What I learned in medical school was magical and fantastic. I am grateful and appreciative for modern medicine because what some doctors do every day is heroic in saving lives whether through medical intervention or surgical intervention.

However, I felt there is a gap; there is something missing. What about the relationship of food and lifestyle to our health? I see thousands of patients walking out from clinics and hospitals everyday frustrated and unsatisfied with a bag full of medications that will only numb the symptoms but not tackle the root cause of their illness.

The major transformation and discovery in my life happened when I moved to live in America, Boston in 2009 with my husband and daughter. For the first time in my life, I was responsible to prepare and cook my own meals. In Boston many people walked around with a mug of green juice and a container of salad and accessing healthy ingredients and options were everywhere at a decent price. I started reading healthy food blogs and learning how to cook healthy meals. I have discovered that healthy food is not boring or bland, in the contrary it is delicious and full of life. After a couple of months of eating healthy I’ve noticed the magic happen. I lost my extra weight, I became super energetic, my skin became clear and soft like a baby, I slept well through the night and most importantly my anxiety had subsided completely, as if I was reborn.

I decided to study the relationship between food and lifestyle and our health. Therefore, I earned my Master’s degree in Public Health and community Nutrition, furthermore I immersed myself in the science of Functional Medicine, the mother of all medicine that tackles the root causes of diseases and look at the patients as a whole, not just a name and a medical diagnosis. I fell in love with functional medicine, this new specialty, that connected to my passion and soul. Functional Medicine is far away from what we see with some traditional medicine practice, where the patient will be labeled with a medical diagnosis, given a prescription full of chemicals to mask their symptoms, advised to eat whatever they want and see you in 6 months.