What is Functional Nutrition?

Functional Nutrition is the term I use to describe a set of very specific biological principles at work inside our bodies and in evidence in the natural world around us. It is also a very specific set of complementary dietary and lifestyle habits that, when practiced consistently, have the ability to restore normal functioning to the human body. Normal internal functioning is the first and most basic definition of health according to the rules of Functional Nutrition.

Here is a simple explanation I share with all my clients in the first few days of their Intestinal Regeneration Program .

The human body is a marvelously designed living organism with the ability to grow, regulate, repair, and defend itself when given organic quality, full spectrum, whole food nutrition.

This means that: A well-nourished body doesn't make mistakes . A well-nourished body is capable of protecting itself from sickness and disease and fully capable of producing all the symptoms of health: energy, flexibility, creativity, optimism, compassion, laughter, cooperation, vision, wisdom, and more. Creating a well-nourished body requires our personal commitment to self-healing, our conscious attention to the details in our diet and lifestyle, and our proactive participation in the habits that nourish us best. I call this approach to health, Functional Nutrition.

Here's how it works:

The quality of our physical health is determined by the quality of the life of our cells.

Each and every human body is composed of trillions and trillions of cells. Each cell is like a little factory. (Section 3.7) Each cell requires very specific nutrients or raw materials. Each cell produces products essential to our overall metabolism and health. Each cell produces toxic waste products that must be neutralized and eliminated on a continual basis. Our cells compose the tissues, which compose the organs, which compose the systems that make up the whole human body. Our cells constitute the biological foundation of our lives. There is nothing more important in the process of regaining, maintaining, or improving the quality of our physical health than taking proper care of our cells. Health is the result of the proper care of our cells.

Each cell continually synthesizes and dissolves structures and eliminates waste products. Tissues and organs replace their cells in continual cycles. There is growth, development, and evolution. The function of each cellular component is o participate in the production or transformation of other components within the cell and within the entire cellular network. In this way, the network continually makes itself. It is produced by its components and in turn produces those components. ( Fritjof Capra, The Web of Life [New York City: Doubleday, 1996], 159)

Every manifestation of the life of our tissues, organs and cells, our thoughts, our nerves, our affections, the cruelty, the ugliness, and the beauty of the universe, even its very existence depend upon the biochemical state of our blood and lymph; and these fluids depend upon the quality of our daily nutrition. Nutrition is synonymous with existence. (Alexis Carrel, Man The Unknown, 71)

When the cells of our body are functioning properly, our biological foundation is strong, and we thrive. When the cells of our body are not functioning properly, our biological foundation is weak, and we suffer. Much of this suffering is preventable and correctable through the daily practice of better and more complementary nutrition habits.

The proverbial “gaps” in everyone's biological foundation fall into three categories :

1. Nutrition Gaps
2. Information Gaps
3. Integrity Gaps

Nutrition Gaps are caused by eating too many junk foods and processed foods and not enough organic quality whole foods. Nutrition Gaps are caused by the inefficient processing and digesting of the foods we do consume. Nutrition Gaps are caused from the ineffective use of nutritional supplements, or the non-use of effective supplements. Nutrition Gaps are caused by the practice of too many insulting habits and not enough complementary habits in our diet and lifestyle. Nutrition Gaps show up in our biological foundations after years of nutritional deficiencies, toxic overload, dehydration, and stress.

Information Gaps are caused by the constant flow of misinformation from print, radio, television, internet, and other sources. Billions of advertising dollars try to persuade us to eat this food, or drink that beverage, or use this medicine. These billions of advertising dollars are corporate advertising dollars. These corporations have a binding mandate to generate profit, not human health. Put 100 health and nutrition “experts” in a room and you will get 100 different opinions about what constitutes the ideal human diet. What is the result of all this misinformation? Uncertainty. The constant flow of misinformation has caused a massive river of doubt. This uncertainty and doubt erodes our confidence and is at the root cause of so much suffering in our world today. Look at how much stress is caused by the uncertainty about what to eat and what not to eat and why. Do you think our ancestors a few generations ago were so constantly confused and set upon by so many experts about the connections between their food and their health? Not a chance. It is a travesty of unprecedented scope and scale that educated adult human beings are confused about what to eat and why. If this situation weren't so tragic, it would be funny.

Throughout history, most people have not been in conflict on a daily basis about what to eat and why. They may have suffered from a lack of food, but not from a lack of knowledge about what foods to eat and what foods to avoid. Food was food! By and large people ate what was available to them according to the harvest season, their specific geographic location, and their particular ethnic traditions and cuisine. That's the way it has been for at least the past ten thousand years, since the dawn of civilization. What we call civilization begins with the seasonal planting, growing, and harvest of whole grains, root vegetables, and other staple foods. Culture begins with agriculture.

Today, all of that has changed. Our modern scientific and multi-cultural marketplace of ideas, goods, and services has simply given us too many choices. Nobody seems capable of creating agreement on the topic of what to eat and why. This uncertainty runs contrary to one of our deepest and most basic of all human instincts and emotions: the desire to nurture ourselves and others through food. This uncertainty creates negative stress at a very deep level of our being. I believe it is a stress that rarely gets identified. As a result, it eats away at us, as all negative stress does, and we begin to manifest the ill-effects of a kind of strange internal erosion, leading to gaps in our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual foundations.

Integrity Gaps are caused when we actually know what to do to be healthier, but we don't do it! We know we should exercise more regularly. We know we should eat more slowly chew better, not eat late at night. We know we should not drink so much coffee and alcohol. Since we are weakened by the ill effects of Nutrition Gaps on the one hand and Information Gaps on the other, is it any wonder? It is difficult to maintain discipline and integrity in the area of diet and nutrition when you are feeling overfed, undernourished, misinformed, uncertain, stressed-out, and more than a little bit frustrated about the whole subject of nutrition and health.

The purpose of our work together in the days and weeks ahead is to learn what habits and influences in our diet and lifestyle have caused the gaps in our own biological foundation to occur, and then to take the corrective actions to restore them. By doing this we will make our biological foundations healthy and strong and whole again. This is the purpose of the Functional Nutrition approach to health. This is the program of intestinal regeneration described in this book. To facilitate this ongoing process of learning and doing we will focus our attention in two key areas:

1. Biological principles which regulate the functions of our physiology, and
2. The habits in our diet and lifestyle which either complement or insult these principles and basic functions.

Biological Principle Number One: Homeostasis

Homeostasis is the term which describes the dynamic mechanisms within the human body which maintain constant conditions and regulate all internal functions; the beating of our heart, the production of saliva, enzymes and hormones, the healing of cuts and bruises, the oxygenation of cells, the expiration of carbon dioxide from our lungs, the production of insulin and cholesterol, the ph of our blood, the peristaltic motions of our small and large intestines, the constancy of our internal body temperature, to name a few.

Homeostasis is the miracle of balance and harmony that exists inside every cell, tissue, organ and system of the human body. Homeostasis is the natural intelligence within our own body that knows exactly what to do, to get us well and keep us well. Homeostasis is most evident, most inspiring and perhaps, most astonishing when we observe the inner workings of our little cellular factories: our cells.

Our bodies; and every organ, tissue, and system within our bodies, build themselves from single cells, and renew themselves through the constant interchange of food, water and air. We can say that our bodies are like temples, or like houses, in that houses are made from bricks, and bodies are made from cells, but the comparison would fall far short of the miraculous truth. For our body is born from one cell, as if the house could be built from one brick…a magic brick that would set about manufacturing other bricks. These new bricks, without waiting for the architect’s drawings or the arrival of the brick-layers, would somehow assemble themselves and begin to form walls and floors and ceilings. These magical bricks would also metamorphose into window panes, roofing-slates, coal for heating, and water for the kitchen and bathroom. Our bodies develop by means such as those attributed to fairies in the tales told to children in bygone times. This magnificent construction of our bodies emanates from the unknowable wisdom inside each individual cell, which, to all appearances, possesses a knowledge of the future edifice and synthesizes from substances present in our blood and lymph, not only the building materials, but the workers themselves! (Alexis Carrel, Man the Unknown, 92)

We've learned a lot about cells since Alexis Carrel was looking down his microscope in 1935. “Unknowable wisdom inside each individual cell” is not a phrase we are accustom-ed to hearing from our current science and medical writers. The attitude is always; “We know so much, and what we don't know, we will soon.” As we collectively unravel the human genome and attempt other monumental projects, it might be a good idea to main-tain some humility. We may never know everything there is to know about the inner workings of cells. Then again, we may not have to. I see people every day heal them-selves from all kinds of “incurable” digestive disorders, without the slightest need to fully understand what is actually going on. Sometimes an accurate general description is enough, combined with a healthy dose of humility and some traditional awe. If anything in our lives deserves the adjective awesome , it would have to be in reference to our cells.

Our job is to cooperate with the miraculous cells inside our own body and to do the things that nourish us best. The principle of homeostasis teaches us that nothing is neutral. Everything we do, eat, drink, think, and say is either complementary to our homeostasis and health, or it is insulting, and actively destructive to our health.

I repeat: nothing is neutral. Everything is either complementary or insulting to the proper care, design, and function of the human body.

Knowing the difference between which influences in our lives are complementary and which influences are insulting is one of the most important things we will ever learn. Practicing the complementary habits and avoiding or minimizing the insulting habits is the surest path to the experience of better health in general and to the experience of intestinal regeneration in particular. In Section Two, I will describe in some detail the list I have compiled so far of the most important complementary and insulting habits. You will find this information in the section called: The Habits of Functional Nutrition. (Section 2.22) It also appears in this book as: Russell's Rules for Optimal Digestion .

Complementary Habit Number One: Be Proactive!

Being proactive means taking more complete personal responsibility for our own actions and our own results. It is the most important choice we can make, and we need to make it and remake it, every day of our lives. I believe it is easier to make this choice and remake this choice with a deeper and clearer understanding and appreciation of how the human body works. In particular how cells work, as we have just seen. Aren't the cells of the human body amazing? Of course they are! When the fog of confusion and uncertainty hanging over our own personal river of doubt clears, we find ourselves not only knowing what to do to nourish ourselves best, but eager and happy to do it. We know what the alternatives are! Been there. Done that. Right?

“I don't think what people are looking for is the meaning of life. I think what people are looking for is the experience of being more fully alive!”

Joseph Campbell , The Power of Myth, 1986

Being proactive is a cornerstone of the Functional Nutrition paradigm. Functional Nutrition is a reference to the foods, supplements, and habits that, working together, restore normal physiological functions in our body. This results in the experience of vitality, energy, and health. Functional Nutrition reminds us that no one will ever know your own body better than you. Being proactive means that we live our lives in a constant spirit of experimentation and choice; learning by doing. What we need to learn are the complementary habits that nourish us best. What we need to do is to practice them consistently and gradually, master them. Health is the result of this exciting and never-ending process. Your successful Intestinal Regeneration Program depends upon your understanding of and your commitment to this transformational educational process.

Functional Nutrition and the Period of Adjustment

Rome was not built in a day. Your digestive system did not get into its current condition in the past 24 hours. It has taken months and in some cases years for all your insulting habits to catch up with you and manifest into your current condition and symptoms. You will not be able to heal yourself from these symptoms overnight. However, it will not take you years either, and in most cases, not even months. Most of my clients report serious and dramatic improvement within the first few days of following my suggestions as outlined in this Intestinal Regeneration Program . However, you must understand something very important before you get started. Just because your symptoms may lessen in intensity or even disappear altogether, doesn't mean you have completely healed yourself . Healing takes time. Cellular regeneration takes time. Give yourself at least three to six months on this program and you will be well on your way to an entirely regenerated digestive system that will loyally serve you disease-free for the rest of your life, as long as you continue to cooperate and provide your digestive system the things that it needs to function normally…as long as you serve your digestive system the things that nourish it best!

Exercising your proactive nutrition muscles will make you healthy and strong. There is no question about this. The question you need to ask yourself is this: What condition are my proactive nutrition muscles in right now? Here's what I mean. When you upgrade your nutritional status by implementing this Intestinal Regeneration Program , you simultaneously initiate a biological period of adjustment inside every cellular factory in the body. This causes your whole body to change, as in improve and get better. The cells of your body will start functioning better. This means that metabolic and other toxins are purged, cellular damage is repaired, and normal productivity is restored. Better health results when normal cellular functioning returns. This of course is the whole point.

If your proactive nutrition muscles are already very healthy and strong, you probably will not be reading this book! If your proactive nutrition muscles are new, or relatively unexercised, you could experience some minor physical discomfort until the transitional cleansing and repair work is complete. This could last for as little as a few hours, to a few days, or even a few weeks. This is what I call the biological period of adjustment .

The normal functions of detoxification, cleansing, and repair going on inside the cells of our body become more effective and sometimes more noticeable when we improve our own nutritional status. This phenomenon is completely normal and very desirable. Practicing more complementary habits, especially the habit of proper daily hydration will decrease the time and minimize any discomfort during the period of adjustment.

This biological period of adjustment I am describing is sometimes referred to generally as a process of detoxification and cleansing. I prefer to use the term period of adjustment because although detoxification and cleansing are going on inside our cells, they are not the only things going on inside our cells. Restoration, regeneration, repair, and healing are going on as well. Also, some people panic when they hear the term detoxification .

Some writers and practitioners use the term healing crisis to describe this period of adjustment. I don't like that term either. The crisis is over, the minute you decide to do the things that nourish you best. This period of adjustment represents the most important opportunity your body has had in years, perhaps ever; why refer to it as a crisis?

Remember: A well-nourished body doesn't make mistakes. Be patient. Take one step at a time. Your body is a garden. Think of all the work that goes on underground before we see those very first green shoots of spring. The period of adjustment is like spring cleaning going on inside your body. When complete you will look and feel like a new person, but during the process you may look and feel like somebody else entirely! What-ever you experience, it will all be the result of better nutritional choices and better overall internal functioning. Remember: A well-nourished body doesn't make mistakes.

Imagine that.

These excerpts are from the book; Healing Digestive Illness by Russell Mariani pages 38-48.