Functional Medicine Glossary

A pattern of persistent tiredness, poor stress tolerance, and disrupted sleep that functional medicine practitioners associate with an overworked stress-response system — the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Rather than treating fatigue as a standalone symptom, the functional approach looks at cortisol rhythm, blood sugar, sleep, and nutrient status together to understand why the stress response is out of balance.

A hands-on assessment method that uses manual muscle-response testing as a functional window into how the nervous system, joints, and organ systems are performing. Practitioners use it alongside history, examination, and lab work — not in place of them — to help locate the functional root of a stubborn complaint. Dr. Ozzie has more than five years of post-graduate study in applied kinesiology.

A state in which the immune system mistakenly directs its defenses at the body's own tissue — the mechanism behind conditions such as Hashimoto's thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, and celiac disease. Functional medicine looks upstream at possible triggers and amplifiers, including gut health, food sensitivities, chronic stress, and nutrient deficiencies, to understand each person's individual picture.

A quick, non-invasive test that passes a harmless low-level electrical signal through the body to estimate body composition — lean muscle, body fat, and water balance — along with markers of cellular health. Because it measures what the scale can't, BIA is used to track whether a nutrition or wellness plan is actually changing the body, not just the weight.

A comprehensive review of laboratory blood panels — metabolic markers, blood counts, thyroid values, inflammatory markers, and more — read as one connected picture rather than as isolated numbers. At the Center, results are interpreted through functional lab ranges as well as standard pathological ranges, which is a signature part of how the practice finds patterns routine checkups can miss.

What the body is made of — the proportion of lean muscle, body fat, bone, and water — as opposed to simply what it weighs. Two people at the same weight can have very different body compositions and very different health outlooks, which is why composition testing (such as BIA) is a more useful progress marker than the bathroom scale.

A precise, controlled movement applied by a chiropractor to a spinal or extremity joint to restore normal joint motion and alignment. Adjustments are a drug-free, non-surgical form of care aimed at supporting the nervous system and the body's own capacity to heal and self-regulate.

A low-grade, long-running immune response that continues after any immediate threat has passed. Unlike the short, useful inflammation that follows an injury, chronic inflammation smolders in the background and is associated in research with many long-term health concerns. Functional medicine looks for its drivers — diet, gut health, stress, poor sleep, and hidden sensitivities — rather than only quieting the symptom.

A gentle therapy that applies low-level laser light to tissue without heating or cutting it, used to support the body's natural repair processes in muscles and joints. It is painless, non-invasive, and often used alongside chiropractic care as part of a broader plan.

The body's own continuous process of neutralizing and eliminating metabolic byproducts and environmental compounds, carried out largely by the liver, kidneys, gut, lungs, and skin. In functional medicine, supporting detoxification means supporting those organs — through nutrition, hydration, and lifestyle — rather than any single dramatic 'cleanse.'

A structured, short-term eating plan in which commonly reactive foods are removed for a period and then reintroduced one at a time while symptoms are tracked. It remains one of the most reliable practical tools for connecting specific foods to symptoms such as digestive upset, skin issues, or fatigue, and it works best with professional guidance.

An immediate immune reaction to a food, driven by IgE antibodies, that can produce hives, swelling, or in severe cases anaphylaxis within minutes of exposure. A true food allergy is different from a food sensitivity, which is slower and subtler — distinguishing the two matters because they are identified and managed very differently.

A delayed, non-anaphylactic reaction to a food that can surface hours or even days later as bloating, headaches, joint stiffness, brain fog, or skin changes. Because the delay hides the connection, sensitivities often go unrecognized for years; elimination diets and targeted testing are the usual tools for uncovering them.

Narrower, health-optimized reference ranges used to interpret blood work, designed to flag values that are drifting away from optimal before they become diagnosable disease. A result can sit inside the standard pathological range — technically 'normal' — while still falling outside the functional range, which is often where early, correctable patterns show up. Reading labs both ways is a signature of the Center's blood work analysis.

A whole-body, individualized approach to health that asks why a symptom is occurring rather than only what to prescribe for it. It combines detailed history-taking with modern diagnostic testing to map how body systems — digestion, hormones, immunity, the nervous system — interact, then builds a personalized plan grounded in nutrition, lifestyle, and natural, non-toxic methods.

The body's constant, self-regulating drive to keep its internal environment stable — temperature, blood sugar, pH, hydration, and hundreds of other variables. The premise behind the Center's care is that when interference is removed and the body is properly supported, this built-in self-regulating ability is what does the healing.

The proper proportion and rhythm of the body's chemical messengers — thyroid hormones, cortisol, insulin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and others — which govern energy, metabolism, mood, and sleep. Because hormones operate as an interconnected web, functional medicine evaluates them together through lab work rather than chasing one value in isolation.

A state in which the body's cells respond sluggishly to insulin, forcing the pancreas to produce more and more of it to keep blood sugar controlled. It typically develops silently over years and is a central mechanism behind type 2 diabetes and stubborn weight gain — and it is often visible in comprehensive blood work well before a diagnosis, when lifestyle change has the most leverage.

A condition in which the tight junctions of the intestinal lining become more porous than they should be, allowing partially digested food particles and microbial fragments to pass into circulation and provoke immune activity. Increased intestinal permeability is an active area of research and is a frequent consideration in functional evaluations of digestive complaints, food sensitivities, and immune imbalance.

A biochemical process, repeated billions of times a day, in which the body attaches small chemical tags (methyl groups) to DNA, hormones, and other molecules to switch processes on and off. Methylation depends heavily on B-vitamins and related nutrients, and sluggish methylation is one of the modifiable factors functional medicine examines in energy, mood, and healthy-aging concerns.

The community of trillions of bacteria and other microorganisms living primarily in the gut, which participate in digestion, nutrient production, immune training, and even mood signaling. The composition of the microbiome is shaped by diet, stress, medications, and environment — which makes it both a marker of health and a lever for improving it.

The microscopic power plants inside nearly every cell, responsible for converting food and oxygen into usable energy. When mitochondrial function is impaired — by nutrient shortfalls, oxidative stress, or chronic inflammation — fatigue and slow recovery often follow, which is why mitochondrial support is a recurring theme in functional-medicine plans for energy and healthy aging.

A shortfall of a vitamin, mineral, or other essential nutrient below the level the body needs to run its chemistry well — which can exist long before it produces an obvious clinical disease. Functional lab interpretation is designed to catch these subtler insufficiencies, so they can be corrected with food first and targeted supplementation second.

The individualized use of food, eating patterns, and targeted supplementation to correct the imbalances a person's history and lab work reveal. It is built around a person's actual biochemistry rather than a generic diet, and at the Center it is anchored to blood work analysis so progress can be measured, not guessed.

An imbalance between free radicals — reactive molecules produced by normal metabolism, stress, and environmental exposures — and the antioxidants the body uses to neutralize them. Sustained oxidative stress can damage cells and accelerate aging processes, and it is one of the modifiable factors addressed through nutrition and lifestyle in functional care.

The wide, standard reference ranges printed on most lab reports, statistically derived from the general population and designed to identify established disease. They answer the question 'is this person sick?' — but not 'is this person functioning optimally?' That second question is what functional lab ranges are for, and the Center reads every panel through both lenses.

The discipline of tracing a symptom back through the patterns that may be contributing to it — asking, for example, what could be driving the fatigue, rather than only how to mask it. In practice it combines a thorough history, physical assessment, and appropriate testing to help identify which contributing factors deserve priority, and to clarify the next appropriate steps.

In chiropractic terminology, a joint — most often in the spine — that has lost its normal position or motion in a way that can irritate nearby nerves and alter how the nervous system communicates with the body. Locating and correcting subluxations through specific adjustments is the core work of chiropractic care.

A group of blood tests that evaluates thyroid function — typically TSH along with the actual thyroid hormones T4 and T3, and, when a fuller picture is needed, thyroid antibodies. A complete panel read through functional ranges can reveal patterns that a TSH-only screening misses, which matters because thyroid function influences energy, weight, mood, and temperature regulation.

The positioning of the spine's vertebrae relative to one another, which determines how well the spine moves, bears load, and protects the spinal cord and nerve roots. Maintaining healthy alignment is a foundation of chiropractic care because the nervous system that runs through the spine coordinates virtually every function in the body.

An individualized, written roadmap that combines the findings from testing with a person's goals — typically pairing care in the office (adjustments, therapies) with nutrition, movement, and self-care habits to practice at home. The aim is independence: a plan you understand and can keep, not a schedule of indefinite visits.

Nutritional supplements concentrated from real foods — with their naturally occurring cofactors intact — rather than synthesized as isolated compounds. In a food-first nutrition plan they are used to fill specific, tested gaps, chosen for quality and matched to the individual's lab work rather than taken by the handful.