Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Why Is Functional Medicine So Powerful?

At MorningStar Family Health Center, we believe that health is wealth... and that everyone deserves vibrant health. Unfortunately, the conventional medical system wasn't designed for creating & maintaining vibrant health... it was born out of the need for acute care interventions (think fractures, car accidents, and the like).

In a time where chronic wellness issues threaten to bankrupt millions of families and entire countries, we need an altogether different approach that cost-effectively addresses the underlying factors that create disease... without expensive and toxic prescription drugs that merely mask symptoms.

This new approach is called functional medicine. In fact, it's actually not entirely new... it's how medicine was practiced 4000 years ago.

What's new is that we have brought advanced lab testing and a keen systems-biology approach to medicine – which is short for looking at the body as a system of interconnected organs that need to play in perfect sync to function optimally. That's what coined the term "Functional Medicine" because ultimately, it's about restoring proper function to all the body's systems.

A good analogy is your car: For your car to get optimal mileage, you need to maintain it consistently: Change the motor oil, change spark plugs, keep it shined to prevent rusting, and take it to the body shop when the "Check Engine" light is on, fill it up with the appropriate fuel.

That's exactly how to approach your body with functional medicine... it's not about what to do when your body is broken, it's about maintaining proper health in the first place, and preventing the body from breaking down.

Key Aspects Of Functional Medicine

Caring for your health properly is so much more than just the basics of eating right and exercising. With current medical research, we have discovered that the body is a complex collection of organs and systems and even bacterial colonies (the microbiome) that greatly impact each other.

While the standard of care hasn’t quite “caught up” yet with most of the current science, conventional doctors and “specialists” are still treating parts of the body separately – without taking into account the fact that all these areas greatly impact each other.

When you are healthy, they work together like a symphony in perfect harmony – and you have vibrant health. But when one of these systems is off-balance, the whole symphony is out of tune! When you need a “tune-up” so to speak, not only do you need to look at areas that aren’t working right... but also whether the rest of your body is in balance.

Sadly, most practice members receive instead medications to treat symptoms associated with a body part that “isn’t working” – when all too often, it’s a systemic issue that needs to be treated in a completely different way.

In addition, the conventional medical approach also doesn’t consider that each person is born with unique health needs: Based on their genetic factors, the environment they were born into, what kinds of bacteria populate their gut, as well as what they are exposed to as they grow – each person’s body has a very unique health profile which means they need an equally unique healing protocol.

It’s no wonder people go from doctor to doctor and never find the answers to their illness!

Conventional medicine is missing the mark when it comes to effectively treating many chronic illnesses caused by aging, environment and diet, hormonal imbalances, and food sensitivities because they try to treat symptoms with medication.

In fact, we find with our practice members that while they may share the same symptoms, they frequently suffer from very different imbalances!

That’s why at MorningStar Family Health Center, we follow a modern functional medicine approach that is uniquely equipped to resolve chronic wellness issues once and for all... without requiring lifelong dependence on toxic or expensive prescription drugs. It incorporates advanced functional lab testing and relies on current nutritional science to help you rebalance and finally heal.

This in-depth approach is the only successful way of treating chronic disorders because most chronic illnesses have many causes, brought on by modern lifestyle choices.

Instead of simply addressing different symptoms across separate areas, functional medicine seeks to treat the underlying root cause – while looking at lifestyle factors such as diet, environment, emotional health, and mindset that usually brings on the illness practice members are seeking to heal.

At MorningStar Family Health Center, our functional medicine approach is a more comprehensive form of care to help practice members learn lifelong skills on how to upgrade their lifestyle – so they don’t remain stuck in the “chronic illness hamster wheel”.

What Is Functional Medicine?

Here are just some of the things we focus on in our program:

  • We prioritize quality over quantity with our practice members. We will only make a medical diagnosis after listening carefully to a practice member’s medical history, reviewing testing, looking at lifestyle factors that are materially contributing to illnesses, then making a personalized recommendation based on each practice member’s unique situation.
  • Assessment, natural healing, and prevention are prioritized over wait-and-see treatment approaches.
  • The most modern and advanced medical equipment available is used along with natural forms of healing like upgrading your diet and healing herbs or supplementation with fewer or no side effects.
  • Practice members are taught how to take a more active role in their own health and will learn up-to-date nutritional science & lifestyle modifications that can boost their health and overall wellness for a lifetime.
  • Instead of relying on being prescribed medications again and again for temporary relief, the team at MorningStar Family Health Center diagnose problems holistically and arm practice members with the modern tools for healthy living.

Conditions Treated

The MorningStar team has helped practice members heal from life-altering conditions such as:

Gut Health

  • Bloating, heartburn, gassiness, irregular bowel movements
  • Small-Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
  • Irritable Bowel Disease (IBS)
  • Leaky Gut
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
  • Gluten Sensitivity & Celiac Disease
  • Food Intolerances
  • Candidiasis

Environmental

  • Mold/mycotoxins
  • Heavy metal toxicity
  • Lyme and other tick-borne diseases
  • Pesticide and Chemicals Toxicity

Autoimmune

  • Hashimoto’s
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)
  • Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD)
  • Celiac Disease
  • Lupus
  • Psoriasis

Brain

  • Brain Fog
  • Cognitive decline
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Headaches
  • Concussions

Longevity & Wellness Optimization

  • Cardiometabolic risk assessment and management
  • Inflammation support
  • Personalized diet & lifestyle, & mind-body support
  • Targeted medications and supplements

Weight Management

  • Functional testing to uncover cause(s) of resistance to weight loss or gain
  • Personalized diet & lifestyle, & mind-body support
  • Targeted medications and supplements

Hormone Imbalances

  • Perimenopause
  • Menopause
  • Andropause
  • Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy
  • Adrenal/Thyroid support

Your Next Best Steps

Unlike conventional insurance-based medicine, we carefully evaluate a practice member's case before we agree to take them on as a client.

This is in the best interest of both you and our team, because we want to ensure we can truly help you restore vibrant health.

To get started, sign up for a free discovery call with a member of our team, to learn more about partnering with MorningStar Family Health team.

What Is Functional Medicine?
Schedule YOUR Free Discovery CALL

Take The First Step Today On Your

Journey Back To Health

We understand you likely have questions about taking this important step in your health journey. Our caring practice staff is here to listen and help you explore whether MorningStar Family Health Center is the right fit for your needs. We welcome all your questions and want to ensure you feel completely comfortable before making any decisions about becoming a practice member.
Schedule Your Free Discovery Call

Other Links


Areas Served


MorningStar Family Health Center serves practice members throughout New Jersey and Pennsylvania with options for follow-up telemedicine appointments after an inpatient appointment for practice members outside of those states.