The Funk'tional Nutrition Podcast

We’re back with Part 2 of the endometriosis series, and this one is personal.Lead practitioner Rachel Heintz shares her own story with stage 4 deep infiltrating endometriosis. You’ll hear about the symptoms she didn’t realize were clues, the functional work that helped her feel dramatically better, and the surgery that revealed just how severe things really were.Rachel walks through her timeline: going on birth control for acne, coming off the pill and experiencing debilitating periods, dealing with extreme allergies and histamine issues, living in a moldy apartment, and eventually discovering endometriosis in a pretty unusual location.Erin and Rachel talk about why surgery is not a failure, why not every OB/GYN is an endometriosis expert, why getting another opinion can matter so much, and what Rachel’s excision surgery ultimately revealed.In this episode:How birth control may have masked Rachel’s endo symptoms for years after she originally started it for acneWhy Rachel believes mold exposure in a damp college apartment may have been a major immune and mast cell triggerWhy untreated endo could have created bigger issues for Rachel’s bowels, kidneys, appendix, fertility, and overall healthHow Rachel is feeling 10 weeks post-op, with a smoother-than-expected recoveryResources mentioned:Applications for the Fall 2026 cohort of The Funk’tional Nutrition Academy are now open! If you’re ready to become a certified functional health practitioner, apply now.Apply for 1:1 Endometriosis Support here if you’re navigating painful periods, suspected or diagnosed endometriosis, gut symptoms, hormone issues, or inflammation.Order The Gut Panel to uncover the hidden root causes behind your “mystery” symptoms.Want more of Erin?Subscribe to her Substack where Erin shares the (raw & unfiltered) BTS of her own business & life – so you can steal what applies to yours. All things health, wealth, ambition & manifestation.Manifest Your Health is our neuroscience backed membership designed to help you reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and finally break out of the symptom loop. FOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO: https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/427-endo-series-part-2Check out The Funk’tional Nutritionist: Website | InstagramOrganifi Supplement Powder (save 20% on your order with code FUNK) OneSkin (Use code FUNK for 15% off your first purchase)Qualia Creatine (get up to 50% off and an extra 15% off your first purchase with link + code FUNKS)This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

We are officially kicking off the endometriosis series. In this first episode, Erin and Rachel Heintz, lead practitioner at The Funk’tional Nutritionist, are untangling one of the most misunderstood, underdiagnosed, and wildly dismissed conditions in women’s health.Painful periods might be common, but that does not mean they should be normalized, trivialized, or ignored.Erin and Rachel explain what endometriosis is, what conditions commonly overlap with it, why it is considered a chronic inflammatory whole-body condition, and how it can show up far beyond the uterus. Spoiler: we’re going inflammation hunting, and no, you do not have to just suck it up and suffer your way through being a woman!In this episode:The difference between normal period discomfort and the kind of pain that should not be brushed off as “just cramps”Why recurring SIBO can be a clue that something deeper is driving the overgrowth How toxin exposure can drive or exacerbate painful periods and endometriosis symptomsThe hopeful research Rachel shares around genetics, imaging, and the future of endometriosis diagnosisObscure, less common symptoms that can still be part of the endo pictureResources mentioned:Manifest Your Health is the neuroscience-backed membership that helps you regulate your nervous system, integrate the parts of you that keep you stuck, and become the version of yourself your body can actually heal as.Applications for the Fall 2026 cohort of The Funk’tional Nutrition Academy are now open! If you’re ready to become a certified functional health practitioner, apply now.Subscribe to her Substack where Erin shares the (raw & unfiltered) BTS of her own business & life – so you can steal what applies to yours. All things health, wealth, ambition & manifestation.Apply to work with us 1:1 here.Order The Gut Panel to uncover the hidden root causes behind your “mystery” symptoms.FOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO: https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/426-endo-series Check out The Funk’tional Nutritionist: Website | InstagramOrganifi Supplement Powder (save 20% on your order with code FUNK) OneSkin (Use code FUNK for 15% off your first purchase)LMNT Electrolyte Replenishing Powder (Use code FUNK and get a free sample pack with any purchase!) Qualia Creatine (get up to 50% off and an extra 15% off your first purchase with link + code FUNKS)Fullscript is Erin’s trusted, go-to source for ordering supplements.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

FNA graduate Alyssa Chavez had been trying to conceive for eight years. She had stage four endometriosis, debilitating periods, two rounds of IVF, a miscarriage, low AMH, and doctors telling her IVF was basically her only shot. But somewhere inside her, there was still this knowing: there has to be more than this.In this episode, Erin sits down with Alyssa, to talk about the functional approach that helped her finally move the needle in her own body. Alyssa shares how learning to understand her gut, inflammation, immune system, environment, hormones, and bio-individual needs helped her go from painful periods and infertility to conceiving her baby girl naturally the SAME month she graduated from FNA!Erin and Alyssa also talk about the bigger ripple effects of addressing your health, and how FNA helped her build a business on her own terms.In this episode:How bloating, bowel changes, gut health, inflammation, and immune function became key pieces of Alyssa’s endometriosis puzzleWhy 14 months is not “too long” if you’re learning to practice real holistic careHow bio-individuality applies to your body, your clients, and the way you build your businessWhat Erin means when she says her work is about “storying people into possibility”Why comprehensive, whole-person care matters even more in an era of AI-generated health adviceResources mentioned:EnrollmentApplications for the Fall 2026 cohort of The Funk’tional Nutrition Academy isare now open! If you’re ready to become a certified functional health practitioner, apply now.Apply to work with us 1:1 here.Connect with Alyssa on Instagram and her website, Aligned to Rise.Want more of Erin?Subscribe to her Substack where Erin shares the (raw & unfiltered) BTS of her own business & life – so you can steal what applies to yours. All things health, wealth, ambition & manifestation.Manifest Your Health is our neuroscience backed membership designed to help you reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and finally break out of the symptom loop. FOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO: https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/425-endometriosis-case-study Check out The Funk’tional Nutritionist: Website | InstagramOrganifi Supplement Powder (save 20% on your order with code FUNK) OneSkin (Use code FUNK for 15% off your first purchase)Qualia Creatine (get up to 50% off and an extra 15% off your first purchase with link + code FUNKS)This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

It’s no secret that stepping out of your typical day-to-day routine can be so expansive and help you realize how much possibility exists. It’s one thing to have the breakthrough, but it’s another thing entirely to bring that expanded identity back into your actual life, schedule, relationships, and nervous system.In this episode, Erin talks about “default mode” and how the story you tell yourself about yourself can become the identity you keep living from. This is a conversation about identity, healing, nervous system safety, parts integration, and the hardwired stories we keep reenacting without realizing it. Erin also shares a snippet from Manifest Your Health on rewriting your inner narrative, because action is what crystallizes change.In this episode:How big clarity can drop in on vacation, retreat, or in a pattern interrupt, and then disappear when you return to real lifeThe one question Erin asks herself every time when anchoring into a new identityHow the brain uses old memories, beliefs, and predictions to keep recreating the same realityWhy new experiences, new choices, and new inputs help your brain create a different defaultResources mentioned:Manifest Your Health is the neuroscience-backed membership that helps you regulate your nervous system, integrate the parts of you that keep you stuck, and become the version of yourself your body can actually heal as.Applications for the Fall 2026 cohort of The Funk’tional Nutrition Academy are now open! If you’re ready to become a certified functional health practitioner, apply now.Subscribe to her Substack where Erin shares the (raw & unfiltered) BTS of her own business & life – so you can steal what applies to yours. All things health, wealth, ambition & manifestation.Apply to work with us 1:1 here.Episode 412: The Neuroscience of Reality: Why Change Doesn’t StickFOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO: https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/424-default-mode-network Check out The Funk’tional Nutritionist: Website | InstagramOrganifi Supplement Powder (save 20% on your order with code FUNK) OneSkin (Use code FUNK for 15% off your first purchase)LMNT Electrolyte Replenishing Powder (Use code FUNK and get a free sample pack with any purchase!) Qualia Creatine (get up to 50% off and an extra 15% off your first purchase with link + code FUNKS)Fullscript is Erin’s trusted, go-to source for ordering supplements.This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy

What labs should you actually be getting? Everyone and their mom is aware of the fact that we need a liiittle more data on our bodies, and we have the availability to get it. In this episode, Erin gives you a complete deep dive through the labs she thinks EVERY woman should ask for, as well as the markers that often get skipped.Erin also covers cardiovascular and menopause risks, fasting glucose, and the functional labs her team uses most often in practice, including the GI-MAP stool test, DUTCH hormone testing, Wheat Zoomer, and toxin testing, plus when each one might make sense.If you’re in your 30s, 40s, 50s, or anywhere near perimenopause, this is your reminder to get the data, understand the data, and use it to take action.P.S. This week, Erin is teaching a 2-day masterclass for practitioners on how to support clients through a woman’s hormonal lifespan. Grab your ticket here!In this episode:Why a CMP, CBC, and standard lipid panel are important, but still very much a starter packApoB, and why it’s a must-have marker if cardiovascular disease runs in your familyWhat GGT can tell us about liver function, oxidative stress, toxin load, bile, and glutathione depletionThe metabolic health markers Erin wants women tracking before menopauseWhen a toxin panel might be the missing piece for chemical sensitivity, skin flares, liver markers, or symptoms that are not budgingResources mentioned:Applications for the Fall 2026 cohort of The Funk’tional Nutrition Academy are now open! If you’re ready to become a certified functional health practitioner, apply now.Manifest Your Health is our neuroscience backed membership designed to help you reconnect with your body, regulate your nervous system, and finally break out of the symptom loop. Order The Gut Panel.Apply to work with us 1:1 here.Want more of Erin?Subscribe to her Substack where Erin shares the (raw & unfiltered) BTS of her own business & life – so you can steal what applies to yours. All things health, wealth, ambition & manifestation.FOR OUR FULL LIST OF LINKS + RESOURCES, HEAD TO: https://www.thefunktionalnutritionist.com/podcast/423-womens-labs Check out The Funk’tional Nutritionist: Website | InstagramOrganifi Supplement Powder (save 20% on your order with code FUNK) OneSkin (Use code FUNK for 15% off your first purchase)Qualia Creatine (get up to 50% off and an extra 15% off your first purchase with link + code FUNKS)This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podscribe - https://podscribe.com/privacy