Functional Nutrition Masterclass

Most nutrition advice stops at “eat clean” without ever addressing the two things that actually determine whether a diet change works clinically: what specifically to remove and add for a given patient’s condition, and whether the body can even digest and absorb what’s being eaten in the first place. This masterclass, part of the AIC Functional Medicine Training Program, is built to close both gaps.

It opens with a practical refresher on macronutrients — reframing carbohydrates around the net-carb-versus-fiber distinction, protein as the body’s functional (not just structural) unit with real digestibility barriers that often go unaddressed, and fat as a essential, non-villain macronutrient with specific sourcing and dosing guidance. From there, the session moves into the clinical core: a staged elimination diet protocol (dairy, wheat, sugar/refined oils, and animal protein) tailored to metabolic versus immune-system-driven presentations, including practical guidance on duration, gradual implementation, and homemade dairy-free alternatives. A six-step framework for rebuilding the plate — reducing carb load, replacing refined grains with unrefined ones, increasing protein to a target intake, increasing healthy fat, and deliberately increasing dietary diversity (“eating the rainbow” and rotating grains) — gives practitioners a repeatable structure to apply across patients.

The final section covers what the session calls “how to eat” — the physiology of chewing, portion size per mouthful, meal-timing around water intake, and why digestion depends on a parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous system state that most modern eating habits actively work against. The session closes with a practical discussion of therapeutic fasting: types, individualization, and how to build tolerance gradually rather than starting with an intense protocol.

The depth, terminology, and case-based teaching are calibrated for a practitioner audience, though informed patients who want a clinical-depth understanding of these principles are welcome to enroll.

Most patients already know, at some level, that processed food and sugar aren’t good for them — yet symptoms persist because nobody has told them specifically what to remove for their condition, how to rebuild the plate that follows, or that how they eat matters nearly as much as what they eat.

This masterclass gives practitioners a complete, practical framework — from macronutrient fundamentals through a staged elimination protocol, a plate-rebuilding structure, and the mechanics of eating itself — as part of the AIC Functional Medicine Training Program. Informed patients auditing this course will walk away with a clearer, evidence-grounded picture too — but the training is built, first, for the practitioner in the room.