Both conventional and functional medicine are evidence-based. However, the latter uses the research as it’s being released (rather than the typical 15 to 30-year delay), and incorporates all the research, not just the studies on medications and disease. 

Per the Institute For Functional Medicine: “By shifting the traditional disease-centered focus of medical practice to a more patient-centered approach, Functional Medicine addresses the whole person, not just an isolated set of symptoms.”

Functional Medicine practitioners spend time with their patients, listening to their histories and looking at the interactions among genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors that can influence long-term health. The goal is positive vitality, rather than an absence of disease.