A Functional Medicine Doctor’s Guide to Targeting the Root Causes of Disease

Courtesy of Amy Beard

By the time Dr. Amy Beard was facing surgery to remove all but 18 inches—or about 70 percent—of her colon, she was ecstatic. “I had suffered for so long that I could not wait for that surgery. I was ready to have something done,” she said.

Trained as a dietitian and an emergency room physician, Dr. Beard understood that diet played an important part of her health. But her medical training taught her to focus on pharmaceuticals and surgeries instead of lifestyle changes.

But her post-surgical misery, which fixed her chronic constipation but gave her up to 15 daily bouts of diarrhea, opened her mind to an alternative approach. She was already seeking knowledge to put herself back on a path of wellness, when she had a chance encounter with an internal medicine doctor who told her about her functional medicine certification.

“I thought it looked interesting and thought, ‘What do I have to lose?’,” Dr. Beard said. That night, she registered for her first Institute for Functional Medicine event.

She is now a certified functional medicine practitioner and has seen drastic improvements in her patients when they targeted what Dr. Beard called the root causes of disease: toxins, allergens, microbes, stress, and poor diet and exercise.

Patients learn how to balance different aspects of their health to achieve holistic wellness. “The body is amazingly resilient until it reaches a tipping point. The imbalances and dysfunction that can occur over time—acutely and long-term—will be expressed as physical and mental symptoms,” she said.

Getting Patients to ‘Live Well’

Dr. Beard’s approach involves asking her patients to journal and track progress of 12 fundamental principles of wellness for 12 weeks. The journaling is part of a course called “Live Well” that she developed after realizing that finding a solution for a single symptom would often fail to address the patient’s overall health.

“I would go down all these rabbit holes of how to treat specific things, but it always came back to doing the fundamentals. If you were to eat healthy, manage your stress better, commune with others, get sleep, move your body—these symptoms would probably be self-corrective if given enough time for most people,” Dr. Beard said.

Dr. Amy Beard writes in the special journal she devised for her patients. Courtesy of Amy Beard

By addressing the 12 fundamentals, roughly 70 percent of her patients get immediate relief from their ill symptoms, she said. The fundamentals are:

• Nutrition: The most important of the fundamentals, it involves eliminating or reducing sugar, certain carbohydrates, and processed foods, while eating more high-quality whole foods
• Hydration: Proper water intake and a clean water source
• Stress management: Build resilience to stress through activities like meditation, prayer, and intentional breathwork
• Movement: Planned and structured exercise have been shown to prevent diseases, as well as improve mood and reduce stress
• Strength training: Weight-bearing exercises at least twice a week can help regulate metabolic and hormonal health
• Flexibility and mobility: Putting joints through their full range of motion improves functional mobility
• Sleep: Improving sleep not only boosts brain function, but also plays a role in regulating immunity, weight, and blood sugar
• Nature and vitamin D: Research shows the benefits for being in nature and getting sun exposure on the skin
• Reducing toxins: Minimize exposure to chemicals and optimize our body’s ability to excrete toxins
• Brain training: Activities like games, reading, prayer, and exercise can keep the brain sharp
• Connection: Cultivating close relationships and sharing interests with others can help you become more resistant to disease
• Faith and spirituality: Strong faith is associated with a higher quality of life and lower disease rates

There is a synergistic effect to many of the fundamentals, Dr. Beard said, noting that only by targeting all aspects, will patients see true improvement. “I don’t care how ‘clean’ you are eating, if you are sleep deprived, over-exercising, and/or burning the candle at both ends, you will have health issues. If you don’t manage your stress well, your entire body will suffer—gut health, immune function, sleep, detoxification, mitochondrial function, etc.,” she said.

The Role of Faith in Healing

Dr. Beard also noted the importance of faith in not just her own healing journey, but that of many patients. For her, both her faith and her health are stronger because she refused to compartmentalize them and treat them separately. Her health issues have brought her closer to God, and that, in turn, has had a positive effect on her body, mind, and spirit.

Scientific studies have shown the beneficial effects of faith on people with illnesses. Ben White/Unsplash

“My faith and relationship with my Creator is the most important thing to me. And through this relationship, everything else flows,” she said. Science is not ignorant of the connection between spirituality and good health. Dr. Beard points to a 2012 article by the National Institutes of Health that reviewed more than 3,300 studies conducted between 1872 and 2010 which examined the relationship between spirituality or religion and physical and mental health. The percent of studies showing positive outcomes between spirituality and disease were:

• Cardiovascular health at 69 percent.
• Dementia or Alzheimer’s disease at 57 percent.
• Immune function at 71 percent.
• Endocrine function at 74 percent.
• Cancer at 60 percent.
• Pain at 50 percent.
• Longevity at 68 percent.

Emphasis on the Gut

Our gut microbiome is made up of bacteria, viruses, fungi, and other microorganisms that impact the whole body. They make up 1 to 3 percent of our body mass, and recent research has shown they play a role in human functioning. Our gut bacteria create short-chain fatty acids that perform a range of functions such as assisting hormonal balance, metabolism, neurotransmitter and nutrient production, and stress response, among others.

Also, roughly 70 percent of immune cells reside along the gastrointestinal tract. The immune system plays a huge role in chronic diseases, Dr. Beard said. “The gut has been deemed ’the second brain,' and many feel it should be renamed ’the first brain,’” she added. ”I am still amazed by how many of my patient’s chronic issues resolve when gut health is optimized.”

Eating yogurt is beneficial for gut health. Wesual Click/Unsplash

She gave an example from one of her patients: a 35-year-old man was being examined for possible multiple sclerosis or Lou Gehrig’s disease after having mini strokes, paralysis, and tremors. He was taking an antidepressant for anxiety brought on by the physical symptoms.

“We addressed his gut health and lifestyle behaviors and within three months all of his symptoms had resolved,” Dr. Beard said. “He found that he had issues with gluten, certain dairy products, and pork. He keeps his stress in check and makes sure to get regular activity, along with keeping toxin exposures at a minimum. He’s found a better work-life balance. I spoke to his wife recently, and she said he is doing great and has never felt better. None of his symptoms have returned. And he uses no pharmaceuticals.”

Emotions Can Drive Disease

In that patient’s case—as in many others—mental and emotional issues were caused by an “out of balance” body. “Physical and emotional health are intimately intertwined,” Dr. Beard explained.

Maintaining close relationships is crucial to emotional health, and can help you become more resistant to disease. Reba Spike/Unsplash

That lack of balance may stem from nutrient deficiencies, overproduction of insulin, high levels of inflammation, immune dysregulation, poor gut health, high toxic burdens, disrupted circadian rhythms, and more. In some cases, anxiety and poor gut health can create a vicious “chicken or egg” cycle. “Which came first—the anxiety that mediated the other medical condition, or did the medical condition mediate the anxiety?” Dr. Beard mused.

The power of how we feel and think is evident in the placebo effect; studies have shown that those assigned to take placebos experience symptom reversal because they think they are taking medication. “Every thought you have affects every cell in your body,” Dr. Beard said.

This article was originally published in American Essence magazine.