Functional medicine health coaching improved elimination diet compliance and patient-reported health outcomes: Results from a randomized controlled trial.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine whether an elimination diet with virtually provided functional medicine health coaching support would be more effective than a typical self-guided elimination diet with respect to dietary compliance and patient-reported health and quality of life.

Methods: A parallel arm, randomized controlled trial was conducted among a sample of healthcare professionals. Participants were randomized to either an elimination diet with 5 sessions of functional medicine health coaching support (intervention arm) or a self-guided elimination diet (control arm).

LIFEHOUSE's Functional Nutrition Examination (Physical Exam, Anthropometrics, and Selected Biomarkers) Informs Personalized Wellness Interventions.

Each individual has a unique and interacting set of genetic, lifestyle, and environmental factors that are reflected in their physical exam and laboratory biomarkers and significantly impact their experience of health. Patterns of nutrient deficiency signs and biomarker levels below health-promoting thresholds have been identified in national nutrition surveys. However, identifying these patterns remains a challenge in clinical medicine for many reasons, including clinician training and education, clinical time restraints, and the belief that these signs are both rare and recognizable only in cases of severe nutritional deficiencies.

Potential reversal of biological age in women following an 8-week methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program: a case series.

Here we report on a case series of six women who completed a methylation-supportive diet and lifestyle program designed to impact DNA methylation and measures of biological aging. The intervention consisted of an 8-week program that included diet, sleep, exercise and relaxation guidance, supplemental probiotics and phytonutrients and nutritional coaching. DNA methylation and biological age analysis (Horvath DNAmAge clock (2013), normalized using the SeSAMe pipeline [a]) was conducted on blood samples at baseline and at the end of the 8-week period.

The Relationship between Gastrointestinal Health, Micronutrient Concentrations, and Autoimmunity: A Focus on the Thyroid.

Currently, there is a lack of understanding of why many patients with thyroid dysfunction remain symptomatic despite being biochemically euthyroid. Gastrointestinal (GI) health is imperative for absorption of thyroid-specific nutrients as well as thyroid function directly. This comprehensive narrative review describes the impact of what the authors have conceptualized as the "nutrient-GI-thyroid axis".

Patient-Reported Outcomes and the Patient-Reported Outcome Measurement Information System of Functional Medicine Care and Research.

The functional medicine model of care is focused on patient-centered rather than disease-centered care. Patient-centered care incorporates the patient's voice or experience of their condition alongside conventional biological factors to provide a "more complete" account of health. PROMIS Global, an NIH-validated patient-reported outcome (PRO) measure that evaluates the health-related quality of life, can be incorporated within the functional medicine model of care to evaluate self-reported physical, mental and social well-being across various conditions and guide personalized management strategies.

Our Healing Journey: Restoring Connection, Finding Hope and Evolving Wellness.

Wellness is more than the simple absence of disease. As such, health can be envisioned as a journey to a state of optimal wellness and not a simple destination. To measure progress on such a journey, defining wellness by measures other than disease risk factors and biomarkers is necessary.

Genetic Biomarkers of Metabolic Detoxification for Personalized Lifestyle Medicine.

Metabolic detoxification (detox)-or biotransformation-is a physiological function that removes toxic substances from our body. Genetic variability and dietary factors may affect the function of detox enzymes, thus impacting the body's sensitivity to toxic substances of endogenous and exogenous origin. From a genetic perspective, most of the current knowledge relies on observational studies in humans or experimental models in vivo and in vitro, with very limited proof of causality and clinical value.

Personalized Lifestyle Intervention and Functional Evaluation Health Outcomes SurvEy: Presentation of the LIFEHOUSE Study Using N-of-One Tent-Umbrella-Bucket Design.

The working definition of health is often the simple absence of diagnosed disease. This common standard is limiting given that changes in functional health status represent early warning signs of impending health declines. Longitudinal assessment of functional health status may foster prevention of disease occurrence and modify disease progression.

Reversal of Acquired Prosopagnosia Using Quantitative Electroencephalography-Guided Laser Therapy.

Currently treatment for prosopagnosia is limited. We report the reversal of acquired associative-type prosopagnosia (AAP) using quantitative electroencephalography (qEEG)-guided transcranial laser therapy (qGLT) in a subject with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Objective and subjective measures of improvement in AAP, TLE, and MCI are presented.

The microbiota-mediated dietary and nutritional interventions for COVID-19.

Worldwide, scientists are looking for specific treatment for COVID-19. Apart from the antiviral approach, the interventions to support healthy immune responses to the virus are feasible through diet, nutrition, and lifestyle approaches. This narrative review explores the recent studies on dietary, nutritional, and lifestyle interventions that influence the microbiota-mediated immunomodulatory effects against viral infections.

Potential reversal of epigenetic age using a diet and lifestyle intervention: a pilot randomized clinical trial.

Manipulations to slow biological aging and extend healthspan are of interest given the societal and healthcare costs of our aging population. Herein we report on a randomized controlled clinical trial conducted among 43 healthy adult males between the ages of 50-72. The 8-week treatment program included diet, sleep, exercise and relaxation guidance, and supplemental probiotics and phytonutrients.

Corrigendum to "A Review of the Science of Colorful, Plant-Based Food and Practical Strategies for "Eating the Rainbow"".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1155/2019/2125070.].

Furin Protease: From SARS CoV-2 to Anthrax, Diabetes, and Hypertension.

Furin is a protease that is ubiquitous in mammalian metabolism. One of the innovations that make sudden acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) more infectious than its ancestor viruses is the addition of a furin cleavage site. Conditions associated with elevated furin levels, including diabetes, obesity, and hypertension, overlap greatly with vulnerability to the severe form of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Neurological Involvements of SARS-CoV2 Infection.

COVID-19 is a pandemic viral infection caused by a novel coronavirus, SARS-CoV2, which is a global concern of the twenty-first century for its rapid spreading in a short period. Apart from its known acute respiratory involvements, the CNS manifestations of COVID-19 are common. These neurological symptoms are diverse and could range from mild nonspecific or specific symptoms such as the loss of various sensory perceptions, the worrying autoimmune Guillain-Barré syndrome, to the life-threatening acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, and the CNS-mediated respiratory distress.

The Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19: Nutrition and Lifestyle Practices for Strengthening Host Defense.

The developing symptoms of COVID-19, as well as the progression of illness and fatality, are a clearly a function of the overall health status of the individual. Complex, chronic diseases such as obesity, hypertension, and diabetes are directly correlated with risk of disease severity and mortality. We explore lifestyle interventions that have specifically been demonstrated to strengthen host defense, reduce the probability and mitigate the severity of viral infection.

The Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19: Primer on SARS-CoV-2 Testing.

The ability to accurately identify whether individuals are at risk for, infected with, or have an immune response to SARS-CoV-2 is essential to address the COVID-19 pandemic from both a personal, clinical and a public health perspective. We investigate the clinical value of testing for the presence of viral RNA (a surrogate for infection) and the presence of antibodies (a proxy for immunity) to gather data to protect both individual and public health. We define the limitations and the practical clinical application of viral and serologic testing.

The Functional Medicine Approach to COVID-19: Virus-Specific Nutraceutical and Botanical Agents.

As the novel infection with SARS-CoV-2 emerges, objective assessment of the scientific plausibility of nutraceutical and botanical interventions for prevention and treatment is important. We evaluate twelve such interventions with mechanisms of action that modulate the immune system, impair viral replication, and/or have been demonstrated to reduce severity of illness. These are examples of interventions that, mechanistically, can help protect patients in the presence of the prevalent and infectious SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Evidence Supporting a Phased Immuno-physiological Approach to COVID-19 From Prevention Through Recovery.

This paper presents an evidence-based strategy for improving clinical outcomes in COVID-19. Recommendations are based on the phases of the disease, because optimal interventions for one phase may not be appropriate for a different phase. The four phases addressed are: Prevention, Infection, Inflammation and Recovery.

Association of the Functional Medicine Model of Care With Patient-Reported Health-Related Quality-of-Life Outcomes.

Importance: The incidence of chronic disease is increasing along with health care-related costs. The functional medicine model of care provides a unique operating system to reverse illness, promote health, and optimize function. The association between this model of care and patient's health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is unknown.

A Review of the Science of Colorful, Plant-Based Food and Practical Strategies for "Eating the Rainbow".

Over the past decades, thousands of published studies have amassed supporting recommendations to consume fruits and vegetables for physiological and psychological health. Newer research has emerged to suggest that these plant-based foods contain a plethora of not only vitamins and minerals, but perhaps, most importantly, phytonutrients. These phytonutrients have known pleiotropic effects on cellular structure and function, ultimately resulting in the modulation of protein kinases and subsequent epigenetic modification in a manner that leads to improved outcomes.

Personalized Nutrition: Translating the Science of NutriGenomics Into Practice: Proceedings From the 2018 American College of Nutrition Meeting.

Adverse reactions to foods and adverse drug reactions are inherent in product defects, medication errors, and differences in individual drug exposure. Pharmacogenetics is the study of genetic causes of individual variations in drug response and pharmacogenomics more broadly involves genome-wide analysis of the genetic determinants of drug efficacy and toxicity. The similarity of nutritional genomics and pharmacogenomics stems from the innate goal to identify genetic variants associated with metabolism and disease.