You’ve likely been taught for years that there’s a clear formula for weight loss: eat less calories than you burn and the pounds will come off. But we now know this formula is an oversimplification of a complex process, driven by many metabolic factors. An increase in body weight—or difficulty losing weight—is a clear sign that something bigger is out of balance.
Like many chronic health problems, obesity is multifactorial. Addressing it with mainstream medicine’s approach—take a pill, eat less, move more, etc.—does patients a significant disservice. The ‘calories in vs. calories out’ approach benefits some people, but is most effective when accompanied by:
Gut health optimization
Inflammation reversal
Nutritional status improvement
Hormone balancing
Toxicity reduction
The Functional Medicine Solution to Lose Weight
Weight loss provides significant health benefits, in addition to looking and feeling better. A healthy body weight reduces your risk for nearly every disease, and increases quality of life & longevity. Done in a healthy and sustainable way with the support of a functional doctor, there is no drawback to working toward a healthy weight.
A functional medicine approach to weight loss focuses on metabolic, hormonal, environmental, and other factors that might be keeping you from losing weight. We’ll guide you every step of the way to first build a healthy foundation, and then help you troubleshoot plateaus and remove barriers that have prevented you from losing weight in the past.
Weight Gain Driven by Insulin Resistance
Today, about a quarter of adults over 20 years old are insulin resistant, which increases the risk of obesity, diabetes, and every other chronic metabolic health problem.
Why is insulin relevant for weight loss? Insulin acts as a fat storage hormone when elevated. Its primary function is to help cells use glucose (sugar) in the diet for fuel.
In response to eating, the pancreas releases insulin which allows cells to remove sugars from the blood, and blood sugar levels stay within a normal range.
Insulin resistance prompts the pancreas to produce more and more insulin as cells have become “resistant” to its message. In response to elevated insulin levels, the body opts to store more fat.
If your weight has climbed steadily over the years, your doctor may recommend testing fasting insulin levels, blood sugar, and/or hbA1c.
Schedule an appointment, or call (404) 814-9808 to speak with a patient care coordinator.
Functional Medicine Treatment to Lose Weight & Improve Weight Loss
Your integrative medicine team will first test & evaluate your unique metabolic factors, and then recommend a comprehensive protocol to address the diet, environmental, and hormonal changes associated with sustainable weight loss. Your functional medicine practitioner may recommend:
Nutrition & Lifestyle
- Genetic matching to optimize a nutrient-dense, whole-foods diet
- Dietary supplement recommendations
- Identification of emotional & energetic blockages which prevent consistency
Testing
- Metabolic testing
- Food sensitivity & allergy testing
- Gut health & fat malabsorption analysis
- Heavy metal toxicity and detoxification function
- Inflammatory markers
- Nutrient status
- MTHFR gene variations
Complementary Therapies
- Nutrition counseling
- IV Therapy
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Supporting Services for Weight Loss Treatment
Nutritional Counseling
Nutrition specialists provide individualized evaluations, recommendations, and guidance to help you meet your goals. Nutrition and lifestyle changes are your biggest ally when it comes to improving your health.
A healthy diet, along with optimum digestive function supports balanced microbiome diversity which is key to attaining your ideal weight.
A nutrition evaluation and consultation can help improve symptoms associated with:
- Hormone imbalance
- Autoimmune diseases, such Hashimoto’s or low thyroid
- Pain and inflammation
- Leaky gut, Candida overgrowth, & food allergies
IV Vitamin Therapy
Intravenous (IV) vitamin infusion therapy is a fast, easy, safe way to deliver nutrients straight to the cells that need them while bypassing slow and inefficient digestion processes. If you struggle with food sensitivities or symptoms of chronic inflammation, you’ll benefit from the added vitamin and mineral availability of IV vitamin therapy.
Popular drips for weight loss include:
Weight Loss Drip
Burn more fat naturally and increase energy! Amino acid L-carnitine supports metabolic flexibility and the healthy use of fat for fuel while maintaining lean muscle.
Recharge Drip
Combat daily fatigue! Whether you’re simply feeling run down and need a pick me up or recovering from travel, the recharge drip is packed full of the nutrients and vitamins to support metabolic health while fighting fatigue.
