There has never been a greater need for health coaches than there is now. And that need will continue to climb over the coming years and decades. With the spread of COVID-19, we’ve faced unprecedented challenges. And our way of living has changed in ways that are unsettling for most. The uncertainty and fear of living in a pandemic brought with it a level of chronic stress that few of us have experienced in our lifetimes.
At Functional Diagnostic Nutrition®, our practitioners work with clients every day to undo the health impacts of chronic stress. According to the American Institute of Stress, in 2017, 77% of people in the US regularly experienced physical symptoms of stress. An estimated 75-90% of all primary care doctor’s office visits are directly connected to symptoms and conditions related to stress. And these numbers undoubtedly grew after March of 2020.
Common Symptoms of Chronic Stress
The body is always giving warning signs in the form of symptoms. Some of the most common symptoms clients face are:
- Fatigue
- Low energy
- Brain fog
- Digestive issues
- Headaches
- Infertility issues
- Mood problems
- Chronic pain
Symptoms often start off as mild. But if chronic stress is not addressed and managed, the symptoms may become debilitating. A regular stress management practice is necessary, yet most people have never been taught to include stress management in their daily self-care routine. Instead, people have normalized feeling stress. And being “stressed out” is encouraged and even expected. But these symptoms are there to be a wake-up call that imbalance is happening in the body.
The Result of Pandemic Stress
The pandemic has added a layer of chronic stress to a society already facing growing levels of stress even before the pandemic. We know that there is a lack of daily stress management in the general public. So, it is safe to say that we can expect a corresponding rise in people experiencing chronic symptoms and illness as the result of the extended period of stress and uncertainty.
This will start to be even more evident in those who were already experiencing health issues before 2020. But the issue will become an even greater problem in the years ahead. FDN practitioners are already seeing clients at younger and younger ages coming in to work with them because of chronic stress. That will only get worse in time.
Healthcare Spread Thin
Even before 2020 many doctors were facing patient overloads. And it often took weeks or even months for many patients to be seen by their primary physicians. Once Covid-19 entered the picture, it became even more challenging for people to be seen by their doctor. The healthcare system was struggling to meet demand. And doctors have been forced to spend very little time with their patients when they do see them.
The challenge in the healthcare system is causing a rapidly growing number of people to search out health solutions from other resources. And that’s where health coaches can help to fill the gap.
Health coaches can be an invaluable source of support for clients as they work to make holistic lifestyle changes that can positively impact their health. A coach can help a client have more success when moving to a healthier way of eating. Health coaches provide accountability that can allow clients to stick with healthy lifestyle changes. And health coaches can work virtually with clients from anywhere in the world with internet access.
Because of this, more people looking for options to improve their health will be hiring health coaches to help them improve their health.
But FDN practitioners have an even greater advantage over conventional health coaches.
The FDN Practitioner Advantage
Before creating Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, FDN founder Reed Davis saw how much chronic stress was contributing to the symptoms of the clients he worked with. He could see subtle patterns of chronic stress in the lab testing he did with clients. And he could see how it was impacting certain systems of the body long before it was at levels that could be detected by conventional medical lab testing. It was such a huge contributor to the symptoms they were experiencing that he knew it had to be addressed.
The FDN approach to stress is very different than other health coaching programs out there. Most people think that stress management is about bubble baths, deep breathing, and meditation. And while those things are tools that can be used as one part of reducing stress, our approach goes much deeper.
Uncovering Internal Sources of Stress
One big difference between FDN and other health coaching certification courses is the use of functional lab testing. But these tests are never used to diagnose or treat disease. They are used as a tool to uncover subtle patterns of stress in different areas of the body. For example, food sensitivity testing can help to uncover specific foods that are creating inflammation in the body. Inflammation is a form of hidden internal stress. Other tests look at different areas of the body and uncover areas of internal stress. Once uncovered these hidden areas of stress can be addressed by making holistic lifestyle changes.
Rest and Stress-Management
When Reed created the FDN training course, rest and stress management were both added. They are a large part of the holistic D.R.E.S.S. for Health Success® protocol that is used by FDN practitioners. This lifestyle-based protocol helps to address external stressors.
The body needs adequate sleep. A lack of sleep puts undue stress on the adrenal glands, hormones, blood sugar levels, detoxification pathways, and organs. So FDN practitioners help clients to understand the things that may be interfering with sleep so that they can get restorative sleep.
FDN practitioners also help clients to add regular stress management techniques to their daily self-care routine so that they can more effectively reduce the impacts of external stress on their health.
FDN practitioners advanced training allows them to get to the root of hidden stress that is impacting clients. Reducing stress internally and externally helps to restore balance to the body. And it can reduce chronic symptoms as well. This gives FDN practitioners the advantage over conventional health coaches!
If you are interested in learning more about the FDN Certification Course, contact us today!
