Health Spot: Functional Nutrition

How do you create health and longevity? It's all about lifestyle. Eating whole foods and practicing healthy habits are your building blocks to improve immune system function, shedding unneeded weight, improving heart health, decreasing inflammation and creating a more resilient you!

My name is Shamai Buckel and I am a Functional Nutrition practitioner at Gunnison Valley Health.

Functional nutrition is a holistic approach to diet, looking at lifestyle factors and the effects of food choices. Activity levels, our living environment and the presence of chronic disease can impact the function of our bodies including performance, memory, and even on a cellular level.

Functional nutrition focuses on several interrelated areas including:

• Eating whole foods to nourish and provide key nutrients for optimal cell function and gut health.
• Getting quality sleep to improve mental clarity, better immune function, stress reduction and weight loss.
• Practicing daily movement or exercise which improves circulation, mood enhancement and bone health.
• Reducing stress in daily life and quieting the mind helps to activate the body’s parasympathetic nervous system which helps to further increase relaxation.
• Building relationships with people who support you and your goals provides positive engagements on a daily basis.

• Eating whole foods
• Getting quality sleep
• Practicing daily movement or exercise
• Reducing stress in daily life and quieting the mind
• Building relationships with people who support you and your goals

By focusing on your goals and bio-individuality, you can develop habits and practices designed to feel healthy, happy and more confident.

To learn more about functional nutrition contact Gunnison Valley Health’s Integrative Therapies department.