Dr. Erica Steele – So we’re gonna talk about integrative health versus functional medicine, and we’re gonna talk about the differences between the two. My name is Dr. Erica Steele. I’m a holistic doctor in family practice. I’m trained in both integrative medicine as well as functional medicine. I hold six degrees in my field, and they’re all in the natural healthcare space, and I am drugless.
Doctor, so thank you for tuning into my channel. So let’s talk about it. So functional medicine versus integrative medicine, they both work together as a team beautifully, and we’ll talk more about that. So integrative healthcare integrates the whole person. So it looks at all different aspects, but so does functional medicine.
Can look at all different aspects. I find integrative medicine does deal a little bit more with, let’s say, the psychology psychological of the person or the emotional aspects. They use some mind-body modalities, and functional medicine does too, but it’s heavier. The laboratory diagnostic sites.
So we’re really using lots and lots of labs to be able to evaluate. And there are not a lot of diagnostics that are in the Western world that we use to consider, let’s say, emotions. And so functional medicine does have its. Place because it’s looking at your nutrient deficiencies, accumulated toxins, overall organ health and function, and areas of prevention to get to the root causes of why a person may be unwell.
Physically. It doesn’t really do a lot in terms of the emotional side of the person or what mental aspects are the person. Some functional doctors can have additional training. But they often don’t have some of the required activity, so they’re just gonna look at the patient simply from a physical perspective.
Integrative medicine has more of a mind-body approach. It talks a little bit more about how mindset plays into it, a little bit more about the. Psychological of the person, but it also deals, it allows for depending on the person’s training and more drug therapy, surgery interventions, or procedures.
So an integrative healthcare provider, as long as they’re an allopath, has those particular modalities to offer and bring into the mix. Functional doctors can’t also have that additional training. So there are a lot of different providers. I see both of them as very similar but more of a modernized naturopathy.
So, naturopaths were the original nature cure. We believe that the body is whole. Prevention is number one. We also think Doctor is a teacher. And so we do spend a lot of time educating. And then secondary to that, traditional osteopathic doctors were more holistic when Dr.Andrews was still founded. Still, when they joined in with the Am A, they lost a lot of their, unfortunately, holistic practices. And then Allopaths, they are. Definitely trained more in the allopathic approaches like drugs and surgery, et cetera. However, over the last several years, they’ve been learning a lot more about natural health practices to integrate into their practices, which has been very exciting to see.
Functional medicine providers can be from various different back. They can be medical doctors, they can be osteopaths, they can be chiropractors. I often see a lot of chiropractors doing functional medicine practices and functional neurology, which is exciting to be able to help with various neurological conditions like Parkinson’s and dementia, et cetera.
And so they can help serve that patient population from a realistic perspective. And so functional medicine providers can also be. I’ve even seen some acupuncturists doing functional medicine. It’s a that’s a little bit of a stretch just because of their initial training. They’d have to go through some formalized practical medicine training programs.
To add more of the Eastern and Western approaches to their practices. And then, even I’ve seen some physical therapists start incorporating functional medicine into their routines. So hopefully, that helps to educate you about the differences between integrative health and functional medicine.
They work very closely together, and I love both modalities and use them in my practice as a board-certified naturopathic doctor. Thank you so much for tuning in. If you have any comments or questions, please share, subscribe, and send them below. Thank you.
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