In his early 20s, Chris Kresser, M.S., LAc, sold everything he owned and took off around the world. He wanted to travel and surf and planned to spend two years doing both.

But his path took a turn nine months into the trip when he began experiencing symptoms of tropical illness, including vomiting, nausea, and delirium. After taking antibiotics, he was able to keep traveling, but several months later it was clear that this was serious. It didn't make sense—he was eating well and in the best shape of his life, and yet this seemingly small bout of sickness was evolving into a chronic illness. He decided to go home and seek medical help.

Over the next five years, Chris saw upward of 50 doctors and practitioners to try to get better. It turns out he had multiple parasites. He spent most days curled up on the floor in pain and thought he wasn't going to have a future.

That's when he began to look beyond modern medicine and discovered functional medicine and the paleo diet. By changing his diet and lifestyle, Chris was able to heal.

Through this experience and his studies as a licensed acupuncturist, Chris has learned quite a bit about the power of functional medicine and how to keep your gut as healthy as possible.

"To me, functional medicine was a perfect model," Chris says. "It synthesized the holistic approach of functional medicine and the perspective of looking at the body as a collection of interdependent systems, but then it also utilized modern diagnostics like blood testing, stool testing, and saliva testing—things that weren't available in Chinese medicine 2,000 years ago that I think can be helpful in determining the source or cause of the problem."

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