What I Learned at IFM: Curiosity, Connection, and Coming Home
What’s New in Functional Medicine: Insights from the IFM Annual Conference
While sitting on a rooftop deck at the Mingie International Museum in Balboa Park, San Diego, at the end of May, I explained to a friend when he asked how the Institute for Functional Medicine annual conference was going that it felt like a homecoming. I felt similarly when I started working at Women to Women in 2006 and began learning functional medicine. When I attend a conference with topics ranging from AI to quantum biology to joy, I know I am home.
The following are a few morsels from the conference. Many of these topics may be new to me—they may or may not be to you. I am inspired to continue learning and share what I learn with you.
The doubling rate of medication information is every 73 days. AI is a tool that can enhance clinical practice; can you say precision recommendations at lightning speed? I have a meeting next week to explore an AI-integrated electronic medical record.
People have relaxed beliefs and increased plasticity after using psychedelics therapeutically.
It can be helpful to ask, What matters to you? as opposed to What’s the matter with you?
Plasma exchange can be an effective intervention against aging and can help people with Alzheimer’s and autoimmunity.
Our health begins in the soil. Healthy soil produces nutrient-rich food, which in turn leads to healthy bodies.
A fasting-mimicking diet can have profound benefits for people with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure, autoimmunity, and cancer. It can also promote longevity.
Exposing ourselves to nature and sunlight, particularly in the morning, helps maintain healthy mitochondria —the energy-producing centers of our cells.
Peptides have vast potential applications beyond weight loss, including supporting the immune system.
Habits are behavioral responses triggered by context. To change a habit, remove cues and increase the friction that makes the undesired behavior more difficult.
We have an obligatory carbohydrate requirement of 80 grams of carbohydrates a day to make our bodies and brains function. Most Americans consume upwards of 300 grams per day. A protein intake of 0.75 grams per pound of body weight is a good target for protein consumption. Spread protein intake throughout the day, and eat plenty of protein in the morning if you can.
Joy activates learning and pleasure systems in the brain. Look for pleasure. Look for meaning. Stay with it long enough to feel uplifted.
I also had the pleasure of speaking about the clinical process of functional medicine, participating in a panel discussion on the art of listening alongside a few esteemed colleagues, and facilitating a roundtable discussion on perimenopause and menopause during the conference. It was a jam-packed few days, and I’m so grateful to have been there. It was a certain kind of homecoming—and coming home was good too.