We sat down with FunctionalDX Practitioner Katherine Caris-Harris to find out why she chooses FDX and why she recommends it to other practitioners. You can watch the video of our discussion below or keep scrolling to read the blog version.
Katherine Caris-Harris’ Practitioner experience
Katherine Caris-Harris has had an interesting journey into the world of functional healthcare; dropping out of medical school to pursue a City career, followed by a career break to raise her children, during which time she rediscovered her love and passion for health.
Alongside rediscovering her interest in health, Katherine had become a competitive athlete, with long distance running and triathlon being her arenas. Nutrition had become increasingly important in her own life and a career in healthcare felt aligned with her own experiences. Katherine embarked on a degree in Nutritional Science and qualified as an NLP practitioner, with additional qualifications for eating disorder support.
Katherine now specialises in working with athletic clients, clients with eating disorders and clients with complex conditions.
How Katherine Caris-Harris became a FunctionalDX Practitioner
FDX (with expert guidance from Founder Jonathan) helped Katherine to make connections and see the dots where perhaps it was less obvious. She describes FDX as “a sort of a backbone for athlete testing”.
“The FDX Ultra (formerly Max) is probably my go to as things stand. It just gives me so much information about so many different areas of the body. Within one test that is easily understandable, for myself and for the client. From an athletic perspective, athletes love data. It’s repeatable, it’s ubiquitous, and you can then rerun the test in six months time. And rather than simply saying ‘oh we need to perhaps consider reducing training’, I can show them hard facts and figures and I can show them how it relates to all of their symptoms, they’re coming to me with. So, it is a fantastic clinical tool to have.”
Katherine Caris-Harris
FDX Practitioner
What FunctionalDX blood panels does Katherine Caris-Harris use?
Katherine Caris-Harris’ go-to panel is the FDX Ultra because it covers over 80 biomarkers. She also often adds on thyroid antibodies; with a lot of athletic menopausal, peri-menopausal women thyroid function is a big factor.
“This provides a full and thorough overview of all of the systems of the body, and is a very cost effective way of doing it.”
Katherine Caris-Harris
FDX Practitioner
A case study from Katherine Caris-Harris where hidden dysfunctions were identified
In the case of a female client who was a triathlete competitor, in her early 50s and frequent podium age group winner, Katherine used the FDX Ultra to uncover performance blockers.
This client had experienced a drop off in performance, was putting on weight, wasn’t sleeping well, had nausea most days and a body that felt “off” and creaky. After an exhausting swim session with her coach, the coach recommended that she see someone about her nutrition and what’s going on.
The FDX Ultra flagged up significant immune dysfunction, gut inflammation and signs of thyroid issues. The markers were moving in the wrong direction and her DHEA was on the floor. Armed with this data, Katherine helped her client connect the dots to make some alterations in her diet; she had a lack of protein and some food intolerances. Key nutrient deficiencies were addressed, the client received support in communicating her needs to her coach, including how to address potential training overload and a need for additional time for recovery for a while.
About a month to six weeks later, the athlete was loving her training sessions again, completing all her sessions, her nausea was gone, and she was sleeping well.
“I think what’s key is a functional approach to sports nutrition. And it says that you need to get the fundamentals right, which is where FunctionalDX really fits into this; before you worry about ergogenic aids and more specific dietetic approaches to nutrition for sport.”
Katherine Caris-Harris
FDX Practitioner
Why does Katherine Caris-Harris choose FunctionalDX?
“FDX is an amazing and cost effective tool for both practitioners and clients; providing enhanced clinical outcomes and helping clients achieve their goals.”
Katherine Caris-Harris
FDX Practitioner
