The Functional Rd

Happy Halloween everyone! Halloween is one of my all-time favorite holidays, and yet it fell on a Monday… my most uninspired day of the week! Seeing everyone be in the holiday spirit at the office today made me really excited to do something, though. Since food is my outlet, naturally a Halloween-inspired dinner was what had to be done! Of course, it is still Monday and my lack of inspiration melted with my lack of time and energy combined with my desire to do something fun m

Read any blog, article, magazine out there and they are all pushing ways to make yourself thinner, prettier, shinier, whatever. Some tips are decent and some involve putting some smelly gunk on your face in order to have perfect skin. Well, I have my own tips that I used, but not to be prettier or thinner, but to be truly healthy. I am all about doing whatever I can to optimize my health. I start with diet, but truly there are so many things that you can do to make yourself j

Those of us with food sensitivities know that if we keep the offending foods in our diets then we struggle to get better or even just to feel normal. The problem is, though, that eliminating multiple food sensitivities from our diets is TOUGH WORK! There are periods where I thrive and I can go months without taking one single bite of a food that causes the influx of inflammation that I get from my food sensitivities. However, there are plenty of times where I dig myself into

I. Love. Burgers. I think this is pretty unanimous among most Americans. Everyone has their own personal anecdote when they can imagine a certain food and how it made them feel during a certain point in time. When I was in elementary school I was addicted to a little burger joint in my hometown called "Dippity's". Keep in mind that my mom was also a dietitian and a wonderful cook; however, once a week my mom would order me one of these burgers "plain and dry" while hauling me

Do you suffer with regular colds? Sore throats, hoarseness, coughing? What about seasonal allergies or even asthma? What about autoimmune disease like Hashimoto's or Arthritis? All of these issues can be attributed to hidden food sensitivities. We should all be familiar at this point about food allergies and their effects that they can have on the human body – anaphylaxis – and the constant need for an epi-pen, just in case! What about hidden food sensitivities? What do these

Every time I visit my parents house I eat gluten.. but not necessarily by choice! I am very.. consistent.. when it comes to eating out with food sensitivities. I plan the event in advance, read menus, and ask an absurd amount of questions to make sure that I am not getting hit with any of my laundry-list of food sensitivities. This, unfortunately, does not translate well when I am visiting my parents... It's likely a mixture between the comfort of being home and the assumptio

When I first moved to San Antonio with my sister, our favorite hang-out spot was right next door to a Chinese restaurant and they would frequently bring in egg-rolls for the patrons. That was always a major score. Beer and egg-rolls went together insanely well. Turns out I am extremely sensitive to both gluten AND eggs – no wonder I would feel hungover for days! The warning signs were really all there. I assumed I would never have beer and egg-rolls ever again, and I guess I

MMM pork, the other white meat. The one meat I find to be totally drab and hard to work with – surprising, right? I would always end up with a tough and chewy pork chop. Most people find pork to be very easy to work with, but it took me several attempts to get it right. Finally, I figured out the best way to make pork work for me. My life-changing pork secret: a brining solution (AKA salt water bath) My amazing, energy-saving oven takes *forever* to preheat.. easily 20-30 min

I started my practice, The Functional RD, LLC, for the sole purpose of providing exquisite education and information for those who are maneuvering their way through the functional medicine realm, specifically in regards to food sensitivities and incorporating nutritionally-dense foods into their diet. I started my journey with functional medicine in October 2014, and I have had periods of immense highs and lows during the entire process. While I believe that functional medici

I love soy sauce. I find that is one of the best ingredients that can kick up an otherwise boring marinade. Unfortunately, there are numerous reasons why I avoid soy sauce. Most pre-made soy sauces in America contain gluten which cause a lot of obvious issues for me. If it’s not the gluten than it’s the MSG (Mono Sodium Glutamate) that can cause issues. Glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter in the brain – which sounds fun, but it really isn’t. It can be an excitotoxin w