Women In Wellness: Lucy Townsend of Functional Medicine Associates On The Five Lifestyle Tweaks That Will Help Support People’s Journey Towards Better Wellbeing
An Interview With Candice Georgiadis
Get a “cognoscopy,” which includes a set of blood test that reveals the risk for Alzheimer’s; a simple online cognitive assessment that takes only about 30 minutes; and an MRI scan with volumetric (the MRI is optional for those who have no symptoms, but is recommended for those who already have symptoms of cognitive decline).
As a part of my series about women in wellness, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lucy Townsend.
Lucy Townsend is the Founder of Functional Medicine Associates. She holds an advanced degree in Counseling, is a published researcher, is a Certified Functional Medicine Health Coach, and is a Bredesen-Certified ReCODE Practitioner. She has been in the healthcare industry for over 25 years. Lucy specializes in working with individuals to prevent and reverse subjective and mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to “get to know you” better. Can you share your “backstory” with us?
Thank you for having me. I am humbled to share my journey.
In 2018, I founded Functional Medicine Associates. There, I work with individuals who have been diagnosed with subjective cognitive impairment and mild cognitive impairment to prevent and reverse the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. As a certified ReCODE practitioner, I utilize the Bredesen Protocol, a comprehensive, personalized evidence-based program to address the potential drivers of cognitive decline. I collaborate with my clients’ physicians to obtain accurate diagnoses through advanced cognitive and clinical assessment of their histories and labs, along with a report that reveals root causes — such as inflammation, glycotoxicity, lack of trophic support, vascular issues, and head trauma — to guide accurate medical intervention.
Prior to founding Functional Medicine Associates, I worked in the healthcare industry for more than 25 years. Today as a ReCODE practitioner and Functional Medicine Certified Health Coach, I draw on my many years in physical therapy, counseling, and advocacy to provide insight, strategies, and support to my clients and their caregivers to make lasting lifestyle changes with the goal of improving cognitive health.
I matriculated at the University of California Santa Barbara, where I studied biology. I received my bachelor’s degree in physical therapy from San Francisco State University and my master’s in counseling from the University of San Francisco.
I acquired my certification as a board-certified patient advocate from the Patient Advocate Certification Board (PACB), an organization of professions including, but not limited to, healthcare and patient advocates, case managers and others who, on behalf of patients communities, share the goal of safe, effective and compassionate healthcare. Board-certified patient advocates work with individual clients who need assistance navigating complex medical situations by partnering with them, seeking to empower them, and supporting their ability to make autonomous decisions.
I received my training from the Functional Medicine Coaching Academy (FMCA), the only coaching certification program that has completely incorporated functional medicine and functional nutrition into the curriculum. This program is approved by the International Consortium for Credentialing Health and Wellness Coaches. The Institute of Functional Medicine, in collaboration with the Cleveland Clinic, partnered with FMCA to develop the course content, which offers health coaches a time-tested standard that can be consistently applied in various settings and effectively discussed with other functional medicine practitioners around the world. FMCA-trained health coaches guide patients to optimum wellness using functional medicine, functional nutrition, mind-body medicine, and positive psychology coaching. A central theme of the training, positive psychology embraces and enhances people’s higher selves to achieve optimal functioning.
Years ago, I visited my grandmother in her nursing home, where she was convalescing with what was then diagnosed as arteriosclerosis or hardening of the arteries. Today it’s called dementia. She was confined to her hospital bed. She was 72 years old. She played with a doll. She had no idea who I was, nor did she know her own daughter, my aunt Lucy. I was seven at the time. Not long after that visit, my grandmother passed away. She lived in Boston; I was in California. That visit left a lasting impression. Fast-forward twenty years to 1994, when I was in graduate school. I had to select an internship, and I knew I wanted to work in research with dementia patients. I secured a position at the Palo Alto Veterans Administration Hospital, working at the Older Adult Center on the PTSD and dementia unit. I worked on a longitudinal study that evaluated dementia patients and their caregivers. The study involved interviewing dementia patients and caregivers regarding stress and coping skills related to activities of daily living. Going through this experience profoundly shaped my perspective about the importance of the caregiver/patient relationship.
Back in 1994, when I was doing research, very little hope was given to Alzheimer’s disease patients. Most families were told to get their loved one’s affairs in order. Today, thanks to a paradigm shift, decades of research, and recent clinical success, Dr. Dale Bredesen, who is a world-renowned neuroscientist and neurologist, developed a revolutionary protocol that will help thousands, if not millions, prevent and reverse cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease. I’m on a mission to help him. I did my clinical training with him to become a certified ReCODE practitioner.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career? What were the main lessons or takeaways from that story?
Seven years ago, I was on safari in the Kalahari Desert, south of Botswana, which is and a very remote part of South Africa about seven hours by vehicle to Johannesburg. I fell from a horse, which resulted in a traumatic brain injury, eight broken ribs, pneumothorax (collapsed lung), a helicopter and airplane evacuation, and two weeks in ICU. I have never experienced fear or pain like that in my life.
I was alone in a third-world country in a hospital bed with a translator. I prayed a lot. Thank goodness for my background in physical therapy, which enabled me to insist that a non-English-speaking African nurse get me out of bed to walk. I didn’t want to contract pneumonia. Two weeks after the accident, when I was stable, I flew back to the United States. When I arrived home, I had a year of rehabilitation. My greatest fear was becoming addicted to pain medication because I was on the highest doses of fentanyl and tramadol.
This traumatizing event gave me a new perspective on the power of functional medicine and the mind/body connection in healing. I successfully weaned myself off of the pain meds using powerful anti-inflammatory supplements, tea, an organic, mostly plant-based diet, sleep, meditation, and spinning. My own journey back to good health, in addition to working with so many others who have gone through health challenges, enables me to bring a high level of empathy, respect, understanding, and wisdom to my clients.
It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about a mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?
The biggest mistake I made in founding a company was thinking that I could do everything on my own. Building and managing the website, branding, social media, blogging, podcasting, events, marketing, finance, scheduling, and on and on, is not humanly possible on one’s own. When I invested in outside help, I started to focus on my services. I wrote a business plan that helped me understand how my business model is referral-driven and relationship-focused. I analyzed where I could get the biggest return on my investments. After I did that, my business started to make money. It doesn’t happen overnight.
Let’s jump to our main focus. When it comes to health and wellness, how is the work you are doing helping to make a bigger impact in the world?
The global burden of neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, affects more than one billion people.Mainstream medicine largely considers dementia to be unpreventable, incurable, and progressive based on years of clinical observation and hundreds of failed pharmaceutical trials. Alzheimer’s is currently one of the top causes of death globally. Conventional physicians currently have a handful of medications that do nothing to stop the progression of the disease process and may even hasten cognitive decline after a short-lived improvement in symptoms.
Dr. Bredesen’s protocol was developed from insights gleaned after decades in the laboratory and years of clinical work with hundreds of patients. The Bredesen Protocol has demonstrated reversal of cognitive decline with published peer-reviewed case studies and now has unprecedented early results from a formal Clinical Trial. Participants in the trial who experienced reversal were experiencing the early stages of dementia — including early-stage Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and subjective cognitive impairment (SCI). The protocol has been helpful for those in the mid- to later stages, but expectations should be tempered when beginning the program later in the disease process. Depending on what stage an individual enters the protocol, their willingness to institute healthful lifestyle change and agree with the contributors to cognitive decline that are identified through testing. In the years I have been implementing the Bredesen Protocol, I have seen dramatic improvements in cognition and a reverse decline in my clients.
Can you share your top five “lifestyle tweaks” that you believe will help support people’s journey towards better well-being? Please give an example or story for each.
For the prevention and reversal of neurodegenerative ideas diseases, I recommend the following lifestyle tweaks:
1. Get a “cognoscopy,” which includes a set of blood test that reveals the risk for Alzheimer’s; a simple online cognitive assessment that takes only about 30 minutes; and an MRI scan with volumetric (the MRI is optional for those who have no symptoms, but is recommended for those who already have symptoms of cognitive decline).
2. Implement the PreCODE (prevention) or ReCODE (reversal) protocol.
3. Hire a ReCODE certified health coach.
4. Stay connected to others for support (consider joining a support group).
5. Create a healthy lifestyle focused on prevention (nutrition, exercise, sleep, stress management, sleep, brain training, detoxification).
If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of wellness to the most amount of people, what would that be?
Functional medicine examines the root cause of disease. For example, what we call Alzheimer’s disease is actually a protective response to a wide variety of insults to the brain: inflammation, insulin resistance, toxins, infections, poor nutrition, hormones, and growth factors. Bredesen Seven (B7), developed by Dr. Bredesen, is based on decades of laboratory and clinical research that culminated in seven foundational strategies that promote neuroplasticity, which is the ability of the brain to heal and grow new neurons and connections between neurons in response to stimuli. Each strategy alone can promote neuroplasticity but, when practiced together, their combined effect becomes more powerful.
1. Nutrition: KetoFLEX 12/3 combines a heavily plant-based, nutrient-dense whole foods diet with daily intermittent fasting.
2. Exercise: A combination of aerobic, strength training, and mind-body practice is one of the best ways to protect cognition and help reverse cognitive decline.
3. Sleep: Getting seven to eight hours of optimal sleep nightly is vital to brain health.
4. Managing stress: Chronic, severe stress is a key contributor to cognitive decline. Adopting daily stress management habits is critical.
5. Brain training: Challenging the brain in new ways can forge new brain cell communication pathways, helping the brain to heal and grow.
6. Detoxification: Avoiding toxins that can harm the brain’s functioning is a vital part of optimizing brain health.
7. Supplements: High-quality supplements tailored to the specific, evolving needs of each individual have proven to make an important contribution. The B7 also rests on a foundation of mindfulness — the ability to be fully present in the current moment without judgment. Practicing the above strategies mindfully has a much higher rate of success.
What are your “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me Before I Started” and why?
1. Mindset is the foundation of everything. Research shows that mindset plays a significant role in determining life’s outcomes. By adapting and shifting your mindset, you improve your health, decrease stress and become more resilient to life challenges.
2. Surround yourself with people who encourage you. Being around people who support and uplift you motivates you to be the best version of yourself and facilitates growth and empowerment.
3. Live each day with gratitude and humility. A genuinely humble person that lives mindfully recognizes that everything they have is good. They accept that all the good things happening in their life are blessings for which they should be thankful. Gratitude improves emotional well-being.
4. Write a comprehensive business plan (BP). Include a mission statement. Whether you need a lot of funding on the front end or not, mindset is everything. Understanding your goals and objectives elevates much disappointment on the back end. Your BP is the foundation of your business.
5. Take your strengths and weakness seriously. If you start early in your career as an entrepreneur or become one later in life, you will have to work hard for it. Knowing your strengths and weakness is essential for business success or failure. Be realistic, budget for needs you can delegate to vendors, and focus and execute on your top skills.
Sustainability, veganism, mental health, and environmental changes are big topics at the moment. Which one of these causes is dearest to you, and why?
The highest rate of dementia-related death in the world is in Finland. It has been suggested that one of the main reasons for this may be mold-produced mycotoxins. We are all exposed to toxins at levels not seen before in history. We inhale air pollution and eat mercury-laden fish such as tuna and swordfish. We prepare vegetables laced with glyphosate (Roundup, the weed killer). We build our homes and colonize our sinuses with neurotoxin-producing molds. We burn paraffin candles that fill the room with benzene and toluene. We drink water tainted with pesticides and arsenic. In short, we are swimming daily in an Alzheimer’s bouillabaisse.
Our ability to detoxify on an ongoing basis is, therefore, critical, and a breakdown in detoxification increases the risk of cognitive decline. The first step in dealing with toxins is to determine exposure. Get tested using blood or urine, or even hair. Several laboratories, such as Quicksilver and Great Plains, perform these tests.
To optimize detoxification, try the following: purchase a HEPA filter such as IQAir, avoid smoking and air pollution (to the extent possible), and avoid prolonged mouth breathing since nasal passages also provide a filter for particulate matter. Additionally, individuals should check their home ERMI score (mold exposure), use a water filter (such as reverse osmosis), eat organic foods, avoid toxins in health and beauty aids, avoid fish high in mercury, avoid dental amalgams, eliminate PBAs, increase sweat with exercise and sauna, consider lymphatic massage, Epsom salt baths, and support liver and kidneys (both of which are major detoxification organs) with polyphenols such as blueberries and cruciferous veggies. We now know that inflammation is the root cause of disease. Be mindful of the toxic burden constantly being placed on the human body. Do things daily to detoxify your mind and body.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
https://functionalmedicineassociates.net/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucy-townsend-ma-fmchc-bcpa-83574b53/
@functionalmedicinelucy
Thank you for these fantastic insights! We wish you continued success and good health.
