the average age of the onset of menstruation is 12. But even before the first period, changes start to happen to girls’ bodies – signs of development, such as breast “budding” and growth of pubic hair. And these developments have become so common amongst 7, 8 and 9 year olds that doctors have simply deemed it the new “normal”. But...

If you’ve heard talk of aloe juice recently and thought to yourself, “EW”, you’re not alone. Most people hear the word “aloe” and think of summer & sunburns & thick, goopy gel. Definitely not something you want to ingest, right? But aloe juice is a VERY different part of the plant; a part that can help heal your body from the inside. (We promise it’s not as bad-tasting as it sounds!) What exactly can aloe juice help with?

Have heartburn? Then you’re probably taking a proton pump inhibitor like Nexium. But if you’re doing that, you’re only treating the symptom and not the underlying cause, which can lead to more health problems. PPIs suppress the production of stomach acid, and contrary to popular belief, most cases of heartburn are actually due to having too little acid in your stomach, not too much. So taking a PPI will actually worsen your condition since stomach acid helps digest food protect against...

Did you know your ability to absorb Vitamin B12 gradually decreases with age? In fact, B12 deficiency is a silent epidemic with serious consequences to your health. Reports from the USDA show B12 deficiency may be more widespread than thought, with at least 40% of the population being severely deficient. Okay, yeah, so? Why do we even need B12? What does it do? Vitamin B12 is a powerhouse that helps make DNA, nerve and blood cells, and is crucial for a healthy brain and immune system. Plus your metabolism wouldn’t run smoothly without it. So, it’s pretty important. Add advancing age, certain prescription meds (such as heartburn medications), and a lack of meat in one’s diet (looking at you, vegetarians & vegans!) and you could find yourself severely lacking in vitamin B12.

So how do you know if you’re deficient? The following symptoms are signals of a possible deficiency!

• Fatigue – The fatigue we’re talking about here isn’t the...

Milk does a body good! Right? Actually…your milk could be setting off chain reactions of inflammation, hormone issues, and dietary malfunctions in your body. Not really doing a body good now, is it?

The biggest milk myth we’ve been taught is that we should consume cow’s milk because it’s full of calcium which is good for our bones. But scientific studies have shown that we barely absorb the calcium in cow’s milk (especially if pasteurized), but to make matters worse, it actually increases calcium loss from the bones. In fact, higher milk consumption has been shown to help increase bone fractures.

Milk and other dairy based products can also be a trigger causing people to become lactose intolerant – which means they suffer from bowel cramping, bloating or even loose stools after eating dairy. Dairy can be a real gut irritant in general. Lots of us have undiagnosed dairy sensitivities or allergies, which means our gut gets very cranky...

We’ve all heard that a good sex life isn’t just something that feels…well, good! It also provides a plethora of health benefits such as:

• Alleviation of joint and muscle pain through the release of natural opiates that are an extremely effective pain reliever
• Stress relief
• Energy boost
• Stimulation of the immune system
• A stronger connection to our partner

Yet many people are in the same boat of daily management of a full time career, a home, children, homework, meals, exercise and more leaving little energy left for your sexual relationship. And that’s unfortunate because you could probably really use some of those benefits we mentioned above when you have that much going on. Right? But what if it’s not just time that’s keeping you from a healthy and fulfilling sexual relationship? Sexual dysfunction can be caused by:

• Taking prescription medications
• Hormone imbalances
• Drug abuse
• Depression or anxiety
• Stress
• Diabetes, heart disease,...

So you’ve started eating better foods and exercising more but you’re stuck at a weight plateau? Here’s an important question then – are you eating breakfast? Yes, you’ve heard it time and time again that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but is it true?

Consider this – studies have shown that eating a real breakfast (as opposed to meal replacement shakes or processed “diet” foods) can decrease hunger and cravings reducing your risk for obesity and metabolic syndrome. Why? Because breakfast isn’t just breaking your nightly “fast”. What you eat for breakfast sets the tone for food choices throughout the rest of the day. Breakfast is seeming more important now, right?

Let’s say you eat a healthy, well-balanced breakfast. How will you feel after? Full? Satisfied? Energetic? Now what happens when you skip breakfast? We all know the answer to that – afternoon rolls around and we’re ...

Have you been diagnosed with fibromyalgia? Or maybe you haven’t but you think you might be a victim of it? It’s estimated that fibromyalgia affects about 10 million people in the U.S. alone.

What is this disease?

Fibromyalgia is characterized by chronic pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances and cognitive impairment (or what’s more commonly referred to as “brain fog”). Other symptoms of fibromyalgia can include eventual depression and anxiety (chronic pain = depression and depression = more pain, leading to a vicious cycle), stomach issues and sensitivity to medications. Fibromyalgia is a tricky disease and one doctors still don’t know a lot about (including how to treat it). Often traditional medicine treats the symptoms but not the underlying causes, which helps no one. Read on to find out what some of these underlying causes may actually be.

• Gluten Intolerance – People often think an intolerance to...

In the past week, we’ve spent some time talking about how all sunscreens aren’t created equal and how many of them contain chemicals of which you might not have been aware. Yet you obviously know that too much sun damage can also harm you in the long run. So where’s the middle ground? Here are the top natural alternatives to sunscreen that will help minimize sun damage while not invading your body with harmful man made chemicals.

• Diet: As always, it’s important to start anything that concerns your body by focusing on your diet. Everything you put in your body controls in some way or another how your body looks and acts. Remember what we said in our last blog? Good skin comes from the inside out. This also means that you can help prepare your skin for the sun through what you eat. Eating foods rich in healthy fats and antioxidants helps protect your skin from damage, including UV damage. That means you should reach for dark, colorful fruits and...

It’s the end of Allergy Awareness Month here at Integrative Wellness Advisors. Between our site and our Facebook page, we’ve covered what an allergy actually is, what can cause an allergy, (seasonal allergies to pollen or ragweed) and natural remedies for allergies. So to round things up, today we’re going to talk about food allergies and more specifically, how to tell if you have one.

First, food allergies and food intolerances affect nearly everyone at some point. When people have an unpleasant reaction to something they eat, they often think that they have an allergy to the food. Actually, however, only about 1% of adults and 3% of children have clinically proven allergic reactions to food. So what exactly is the difference between an allergy and an intolerance?

Food intolerances are an abnormal response to food, and its symptoms can resemble those of a food allergy. But food intolerances are far more prevalent, occur in a variety of diseases, and are triggered...