The healthcare territory is truly expansive. In today's world with the myriad of science and technologies out there, data is more than available on almost every aspect of what it means to be human. But what does it all mean? How can we use it? How can we bring it together to make sense of and care for ourselves in a way that makes a difference to our daily lives and to our longevity?
Our methodology provides a map to traverse the ups and downs of what is required to become a healthy human in this complicated world. With us as your guides, you can reach the peak of your health. With our tools, technology and guidance you can become the best version of yourself: HUM2N. Our map of functional investigation, assessment and care refines our understanding of you, your metabolism and energy, hormonal balance, toxicity tolerance, cognitive resilience and even genetic capability.
The HUM2N methodology supports you through a process of care that increasingly refines our understanding and experience of your health and wellbeing- not just in the moment but for the long run. Based on functional medicine within a framework of naturopathic principles, our phased treatment approach has definitive steps where each stage builds upon the previous. We assess and build an in-depth view of your strengths and identify areas for improvement. Then together we move you through a programme of care to help you adapt and evolve into your best self. It’s not just about data either. We are interested in supporting you as a whole person moving through your life and the demands you have as you go through your life.
WE BEGIN AT THE FOUNDATION
The foundation is the essential base camp to get you sufficiently acclimated with the knowledge, skills and support to make sure to reach your health goal/ mountain top. When we think about foundational health we are considering the spectrum of your life and lifestyle. How did you get to this place in time with these symptoms? Sure, we look at your diet—not just what you’re eating, but when and how you eat. And diet isn’t just confined to food, it’s the full spectrum of what nourishes us. It’s our lifestyle- work, sleep, relationships, mindset, hobbies- our history, our plans for the future—all of it combines into what makes us a whole and healthy person.
Our foundational assessment includes two baseline laboratory investigations. These are the marks in the sand, helping us understand where you are right now. We analyse these blood tests within optimal parameters to help identify problems before they become acute. We want to avoid suffering if we can. Together they allow us to see if your cells are getting the essential nutrients they need to do the job of keeping you functioning at your best. Addressing the foundation of your cellular integrity supports any other treatment or health outcomes that follows. A good foundation is required to progress our health and lives anywhere.
From all of this we make your Health Optimisation Programme with recommendations that will touch upon and support all areas of your life. These support strategies will serve you however and wherever you move on to. But don’t worry, you’re not on your own. We all need help. Our team of highly trained health coaches support you as you make new choices to optimise your foundation for a healthier, more fulfilling life.
IMPROVE YOUR METABOLIC INTEGRITY
Even here, the foundation is still key. No point running if you can’t walk. With the Foundation insights available to us, we can identify underlying issues that need further investigation and then move with greater clarity to the next phase called, Metabolic Integrity. From here we use a comprehensive functional laboratory evaluation that provides an in-depth overview of your ‘metabolic territory'. This provides actionable quantitative markers on your gastrointestinal function, energy, detoxification capacity, neurotransmitters, nutritional deficiencies and even indicators for genetic inhibition. From these results, we further refine your Health Optimisation Programme.
From this vantage point, with this new understanding of your function, we can further pinpoint other areas requiring deeper investigation. Depending on your health requirements and outcomes these testing pathways fall into four main areas:
DIGESTIVE INTELLIGENCE
Our digestive system allows us to receive and process our nourishment. It is also our bodies’ second brain and contains more than one million neurons. If our stomach is “out of sorts” we can feel irritable and lacking in energy, it can impede our productivity, affect our thought patterns and disrupt other physiological processes. Getting our digestive system on track and optimally functional is central to any health outcome.
We use cutting-edge technologies and digestive biomarkers that provide essential insight into your digestive function, intestinal inflammation, and the intestinal microbiome. Our advanced stool assessment provides immediate, actionable clinical information for the management of your gastrointestinal health.
HORMONAL BALANCES
Hormones govern the functioning of our bodies. Hormonal imbalances are indicated with a spectrum of symptoms, from mood swings and fatigue to low sex drive and weight gain. These symptoms can affect both men and women because, regardless of gender, hormones can and will fluctuate over the course of our lives, always having a pronounced effect on our wellbeing. Chronic stress, poor diet, nutritional deficiencies, poor sleep routines, exposures to toxins and genetic variations all contribute to maintaining a robust hormonal balance.
We use the most up-to-date laboratory investigation to provide a complete analysis of 35 different hormones: oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S, and cortisol along with their metabolites to identify the underlying causes of hormonal imbalances and their symptoms. We can track and evaluate hormone levels, ensuring they are at their optimum balance.
COGNITIVE RESILIENCE
Our need to reliably and efficiently take in, store, retrieve and use information from within our own minds and from the external world is increasing all the time. Despite the fact that our brain only weighs a fraction of our total body weight it requires about a quarter of our energy requirements. Our memory, perception, language, problem solving, and decision-making functions are affected by our diet and lifestyle, environmental factors, and diseases- many of which we can directly influence.
The gut brain axis is a key two-way communication that also plays a key role in our cognitive resilience. In-depth neurotransmitter assessment will identify important clinical factors contributing to cognitive and mood concerns, diminished motivation and drive, fatigue and sleep difficulties, cravings, addictions and pain. Gaining an understanding of your body's ability to secrete and metabolise key neurotransmitters allows us to refine your optimal health programme recommendations.
TOXIN TOLERANCE
We are all living downstream from decades of disregard to the natural environment. This has huge implications on our health. Every day we are exposed to hundreds of toxic chemicals from pharmaceuticals, pesticides, packaged foods, household products, and industrial environmental pollution. Over time our exposure to these has contributed to an increase in chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, chemical sensitivity, autism spectrum disorders, immune and neurological disorders. Mitigating our relationship to our toxin filled world means understanding what your capacity to detoxify is and gaining clarity on which toxins your system is struggling with. This panel of investigation can be as simple as identifying which heavy metals your body is struggling to cope with or we can pursue a comprehensive panel that assesses your toxic chemical burden, as well as any resulting oxidative stress, inflammation, and mitochondrial damage. From here, we provide further refined recommendations on how to avoid future exposures and how to best detoxify your body of these toxins.
Each of these investigative pathways provides a refined our understanding of you, your function and the recommendations we offer to support you. Taking each step provides personal insights into your overall health integrity and focussed functional knowledge into your strengths and weaknesses together with what you can do to address these. These valuable resources serve to optimise the rest of your life.
OPTIMISE YOUR GENETICS
From the top of the mountain, we can see deep into the valleys and far across the whole range. To truly gain a clearer understanding of your optimal performance, genetic testing provides key insights that can make the difference. When even a small aspect of our genetic makeup is not functioning optimally, the cumulative effect can be notable- positively or negatively. How your genes interact with your environment can influence your disposition to illness and disease and regulate your development over the course of your life.
Our genes can be influenced by all kinds of things, such as environmental chemicals and toxins, pesticides, heavy metals, drugs and alcohol, pathogens like bacteria and viruses, the body’s vast microbiome community, nutrient deficiencies or excesses, and of course, what we put in our mouths- our diet, our lifestyle, mental emotional stress demands and how we engage with the day and night cycles of nature. Most of these we can influence so we can definitely affect our genetic expression—and be the best HUM2N we can be!
This is why we require any genetic testing to begin with the Foundation programme and be clarified and supported with Metabolic Integrity testing so you have the most tools and insights with which to best understand the genetic picture you’ve been given.
Knowing our DNA sequence alone isn’t enough. There are at least 25,000 genes in the human genome! We’re interested in gene variations with defined pathways where it is clear how we can use nutritional support to effect a positive change. This is called epigenetics. Having a list of gene SNPs without a way to use nutritional support is just not useful. We use specific panels looking at particular pathways that we can influence with diet, specialised supplementation and lifestyle. Otherwise, why do it? We are seeking to empower you- and with this information we truly can.
What it means to be HUM2N
So that’s our map into which we invite you to participate. Get to know yourself from the inside out. Be the best you can be. We have the knowledge, the tools, the passion, the team.
Take a moment to imagine what your life will be like without those nagging symptoms, lagging energy, foggy head, annoying digestive issues. What will you do with all the energy and the new you? What will life look like for you and those close to you? How will you be more readily able to impact the world? Are you ready to be your best self? Are you ready to be HUM2N?