I get asked this question quite a lot..

𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙛𝙛𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 between a Functional Medicine Health Coach, Wellness Coach, Nutritionist, Dietician and a Life coach?

I get this question quite a lot.
There are definitely similarities, but each has its own unique role they play.

Oftentimes ‘wellness’ gets confused with ‘𝘍𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘦’ and are thought to mean the same thing. While they both have the same goal to get the patient to their ultimate health status, functional medicine takes a more data and science-driven approach. Wellness is a more umbrella term that is broader than the specificity of fm.
As a FM Coach I can order and interpret hormone and blood testing, and other tests like DNA Testing, and put it into action to get clients back to health.

FM Coaches listen to their clients’ concerns and consider interactions amongst the genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that influence long-term health. Using the Functional Health approach, we can understand and explore the relationship between the body’s systems, between people and their environments, and between people’s behaviours and their health outcomes.

In functional medicine we look for the root cause of chronic illness, and then solutions to address the root causes.
The FM Health model promotes habit-building around areas of our lives that many people can easily access, like exercise, whole foods, mindfulness and sleep to improve their health.

I am also a ᴸⁱᶠᵉ ᶜᵒᵃᶜʰ so I counsel and support people in all aspects of life to reach their ultimate goals.

A Ｎｕｔｒｉｔｉｏｎｉｓｔ focuses on food behavior. They devise and implement meal plans that improve the clients’ nutrition.

A 𝔻𝕚𝕖𝕥𝕚𝕔𝕚𝕒𝕟 can help diagnose and treat nutrition related illnesses. They alter an individuals’ diet based on medical conditions, body make up, blood type, or contributing factors affecting the nutrition one receives.

I’m very excited about Functional Medicine, as it is the future of medicine. It’s a holistic, patient-centered, collaborative approach which shifts the focus away from just managing disease after it (has already) occured to preventing in the first place. It’s about addressing the reasons why someone has been feeling generally unwell for a long time, or is unable to loose weight, whatever diet plan they go on, or addressing depression from your genetic pathway up.

We are all part of a wonderful ‘wellness’ team where each has their role to play.