What is Functional Medicine?

Parsley Health founder and CEO, Robin Berzin, MD explains how functional medicine compares to traditional primary care—using the best science-based practices to find and treat the root cause of illness.

Parsley Health’s Approach to Functional Medicine

With a nation that’s becoming sicker and sicker and chronic diseases rising to the number one killer in America, finding a more effective healthcare system is more important than ever. According to the CDC , 60 percent of adults have at least one chronic condition– the majority of which are modifiable or reversible. In order to fix this broken system, we need to start over with something radically new. Robin Berzin, MD, a Columbia trained physician, realized the current healthcare system was not serving her patients. They were stuck in a revolving door of prescriptions and referrals to specialists, never really getting better. That’s why she created Parsley Health, to give people the type of health care that they truly deserved.

What is functional medicine?

Functional medicine is a whole-body approach to care that focuses on getting to the root cause of your problem instead of just treating the symptom. For example, you aren’t having trouble sleeping because you have an ambien deficiency. You’re having trouble sleeping because of a number of factors—things like staying up too late and looking at computer screens for too long, or deeper issues like sleep apnea, anxiety and hormone imbalances could all be in play. Instead of automatically giving you a sleeping pill with potential risks and side effects, we help you understand and solve the real cause of your insomnia so you can sleep better in a safer, more natural and sustainable way.

Parsley Health Benefits

Here at Parsley Health, as part of our mission to rebuild primary care, we work with our members using a functional medicine approach. We combine cutting edge technology, continuous support from trained doctors and health coaches, and nutrition and lifestyle changes to treat the whole person.

Here are just a few of the ways our practice embodies this new generation of health care:

Doctors who know you

If your body is an intelligent organism with systems that work together to keep you functioning at optimal levels, you need a doctor who really knows you to resolve your symptoms. With traditional primary care, doctors spend an average of 20 minutes a year with their patients with no support before or after your appointment. At Parsley Health, our members spend over 200 minutes per year with their doctor. They get to understand the details of your lifestyle, history, habits, and complete chemical makeup with our in-depth biomarker testing.

Wellness at your fingertips

Functional medicine is about making wellness part of your everyday routine, and that’s a whole lot easier when you have easy online messaging with your doctor and health coach, virtual visits, and 24/7 access to your medical records and personalized health plan. We believe our members have the right to know everything that is going on with their health– and at any time. Our personalized dashboard, MyParsley, offers 100% visibility to your visit notes, lab results, doctor and health coach handouts, and more.

Mindfulness techniques for ultimate health

Functional medicine relies on the fact that our body is one interconnected system. When we address problems, we look at all areas of this one system that could be contributing—including your brain. Researchers estimate that 80 percent of doctor’s visits are caused by stress, so it makes sense that mental health and mindfulness are a huge part of our approach. Studies show mindfulness can improve everything from sleep quality to productivity to your immune system and more.

Health coaching for support at every stage

We want you to feel supported at every stage of your health journey. That’s why all of our members have a dedicated health coach that acts as a source of knowledge and motivation 365 days a year. Our health coaches are trained, educated, certified to help you implement your doctor’s plan, including helping you with nutrition, exercise recommendations, stress management, and more.