Beyond Symptoms: An Introduction to Functional Medicine at Unscripted Clinic

caramerak
May 5
10 min read

What Functional Medicine Is and What to Expect at Unscripted Clinic.

Ever feel like your health concerns are stuck on repeat, with no real answers? If you've left a doctor’s office with only a quick prescription or a shrug despite persistent issues, you’re not alone. As a Registered Nurse and Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor, I’ve seen the frustration of people who know something’s off in their body but aren’t getting the help they need. This is where functional medicine steps in – and at Unscripted Clinic, we’re all about rewriting that healthcare script into one where you and your long-term wellness take center stage.

What is Functional Medicine (in Plain English)?

Functional medicine is often described as “root-cause” or “whole-person” medicine. Instead of zooming in on a single symptom or one lab result, we zoom out to look at the big picture of your health – your nutrition, lifestyle, environment, genetics, and more. As Dr. Mark Hyman famously explains, “Traditional medicine often focuses on treating symptoms, but Functional Medicine takes a different approach—it looks at the whole picture. Instead of asking what disease you have, it asks why you have it.”drhyman.com In other words, we don’t just ask “What’s wrong and what pill fixes it?” – we ask “Why is this happening in the first place?”

Think of a functional medicine practitioner as a health detective. We gather clues from every aspect of your life and body to find connections that might be missed in a five-minute conventional visit. For example, that recurring migraine might not just be “random” bad luck – it could trace back to something like a food sensitivity, a nutrient deficiency, or a high-stress lifestyle. Rather than simply prescribing a painkiller, functional medicine aims to uncover and address the trigger– be it tweaking your diet, balancing your hormones, improving your sleep habits, or all of the above. The goal is to fix the foundation so the symptoms resolve for good.

How Functional Medicine Differs from Conventional Care

So, how is this approach different from the standard doctor’s visit? Let’s break it down. At Unscripted Clinic, we’re guided by a few key principles that flip the script on conventional medicine:

Proactive, Not Reactive: Traditional healthcare often waits until a full-blown disease develops and then reacts with medication or procedures. In contrast, functional medicine is proactive. We want to catch early warning signs – say, slightly elevated blood sugar, lower energy or creeping weight gain – before they snowball into something like diabetes or hypertension. Longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia calls this forward-thinking style “Medicine 3.0,” a paradigm that places a far greater emphasis on prevention than treatment. By looking upstream and addressing potential issues early, we can intervene with gentler lifestyle changes now rather than aggressive treatments later.
Finding Root Causes: Instead of just slapping a band-aid on symptoms, we dig deep to find out why those symptoms are happening. Maybe your constant fatigue isn’t just because you’re “getting older” – perhaps it’s due to an underlying thyroid imbalance or chronic inflammation. Our job is to play detective and address that root cause. As Dr. Casey Means puts it, too much of healthcare is “playing whack-a-mole” with symptoms and ignoring the underlying, foundational root cause. Functional medicine turns that on its head: we aim to fix the root imbalance so the symptoms don’t need “whacking” at all.
Whole-Person Perspective: Your body isn’t a collection of isolated parts; it’s an interconnected system. A skin issue might tie back to a gut imbalance; mood swings might relate to blood sugar spikes. Functional medicine considers the whole you – your diet, sleep, stress, relationships, environment – rather than zooming in narrowly on one organ at a time. We recognize that metabolic health, hormone balance, gut health, mental health, etc., are all intertwined. This systems approach often reveals patterns that a specialist-by-specialist approach can miss.
Personalized Care: In conventional medicine, two people with the same diagnosis often get the same generic treatment. But we all have different genes, lifestyles, and histories – so a one-size-fits-all plan rarely hits the mark. Functional medicine is highly personalized. We take time to learn your unique story. What works for one person’s migraines or fatigue might not work for another’s. By respecting your bio-individuality, we tailor solutions that fit you. (That’s also why at Unscripted Clinic most of our care is 1:1 – your health plan is as individual as you are.)
Lifestyle as Medicine: While prescriptions have their place, functional medicine leans heavily on nutrition, lifestyle changes, and natural interventions as first-line therapies. Food can be medicine; so can exercise, sleep, stress management, and supplements. We certainly use conventional labs and can prescribe medications if needed, but we complement those with tools like specialized lab testing (for hormones, gut health, micronutrients, etc.), targeted nutrition plans, and health coaching. The philosophy is that lasting wellness comes from strengthening the body’s own systems, not just adding more pharmaceuticals. (Fun fact: The name “Unscripted” Clinic actually reflects our mission to move beyond the standard medical “script” of quick fixes and instead focus on real, individualized health solutions.)

In short, functional medicine is medicine for the patient, not just for the disease. It’s about being your partner in health, looking at all the pieces of your puzzle, and addressing problems at their source.

Our Philosophy: Root Causes, Metabolic Health, and Longevity

At Unscripted Clinic, we take those functional medicine principles and put them into practice with a special focus on a few core areas: metabolic health, inflammation, and proactive longevity care. Why these? Because research (and our experience) shows that they’re often at the root of so many health issues.

Metabolic health – things like blood sugar balance, insulin sensitivity, and mitochondrial function – is the bedrock of how your body produces energy. When metabolism is out of whack, you might experience anything from fatigue and weight gain to hormonal troubles and brain fog. In fact, many chronic diseases (think heart disease, type 2 diabetes, even Alzheimer’s) have metabolic dysfunction as an underlying contributor. Dr. Casey Means has gone so far as to call our modern chronic disease crisis a “metabolic dysfunction epidemic,” and improving metabolism can lead to improvements across the board. That’s why we prioritize helping clients stabilize their blood sugar, optimize nutrition, and support their metabolism – it often pays dividends in unexpected ways (better energy, mood, skin, sleep, you name it).

Hand-in-hand with metabolic health is chronic inflammation. Inflammation is your body’s natural response to stressors (like poor diet, toxin exposure, or even long-term stress), but when it stays constantly elevated, it can quietly fuel issues like joint pain, digestive problems, autoimmune conditions, and more. We emphasize an anti-inflammatory approach – identifying dietary triggers, healing the gut, managing stress, and using anti-inflammatory nutrients – to calm that internal “fire.” By reducing inflammation early, we can often help prevent those simmering issues from erupting into something more serious down the road.

Ultimately, the lens we look through is one of longevity and preventative care. This isn’t just about adding years to your life, but life to your years. We want you to feel vibrant and strong well into your later decades. That means addressing risk factors now (even if you feel “okay” today) so you can age powerfully. It’s a bit like regular maintenance for your car – small investments in your health today pay off in the long run with a body that runs smoothly for miles (or years) to come. We love working with clients on proactive longevity plans: optimizing nutrition for healthy aging, keeping hormones in balance, building resilience to stress, and monitoring key health markers over time. It’s healthcare designed not just to fix problems, but to help you thrive and live better, longer, and stronger.

What to Expect When You Start Your Functional Medicine Journey

If you’re considering becoming a client (or just curious how this works in practice), here’s a peek at what functional medicine care looks like at Unscripted Clinic:

A Deep Dive Initial Consultation: Forget the rushed 15-minute appointment – our first session is a thorough conversation about you. As a functional medicine nurse, I’ll review your health history from childhood to now, your current diet and lifestyle, your symptoms and goals, and even things like your sleep, stress, and family history. You’ll fill out detailed questionnaires beforehand, so we can really map out your health timeline and identify patterns. Many clients say it’s the first time they’ve felt truly heard by a healthcare provider. This comprehensive intake helps us form hypotheses about root causes and guides what to investigate next.
Comprehensive Testing: Based on your story, we may recommend lab tests – both conventional and functional labs – to gather more clues. This could include advanced bloodwork (for example, a full metabolic panel, inflammatory markers, hormone levels, nutrient levels, thyroid function, etc.), gut health tests (to look at your microbiome or check for digestive issues), toxin load testing, hormone panels, or sensitivity tests. We don’t order everything for everyone – it’s personalized to your needs. The goal is to illuminate any hidden imbalances. For instance, if you’re struggling with fatigue and brain fog, we might test your thyroid, adrenal stress hormones, and key vitamins to see if something’s off. These tests give us objective data to pair with your story.
Personalized Wellness Plan: Once we’ve gathered all the info, we’ll sit down (often virtually via a video visit) to go over what we found and craft a plan together. This plan is truly holistic – it will likely include nutrition recommendations (specific foods to add or avoid, personalized to your body), lifestyle tweaks (like sleep routines, stress reduction practices, or exercise guidance), and possibly supplements or natural therapies to support your body’s healing. For example, if labs show you're low in vitamin D or omega-3s, we’ll address that; if you have signs of insulin resistance, we’ll create a nutrition and movement strategy to reverse it; if high stress is a factor, maybe we incorporate mindfulness or adaptogenic herbs. Importantly, we prioritize changes that are sustainable for you. We’ll set goals and steps that fit into your life – this is a collaboration, not a lecture. And yes, if needed, we can coordinate with your other healthcare providers or refer you for medications or specialist care – functional medicine works alongside conventional medicine when appropriate, not against it.
Ongoing 1:1 Support and Coaching: Change doesn’t happen overnight, and we’re here to support you through it. Through follow-up appointments or health coaching sessions (often virtually, so you can be anywhere), we help you implement the plan and adjust as needed. This might mean weekly or bi-weekly check-ins between monthly longer sessions. This way we can celebrate wins, troubleshoot any challenges, and fine-tune your plan in real-time. The idea is that you’re not alone on your health journey – you have a coach, educator, and cheerleader in your corner. We also offer the option of group workshops and classes for those who enjoy community learning (for example, group sessions on meal prepping for blood-sugar balance, or stress management techniques), but the core of our care is a one-on-one relationship. Over time, as your health improves, those visits may space out – ultimately, we aim to empower you with the knowledge and habits to maintain your health gains long term.
A Mostly Virtual, Modern Experience: One practical note – our clinic operates mostly virtually, meaning you can do consultations and coaching via secure video calls from the comfort of home. We find this makes it easier for busy folks to fit in appointments and for us to connect with clients beyond our local area. (If you’re near our area, we do offer some in-person visits for local clients too – the best of both worlds.) Virtual care doesn’t mean impersonal care; in fact, many clients love that they can reach out through our portal or email in between sessions with quick questions or updates. It’s a flexible, tech-savvy approach to staying engaged in your health journey.

The Start of Your Unscripted Health Journey

Beginning functional medicine care can feel both exciting and empowering – you’re finally taking charge of your health in a deeper way. It’s normal if it also feels a little overwhelming at first (especially if you’re used to the old routine of five-minute appointments and one-size-fits-all advice). But at Unscripted Clinic, we make this process approachable and personal. We’ll guide you step by step, at a pace that feels comfortable. You’ll learn why we recommend each change and how it benefits you, so you’re never in the dark. And remember, the changes we make are meant to address the root causes of your issues, meaning you’re investing in improvements that last.

To sum it up, functional medicine is about getting you back in the driver’s seat of your health. It’s about treating you as the unique individual you are, finding answers to long-standing problems, and preventing future issues by staying one step ahead. It’s the kind of care I’m passionate about because I’ve seen it transform lives – helping people not only get relief from nagging symptoms but also achieve things like a clear mind, abundant energy, and the peace of mind that comes with knowing you’re doing everything you can to support your long-term health.

If you’ve been searching for a more unscripted, customized approach to healthcare – one that blends modern science with nutrition and lifestyle wisdom, one that listens and partners with you – then functional medicine might be exactly what you’re looking for. We’re here to help you find answers, healing, and a path to true wellness. Your health story is still being written, and with functional medicine, you get to write it your way – with vitality, resilience, and longevity in mind.

Ready to take the next step? Feel free to reach out with questions or to set up an initial visit. We can’t wait to help you discover what’s possible when we address your health at the root and support you as a whole person. Here’s to living better, longer, and stronger – the Unscripted way!

Photo Credits: Danielle Barnum Photography.

Meet Cara Merak, RN & Functional Nutrition Counselor

Hi, I'm Cara—a Registered Nurse and Certified Functional Nutrition Counselor dedicated to bridging the gap between conventional and holistic care. With years of clinical nursing experience combined with advanced training in functional nutrition, I founded Unscripted Clinic to help people regain control of their health by addressing root causes and building sustainable habits. Whether it's improving your metabolic health, calming chronic inflammation, or proactively planning for longevity, I’m here to partner with you every step of the way.

If you're ready to rewrite your health story and see what's possible with personalized functional medicine, I'd love to connect. Click here to apply for 1:1 coaching or book a discovery call. Let’s uncover your path to vibrant health together!

References:

Hyman, M. (2021). What is Functional Medicine? The UltraWellness Center. Retrieved from https://drhyman.com/about-functional-medicine/
Attia, P. (2023). Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity. Harmony Publishing.
Means, C. (2024). Good Energy: The Science and Power of Metabolic Health. Penguin Random House.
Means, C. (2023). Podcast Interview on Metabolic Health and Functional Medicine. The Levels Podcast. Retrieved from https://www.levelshealth.com/blog
Bland, J. S. (2016). The Disease Delusion: Conquering the Causes of Chronic Illness for a Healthier, Longer, and Happier Life. Harper Wave.
Institute for Functional Medicine. (2024). Functional Medicine Approach. Retrieved from https://www.ifm.org/functional-medicine/
Hyman, M. (2022). Podcast Episode on Root-Cause Medicine. The Doctor’s Farmacy Podcast. Retrieved from https://drhyman.com/podcast/
Means, C. (2022). Blog post on "Metabolic Dysfunction and Chronic Disease." Levels Health. Retrieved from https://www.levelshealth.com/blog/metabolic-dysfunction-epidemic