Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Bringing Together Local Businesses and Neighbors of South Charlotte.
Good Neighbor Podcast South Charlotte
Ep. # 100 Exploring Functional Medicine with Alicja D. Sundblade: A Path to Root-Cause Healing and Holistic Wellness
Discover the world of functional medicine with Alicja D. Sundblade, owner of Be Well Functional Medicine in Matthews, South Charlotte. Alicja's journey from grappling with her own health challenges to pioneering a practice that emphasizes root-cause healing is both inspiring and insightful. Join us as Alicja shares how her innovative approach—utilizing advanced lab tests and personalized care—can transform the health of women, particularly those navigating perimenopause and menopause. Her story is a testament to the power of addressing foundational health issues for sustainable wellness.
In our conversation, Alicja reveals the passion that fuels her mission to promote holistic health and wellness beyond her practice. Learn about her engaging social media content, designed to empower individuals with self-care tips and tools, and explore the services available on BeWellFunctionalMed.com, including a complimentary root cause consultation. With her flexible virtual practice, Alicja is making functional medicine accessible to many, and her commitment to certified functional medicine sets her apart in the field. Tune in for an enriching dialogue that could redefine your approach to health and wellness.
Be Well Functional Medicine
Alicja D. Sundblade
(980) 485-6565
alicja@bewellfunctionalmed.com
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Regina League.
Speaker 2:Good morning everyone and welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast here in South Charlotte and this morning we are going to be speaking to Alicja Sunblade. She is the owner of Be Well Functional Medicine out of the Matthews area. Welcome, alicia.
Speaker 3:Thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. You do something that I find incredibly interesting. So Be Well, functional Medicine. You know functional medicine. You hear so much more, I know. The first time I heard it, maybe five or six years ago, I'm like what is that? And so what is functional medicine?
Speaker 3:So, in my mind, functional medicine is getting to the root cause of your issue, and in traditional medicine we tend to treat symptoms and not the disease. So in functional medicine we use advanced lab tests to get to the deeper cause of the problem what's really underneath all this inflammation that's causing all these symptoms and then provide a way to help you heal from that and then go on living your best life.
Speaker 2:That is super cool. How did you get into this?
Speaker 3:Well, I was frustrated with my own health issues that I wasn't really getting help for in the traditional medical system, which is horrible because I'm part of that system I work as an internal nurse practitioner and I looked at more holistic things to treat myself and just sort of stumbled into it and then used it for myself, decided I'm going to get certified so I can treat myself and my family in a more functional way, and then ended up turning it into a business because I thought this is too amazing to not share with everybody.
Speaker 2:Wow, and I guess part of what you do is the person's symptoms, your patient's symptoms, kind of all tie together. Is that what this, what you find? Symptoms kind of all tie together. Is that what you find?
Speaker 3:Yes, and there are symptoms like fatigue everybody's tired these days, trouble sleeping, stomach issues, brain fog, chronic pain, mood swings, hormonal imbalances, libido changes, skin changes they're all part of these underlying issues. Basically that when you get to the root cause which could be gut issues, could be hormonal things when we work on those programs, all of those symptoms tend to improve so talk about the process.
Speaker 2:I'm interested. Then what?
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So I do a root cause call, a free call where we chat for 15 ish minutes sometimes longer depending on the need where I get an idea of what you're going through and then decide if if I think that it's something I can help with and kind of go through the the options.
Speaker 3:I have a couple programs one that focuses more on gut health, one that focuses on gut health and hormone balance, depending on the need of the client. I'm really specializing in perimenopause and menopausal care because I feel that in traditional medicine, the medical establishment, we have just treated those women so poorly and given them so little options and it's very standard you have hot flashes here. Take an SSRI when really you have hot flashes because you're deficient in hormones and if we treat that we can fix a whole lot of things instead of just you know the hot flashes. So that was sort of I think what really propelled me to want to offer some kind of functional medicine program was just for us, especially for the hormonal balance, like we're just, in my opinion, doing it so poorly in traditional medicine.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's not a fun part of life either for us who have been through that. What sets you apart from other functional practices in the area?
Speaker 3:I think for one, the functional medicine is being thrown around and I think people are saying they're functional and they're not actually certified in functional medicine. So I am certified and I've gone through a lot of additional training to make sure that I know what I'm doing in this arena. I think me personally I have programs where I work very closely with my clients and I see them every two weeks ideally, and I sort of act, as you know, a wellness advisor, in some ways like a health coach, and help them make these sustainable changes. You know, because it's not just medicine, right, like we, we fix our bodies with movement and good food and good sleep and stress management, and these are things that we haven't been taught how to do. So I help my clients work through all those things, as well as the labs and the protocols and the supplements and that sort of thing, and I find that we have a lot more success when there's like a higher touch or higher frequency touch points with the clients.
Speaker 2:And I know you are a virtual practice, which I find is super cool, and you told me before we got live that you're able to really spend more time and be more frequently involved with your patients. Tell us about that.
Speaker 3:I think it gives me a lot more flexibility. For one, I can see anybody in North Carolina versus people that would be limited and can't come to town. I can see anybody in North Carolina versus people that would be limited and can't come to town. I think, too, because it's at home, it's, I can, you know, offer visits during lunchtime or in the evening and be more flexible to meet people where they're at. And I also think there's something you know it's great to meet people in person, but I also think sometimes, when we're doing these deep dives into personal health things, it's kind of nice to be in the comfort of your own home. You could be in your pajamas talking with me, you know so I like that, I love that idea, yeah.
Speaker 2:So what are some of the most common issues that people come to you? And I assume you do men as well.
Speaker 3:So I can do men, but it's really geared toward women. Okay, yeah, like I, I really have a heart for, um, women, because I just think we're underrepresented in medicine in general. The studies, all most of the studies that we use in reference, are mostly done on men, and I think men have a lot of resources to get their issues treated where women don't. So, um, like, especially in gut health, like if a man wants to get his gut back in gear, I can totally help with that. But as far as the hormones go for, right now I'm just working with women on doing bioidentical hormone replacement and supplementing.
Speaker 2:So lots of supplements. Gut health let's just talk about that one and expand on it a little bit. Gut health let's just talk about that one and expand on it a little bit. You know, talk to someone. I assume there's a questionnaire. You're talking about how you're feeling, and so what would that look like if you're able to narrow down to that as an issue?
Speaker 3:Yeah, so you know some basic things. I think most of us are not pooping once a day, and so we talk about how often are you going to the bathroom, what do your stools look like? And then there's a lot of symptoms that can come out of not having a healthy gut like you could be getting sick more frequently. Your immune system is basically housed in the gut, so if it's not working properly, you're going to be getting infections more often. If you have leaky gut which a lot of us do because our foods have a lot of toxins that eat away at that protective lining you're going to be absorbing toxins into the bloodstream and that's going to cause symptoms like fatigue, liver problems, skin rashes, brain fog, things like that.
Speaker 3:So I will go into sort of what the symptoms are and, honestly, for most people, the gut is such a great place to start because we've all probably taken antibiotics at some point. We've all done things in our lives to impact what's going on in the gut, and something that floored me, that I learned about when doing my training, was that one round of antibiotics can upset the microbiota in your gut for two years, and I thought oh my gosh, how many people are taking multiple rounds of antibiotics in a year. You know like we are just torturing our gut and we don't like. In medicine, we prescribe the antibiotics, but we're not often telling patients like you need to be replacing good bacteria after you're done with this, or you need to be eating these kinds of foods to help fix what we're about to kill with this antibiotic. So then, go again.
Speaker 3:Oh no, I was going to say. And then, if we're going to work on the gut, we have awesome testing in functional medicine that tells us what good bacteria is there, what bad bacteria is there? Do you have H pylori? Do you have parasites? How are your pancreatic enzymes working? Are there signs of inflammation? I mean, the gut tests are super cool.
Speaker 2:So what is leaky gut? I should know this, but I don't.
Speaker 3:Well it's, don't feel bad about it, cause this is another thing I think that kind of gets thrown around and it can be really confusing. But basically the gut lining has a very thin layer of epithelial cells that are there to protect what's in the gut from going into the bloodstream, because the blood, the bloodstream, is right next to the gut, cause that's how you absorb nutrients, right. So you have these junctions that are designed to let small molecules through, like your vitamins, your minerals, the things you want to absorb from what you're eating. But it can become degraded over time from various things, and those junctions get bigger and bigger, and so things that shouldn't be able to pass are now able to pass, so you're leaking toxins into the bloodstream.
Speaker 2:Wow, and what does that feel like? How do you know if you have a leaky gut?
Speaker 3:So you wouldn't right, like it's going to lead to a constellation of symptoms and a lot of times it's not even gut related, like having a leaky gut. You might not physically feel it in your gut, you might see it in brain fog, fatigue, you know hormonal imbalances, skin problems, stuff like that. So it's tricky because it's you know, you don't necessarily feel it.
Speaker 2:Okay, so that kind of testing is what blood?
Speaker 3:Yes, you can do blood tests. You can do stool tests for that, yeah.
Speaker 2:Well, I love that you can do all that you said from home the stool testing. Very very interesting. So I know insurance is not something that doesn't work for functional health and it kind of stuns me Talk to me about that.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 3:So you know I have my my own feelings about this and I really think that our traditional medical system is set up to take care of chronic diseases and promotes chronic disease in the sense that, like, we put you on medications, that then we have to follow up with you every three to six months and you can see it.
Speaker 3:We do what's called a preventative visit every year, but we're not really doing anything other than some cancer screenings. Right, we're not necessarily doing deep dives into your diet and lifestyle habits, and so I think, while we make it seem like we care about prevention, we don't. And in functional medicine we're optimizing things, optimizing your labs and getting at the root cause of the issue to clear that issue potentially for good. You know a lot of the treatments we do like we rebalance your gut, we kill off the bad stuff, repopulate it with good stuff and then you're good for years to come, until maybe you have to go on another antibiotic or something, or you know something else happens that might. We might have to rebuild after that, but I don't think insurance companies reward healing. I think it pays for them to keep us sick.
Speaker 2:So I yeah I thought of. You know, many of us see multiple doctors for different things and I'm wondering, you know, this kind of pulls everything under one person's eyeballs where you can look and say, hmm, I guess it's done well. You know, functional medicine can maybe keep you off of the medications eventually. Is that the goal?
Speaker 3:Yes, and I think a common misconception as well with functional versus traditional medicine is that they don't work together, right. That like, if you want to be holistic, you're going to see a functional provider and that's it. I very much differ. I think that they both work in tandem. I actually with my clients. They have to have a PCP that I can have a good working relationship with, or you know like I want to work with them to solve things. I think functional medicine is great for so many things, but, like, sometimes you need a dose of antibiotics for a sinus infection that just won't quit, or you know there's no functional treatment for a ruptured appendix. You have to have that removed, right? So I think there's a place for everybody and for me personally. I want to work alongside your. The other things you're doing Now, of course, the goal would be to get you as healthy as possible, so you're not developing diabetes, you're not developing hypertension, eating those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, it probably is a little bit scary. I'm sitting here thinking, oh, what foods would I have to give up and what lifestyle changes would I have to make?
Speaker 3:Yes, and I think that is one of the hardest things set smaller, manageable things, you know, so like. If you've never exercised, I might say well, let's start with taking a walk for 10 minutes outside three times this week, right? Or do it in your living room or just sit and extend your legs up in your chair for 10 minutes, something that feels really manageable For the diet. You know we're not going to overhaul it overnight. We're going to make smaller tweaks throughout that, you know, help get rid of the toxic burden and help transition you to a more whole foods diet. And something I tend to do is I'll pick a meal and say let's start with your breakfast, let's clean up breakfast, what do you typically like to eat? And then we'll troubleshoot what you know, what kind of changes can we make to get that more in line with with food that's going to make you feel your best?
Speaker 2:Yeah, too exciting. I love all this. It makes you feel like, wow, I want to jump into this myself and take better care of myself. Yeah, how do our listeners find you.
Speaker 3:Yeah, so I'm on Instagram at Be Well Functional Med. I'm on Facebook at Be Well Functional Medicine. I post there daily, just you know, tips and tricks, kind of things, and then I try to get videos out there frequently too about ways to up level and take better care of yourself. And then you can go to my website it's BeWellFunctionalMed. com and you can book a call with me there. I've got a little tab that says book. Now, if you're interested in working with me, that would be the best place to start. That would book that root cause call and we could chat and see if I'd be able to help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and that's a free consultation.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's free.
Speaker 2:That's wonderful. Yeah, to see if it's a good fit fit well. Thank you so much for joining us today, alicia. This is really, really interesting. I'd love to have you back to talk more thank you, it was a pleasure thank you for listening to the good neighbor podcast.
Speaker 1:To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpsouthcharlotte. com. That's gnPSouthCharlotte. com. That's GNPSouthCharlotte. com, or call 980-351-5719.