Dive deep down the Rabbit Hole of your unique health profile with functional labs and drug-free protocols.
Dive deep down the Rabbit Hole of your unique health profile with functional labs and drug-free protocols.
Symptoms are the "Check Engine" light of your body. They are indicators that something about the function of its systems is compromised. How long do you usually wait when the light comes on before you take your car to the mechanic? ASAP? Or, do you wait and hope for the best?
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition is the approach I use to solve health cases from the most straight forward to the unusually complex. Whether you are a health conscious individual looking to maximize your wellbeing or someone who has, until now, struggled with a seemingly endless cycle of trial and error that fails to resolve your health
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition is the approach I use to solve health cases from the most straight forward to the unusually complex. Whether you are a health conscious individual looking to maximize your wellbeing or someone who has, until now, struggled with a seemingly endless cycle of trial and error that fails to resolve your health complaints, I can help.
The FDN mantra is "Test, don't guess." By running a series of functional lab tests that uncover healing opportunities in the areas of hormone, immune, digestion, detoxification and energy production, I can correlate empirical laboratory findings to your specific health picture and avoid the trap of simply treating test results.
It is at the intersection of your numbers and who you really are, where the underlying truth resides.
Few practitioners across the many health disciplines available to the health consumer, have the time, training or inclination to pour over lab results, personal health histories and available research for the hours necessary to tailor a health-building protocol to your specific bio-individual needs. This is where the the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner shines. This is why the FDN-P is a health detective, above all else. He can uncover the hidden stressors that have a negative impact on the body's systems and cause or contribute to your main health complaints.
In my own health journey and in those of my clients, I have found that FDN fills the many gaps present in the traditional "take this for that" approach to wellness. It is precisely because I use a non-specific approach, that health transformations so often occur, and it is why specific treatments, aimed merely at symptom relief, fall sh
In my own health journey and in those of my clients, I have found that FDN fills the many gaps present in the traditional "take this for that" approach to wellness. It is precisely because I use a non-specific approach, that health transformations so often occur, and it is why specific treatments, aimed merely at symptom relief, fall short in the end. They do not look upstream of where symptoms present, for their causal factors.
As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, I encourage function in the fundamental systems of the body. In thousands of cases around the world, FDNs see symptoms and diseases simply disappear over time as health and normal function are restored. I have no interest in diagnosing or treating disease. Instead, I investigate underlying causes of unwanted conditions including lifestyle, the environment and individual weak links in the body's natural ability to heal itself.
My protocols are all natural and include education in the symphony of requirements the body has to fulfill in order to regain and maintain its state of balance: Diet, Rest, Exercise, Stress Reduction and proper Supplementation based on what we find you actually need. Not just what "works for everyone." When all these areas are supported in concert, dramatic positive outcomes occur.
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
--Maimonides
My own road to finding a healthy lifestyle has given me insight into the many challenges one encounters along the way and why this approach works if you follow it. This enables me to bring empathy, respect, and understanding along whe
Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.
--Maimonides
My own road to finding a healthy lifestyle has given me insight into the many challenges one encounters along the way and why this approach works if you follow it. This enables me to bring empathy, respect, and understanding along when we navigate your path toward perfect health.
My education and training complete my coaching arsenal, allowing me to provide you, the client, with the tools and methods you need to achieve your goals. As we work together toward optimal function, I teach you everything I know about how to make true health transformations. You then, walk away with a recipe for perfect health for the rest of your life, maybe your family's too.
That said, there is no short cut to solving your health mystery. I am here to dig and do the investigative leg work. I am also here to be your accountability coach and cheer you on when you show commitment.
BUT... if you aren't ready to do the heavy lifting necessary to make changes in as many crucial areas as possible, you simply won't get better. So you have to ask yourself, "Do I want to follow a model of self-care now or be forced into a medical model of drugs and surgery later?" To me, there is only one choice and I am here for those of you who agree.
Between the traditional medical model of drugs and surgery, and alternative modalities that take a symptom-based approach to healing, stands Sleuth Wellness. FDNs fill what they call "The Needs Gap," where healthcare stops chasing symptoms, and starts investigating underlying causes
If I were you, I would run all five of the labs I offer. Yes. That's easy for me to say. Truthfully though, if you pick and choose, the chance is higher that we would miss the root cause of your issues.
The five core labs I recommend you run are like pieces of your health puzzle, and puzzles can only be solved if all the pieces are properly arranged.
We start with a Stress and Hormone Panel
which tells us how your body responds to stress and is often the cause of a host of health complaints that may seem far removed from their associated symptoms.
Then, an Organic Acids Test is run which offers a comprehensive metabolic snapshot of your overall well-being and also provides many clues into gut health in its evaluation of intestinal yeast and bacteria levels.
An Intestinal Permeability Test shows us whether "Leaky Gut" is occurring in your body, compromising both digestion and immune function.
The fourth lab is an intensive Pathogen Screen. It is typical for people to walk around with some nasty critters like parasites, bacteria and fungi like Candida Albicans. These are often, but not always, the culprits behind things like IBS, Ulcerative Colitis, etc.
Finally, I run a Food Sensitivity Test which reveals foods your white blood cells send out antibodies and other mediators in response to. If your gut is compromised, it allows through undigested food particles into the bloodstream; because they haven't been broken down to micro-nutrient size, your body tags them as foreign. At that point, the healthy avocado, cucumber or beautiful piece of pastured chicken gets attacked every time you eat it, further degrading your health. The gut is a large and integral part of the immune system, and breakdowns there can cause or contribute to autoimmune related disorders as well.
IS TRANSFORMING YOUR HEALTH WORTH THE PRICE OF A CRAPPY USED CAR?*
At least in the US, the current healthcare model places little importance on the functional, preventative, or holistic approach. To be realistic, my approach to health rebuilding isn't quick, easy or inexpensive and, insanely, insurance won't cover this type of care. This means that, as well as the commitment you will make in time and the many lifestyle adjustments that will be necessary, you will also make a financial commitment. The prices for my services are for access to functional testing, interpretation and correlation of results and active transformational health coaching.
* The fees for performing each lab test are set by the laboratory itself. I have no control over their pricing, nor do I have a financial interest in those fees. Similarly, in most cases, suggested supplements will be an additional and separate cost to you and are not optional if you are to succeed in the program.
Hi. My name is George Capetanos, Certified Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner.
I know. That's quite a mouthful. I am best described as a "health detective." I use functional lab tests and lifestyle hacks to help parents struggling to balance career and family transform their health by shedding the extra pounds, restoring their positive mood and youthful energy, so they can become the engaged mentors their children deserve. Although my clients are primarily "older" parents, like me, I am here to help anyone wishing to end their cycle of trial and error, and regain optimal health.
In my youth, even through college, I was always the skinny, fun-loving guy open to challenges, motivated to explore new projects and disciplines. I was “lights on.”
That said, even in high school, I would succumb to bouts of tonsillitis, the flu or some other infection and they would take me out for the better part of a week, sometimes two. This happened at least once a year for as long as I can remember, some years as often as three.
I never thought much of it at the time. Kids get sick. I would take the antibiotics and get better. As I got older, the infections were fewer and further between, maybe less severe, but they were still there. And, if it wasn’t something more major, at the very least, I would get a couple of colds per year.
Still, when I would go to the doctor for a physical, I got the thumbs up. “You’re healthy,” they would say. So, I believed them. I WANTED to believe them. To those in my life who would say, “You’re sick all the time,” I put up the hand; if I really had anything to worry about, surely a doctor would have told me a long time ago. Never mind that my tonsils were practically the size of walnuts even when I wasn’t “sick.”
My dietary choices were usually less than optimal. I am half Greek, half Italian. Those cuisines always figured prominently on the dinner table, and this meant a lot of pasta and bread. Cookies and pastries were always an option as well. I rarely ate a lunch that wasn’t served between two pieces of bread. Since I wasn’t a great eater as a child, ALMOST ANYTHING I would eat was vehemently encouraged, regardless of its nutritional value. So, of course I gravitated toward the sandwiches, the macaroni, the pizza, the cakes and cookies.
By college, it was anything and everything… and beer, because that’s what you do in college. As my 30s approached, I developed seborrhea which brought scaly patches of skin to my scalp and elsewhere, the weight started to pile on around my mid-section and I developed the lumpy look most men present for the rest of their lives. But I was always the skinny kid and part of me was happy to have outgrown that stigma. After a while, though, I didn’t like what I saw in the mirror any more, so I tried the conventional wisdom: eat less meat and fat, stay mostly vegetarian but eat fish. Of course, it didn’t really work, and since I wasn’t considered overweight by doctors, much less the population at large, weight never became much of an obsession.
As the years progressed toward my 40s, I found it more and more difficult to find motivation. Projects presented would seem more like work, and less like an exciting opportunity. Somewhere along the line, I morphed from the “Yes. I can!” guy, into the “How am I ever going to do that?” guy. Increasingly, I would find myself living with a constant anxiety and irritability, often for no particular reason. I suppose I always lived with an underlying feeling of anxiousness, even as a kid. I just thought it was normal, but the feeling was getting more pronounced with each passing year and with it came more anger and frustration I couldn’t always explain. In fact, it took me years to even realize this was a main health complaint of mine. Feelings have nothing to do with health, I thought.
Around the same period, my mother had two serious battles with advanced diverticulitis requiring partial bowel removal and a blood transfusion due to surgical complications that almost killed her. This was the point at which I began delving into all the alternative health literature I could get my hands on. I wanted to help my mom and prevent myself from ever getting that sick in my own life. Several years after my mother’s ordeal, my father was diagnosed with prostate cancer. I hit the books again and found a world of alternative cancer treatments and nutritional healing protocols I was anxious to share with him.
A disciplined, former Marine Corps officer, my dad was more compliant than most with many of the recommendations I found. He never did any of the conventional interventions of chemo and surgery and is still alive to tell about well into his 80s, and years after his cancer diagnosis. Well, this success story ignited a passion in me for natural health.
I began adding the prevailing alternative health wisdom of the time to my own regimen and saw some improvement but it was usually short lived. This supplement or that herb would work a little, but not very well or for very long. Eating whole wheat instead of white did nothing to abate my increasing skin issues or give me more energy. I cut out red meat and switched to salmon. After a while, I learned farm raised salmon wasn’t a healthy choice anymore and other fish was riddled with contamination be it heavy metals or radioactivity. So, where do I get my omegas? Ah, a pill. Oh, and turmeric is good for inflammation. But, wait. Too much turmeric is bad? One thing was for sure though, I’ll stop drinking beer and switch exclusively to red wine because of its antioxidant benefits.
After a few years of futile guess work, taking this for that, and trying to find the best one-size-fits all diet, I just gave up. If nothing really seemed to work, why live by any restrictions at all? By this point, I was a foodie, a glutton for the gourmet, anything and everything was on the menu now. Red wine figured more prominently than ever, but so did good whiskey. Pleasure usurped health completely for many years as I threw up my hands and “just enjoyed life.” Well, of course, anxiety and irritability increased, symptoms of heartburn became frequent, although if you asked me, I didn’t think it was all that often.
After a while, the chest pains started which sent me to a cardiologist, but all her tests showed normal. In time, it became clear that acid reflux was at the heart of my problem. I drank more water which helped, but only a little, and my heartburn worsened which started affecting my already limited sleep schedule. The GI Doctor’s answer was to band-aid the problem indefinitely with pills, but I knew he wasn’t looking at the underlying cause of my GERD. I went up a couple of waist sizes and another doctor said I had “pre-diabetic” blood sugar levels.
I was a father now, but not all that much fun to be around and, truthfully, fun got harder and harder to have. My job had become drudgery and a death sentence. Years of TV production hours left me with little sleep, little satisfaction and no time or desire to exercise. My seborrhea spread to new areas and flare-ups were more frequent. I tried to avoid “bad” food but it was all around me, all the time.
I was 51 already, with a 6-year-old son, an “older dad”, and wondered how I was going to be a good father when I had no energy and a decidedly negative outlook on the future. Something had to give. When I’d return home after a long day at work, the cutest little boy ever would gleefully charge me as if Santa Claus himself walked through the door. Sure, I smiled and laughed, but inside I felt a profound sadness.
The truth was, I didn’t want to play with him. What was wrong with me? Why did I snap at him when he got too rough, knocked something over or left his toys in the doorway? All he wanted to do, after hours of waiting for me to get home, was play, but I felt too tired, too cranky, too consumed with my own BS from work, or some other convenient excuse I’d invent to let myself off the hook, to participate in his unbridled joy. Something had to give!
I recalled the time I was doing research into natural healing for my parents and remembered how passionate and alive I felt sharing these concepts and seeing the success that they could bring. It took a few more years to break out of my funk enough to dive into a certification, but I needed to find one that wasn’t going to be the same old blanket wisdom and this-for-that approach that dominates the alternative health field.
When I discovered FDN, it was like I’d found a rare pearl. I was hooked immediately by its emphasis on restoring the body’s FUNCTION instead of focusing on its symptoms and diseases. And the real kicker, it was verifiable through lab testing. I learned that the reason nothing I tried really worked was because everyone is different. There is no one perfect diet for everyone. One man’s food, truly is another man’s poison.
Once I learned and applied the concepts of the Metabolic Typing Diet taught in my certification training, it was as if someone had pulled back the curtain to reveal Oz. Within a couple of weeks of identifying my metabolic type and refining the proper fuel mixture for me, I shed almost every ounce of body fat. My mood improved, in a matter of days! I was floored. And this was only the leading edge of the magic sword that transformed my health.
As I delved deeper into my situation with functional lab tests, this detective work divulged hormone imbalances that disrupted my sleep cycle, tanked my energy, and pointed to malabsorption; I wasn’t properly breaking down the foods I consumed. Further sleuthing uncovered that “Leaky Gut” was a major factor in this poor digestive performance and also contributed to my heartburn symptoms. I was able to identify the three different critters that were wreaking havoc on my system and sharing my meals with me. These culprits figured large in the “Metabolic Chaos” my body was under, which meant a significant imbalance of good and bad bacteria. Add to that already complicated scenario, a multitude of food sensitivities that added to the list of hidden stressors I couldn’t feel or see.
Talk about “Ah, Ha!” moments.
So, I began the work of rebuilding my health. I avoided the foods I was sensitive to, eradicated parasites, bacteria and fungi using all-natural protocols, took supplements that supported gut rebuilding, proper absorption and detoxification, and made adequate sleep and appropriate exercise a priority. I hydrated, sought structural realignment with a chiropractor, spent time in the sauna sweating out toxins, and continued eating for my own unique biological requirements. And I still do it to this day.
I look at my life ahead as new man. In my mid-50s, I have never felt healthier or had more energy from the moment I wake until bedtime. I am nearly my high school weight and I can’t remember my body ever looking this good. I handle stress better than ever and regained my positive outlook. And, best of all, my wife and son like me a WHOLE lot better now.
Another great feature of my health restoration is that I don’t get sick anymore. I can be around a film set full of sickies and feel like Teflon. This is a new and wonderful reincarnation for me.
What is truly remarkable is that regaining my health no longer seems like work at all. It is a passion. I know my efforts will be worth it instead of hoping against hope that they will work. Now, when I neglect an area of my wellbeing, be it diet, rest, exercise, etc., I feel it immediately and know exactly why and what to do to correct it. No more trial and error. If I am presented with a new health challenge, I can test rather than guess, and begin the detective work anew.
All of these successes in my own life make sharing this knowledge with my clients a distinct pleasure. It is like the old adage goes: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime. I see this career as a calling. There are few things more satisfying in life than being a health detective for my clients, to help them through their struggles and guide them toward their triumphs in self-care.
FDN is a gift and I want to share it with as much of the world as will listen.
A few years back, I did experience a major health set-back when I had a workplace environmental exposure to carbon monoxide and airborne particulates. I left work with flu-like symptoms and thought, how could I possibly get sick when I am doing everything right?! I thought I had left those days behind.
The red projectile vomiting I experienced on the drive home had me very worried and by the following afternoon I could not stand on my own or even get to the car to have my wife drive me to emergency. The EMTs were called and I took my first ever ambulance ride to the hospital. Once there, they found I had internal bleeding and suspected an ulcer. My hemoglobin had dropped so much, I required a blood transfusion.
The next day, I had an endoscopy where they examined my esophagus with a tiny camera to find a lesion that had opened up from the vomiting. Fortunately, it had already healed. However, the pictures revealed severe erosion of my esophagus, Class C on a scale of A to D! I was gob smacked. Apparently, the whiskey drinking I partook in and the heartburn I’d experienced before my health transformation had taken a much heavier toll on my body than I could have ever imagined.
I reached out to my colleagues in the Association of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Professionals (AFDNP) and, as always, received a wealth of knowledge and experience, this time on the topic of esophageal healing. Through proper supplement additions and my continued priority on health building, I was able to heal ALL the damage done by my former self! I am proud to report that a recent follow-up endoscopy showed a 100% reversal of the erosion! Thanks, FDN. Another success story for the books.
