Functional medicine is a personalized, patient-centered approach to healthcare that focuses on identifying and addressing the root causes of chronic illness. It considers a patient's uniqueness to create a customized treatment plan that addresses the underlying causes of their health issues.
Traditional medicine typically focuses on treating symptoms rather than identifying and addressing the root causes of illness. On the other hand, functional medicine takes a more integrative approach, looking at the whole person rather than just the disease. It also emphasizes the importance of diet, lifestyle, and environmental factors in promoting optimal health. Both hold significance in different ways.
Following the functional medicine model, Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) is the “development, education, and oversight of a custom, results-driven, and sustainable diet and lifestyle program” to solve specific health goals. MNT is helpful and important to all individuals, but it is vital to a patient trying to overcome health concerns or metabolic imbalances. Nutrition and MNT effectively support hormone, immune, and mood balance.
MNT is fundamentally a Personalized Nutrition protocol created for an individual. This process includes a detailed assessment of past and current eating habits, lab work, medical history, physician recommendations, lifestyle, and other factors. A patient needs to understand how food can work as medicine to help the body heal and become optimized.
A nutritionist providing MNT from the functional medicine approach is called a “Functional Nutritionist.”
The amount of time it takes to see results with functional medicine and nutrition therapy varies depending on the individual-specific health issues and the commitment of said individual to embrace the required lifestyle changes. Some patients may see improvements in their symptoms within a few weeks, while others may take several months to see significant changes. The critical thing to remember is that functional medicine is a life-long approach to health and wellness, and it often takes time and patience to achieve lasting results.
Functional medicine can address a wide range of health issues, including digestive disorders, metabolic and endocrine diseases, hormonal imbalances, chronic pain, and many others, such as challenges with fertility. It's particularly effective for chronic and complex health conditions that have not responded well to traditional medical treatments.
When working with a functional nutritionist, you will play an active role in achieving your desired health and wellness goals. You may learn which foods most benefit you or even learn new skills, such as meal planning methods, new ways to cook your foods, mindful grocery shopping, and more. Nutrition therapy can be an essential supplemental therapy in managing (and possibly reversing) chronic, lifestyle-related disease.
A functional nutritionist is their patients' health advocate and accountability partner while working together.
The short answer is no. You do not need a specific health diagnosis to work with a functional medicine or nutrition practitioner. Functional medicine and MNT are particularly effective for patients who have not been able to get a precise diagnosis of their health challenges or have been told that their symptoms are "normal" or simply it is all "in their head." Functional medicine practitioners' training is based on finding the underlying causes of your symptoms, regardless of whether you have a specific diagnosis.
Therapeutic carbohydrate restriction refers to dietary interventions measured in absolute amounts (grams/day) that fall below 130 gr. of dietary carbohydrate per day, which is the U.S. Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) for carbohydrates, according to the Institute of Medicine (2005). There are different levels of carbohydrate restriction based on existing protocols or defined in the literature:
Very low-carbohydrate ketogenic (VLCK) diet: recommends 30 gr. or less of dietary carbohydrate per day with no deliberate reduction of calories.
Low-carbohydrate ketogenic (LCK) diet: 30-50 gr. of dietary carbohydrate per day with no deliberate reduction of calories.
Reduced-carbohydrate (RC) diet: 50-130 gr. of dietary carbohydrate per day. Deliberate restriction of calories may or may not be recommended.
Moderate-carbohydrate, calorie-restricted (MC-CR): 45-65% of daily calories come from carbohydrates. In most cases, total calorie intake is restricted to maintain energy balance or achieve a deficit for weight loss.
Leandro Pucci Nutrition is primarily a virtual practice based in Los Angeles, California. Currently, most visits are conducted online through its HIPAA-compliant telehealth platform. Telehealth allows me to serve patients across the US and the world, following each state's licensure regulations for MNT.
Yes. Mindful personalized supplement recommendations to serve individuals' needs are among the interventions to help you reach your health goals. A lot of time and analysis goes into all supplement recommendations. Also, you will gain access to a convenient online dispensary, which offers healthcare’s best supplements and wellness products shipped right to your door. Products are safer and more effective with higher ingredient, storage, and shipping standards. You can stay on track with refill reminders that are timed and personalized to the recommended dosages. As an added benefit, you will receive 15% off any time you order any products. You can click on the Fullscript or WholeScripts buttons on the “My Approach” page to create your account and start saving.
Dr. Pucci is a contracted provider for AETNA PPO, EPO, and HMO plans.
For all other major health insurance companies; however, out-of-network reimbursement may cover Nutrition Services with some PPO-type policies. You must contact your insurance to find out if they cover Preventative and/or Medical Nutrition Therapy (MNT) services. If so, you can request a Superbill after each session to submit for possible reimbursement.
Depending on your plan, you can also use a health savings account (HSA) or flexible spending account (FSA) to pay for nutrition services, labs, and supplements. Credit card payments are accepted, and convenient payment plans are also available.
Some insurance policies may partially cover the specialized functional laboratory tests we recommend in our wellness plans. Affordable cash-based prices are also available for these labs.
Our approach for working with new patients is through a program. Insuring a sequence of follow-up sessions is vital to address all nutrition-related aspects of your well-being and help you increase success in achieving your health goals. Moreover, nutrition and lifestyle modifications happen slowly and require proper guidance and accountability.
You must request a cancellation at least 24 hours before your scheduled appointment. If you fail to notify the office, you will be charged a cancellation fee and forfeit that session.
Moreover, if all sessions are not used within the allotted time of the program, you will forfeit those remaining sessions unless we have agreed on any changes otherwise.
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