What Is Functional Medicine and Why Your Gut Might Be the Missing Link

Hayley Rodriguez LAc, MSAOM, Reiki Master
Jul 7
2 min read

When people hear the words functional medicine, they usually imagine something super high-tech or overly complicated. But at its core, functional medicine is really about getting curious. It’s about asking why symptoms are happening instead of just trying to mask them.

Instead of chasing every issue as a separate problem, functional medicine looks at how all your organs and systems are working together. Think of it as testing your body’s actual function—not just whether something is “in range” on a basic blood test, but whether it's truly functioning optimally.

Fun fact: the microbes in your gut weigh about 2 pounds. Yep, you're basically part human, part bacteria.

Why Start With the Gut?

So many chronic issues—fatigue, anxiety, skin problems, brain fog, painful periods, autoimmune flares—don’t seem like gut issues at first glance. But time and time again, when I run advanced stool testing (like a GI-MAP), I see clear signs of imbalance.

And that’s because your gut is everything.

In both Chinese Medicine and modern functional medicine, the gut (specifically the Spleen and Stomach in TCM) is the foundation. If it's out of balance, the entire body feels it.

What Gut Testing Can Actually Tell You

With comprehensive microbiome testing, we can see:

The balance of good and bad bacteria (Are your beneficial strains thriving? Or is there overgrowth of problematic ones?)
Presence of parasites, viruses, and yeast that your body may be silently battling
Signs of leaky gut (aka intestinal permeability), where the lining of your gut has tiny openings allowing things into the bloodstream that shouldn’t be there—leading to inflammation, allergies, skin issues, autoimmunity, and more
Pancreatic enzyme levels to see if you're producing enough digestive enzymes—low enzymes can lead to extreme bloating, gas, and nutrient deficiencies
Liver and gallbladder function, including how well you’re digesting fats and detoxing hormones. If your liver’s overloaded, you may experience hormonal issues like PMS, acne, or painful periods
Inflammation markers, because if your gut is inflamed... your whole body is inflamed. Chronic gut inflammation is at the root of countless long-term issues

It’s Not “Just Your Gut," It’s Your Whole Ecosystem

Your microbiome isn’t just a passive system; it actively communicates with your brain, your hormones, your immune system—everything.

When it's out of balance, things feel off. You may not even have gut symptoms and still be dealing with the fallout: migraines, fatigue, anxiety, joint pain, mystery rashes, mood swings.

If you've ever felt like your symptoms are dismissed as "just stress" or that nothing ever shows up on labs… this is where functional testing becomes a game-changer.

Ready to Get to the Root?

If you’re tired of guessing or managing symptoms without real answers, functional gut testing might be the next right step. I offer this service virtually, so you can access it from anywhere and finally get a deeper understanding of what’s going on under the surface.