When healthcare practitioners with a wholistic, functional, or integrative approach are asked to describe how nutrition plays a role in their practice, the same handful of key words come up, whether that person is a chiropractor, medical doctor, naturopathic physician, veterinarian, or another type of practitioner.

• Whole
• Food
• Supplements
• Body
• Disease
• Quality
• Individual
• Beneficial

Nutrition, whether in the form of whole foods or supplements based on whole foods, proves to be a vital aspect of many healthcare practices and the care available for patients. The primary goal of these practices is to support the health of the human body, address existing disease, and prevent adverse health conditions in the future. Professionals achieve this goal in part by offering quality nutritional support unique to each individual patient’s needs. The beneficial macronutrients, micronutrients, and phytonutrients found in whole foods have an unparalleled ability to provide foundational health support and reduce the risk of common, chronic diseases.

Whatever the focus of a particular healthcare practice, if the philosophy is based in some sort of wholistic, functional, or integrative approach, nutrition is undeniably a core pillar of the practitioner’s approach to supporting and improving health for their patients.

Chiropractic

“Chiropractic looks at the structure-function imbalances of the body. Therefore, it is more important to address the source of these imbalances, which must include the structure of the cell. Think about ‘adjusting’ on a cellular level with nutrition.

We are born with the inherent ability to break down and remove toxicants from our body, whether endogenous or exogenous. Given the inordinate burden which modern man places on the biochemical pathways of detoxification, our nutrition must be our medicine.”

Christopher J. Bump, DC, MS, IFMCP, CNS, DABCN
Integrated Health Care

Pediatrics

“As a pediatrician, we are tasked with setting the table for a child’s long-term health. This begins with all of the epigenetic and biological lifestyle inputs that drive health as well as disease. First and foremost on this list is nutrition.

Choosing the correct micro- and macronutrients are the most important lifestyle choices. They form the basis of all normal cellular metabolism and biological function. When these inputs are whole, non-processed, nutritionally dense foods, a child has the best opportunity for longevity and supreme health.

Therefore, in the clinic, we spend our education capital primarily on setting the table with first principal teachings on the basic nutrients necessary for a quality health outcome. In essence, we are trying to get the earliest education in to the minds of parents and their children where the river of disease begins and not at the mouth of the river where disease is already established.”

Chris Magryta, MD
Salisbury Pediatric Associates

Naturopathic Medicine

“I use whole food supplements in my naturopathic practice because they not only contain the nutrients required to lay the foundation of health, but also the cofactors and phytonutrients required for absorption of these nutrients. Nutrition is the most fundamental modality in my practice. It is my go-to for restoring proper function in the body as well as enhancing the benefits of other treatment modalities.”

Della Parker, ND
Stellar Health and Wellness

“As an Associate Professor of Nutrition, I witness the transformative personal and intellectual growth of my students as they navigate the complex and ever-changing information landscape. I emphasize culinary medicine by utilizing a teaching kitchen to help people learn how to cook for themselves and experience what they are learning about nutrition in a classroom in a hands-on environment.

Nutrition is foundational for health and disease prevention. As we see the rates of preventable chronic disease rising, we see an associated increase in healthcare cost and morbidity. At the root of these conditions often lies nutrition and lifestyle, but there is so much more connected to how we live and eat. When you begin to study nutrition, you learn how everything is interrelated and interdependent. Thinking about food connects you to the larger web of our social, political, environmental systems, and beyond.”

Chelsie Falk, ND
Associate Professor of Nutrition
National University of Natural Medicine

Veterinary

“Nutrition is the cornerstone of my practice. Because animals eat every day and we control what they eat, food is the most impactful way to change pets’ lives. At my office we believe that food provides fuel for cells and that the right food can turn good genes on and bad genes off depending on the type, ingredients, and quality of food or supplement each individual pet eats.

We recommend specific whole foods and whole food supplements on an individual basis to fill in gaps in the diet and to help rebuild and repair body systems. We empower health and healing. People love to see their pets feel better just by making simple changes to the diet and by adding whole food supplements that their pet takes willingly.”

Sue Howell, DVM, CVFT, CVA
Thrive Wholistic Veterinary Care

Nutrition is important at all stages of life, for humans and animals alike, and that value is reflected in healthcare practitioners’ offices across a variety of modalities through the emphasis placed on nutrition and nutrition education. Practitioners appreciate the role of nutrition in improving the quality of life for their patients, and so they ensure that nutrition remains in a fundamental role in their practice.