The Health Detective Podcast by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition

Is AI coming for health coaches, or is it about to make good practitioners even better?

In this episode, Michele Scarlet sits down with FDN business mentor Jenn Malecha to unpack what AI actually means for health practitioners.

They discuss how tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can support practitioners, why the quality of the prompt matters, what happens when AI confidently gives you inaccurate information, and why critical thinking still matters. Jenn also shares how AI is beginning to be used alongside functional lab data and why not every AI system works the same way.

They also get into an increasingly important question for practitioners: what information should you actually be putting into AI? Michele and Jenn discuss client data, privacy concerns and why convenience shouldn't replace responsibility when working with sensitive health information.

If you're already a health practitioner, building a health coaching practice, or wondering whether AI is going to change the future of this industry, this episode offers a practical look at where AI can help, where it can fall short, and why the practitioner still matters.

Chapters:

00:00 Can AI Replace Health Coaches?
00:47 AI, Tech & the Future of Health Coaching
02:05 Why More Technology Isn't the Answer
04:04 How to Get Better Answers From AI
05:29 Why AI Gives You Generic Content
05:58 Will AI Replace Health Practitioners?
07:36 The Clinical Gaps in AI
10:25 Using AI to Interpret Functional Labs
13:53 ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini
16:41 Why You Can't Blindly Trust AI
17:21 What Happens When AI Makes Things Up
18:39 How Practitioners Should Actually Use AI
19:38 Should You Upload Client Labs to ChatGPT?
22:13 AI, HIPAA & Client Privacy
23:37 Why AI Isn't Replacing the Practitioner

What if a diagnosis could explain your symptoms without defining your future? In this episode of the Health Detective Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with Dr. Sierra Bains, Doctor of Physical Therapy, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, best-selling author of Rooted, and founder of Lightstyle, for a powerful conversation about Multiple Sclerosis, root cause healing, nervous system health, chronic stress, and functional health.

Sierra shares the story of being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis at 24 while completing her doctorate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite being a competitive bodybuilder who closely tracked her nutrition, sleep, movement, and health metrics, she suddenly experienced severe pain, nausea, nerve pain, tingling, vibrations, confusion, and debilitating symptoms that dramatically changed her life.

After struggling to find answers through standard medical care, Sierra began exploring a different approach. With support from a practitioner, she focused on reducing inflammation, improving diet, circadian rhythm, supplementation, and stress management. Her symptoms gradually improved, and her experience ultimately led her to Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and a deeper understanding of root cause health.

Michele and Sierra explore how the body can communicate through symptoms, why stress is more than simply “feeling stressed,” and how physical, emotional, and environmental stressors can accumulate in the body. They discuss the nervous system, autoimmune symptoms, hormone signals, lifestyle, functional health, and why addressing the reasons behind a symptom may be more meaningful than simply managing the symptom itself.

The conversation also examines practitioner education, the dangers of overcomplicating health protocols, supplement overload, health tracking, technology consumption, and the importance of helping clients develop resilience and trust in their bodies.

Sierra shares how she moved from restrictive protocols toward greater metabolic flexibility, resilience, and the ability to enjoy real life without constantly managing every symptom.

This episode is for anyone interested in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, root cause healing, nervous system health, chronic health challenges, holistic health, functional medicine, and a more empowered approach to understanding the body.

Connect with Dr Sierra Bains

https://www.instagram.com/drsierrabains/

00:00 From Chronic Symptoms to Root Cause Healing
06:55 Multiple Sclerosis Diagnosis: What Happened Next
14:10 Why Your Diagnosis May Not Be the Root Cause
20:02 How Chronic Stress Affects the Body
23:19 The Stress Bucket: What Happens When It Overflows
24:46 How Digital Overload Affects Your Nervous System
25:58 Why Getting Healthy Needs a Bigger Purpose
27:49 How to Make Better Decisions About Your Health
29:15 Why Chronic Disease Is Increasing
32:02 Environmental Toxins: How Much Is Too Much?
35:25 How to Build Resilience and Trust Your Body Again
40:01 Can Trying to Be Healthy Make You More Stressed?
43:32 How to Stop Outsourcing Your Health

⚠️ DISCLAIMER This content is for education only and is not medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making changes.

What happens when weight loss becomes about more than the number on the scale? In this episode of the Health Detective Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with FDNP Brandy Buskow for an honest conversation about GLP-1 medications, obesity, metabolic health, gut health, weight loss, and the role of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioners in supporting clients through this changing health landscape.

Brandy shares her personal journey with lifelong obesity, severe IBS, anxiety, digestive issues, and years of trying diets and other approaches to lose weight. After discovering Functional Diagnostic Nutrition and improving many aspects of her health, she still struggled to lose weight and maintain it. By 2024, she was dealing with elevated fasting insulin, rising blood pressure, sleep apnea, and concerns about following the same path of diabetes, cancer, and heart disease she had seen in her family. That led her to discuss GLP-1 medication with her healthcare provider.

Brandy explains how GLP-1 signaling works, including its connection to appetite, fullness, digestion, blood sugar, and the gut. She also shares what it was like to experience less “food noise” and why her gradual weight loss has involved much more than medication alone.

The conversation then turns to an important question for Functional Medicine practitioners, FDN practitioners, and health coaches: how can they responsibly support clients who are using or considering GLP-1s? Michele and Brandy discuss practitioner scope, medication dosing, referrals, ethics, nutrition, movement, sleep, muscle maintenance, body image, and the mental-emotional side of sustainable change.

They also explore the risks of gray-market and black-market peptides, misinformation, unrealistic expectations, and the importance of working with qualified prescribers.

If you're interested in GLP-1 weight loss, metabolic health, obesity, food noise, gut health, Functional Medicine, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition, health coaching, or responsible practitioner education, this episode offers practical perspective on using GLP-1s as a tool while keeping long-term health and client support at the center.

GLP-1 Practitioner Week | September 14–18
Your clients are already asking about GLP-1s. Make sure you’re equipped to support them knowledgeably, responsibly, and within your scope.

Join GLP-1 Practitioner Week FREE:
http://www.fdntraining.com/glp1

Use code 'GLP1' at checkout.

Educational content only. Medication decisions, including whether to start, stop, or change a dose, should be made with a qualified prescribing healthcare professional.

What if lasting physical healing requires more than changing what you eat or taking another supplement?

In this episode of the Health Detective Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with Amber Romaniuk, an emotional eating, digestive, and hormone expert, to explore the powerful connection between mindset, self-worth, emotional healing, nervous system regulation, gut health, hormone health, and physical wellbeing.

Amber shares her deeply personal health transformation, including her experiences with food addiction, binge eating, bulimia, emotional eating, body image struggles, self-sabotage, and tying her self-worth to her weight and appearance. She explains how years of negative self-talk, unworthiness, stress, and difficulty processing emotions influenced her relationship with food and her body.

The conversation explores why mindset work can be an important part of a broader root cause healing approach and why supporting the gut, hormones, blood sugar, and nervous system while doing emotional and mindset work may create more capacity for lasting change.

Michele and Amber discuss nervous system dysregulation, cortisol, gut dysfunction, hormone imbalance, emotional triggers, perfectionism, people pleasing, boundaries, self-love, inner child healing, and the importance of learning to trust your own body and intuition.

They also explore the difference between simply checking wellness practices off a list and actually becoming connected to what your body needs. Amber shares practical tools including conscious breathing, journaling, tapping, movement, sunlight, grounding, and learning to pause before making decisions.

Most importantly, this episode is about empowerment: understanding that healing is not a quick fix or a one-time protocol. It is an ongoing process of building awareness, rewiring old patterns, developing self-worth, regulating the nervous system, and learning to work with your body rather than against it.

If you are interested in emotional eating, food addiction, mindset healing, gut health, hormone health, nervous system regulation, self-worth, body image, functional health, functional medicine, root cause healing, or holistic health, this conversation offers a powerful perspective on the deeper side of health transformation.

GLP-1 Practitioner Week | September 14–18
Your clients are already asking about GLP-1s. Make sure you’re equipped to support them knowledgeably, responsibly, and within your scope.

Join GLP-1 Practitioner Week FREE:
http://www.fdntraining.com/glp1

Use code 'GLP1' at checkout.

GLP-1 medications and peptide therapy are everywhere right now, but are they simply weight loss tools, or is there more to the conversation?

In this episode of the Health Detective Podcast, Michele Scarlet sits down with holistic health practitioner Laura Young to discuss GLP-1s, peptide therapy, metabolic health, food noise, inflammation, healthy aging, and the importance of building strong health foundations first.

Laura shares her own experience using GLP-1 peptides after struggling with metabolic changes following pregnancy, including how reducing food noise changed her relationship with hunger and helped support her weight loss goals.

They discuss:

How GLP-1s work alongside nutrition, movement, sleep, and lifestyle

Food noise, cravings, hunger, and metabolic health

Why GLP-1s should not be viewed as a magic fix

Potential GLP-1 side effects

Muscle loss and the importance of strength training and protein

Peptide therapy beyond weight loss

Inflammation, recovery, mitochondrial health, and healthy aging

Why bioindividuality matters when considering any health intervention

How to become a more informed advocate for your own health

Whether you're curious about Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, GLP-1 medications, peptide therapy, weight loss, insulin resistance, or longevity, this conversation explores the bigger picture behind one of the fastest-growing areas in health and wellness.

GLP-1 Practitioner Week | September 14–18
Your clients are already asking about GLP-1s. Make sure you’re equipped to support them knowledgeably, responsibly, and within your scope.

Join GLP-1 Practitioner Week FREE:
http://www.fdntraining.com/glp1

Use code 'GLP1' at checkout

CONNECT WITH LAURA

lytotalwellness@gmail.com

https://www.totalwellnessolutions.com

MEDICAL DISCLAIMER: This podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical advice or to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Discussion of medications, peptides, supplements, or other therapies does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement by Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before starting, stopping, or changing any medication, peptide, supplement, or treatment.