The Health Detective Podcast by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition

#11: From 9 Diet Cokes A Day To Thriving Health Coach w/ Justine Altman, FDN-P

In this episode, we are talking to Justine Altman! Justine teaches people how to find & eliminate root causes for their symptoms so they can get well and stay well naturally. She believes that you absolutely have the power to be as fit, energetic, and pain-free as you want to be. Before she learned the how to identify & address internal imbalances, she says she was a miserable shell of a human. She suffered from severe belly pain, migraines that lasted months at a time, zero energy, intense neck and back pain, and anxiety attacks so scary that she thought every night was her last. She was overweight and infertile and her outlook was dismal. She had numerous doctors specializing in numerous areas of medicine and nobody could figure out what was wrong with her. All her blood tests came back normal. She didn’t know that the foods she was eating were all wrong for her body chemistry. She needed better sleep habits. She needed to detox. She needed to relax. The kind of exercise she was doing was doing more harm than good. Once she learned how to become a health detective, she found out how to give her body exactly what it needs, and nothing it doesn’t. The trick is using general health principles as a starting point and making modifications to tailor the protocol to your own unique biology. The solution is so simple and the results are life changing! Today she wakes up feeling rested, she feels good all day long, she's slim, she's fertile, and she LOVES LIFE! You can find out more about Justine at www.journeytovitality.com  You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#10: African Parasites, Mold, and Mental Health w/ Jodie Ellenor, FDN-P, Clinical Social Worker, Yoga Teacher

Well, we're back with one of our own tonight! We'll be talking to Jodie Ellenor, who is a FDN-P, clinical social worker, AND yoga teacher! She started off dealing with some minor health symptoms, but her advernturous self got into some trouble after traveling in her 20's. She picked up a bug (or two, or three) while in Tanzania, and no one was able to help. This would be followed by exposure to mold, as well as mental health challenges. Thankfully, Jodie was able to turn this around. She is now an anxiety expert on a mission to women heal anxiety holistically so they can spend more time enjoying life and less time fearing it. You can find out more about Jodie at www.healingjourneyservices.com You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#9: Fixing Your Fatigue w/ Dr. Evan Hirsch, MD

One month into his Family Medicine Residency Training Program (August 2004), Dr. Hirsch met his amazing wife, Stacy. She was full of life, social with friends, a great cook, traveler, small business owner and committed to growth through self-examination.  Four months later, she was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue and he had no tools to help her. She had adrenal fatigue, her cortisol levels (the main adrenal hormone) were non-existent and she was told to rest up and she would be better within one to two years. She purchased a sauna, took adrenal supplements and coffee enemas and worked on her psycho-spiritual side and she was mostly better in 3 years. Dr. Hirsch felt powerless and began his path of learning everything he could about fatigue. After he graduated residency in 2007, he started his own practice.  He realized that his energy wasn’t like it was prior to residency.  Dr. Hirsch was able to function, but he was tired.  He didn’t have much energy for exercise, nor did he prioritize it. Dr. Hirsch had worked long and hard for his opportunity to create the kind of integrative medical practice that he wanted, so he pushed ahead. He thought it was a post-residency issue that would resolve on its own in a few months. But, these problems didn’t just resolve, and Dr. Hirsch would end up having to do some deep dives into the world of functional medicine to truly understand the causes of fatigue. He shares those insights with us in this amazing episode, and we couldn’t be more grateful! You can find out more about Dr. Hirsch at www.fixyourfatigue.com You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#8: A Counselor‘s View On Functional Health For Mental Health w/ Candace McCallister, FDN-P, Holistic Mental Health Counselor

On this episode of the FDNthrive podcast, we interviewed Candace McCallister! Candace is the daughter of a health food store owner. She thought she had health all figured out by the time she was about 13 years old. She ate lots of fruits and vegetables, didn’t eat hardly any fat, and even became a vegetarian! She was a shy and low energy child, but figured that was just her personality. Unfortunately, she started having some minor health issues which continued to get worse through her college years. This mostly involved getting an inordinate number of cavities, along with some other teeth issues. Also, she would get very light-headed upon standing, have terrible stomach cramps after eating certain foods, and suffer extremely painful menstrual cramps. Throughout these years, Candace also struggled with many low-grade mental health symptoms, including anxiety, depression, and OCD symptoms. You can find out more about Candace at www.sweetwateroffering.com You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#7: Women‘s Hormones and Healthy Periods w/ Jennifer Woodward, FDN-P, BCFWC

Jennifer Woodward is a certified Functional Diagnostic Nutritionist and a Board Certified Functional Wellness Coach currently pushing her Master’s degree in Integrative Nutrition. She works with women all over the world to help them soothe their digestive woes, speed up their metabolisms, and stabilize their hormone imbalances. She is also the Executive Director of the Association of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Professionals and loves getting to help new FDNs thrive professionally. She was recently a quarter-long guest lecturer in graduate Endocrinology at Parker University This year, her free time is well spent homeschooling her four children, but when she can sneak out, she loves to play ultimate frisbee or walk with her dog Baxter.

You can find out more about Jennifer at www.jenniferwoodwardnutrition.com

You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#6: Allergies On Steroids w/ Tamy Anderson, FDN-P

Raise your hand if you've ever dealt with seasonal allergies!

Oh, wow! Most of you it looks like.

Now, I want you to take those allergies, multiply them by 100, and you get the symptoms of our dear friend, Tamy Anderson.

Tamy is a functional health coach who helps people who suffer from allergies and asthma achieve long-term relief from their symptoms. Allergy and asthma sufferers come to her when they are seeking answers to why their symptoms keep getting worse.

You can find out more about Tamy at www.tamyanderson.com

You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#5: From Cancer In Her 20‘s, to Vibrant Health In Her 30‘s w/ Jenn Malecha

Imagine this:

You walk into the doctor's office in your twenties. You know you aren't feeling so great health-wise, but since you're into fitness and eat "clean," you figure whatever is causing this can't be that bad - until it is. Instead of getting told you have something minor, you get told you have skin cancer.

Now, I have zero idea what I'd do if I was faced with such a diagnosis. But Jenn Malecha? Well, she took a not-so-conventional approach to this diagnosis and, as a result, got some not-so-conventional outcomes. Thankfully, this meant her no longer having cancer.

This is one you DEFINITELY don't want to miss!

About Jenn Malecha, AKA the "Wholistic Health Boss":

Jenn supports busy, health-minded professionals in taking back control of their health by giving them access to the right lab tests and resources so they can find the missing pieces of their health puzzle, actually fix what is wrong, and get back to feeling like themselves.

You can find out more about Jenn at www.wholistichealthboss.com

You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#4: Finally Getting Answers w/ Brandy Buskow, FDN-P, BCFWC, Master EFT Practitioner

In this episode, we have the privilege of interviewing someone who does SO much for FDN. Her name is Brandy, and she is the definition of a trooper! When you hear what she's been through health-wise, you'll see why.

Brandy’s health struggles started early on, as a child she struggled with chronic ear infections, chronic colds, and chronic tonsillitis. After having her tonsils and adenoids removed when she was 8 her symptoms seemed to improve for a short while but within a year or two, she began an long term struggle with digestive issues, and weight gain.

She was diagnosed with IBS when she was 16 and followed the standard advice of eating more fiber, exercising and worrying less. In her early 20’s she started having severe anxiety and depression. She spent over a year trying several different medications but soon became frustrated by the side effects and with the help of her holistically minded grandmother weened herself off the medication with amino acids, and herbs.

After seeing how amazing they worked she became passionate about learning anything and everything she could about holistic and alternative health.

You can find out more about Brandy at www.bbhealthcoaching.com

You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#3: How To Fully Break Up With Gluten w/ Whitney Morgan, L.Ac., FDN-P, CGP, PHC

Whitney Morgan is a licensed acupuncturist, functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner, and the founder of Whitney Morgan Nutrition. She also serves as a clinical advisor for FDN where she assists other practitioners with their client cases.

You can find out more about Whitney at www.morgannutrition.com

You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com

#2: Visiting 40 Different Doctors w/ Ryan Monahan

We are SO excited to bring you the first official interview of the FDN podcast. And boy, do we have a story for you today...

Ryan Monahan is an FDN-P, Clinical Advisor to the Medical Director Program at FDN, and Certified AIP Coach. He has a passion for uncovering hidden stressors that contribute to thyroid disease. He spent over 10 years visiting more than 40 health professionals to find answers to his chronic health complaints until being diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2012. Since then, his mission has been to change the dialogue about chronic disease towards a holistic, functional approach while helping others restore their health to normal function.

Typically, his clients are people who have struggled with finding relief from their autoimmune symptoms. Oftentimes, they feel that they’ve “tried everything”, and that traditional medicine hasn’t served them. In his experience, there is a better way.

Wow, does that bio sound familiar or what?

You can find out more about Ryan at www.themindfulnutrivore.com

You can find out more about FDNthrive at www.fdnthrive.com