Functional Medicine for Digestive Health in Los Angeles, CA
Functional medicine shifts care from a disease-centered model to a patient-centered, systems-oriented approach. Instead of asking only what disease you have, we ask how your body is functioning and what is causing that function to break down. At LA Integrative Gastroenterology & Nutrition, this approach is especially powerful for chronic digestive and systemic conditions that conventional care alone has not resolved, helping patients identify root causes and achieve lasting improvement.
Request an AppointmentWhat Is Functional Medicine?
Functional medicine is a systems-based clinical approach that looks at how all of your body’s systems interact with each other and with your environment. Instead of simply naming a disease and treating its symptoms, it seeks to understand and correct the underlying dysfunction that produces those symptoms. Its key principles are:
- Systems-oriented: your body is viewed as an interconnected whole rather than isolated organs
- Patient-centered: your complete history and story guide the evaluation
- Evidence-based: recommendations draw on the best available science
- Root-cause focused: treatment targets underlying dysfunction, not only symptoms
- Holistic: nutrition, lifestyle, stress, sleep, relationships, and environment all matter
- Preventive and personalized: dysfunction is addressed early, and every plan is unique
The Functional Medicine Matrix
Our evaluation considers seven interconnected areas of physiology:
- Assimilation: how well you digest, absorb, and use nutrients, including microbiome health and intestinal integrity
- Defense and repair: immune function, inflammation, oxidative stress, and infections
- Energy: mitochondrial function and your ability to produce energy, which affects fatigue, cognition, and metabolism
- Biotransformation and elimination: liver and kidney detoxification, bowel elimination, and toxin exposure
- Transport: circulation and cardiovascular delivery of oxygen and nutrients
- Communication: hormones, neurotransmitters, the stress response, and the gut-brain axis
- Structural integrity: intestinal barrier function, muscle, bone, and connective tissue health
By assessing each system and how they interact, we identify the specific factors driving your health concerns.
Functional Medicine and Conventional Medicine Working Together
Conventional medicine excels at acute illness, emergencies, and diagnosing structural disease. Functional medicine excels at chronic conditions, prevention, and optimization by identifying dysfunction early, emphasizing nutrition and lifestyle alongside medication when needed, and taking a collaborative, comprehensive approach. At LA Integrative Gastroenterology & Nutrition, you benefit from both: advanced procedures such as colonoscopy and endoscopy combined with a functional, root-cause perspective.
Advanced Functional Medicine Training
The Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), founded in 1993, is the leading organization advancing functional medicine education, clinical guidelines, and research. Dr. Farshid Sam Rahbar received advanced functional medicine training through IFM and applies these principles specifically to gastrointestinal and systemic health.
Your Functional Medicine Evaluation
Your evaluation begins with an in-depth review of your medical history, symptom timeline, diet, lifestyle, stress, sleep, and environmental exposures, along with a physical exam. Your doctor may then recommend targeted testing through our analytical services, such as comprehensive stool analysis, food sensitivity testing, micronutrient and hormone panels, breath testing for SIBO, and genomic analysis. Results are used to build a personalized plan that may include customized nutrition, targeted supplements, integrative therapies, lifestyle changes, and medication when appropriate.
Functional medicine services are generally available to patients who have entered into an agreement with our practice. Please review our Policies & Philosophy for details.
Functional Medicine FAQs
What is functional medicine?
Functional medicine is a systems-based approach that identifies and treats the underlying causes of illness by looking at how the body’s systems interact, rather than focusing only on symptoms.
Is functional medicine evidence-based?
Yes. Functional medicine uses scientific evidence to guide testing and treatment and works alongside conventional medicine, including medication and procedures when needed.
Which conditions respond well to a functional medicine approach?
Chronic digestive problems such as SIBO, IBS, bloating, food sensitivities, and fatigue often respond especially well.
Will I still receive conventional care?
Yes. Our physicians are gastroenterologists who perform procedures and prescribe medication when appropriate, combined with functional and nutritional strategies.
What testing is involved?
Testing depends on your symptoms and may include stool analysis, food sensitivity panels, nutrient and hormone testing, breath testing, and genetic analysis.
How long does functional medicine treatment take?
Many patients notice changes within weeks, while long-standing conditions may take several months to fully improve. Your plan is adjusted at follow-up visits.
Begin Your Functional Medicine Evaluation in Los Angeles, CA
Ready to find the root cause of your symptoms? Call LA Integrative Gastroenterology & Nutrition at (310) 289-8000 to schedule a comprehensive functional medicine consultation.