In this episode, Michelle sits down with Andrea Nakayama, Functional Medicine Nutritionist & Founder of the Functional Nutrition Alliance. They dive into how to navigate medical appointments and get the most results from them, despite the biases that many people experience while in appointments. You’ll learn about how to navigate conventional medical appointments as well as functional and what it truly means to be your own advocate.  They discuss:  Functional nutrition Why you might leave the doctor’s office feeling unsatisfied How to decipher our bodies’ signs/symptoms How to advocate for yourself in healthcare visits (step-by-step) Medical gaslighting - what it is & how to heal from it Case study: Hypothyroidism - standard vs. functional medicine treatment Subscribe to get your weekly dose of NYC-style-sarcasm, nutritional nuance and messages of healing. Links: Blog Post: Weight Bias in Healthcare Download the Symptom Tracker The Functional Nutrition Matrix - image & explanation Join our FREE membership community!  Andrea Nakayama’s resources:  Andrea's Website Functional Nutrition Alliance program  Work with Michelle and her free resources:  Quiet the Diet Podcast Page Episode Page (with transcript!)  Work 1-on-1 with a functional Registered Dietitian at Michelle Shapiro Nutrition LLC Learn more about the practice Follow the pod on IG Follow Michelle on IG Sign up for the Newsletter Timestamps: (6:00) Functional nutrition explained; Improving outcomes by combining convention & functional medicine (12:45) Why people feel crappy leaving doctors’ appointments (16:00) Signs/ symptoms as a message between the brain & body  (21:30) How to advocate for yourself in healthcare visits  (30:00) Medical gaslighting - what it is & how to heal  (36:30) Case study: Hypothyroidism - standard vs functional medicine treatment