@SusieQOH and @cashs_mom ... are a Functional Medicine Doctor and s Naturopath, one and the same?
Or what really is a FMD? Thanks!

Never heard of functional medicine doctor. What is it?

Daughter has a lot of food sensitivity relief from acupuncture.

My functional medicine doctor is an MD. She uses as many natural products as she can. Her go-to is not prescription meds. She has a different approach than most doctors and looks at things differently. She was one that figured out that my food sensitivities are based in a reaction to some toxins (much like an allergy) and don't come from my gut as the nutritionist I went to had originally thought. She spends a lot of time with me and asks lots of questions and watches closely when I answer. I think it's more intuitive and more whole body rather than treating things as isolated problems. Its also based more in figuring where the problem is originating and working with that rather than just treating the symptoms. There is a lot more participation on my part and not just the 'take this pill' approach.

Edit: Okay, here's the definition that the Institute for Functional Medicine gives "Functional medicine provides a framework to systematically identify and address the underlying processes and dysfunctions that are causing imbalance and disease in each individual. By understanding a patient’s genetic, environmental, and lifestyle influences, functional medicine clinicians create personalized interventions that restore balance, health, and well-being."

I can't necessarily be trusted with things like date sugar (much less dates) or even dried fruit, but for those that can, a dried apricot or mango slice can give a nice sweetness to a cup of tea. You just want the dried versions, not candied.

You can read up about it, I had good results adding Mexican/Canela cinnamon to my diet for glucose control. You want the correct type of cinnamon, most "American" is a different variety, like Costco is Saigon cinnamon and not right. For me it was easy to get in the Hispanic spices section of the grocery store/produce section. It was especially easy to add in coffee, I was using the coffee pot and not the Keurig and I would add in a stick or so to the pot. It didn't make it overly cinnamon for me, but added a richness and gave a flavor to coffee that was good instead of sugar. A teaspoon in a non-sweetened single serving applesauce could be a bit abrupt but gave me another way to supplement it when I was testing for personal effectiveness.

Thanks CashsMom ....so sounds kind of like both an MD and Naturopath combined??

Years ago I did go to a naturopath, and was impressed with how much time she spent with me.
I went for awhile, but with not seeing progress and somewhat feeling like I was an "experiment" ... I stopped!

All that in the rearview mirror, I keep feeling like I need something more or perhaps different from conventonal medicine !!

I know that feeling. I definitely needed something more than I was getting when I started on this journey. I spent over 2 years just trying to get help from a doctor and didn't get any. That's when I got a reference to a nutritionist who then recommended the functional medicine doctor I got to now. The nutritionist was very helpful and was, thankfully, knowledgeable enough to know when she wasn't getting to the root of my problems and recommended the doctor.

It takes a bit to get used to the way doctors that works outside the standard medical community work. It's a very different approach.

Natural is definitely healthier than synthetic and/or chemical
Chemical/synthetic foods that became popular within my lifetime
1. Coolaide
2. Soda
3. Gatoraide
4. Jello
5. Popsicles

What products do you think of?

Artificial sweetners are the first things that come to mind for me. Also, processed foods. Although they did exist back in the day, I don't think they were as common or as toxic as they are today.

Appreciate this discussion
 

Thanks for all this info and links. I am in a dietary overhaul right now.

I think the most toxic is "artificial" and "chemical". Followed by ultraprocessed.
Artificial color and flavors. Or any collective word about flavorings.
Chemical: if you can't pronounce it, it's probably chemical.
Ultraprocessed is natural foods that have been stripped down to "white" then nutrients added back.

Natural plant products have fiber. If no fiber it's probably ultraproccessed.
Another ultraprocessed is hydrogenated fats, think shortening.