We've been asked why Build Up Dietitians often speaks out against integrative and functional practioners (both MD's and RD's) when the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics has the DIFM (Dietitians in Integrative & Functional Medicine) dpg(dietetics PracticeGroup).

Mostly it's because we often see👀 those who claim they practice or follow integrative and functional medicine to be more likely to endorse/promote/sell pseudoscience.

Does this mean ALL are that way...no, but to help YOU find that unicorn🦄 here are some things to check for:

🚩See if their website features a "SHOP"🛒 where they sell supplements, detoxes, cleanses or diet books📚 (that they've written)

🚩Do they offer food sensitivity or other questionable 🤔tests under a "SERVICES" tab? or do they encourage this sort of testing?

🚩Do they attempt to "other" by claiming they are different/better than traditional or conventional medicine and "Big Pharma"? This often creates distrust in medical providers, treatment, tests and medical institutions. (and why do they not create the same distrust in "Big Supplement"?)

🚩Do they accept insurance or make it clear their services are not covered by insurance?

🚩Do talk about "root cause" and use words/phrases like: leaky gut, adrenal fatigue, inflammation, hormone balancing, or mention “toxic” chemicals with little or no explanation or context or blame them for a wide variety of symptoms that many would normally experience (weight gain, tiredness, fatigue, etc) to those faux diagnoses.

🚩Do they claim they provide nutrition counseling or medical nutrition therapy but have no dietitians on staff, or do they use wellness coaches or nutrition coaches who are not educated or credentialed in nutrition?

🚩are they #antivax #antifluoride #antiGMO and do they promote an appeal to nature logical fallacy?

For more on integrative and functional medicine:

From McGill Office of Science and Society -

From Quackwatch: quackwatch.org/related/…

From Abby Langer Nutrition: