January 14, 2025 • 20 mins
In this episode, Dr. Alfred Alessi introduces the concept of the Root Cause Revolution, emphasizing the significance of addressing the underlying causes of health issues rather than merely focusing on symptoms. He critiques the limitations of symptom-focused care and highlights how functional medicine provides a comprehensive approach to common conditions. Through patient stories, the episode illustrates the interconnectedness of body systems and the need for advocacy and change in healthcare. Dr. Alessi shares actionable steps for achieving better health. A message from Fentik Nutrition is featured. The episode concludes with a summary and a preview of what's to come in the next installment.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
The problem with, symptom focused care is thatit's not patient focused.
The doctor is often not even focusing on theperson in front of them.
They're looking at a panel of blood work.
They're looking at whatever paperwork they got,and and they're making a diagnosis, and they're
prescribing something before they even hear thewhole story.
Welcome to Health Decode, your number onesource for real health information with your
(00:22):
host, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
Alright.
Welcome back to episode 2 of the Health Decodedpodcast.
I'm your host, doctor Alfred Alessi.
Mine is my co host, Matt Tack today.
I'm just running a solo show, and what we'regonna talk about today is what we like to call
(00:43):
the root cause revolution and why Band Aidfixes do not work in health care and in
optimally getting you better.
Right?
If we wanna focus on symptom based care, thenband aid fixes are what we do.
If we want to talk about health, longevity, andultimately getting people out of pain and out
of disease, they don't work.
(01:03):
And this is why we need to get to the rootcause.
Now before we get into that, I just wanna thankyou for joining us.
I wanna recap kind of what we talked about lastweek.
We talked about our mission and why we're doingthis podcast, why we called it Health Decoded.
And the whole goal here is to sift through thenonsense, to sift through the noise that is so
(01:25):
prevalent in today's society.
There's a million people shouting things atyou, telling you things, telling you this,
telling you that.
And we wanna just present facts.
We wanna present ideas that are based onscience, based on antidote, and ultimately will
work for you.
That being said, everybody's biodiversity isdifferent.
Everybody has different things that help them,different things that, will work for them long
(01:50):
term.
However, there are very structurally soundmethods and protocols that are based on science
that can help people.
And so our whole goal here is to sift throughthat, provide you with high level content and
action items that you can take today to getcloser to a state of health and well-being.
(02:12):
And so if you didn't hear our first episode, goback and listen to episode 1.
You'll meet myself and Matt, and you'll be ableto hear about what we're doing and all the cool
things we have going on within our clinics andjust on the show in general.
Please go to Alessi functionalhealth.com.
Sign up for our newsletter.
That's how you're gonna stay in the know withthe show and know when every episode's coming
(02:34):
out every Tuesday and what we talked about, andyou'll get a little insight as to what's going
on.
As always, if you find value, please share thiswith someone.
Subscribe to the channel so you don't missanything, and give us feedback.
We love reviews.
We love honest feedback so that we can know howwe can best serve you.
We also want to hear from you.
We want this to be a patient and, driven byyou.
(02:57):
So a patient driven podcast where you tell uswhat you need.
You ask us questions.
You can send them to ask at Alessi f x healthdot com, and we'll answer those questions live
on the show for you to hear.
Now why does root cause medicine matter?
And so let's get into the nuts and bolts here.
(03:18):
And the truth is that chronic conditions inthis country are on the rise.
In fact, about 90% of health care costs aredriven by chronic disease.
That is a staggering number and something thatcan be drastically reduced through preventative
medicine, through focusing on lifestyle,focusing on the things that are making us sick
(03:39):
and not just giving out medications willy nillyfor something that can be treated or modified
through lifestyle intervention.
And so the concept of root cause medicine isreally about the specifics.
And, you know, so the the the problem with,symptom symptom focused care is that it's not
(04:01):
patient focused.
The doctor is often not even focusing on theperson in front of them.
They're looking at a panel of blood work.
They're looking at whatever paperwork they got,and they're making a diagnosis, and they're
prescribing something before they even hear thewhole story.
They rarely ask what you're eating.
They rarely ask what you're doing for physicalactivity.
They rarely ask how much sleep you're getting.
(04:23):
They rarely ask how stressed are you?
What does your life look like?
Do you have 5 kids that are crazy toddlers athome and trying to balance 2 jobs and this and
that?
They don't ask that kind of stuff.
Now I'm not putting a blanket over every singleconventional western medicine doctor because
there are some really good doctors.
I'm just saying that this is not the standard,and this is not what we're seeing.
(04:47):
And so the concept is that it is highly symptomfocused and not patient focused.
And so with a stat, like, 90% of health carecosts being driven by chronic disease, we need
to do better as a country and as a whole.
And so what is the band aid approach?
It's basically what I just said.
They focus on what are your symptoms and whatcan I prescribe a medication for?
(05:10):
So if you have headaches, what's the bestmedicine for that?
There's basically an algorithm that is taughtto doctors that they can take your symptom,
plug it into a database, use some of theknowledge they have from school, and say, x y z
medicine will help you.
What they fail to realize is that there areside effects from these medications that then
(05:31):
cause other things.
And then what is the symptom for that?
And what is the medication for that?
And this is where people get stuck in therabbit hole of western medicine because it's
not specific enough to a person.
Everybody is bio unique.
Everybody is bio individual is a better way tosay it.
And focusing and taking the time with eachpatient is now a lost art.
(05:55):
And so it's very, very common that I seepatients in my clinic who have been through the
western medicine rabbit hole.
They've been through the weeds of it all.
5, 6, 7 different doctors appointments just tocome out with hardly any answers and zero
solutions or at least zero solutions for longterm care.
It's basically short term things that doctorsthen are just saying, here, go ahead and take
(06:19):
this, and we'll see you in a few months to seeif it works.
What we focus on in our clinics is getting tothe root cause.
And so for the example of something like highblood pressure, high blood pressure is a
symptom or a sign of something else.
It is not the problem.
(06:40):
The high blood pressure is coming fromsomething else.
Do you have chronic stress?
Do you have adrenal fatigue or insufficiency?
Are there things going on with the way thatyour body's fluid dynamics operate with inside?
Are you dehydrated?
Right?
Those are root causes that if addressed canreverse high blood pressure.
(07:03):
Things like chronic pain.
Chronic pain is often a diagnosis I hear.
Oh, the doc said I have chronic pain.
The doctor just gave you a diagnosis of whatyou told them.
You told him you were in pain for the last 5years.
He said you have chronic pain.
That's not an answer, in my opinion.
That is him repeating back to you.
So chronic pain is a sign or a symptom.
(07:26):
Now how do we find out what is the root causeof that?
Is there high inflammation within the body?
Is there something like rheumatoid arthritisattacking the joints due to an autoimmune
condition?
Maybe caused by some type of gut dysbiosis orhyperintestinal permeability.
These are things that we call root causeproblems.
(07:49):
If your gut is hyper permeable and it isletting an adjusted proteins into the
bloodstream, the body can confuse these forproteins that make up the joints or proteins
that make up your thyroid.
And the body can start to attack itself, andthis is called autoimmunity.
The autoimmune condition is not the root cause.
(08:11):
Do you get what I'm saying?
I hope this is making sense.
And so some of the consequences that we we seewhen we ignore root causes and we focus on
symptoms is honestly to hit these hidden coststhat the condition tends to get worse over
time.
People tend to get dependent on medicationsbecause the body is smart and the body starts
(08:33):
to realize, okay.
This works a little bit, but I need more now toget the same effect.
I need more now to get the same effect.
And so over time, we need to increase doses.
We need to try different medications.
We need to balance the side effects of onemedication with another.
And all of this can lead to a reduced qualityof life and longevity.
(08:54):
And so how does functional medicine take adifferent approach?
Well, exactly the way I just said.
We focus on identifying and addressing the rootcause of these issues.
Now even something like inflammation, which isa buzzword thrown around, even inflammation is
not a root cause.
It can be a cause, but inflammation is beingcaused by something.
(09:18):
Right?
There is some type of dysfunction within thebody that is causing chronic inflammation.
And we're gonna get to this in our next episodeabout decoding inflammation and what
inflammation is.
Really, inflammation is your body's response tosomething, an infection, an injury.
It's a good thing, and we should have it.
That's how we're alive.
(09:38):
That's how we've lasted this long as a societyand as a as a race and a species.
However, chronic inflammation is not normal andis something that must be addressed.
And so what could be a root cause of somethinglike chronic inflammation?
It could be toxicity, an overload of toxins inthe body.
(09:59):
It could be a dysbiotic gut that we have toomuch bad bacteria, not enough good bacteria
causing an imbalance.
It could be something like spinal misalignmenton nerves that is leading to dysfunction of the
nervous system and the communication betweenthose nerves.
And so it's really important that we focus onthe interconnectedness of our body.
(10:23):
How one issue can cascade into another becausewe're not just a heart connected to a liver,
connected to a gut, connected to a musclesystem.
We are a whole person.
Right?
And so if you're looking at the whole person,you need to focus on the entire person
themself.
And that's what functional medicine does.
A really good example of this is a patient thatI saw in my office, and she would be cool with
(10:49):
me telling this story, so I'm gonna tell it.
I won't use her name.
But she had been to multiple gastric doctors,gastrointestinal doctors, even
endocrinologists.
She was fed up.
She she wasn't getting any relief, any results,And they basically said, well, we think you
have high stomach acid.
Here's this.
And they gave her some proton pump inhibitors,which made her feel worse.
(11:12):
They said, oh, well, if you feel worse, that'sjust that's just how it is.
She came into my office, referred to me from afriend of mine who's a chiropractor because
we've helped tons of people with gut gutissues, these kind of problems.
It turned out she didn't have high stomachacid.
She had low stomach acid due to an imbalance ofbacteria in her small intestine.
(11:35):
All it took was us to run a stool test to seewhat the balance of her bacteria looked like.
Very simple, noninvasive test.
Collect a sample of stool, send it to the lab,they give you the results.
Very specific test, actually.
However, none of the other doctors in theconventional medicine thought to do that
because it lies outside of the normal protocolthat they have.
(11:57):
They are also very much run by the insurancecompany and what they can do.
And And so if the insurance company doesn'tcover it, they don't do it.
And so I think that's a massive piece realquick to tangent is that when you wanna get
better, when you want to improve your health,heal disease, you need to be your own advocate.
(12:18):
And the insurance company is not gonna do itfor you.
Even the doctors aren't gonna do it for you.
I cannot care more about your health than youdo.
And so on our show and in our clinics, we areproponents of your health is your
responsibility.
We're here to guide you.
You're the hero in the journey.
We are the guide.
Right?
We give you the information.
We teach you what you can do.
(12:39):
Ultimately, you have to do it.
We can't go home and eat healthy for you.
We can't go home and exercise for you.
And so when you can start to make that shift inyour life, you will see night and day change in
the way that you operate and in your health.
And so back to the story, we helped thispatient to balance her gut, to remove and detox
the bad, to reinoculate with probiotics andhealthy gut bacteria.
(13:05):
And then we taught her what foods to avoid andwhat foods to use.
And basically using food as medicine in thissituation.
4 months later, she went through this entireprotocol, symptom free.
She's back to eating things that she wasn'table to eat before, and she's doing amazing.
And she shouts from the rooftops to all herfriends what we did for her because we took the
(13:28):
time to sit with her.
I spent an hour with her on her first visit.
Got to know her.
Got to know what was going on.
The frustrations in her story, and I really duginto it.
And so I highly recommend if you're frustrated,you find a doctor like that.
You find a doctor who's gonna get on the samepage as you and be on your level.
And if you wanna reach out to us, please do.
(13:48):
This is what we love to do.
And we are not a clinic who wants to keeppatients on long term.
We want to get you back to health, empower youto take your health into your own hands.
And then, like, the mother bird sets you freeand let you ultimately determine your future.
And then if you need us again, we're here tohelp.
So please go to Alessi functional health dotcom.
(14:11):
And if you need, please book a consultation.
Happy to get on the phone with you.
Happy to have you come in and just hear how wecan best serve you.
And so, ultimately, we also need to start toradicalize a change in traditional health care.
Start thinking of things differently.
Not what can my insurance cover, but what isout there.
(14:34):
Because so many people are limited by whattheir insurance will cover for them that they
don't even think outside of the box, And theythey hold themselves back from ultimately
getting to a state of health.
And so I wanna be here to tell you that itdoesn't have to be that way.
We can really make a shift together if we startto promote these kind of topics, talk about
(14:59):
this stuff, and ultimately educate.
And that's what we are here to do.
And so please go to Alessifunctionalhealth.com.
Sign up for our newsletter.
We release a newsletter every week and oftentwice a week to keep you updated, keep you
informed, keep you in the loop on what we'redoing here in the clinics.
(15:21):
And just in general on the podcast, pleasesubscribe to the show.
If you found any value and stay tuned.
We are gonna be having some really cool guestscoming on the show soon.
We're gonna be relaunching some older episodesthat we've shot that had some really great
content to kind of reinoculate you with withwhat we talked about.
And we want to include you in this mission.
(15:44):
We want you to be an active participant in whatwe're doing.
So, please, I encourage you to send yourquestions to ask at Alesi fxhealth.com, and we
will answer them live on the show.
If you don't want us to shout out your name,that's fine.
We'll keep it anonymous, but you will be ableto listen and hear your health questions
answered.
(16:05):
And so what can we do today?
Right?
We talk about action items and what we can doto make a step in the right direction.
Well, today, you can start thinking of yourselfas a whole, and you can stop thinking of your
symptoms.
And what you can do is also take a step in theright direction by seeking guidance, seeking
(16:26):
help.
If you have something that's been plaguing youor holding you back, you've been to doctors,
you've been through the gamut of Google andsearched and searched and haven't found any
answers.
Look into functional medicine.
Find a doctor that you align with.
Find a doctor who will listen to you.
(16:46):
And, ultimately, a doctor who's gonna give youthe tools to make this change for yourself.
And so, again, if we can help, we would loveto.
Lesseefunctionalhealth.com.
I want to also quickly talk about some of ourpartnerships.
1 in particular, a sports nutrition company,Fentik Nutrition.
(17:08):
Fentik Nutrition is our flagship sponsor rightnow, and we have an affiliate code with them.
A lessee 15 will get you 15% off.
The reason we partnered with them is they havethe same mission as us to empower and to
educate.
And also, they don't use any artificialanything in their products.
They have an amazing pre and intro workoutproduct.
(17:31):
They have an awesome protein powder to fill thegaps on where you might be lacking protein.
It's plant based, delicious, and 0 artificialsweeteners, artificial colors, or artificial
additives.
Everything is sourced from the highest level.
And the owners, Taylor and his wife areamazing.
(17:51):
They are family people.
They are dedicated to their clients, and theyalways do the right thing.
So we just wanna shout them out.
Please go try them out if you like using sportsnutrition for fueling your workouts or your
recovery.
Centic nutrition.
Use code Alessi 15 to get 15% off.
Now just in summary, we talked about why it'simportant to move beyond Band Aid fixes and
(18:15):
look at the root cause because this is how youcan set yourself up for success.
You can take these things and educate yourfamily.
And so I want to encourage you now to takesmall steps.
Start tracking your symptoms.
Get a journal.
Start tracking your foods in correlation tothese symptoms.
Every time you eat x, you get y symptom.
(18:36):
Or every time you eat this, you get that.
Every time you get shorter amount of sleep, youfeel this.
Every time you get stressed out or anxious, youfeel this.
Start writing these things down and look fortrends.
Look for where you may be having these problemsthat you're unable to identify before but now
(18:58):
can make a correlation to.
So I wanna thank you for listening.
I want to tell you that our next episode isgonna be a great one.
We're gonna be talking about decodinginflammation and how if you have chronic
inflammation leading to chronic pain, leadingto any kind of host of diseases, listen up
because that episode is gonna be chocked fullof information.
(19:21):
I wanna thank you for being part of ourcommunity.
Again, if you want more information, sign upfor our newsletter and stay tuned.
As always, I'm doctor Alessi.
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember yourhealth is in your hands.
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded,where we break down the truth about all things
(19:43):
health and empower you to take charge of yourwell-being.
If you found value in today's episode, pleasesubscribe, leave a review, and share it with
someone who needs to hear this.
For more resources and personalized support,visit us atalesifunctionalhealth.com, and sign
up for our newsletter.
To hear your questions answered live on theshow, send them to ask atalesifxhealth.com.
(20:07):
That's ask atalesifxhealth dotcom.
Until next time.
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember,your health is in your hands.
The problem with, symptom focused care is thatit's not patient focused.
The doctor is often not even focusing on theperson in front of them.
They're looking at a panel of blood work.
They're looking at whatever paperwork they got,and and they're making a diagnosis, and they're
prescribing something before they even hear thewhole story.
Welcome to Health Decode, your number onesource for real health information with your
(00:22):
host, doctor Alessi and Matt Tack.
Alright.
Welcome back to episode 2 of the Health Decodedpodcast.
I'm your host, doctor Alfred Alessi.
Mine is my co host, Matt Tack today.
I'm just running a solo show, and what we'regonna talk about today is what we like to call
(00:43):
the root cause revolution and why Band Aidfixes do not work in health care and in
optimally getting you better.
Right?
If we wanna focus on symptom based care, thenband aid fixes are what we do.
If we want to talk about health, longevity, andultimately getting people out of pain and out
of disease, they don't work.
(01:03):
And this is why we need to get to the rootcause.
Now before we get into that, I just wanna thankyou for joining us.
I wanna recap kind of what we talked about lastweek.
We talked about our mission and why we're doingthis podcast, why we called it Health Decoded.
And the whole goal here is to sift through thenonsense, to sift through the noise that is so
(01:25):
prevalent in today's society.
There's a million people shouting things atyou, telling you things, telling you this,
telling you that.
And we wanna just present facts.
We wanna present ideas that are based onscience, based on antidote, and ultimately will
work for you.
That being said, everybody's biodiversity isdifferent.
Everybody has different things that help them,different things that, will work for them long
(01:50):
term.
However, there are very structurally soundmethods and protocols that are based on science
that can help people.
And so our whole goal here is to sift throughthat, provide you with high level content and
action items that you can take today to getcloser to a state of health and well-being.
(02:12):
And so if you didn't hear our first episode, goback and listen to episode 1.
You'll meet myself and Matt, and you'll be ableto hear about what we're doing and all the cool
things we have going on within our clinics andjust on the show in general.
Please go to Alessi functionalhealth.com.
Sign up for our newsletter.
That's how you're gonna stay in the know withthe show and know when every episode's coming
(02:34):
out every Tuesday and what we talked about, andyou'll get a little insight as to what's going
on.
As always, if you find value, please share thiswith someone.
Subscribe to the channel so you don't missanything, and give us feedback.
We love reviews.
We love honest feedback so that we can know howwe can best serve you.
We also want to hear from you.
We want this to be a patient and, driven byyou.
(02:57):
So a patient driven podcast where you tell uswhat you need.
You ask us questions.
You can send them to ask at Alessi f x healthdot com, and we'll answer those questions live
on the show for you to hear.
Now why does root cause medicine matter?
And so let's get into the nuts and bolts here.
(03:18):
And the truth is that chronic conditions inthis country are on the rise.
In fact, about 90% of health care costs aredriven by chronic disease.
That is a staggering number and something thatcan be drastically reduced through preventative
medicine, through focusing on lifestyle,focusing on the things that are making us sick
(03:39):
and not just giving out medications willy nillyfor something that can be treated or modified
through lifestyle intervention.
And so the concept of root cause medicine isreally about the specifics.
And, you know, so the the the problem with,symptom symptom focused care is that it's not
(04:01):
patient focused.
The doctor is often not even focusing on theperson in front of them.
They're looking at a panel of blood work.
They're looking at whatever paperwork they got,and they're making a diagnosis, and they're
prescribing something before they even hear thewhole story.
They rarely ask what you're eating.
They rarely ask what you're doing for physicalactivity.
They rarely ask how much sleep you're getting.
(04:23):
They rarely ask how stressed are you?
What does your life look like?
Do you have 5 kids that are crazy toddlers athome and trying to balance 2 jobs and this and
that?
They don't ask that kind of stuff.
Now I'm not putting a blanket over every singleconventional western medicine doctor because
there are some really good doctors.
I'm just saying that this is not the standard,and this is not what we're seeing.
(04:47):
And so the concept is that it is highly symptomfocused and not patient focused.
And so with a stat, like, 90% of health carecosts being driven by chronic disease, we need
to do better as a country and as a whole.
And so what is the band aid approach?
It's basically what I just said.
They focus on what are your symptoms and whatcan I prescribe a medication for?
(05:10):
So if you have headaches, what's the bestmedicine for that?
There's basically an algorithm that is taughtto doctors that they can take your symptom,
plug it into a database, use some of theknowledge they have from school, and say, x y z
medicine will help you.
What they fail to realize is that there areside effects from these medications that then
(05:31):
cause other things.
And then what is the symptom for that?
And what is the medication for that?
And this is where people get stuck in therabbit hole of western medicine because it's
not specific enough to a person.
Everybody is bio unique.
Everybody is bio individual is a better way tosay it.
And focusing and taking the time with eachpatient is now a lost art.
(05:55):
And so it's very, very common that I seepatients in my clinic who have been through the
western medicine rabbit hole.
They've been through the weeds of it all.
5, 6, 7 different doctors appointments just tocome out with hardly any answers and zero
solutions or at least zero solutions for longterm care.
It's basically short term things that doctorsthen are just saying, here, go ahead and take
(06:19):
this, and we'll see you in a few months to seeif it works.
What we focus on in our clinics is getting tothe root cause.
And so for the example of something like highblood pressure, high blood pressure is a
symptom or a sign of something else.
It is not the problem.
(06:40):
The high blood pressure is coming fromsomething else.
Do you have chronic stress?
Do you have adrenal fatigue or insufficiency?
Are there things going on with the way thatyour body's fluid dynamics operate with inside?
Are you dehydrated?
Right?
Those are root causes that if addressed canreverse high blood pressure.
(07:03):
Things like chronic pain.
Chronic pain is often a diagnosis I hear.
Oh, the doc said I have chronic pain.
The doctor just gave you a diagnosis of whatyou told them.
You told him you were in pain for the last 5years.
He said you have chronic pain.
That's not an answer, in my opinion.
That is him repeating back to you.
So chronic pain is a sign or a symptom.
(07:26):
Now how do we find out what is the root causeof that?
Is there high inflammation within the body?
Is there something like rheumatoid arthritisattacking the joints due to an autoimmune
condition?
Maybe caused by some type of gut dysbiosis orhyperintestinal permeability.
These are things that we call root causeproblems.
(07:49):
If your gut is hyper permeable and it isletting an adjusted proteins into the
bloodstream, the body can confuse these forproteins that make up the joints or proteins
that make up your thyroid.
And the body can start to attack itself, andthis is called autoimmunity.
The autoimmune condition is not the root cause.
(08:11):
Do you get what I'm saying?
I hope this is making sense.
And so some of the consequences that we we seewhen we ignore root causes and we focus on
symptoms is honestly to hit these hidden coststhat the condition tends to get worse over
time.
People tend to get dependent on medicationsbecause the body is smart and the body starts
(08:33):
to realize, okay.
This works a little bit, but I need more now toget the same effect.
I need more now to get the same effect.
And so over time, we need to increase doses.
We need to try different medications.
We need to balance the side effects of onemedication with another.
And all of this can lead to a reduced qualityof life and longevity.
(08:54):
And so how does functional medicine take adifferent approach?
Well, exactly the way I just said.
We focus on identifying and addressing the rootcause of these issues.
Now even something like inflammation, which isa buzzword thrown around, even inflammation is
not a root cause.
It can be a cause, but inflammation is beingcaused by something.
(09:18):
Right?
There is some type of dysfunction within thebody that is causing chronic inflammation.
And we're gonna get to this in our next episodeabout decoding inflammation and what
inflammation is.
Really, inflammation is your body's response tosomething, an infection, an injury.
It's a good thing, and we should have it.
That's how we're alive.
(09:38):
That's how we've lasted this long as a societyand as a as a race and a species.
However, chronic inflammation is not normal andis something that must be addressed.
And so what could be a root cause of somethinglike chronic inflammation?
It could be toxicity, an overload of toxins inthe body.
(09:59):
It could be a dysbiotic gut that we have toomuch bad bacteria, not enough good bacteria
causing an imbalance.
It could be something like spinal misalignmenton nerves that is leading to dysfunction of the
nervous system and the communication betweenthose nerves.
And so it's really important that we focus onthe interconnectedness of our body.
(10:23):
How one issue can cascade into another becausewe're not just a heart connected to a liver,
connected to a gut, connected to a musclesystem.
We are a whole person.
Right?
And so if you're looking at the whole person,you need to focus on the entire person
themself.
And that's what functional medicine does.
A really good example of this is a patient thatI saw in my office, and she would be cool with
(10:49):
me telling this story, so I'm gonna tell it.
I won't use her name.
But she had been to multiple gastric doctors,gastrointestinal doctors, even
endocrinologists.
She was fed up.
She she wasn't getting any relief, any results,And they basically said, well, we think you
have high stomach acid.
Here's this.
And they gave her some proton pump inhibitors,which made her feel worse.
(11:12):
They said, oh, well, if you feel worse, that'sjust that's just how it is.
She came into my office, referred to me from afriend of mine who's a chiropractor because
we've helped tons of people with gut gutissues, these kind of problems.
It turned out she didn't have high stomachacid.
She had low stomach acid due to an imbalance ofbacteria in her small intestine.
(11:35):
All it took was us to run a stool test to seewhat the balance of her bacteria looked like.
Very simple, noninvasive test.
Collect a sample of stool, send it to the lab,they give you the results.
Very specific test, actually.
However, none of the other doctors in theconventional medicine thought to do that
because it lies outside of the normal protocolthat they have.
(11:57):
They are also very much run by the insurancecompany and what they can do.
And And so if the insurance company doesn'tcover it, they don't do it.
And so I think that's a massive piece realquick to tangent is that when you wanna get
better, when you want to improve your health,heal disease, you need to be your own advocate.
(12:18):
And the insurance company is not gonna do itfor you.
Even the doctors aren't gonna do it for you.
I cannot care more about your health than youdo.
And so on our show and in our clinics, we areproponents of your health is your
responsibility.
We're here to guide you.
You're the hero in the journey.
We are the guide.
Right?
We give you the information.
We teach you what you can do.
(12:39):
Ultimately, you have to do it.
We can't go home and eat healthy for you.
We can't go home and exercise for you.
And so when you can start to make that shift inyour life, you will see night and day change in
the way that you operate and in your health.
And so back to the story, we helped thispatient to balance her gut, to remove and detox
the bad, to reinoculate with probiotics andhealthy gut bacteria.
(13:05):
And then we taught her what foods to avoid andwhat foods to use.
And basically using food as medicine in thissituation.
4 months later, she went through this entireprotocol, symptom free.
She's back to eating things that she wasn'table to eat before, and she's doing amazing.
And she shouts from the rooftops to all herfriends what we did for her because we took the
(13:28):
time to sit with her.
I spent an hour with her on her first visit.
Got to know her.
Got to know what was going on.
The frustrations in her story, and I really duginto it.
And so I highly recommend if you're frustrated,you find a doctor like that.
You find a doctor who's gonna get on the samepage as you and be on your level.
And if you wanna reach out to us, please do.
(13:48):
This is what we love to do.
And we are not a clinic who wants to keeppatients on long term.
We want to get you back to health, empower youto take your health into your own hands.
And then, like, the mother bird sets you freeand let you ultimately determine your future.
And then if you need us again, we're here tohelp.
So please go to Alessi functional health dotcom.
(14:11):
And if you need, please book a consultation.
Happy to get on the phone with you.
Happy to have you come in and just hear how wecan best serve you.
And so, ultimately, we also need to start toradicalize a change in traditional health care.
Start thinking of things differently.
Not what can my insurance cover, but what isout there.
(14:34):
Because so many people are limited by whattheir insurance will cover for them that they
don't even think outside of the box, And theythey hold themselves back from ultimately
getting to a state of health.
And so I wanna be here to tell you that itdoesn't have to be that way.
We can really make a shift together if we startto promote these kind of topics, talk about
(14:59):
this stuff, and ultimately educate.
And that's what we are here to do.
And so please go to Alessifunctionalhealth.com.
Sign up for our newsletter.
We release a newsletter every week and oftentwice a week to keep you updated, keep you
informed, keep you in the loop on what we'redoing here in the clinics.
(15:21):
And just in general on the podcast, pleasesubscribe to the show.
If you found any value and stay tuned.
We are gonna be having some really cool guestscoming on the show soon.
We're gonna be relaunching some older episodesthat we've shot that had some really great
content to kind of reinoculate you with withwhat we talked about.
And we want to include you in this mission.
(15:44):
We want you to be an active participant in whatwe're doing.
So, please, I encourage you to send yourquestions to ask at Alesi fxhealth.com, and we
will answer them live on the show.
If you don't want us to shout out your name,that's fine.
We'll keep it anonymous, but you will be ableto listen and hear your health questions
answered.
(16:05):
And so what can we do today?
Right?
We talk about action items and what we can doto make a step in the right direction.
Well, today, you can start thinking of yourselfas a whole, and you can stop thinking of your
symptoms.
And what you can do is also take a step in theright direction by seeking guidance, seeking
(16:26):
help.
If you have something that's been plaguing youor holding you back, you've been to doctors,
you've been through the gamut of Google andsearched and searched and haven't found any
answers.
Look into functional medicine.
Find a doctor that you align with.
Find a doctor who will listen to you.
(16:46):
And, ultimately, a doctor who's gonna give youthe tools to make this change for yourself.
And so, again, if we can help, we would loveto.
Lesseefunctionalhealth.com.
I want to also quickly talk about some of ourpartnerships.
1 in particular, a sports nutrition company,Fentik Nutrition.
(17:08):
Fentik Nutrition is our flagship sponsor rightnow, and we have an affiliate code with them.
A lessee 15 will get you 15% off.
The reason we partnered with them is they havethe same mission as us to empower and to
educate.
And also, they don't use any artificialanything in their products.
They have an amazing pre and intro workoutproduct.
(17:31):
They have an awesome protein powder to fill thegaps on where you might be lacking protein.
It's plant based, delicious, and 0 artificialsweeteners, artificial colors, or artificial
additives.
Everything is sourced from the highest level.
And the owners, Taylor and his wife areamazing.
(17:51):
They are family people.
They are dedicated to their clients, and theyalways do the right thing.
So we just wanna shout them out.
Please go try them out if you like using sportsnutrition for fueling your workouts or your
recovery.
Centic nutrition.
Use code Alessi 15 to get 15% off.
Now just in summary, we talked about why it'simportant to move beyond Band Aid fixes and
(18:15):
look at the root cause because this is how youcan set yourself up for success.
You can take these things and educate yourfamily.
And so I want to encourage you now to takesmall steps.
Start tracking your symptoms.
Get a journal.
Start tracking your foods in correlation tothese symptoms.
Every time you eat x, you get y symptom.
(18:36):
Or every time you eat this, you get that.
Every time you get shorter amount of sleep, youfeel this.
Every time you get stressed out or anxious, youfeel this.
Start writing these things down and look fortrends.
Look for where you may be having these problemsthat you're unable to identify before but now
(18:58):
can make a correlation to.
So I wanna thank you for listening.
I want to tell you that our next episode isgonna be a great one.
We're gonna be talking about decodinginflammation and how if you have chronic
inflammation leading to chronic pain, leadingto any kind of host of diseases, listen up
because that episode is gonna be chocked fullof information.
(19:21):
I wanna thank you for being part of ourcommunity.
Again, if you want more information, sign upfor our newsletter and stay tuned.
As always, I'm doctor Alessi.
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember yourhealth is in your hands.
Thank you for tuning in to Health Decoded,where we break down the truth about all things
(19:43):
health and empower you to take charge of yourwell-being.
If you found value in today's episode, pleasesubscribe, leave a review, and share it with
someone who needs to hear this.
For more resources and personalized support,visit us atalesifunctionalhealth.com, and sign
up for our newsletter.
To hear your questions answered live on theshow, send them to ask atalesifxhealth.com.
(20:07):
That's ask atalesifxhealth dotcom.
Until next time.
Stay curious, stay empowered, and remember,your health is in your hands.
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