Integrative and functional nutrition for metabolic health.
Take control of your health with a Continuous Glucose Monitor.
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Work with Me
Functional nutrition consulting with Karen involves comprehensive nutrition services to help improve overall health and well-being.
CGM Services
Click below to see the range of services we provide to help you optimize your blood sugar and metabolic health using continuous glucose monitors.
Provider Training
Dietitians, health coaches and other providers enter here to learn how to add CGM to your clinical toolbox or receive professional mentoring.
What is Integrative and Functional Nutrition?
Customized care focused on your body and the root cause of disease
“Integrative and Functional Nutrition therapy is the advanced practice of applying a personalized nutrition care process with the goal of promoting health and preventing diet and lifestyle-related diseases uring the principles and concepts of integrative and functional medicine.”
- Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy
Learn to work WITH your body… not against it.
So much of the diet advice we’ve grown up with seems to pit us against our own biology and lead to a cycle of dieting and binging.
“You’re not eating enough to lose weight!”
I must say this 5 times per week! I want you to stop restricting healthy food and learn how to properly nourish yourself to help your body achieve a healthy weight naturally. We do this not just with food, but with attention to digestion, sleep, stress, mindfulness, natural cycles, hormones and even some help with a few supplements sometimes.
If you're looking for a way to take control of your blood sugar levels and overall health, Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) may be the tool you need.
A CGM device is an innovative technology that makes it easier than ever to monitor and manage your blood sugar levels. Not only that, but it can also provide valuable insight into what might be causing spikes and dips in your blood sugar levels. It's convenient, reliable, and tailored to fit your unique lifestyle so you can get the most accurate results possible.
Hack Your Blood Sugar!
Quit the guessing game and discover which foods are best for YOUR body! Unlock your potential with my upcoming 4-week program to master a CGM system so you can fine-tune your blood sugar levels for ultimate wellness.
Get the Data-Driven Power to Take Control of Your Blood Sugar with a Four-week Live Coaching Program!
Focus on your gains, not just your losses
So many women come to me after years of under-eating, under-sleeping, busting their asses for everyone else and subsisting on their kid’s leftovers and coffee. Add in a few cycles of yo-yo dieting, and they’ve lost muscle and bone mass while gaining fat in their midsection, along with a whopping case of low thyroid, crappy digestion, and brain fog. Sound familiar? You’re in the right place. The answer is NOT to spend more hours exhausted on the treadmill… literally or figuratively. We need to recharge your bank of awesome. A holistic approach to lowering your stress, improving sleep and digestion, reversing insulin resistance, and bumping up your nutrition for 3 months can really move the needle and start paying dividends toward a sustainable solution to both your health and your waistline.
Are your labs starting to worry you?
“You’re just getting older, mate!” Well, it may be true that you’re getting older, but that doesn’t mean you need to start creeping closer to diabetes and heart disease. High blood pressure, high cholesterol, rising glucose levels, erectile dysfunction, gout, and a beer belly are NOT the inevitable results of aging. They are the results of diet and lifestyle choices that don’t work for you and they are all connected. And that’s GOOD news!! It means the solution is within your control. You may need to level up your nutrition know-how and get some support implementing it. Feeling better is closer than you think.
Functional nutrition takes everything into account. You won’t get a one-size-fits-all meal plan to “just lose some weight”. We’ll look at the demands of your life, your medical history, your sleep, stress levels, food preferences, and ability to cook to create strategies that work for you. The answer isn’t all kale and salad either. We’ll help you get your mojo back with a bigger toolbox that helps you stay accountable to your goals and coordinates care with your other providers.
Learn to turn bad days into good data
Everyone falls off the wagon now and then. The people who reach their health goals are the ones who take the time to understand their triggers and create a framework that ensures success. Working with me, you’ll look at your own bad days to see what triggers them; Objectively, scientifically, and without shame or blame. You will gain insight into what trips you up so we can plan for the inevitable binge-fest and recover more quickly. We’ll create safety nets, friendly accountability and a comeback strategy that is based in compassion and self-knowledge rather than the shame and self-hatred that causes these cycles to spiral out of control for months.
What’s in my toolbox?
“Integrative” means a bigger toolbox, not a smaller one. No strategy or food is any better than another. The most important thing is to make it sustainable for you. Because the best strategy is the one you will stick to. With integrative nutrition, we might use any of these:
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Food
This is of course our #1 tool. We’ll figure out what foods work best for you with a preference for nutrient-dense foods.
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Exercise
We focus on exercising smarter, not necessarily harder. Exercise is like the polypill… it helps everything.
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Sleep
If it’s not happening for you, it undermines everything. We’ll leave no stone unturned to help you get higher-quality sleep.
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Stress
Never underestimate its ability to throw a wrench into your health. You’ll learn ways to manage your stress by learning the causes of chronic stress and with specific strategies rather than a useless recommendation to, “Just relax!”
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Medications
Let’s make your medications work better for you by checking for nutrient depletions, while we work to reduce the need for them! You should get a better life through pharmacy, not worse.
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Labs
We’ll look at the labs the labs you already have to make initial assessments. We can then run functional labs (if called for) like organic acid tests, PCR-based stool tests to look at your digestive health and microbiome, DUTCH hormone tests, SIBO breath test,s and functional nutrient tests to help us get to the heart of what you need rather than guessing.
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CGM
We use continuous glucose monitors to assess and help optimize your blood sugar and metabolic health. These are actually a really fun bit of tech that gives you a rare window into how food (as well as sleep, stress, and exercise) affects your body.
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Dietary supplements
You’ll have access to my online dispensary to make use of professional, 3rd-party tested nutritional supplements and botanical medicines as needed. We take a targeted approach to supplementation to solve specific issues.
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Learning library
Use our library of digital learning resources to help you level up on your nutrition knowledge in the areas of digestion, sleep, circadian rhythms, breathing and relaxation exercises and macronutrient metabolism. This will support you between appointments. We want you to leave our service with a graduate-level understanding of the care and feeding of YOU.
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Food and lifestyle journals
We have an excellent food-logging app that allows you to see exactly what you are getting in your meals. This provides so much insight when done periodically. You can also sync your fitness trackers to the app.
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Accountability
At any time, you can jump into an accountability membership to get support on meal planning and food logging to keep you focused on your priorities.
Frequently Asked Questions
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I offer multiple programs. Please scroll up and click on “CGM Services” to learn more.
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Yes. I have a virtual practice. So if you have an internet connection, you can make an appointment with me.
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In Washington State, there is licensing for a certified nutritionist (much like an RD) which requires a master’s degree in nutrition. The biggest differences are that I did not complete a dietetic internship and do not practice under the American Dietetics Association. I am a licensed health care provider.
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I’m an out-of-network provider and am not billing insurance. After paying your bill with me, you can request a superbill from me to submit to your insurance company for reimbursement, but we cannot guarantee reimbursement.
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Yes. About half of my clients are men with metabolic health concerns like type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, gout, high blood pressure, and digestive issues.
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No. There are excellent pediatric dietitians and nutritionists who would be a better fit.
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No. I also do not work with type 1 diabetes or make medication recommendations (for insulin). I DO help people learn how to reverse their prediabetes and help them improve their type 2 diabetes.
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No. A continuous glucose monitor is a medical device. I help people obtain them and support their use. My clients will need to purchase them from their pharmacy with a prescription from their doctor.
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Functional medicine is a system of practice that focuses on addressing the root causes of disease and promotes wellness for the individual. Looking at nutrition through a functional lens, we work with diet and lifestyle factors to support your best health.
Karen Kennedy MS, CN, IFNCP
Integrative and Functional Nutrition
Certified Nutritionist, Integrative and Functional Nutrition Practitioner, and National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Coach.
I'm a certified nutritionist trained in functional nutrition based near Vancouver, Washington. I specialize in nutrition therapies designed to help my clients achieve optimal health and wellness. My mission is to help people identify the underlying issues that may be sabotaging their health and work with them to find the right solution. I believe in a holistic approach to healthcare, incorporating diet, lifestyle modifications, and traditional nutrition therapies into my practice.
My most successful clients are the ones who become active participants in their health journey.
When you learn about your unique metabolism, diet, and lifestyle choices that are optimal for you and mobilize community support, you will enjoy the benefits of good health, for life.
Our classes, programs, and workshops are designed to meet people wherever they are. They can complement and reinforce our work together or stand on their own as a one-time learning experience.
Are you ready to take control of your health? I am here to help! Together, we can create a personalized treatment plan that will help you take ownership of your health and make decisions that will benefit you in the long run.
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