Functional medicine is an approach to health care that focuses on identifying and treating the root cause of disease rather than treating the symptoms as is typical in the traditional medicine model. Functional medicine providers spend time listening to you and gathering your medical history to better address your health concerns. The foundation of functional medicine is the use of food as the first line therapy but also focuses on identifying root causes of your illness including triggers such as poor nutrition, stress, toxins, chronic infections, genetics and your microbiome. Once these triggers are identified a functional medicine provider will develop a plan to address your individual needs to achieve optimal health and wellness.