Health Promotion
Conditions
Brief summary
The goal of this research is to evaluate the feasibility and self-reported health outcomes of functional medicine health coaching in elimination diets among clinicians receiving training in functional medicine. A randomized controlled clinical trial of a 5-session functional medicine coaching and elimination diet intervention will be conducted to achieve the purpose of this study. The research team hypothesizes that functional medicine health coaching to support the elimination diet will improve physical and mental health outcomes better than the control condition of a self-guided elimination diet.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALFunctional Medicine Health Coaching for Elimination Diet for Elimination Diet
All participants will receive 5 coaching sessions to support them through the elimination diet. First session: The foundation session is where the coach and participant begin to develop rapport and outline the participant's goals. This occurs before the start of the Elimination Diet for motivation, expectations, education, and preparation. Second session: This can occur during week 1 of the elimination diet to support working through the implementation. Third session: This session is recommended to occur during week 3 of the diet to prepare for the reintroduction of foods. Fourth session: A session is recommended while the participant is reintroducing foods as this is typically the most difficult part of the diet as participants may be experiencing symptoms to reactive foods. Fifth session: A wrap up session is recommended after all of the food re-introductions to support the participant with maintenance, goals to move forward, and reflection.
BEHAVIORALSelf-guided Elimination Diet
The Elimination Diet course materials include self-guided materials designed to guide participants through all phases of a comprehensive elimination diet, including preparation, elimination, and reintroduction phases. All participants in this wait-list control group will be presented via email with the opportunity to receive the five sessions of coaching (described above) at the conclusion of the study.
Sponsors
Functional Medicine Coaching Academy
The Institute for Functional Medicine
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
OTHER
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
* Agree to adopt the elimination diet as outlined by study sponsor with no pre-planned interruption * Able to understand and write English * Voluntarily consent to the study and understand its nature and purpose including potential risks and side effects
Exclusion criteria
* Eating disorders within the past 10 years * Currently pregnant or breastfeeding * Nursing home residents, other institutionalized persons, prisoners, any other vulnerable participants
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline PROMIS-Global Health score | Change from baseline at 10 weeks | The PROMIS Global Health is a 10-item survey (PROMIS-10) is measure of health status that spans physical, mental, and social domains from the patient perspective, allowing clinicians and researchers to capture the complex and heterogeneous nature of the populations. |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline Medical Symptoms Questionnaire (MSQ) score | Change from baseline at 10 weeks | The Medical Symptoms Questionnaire is a multi-system inventory that rates symptom severity on a 0-4 scale. The MSQ has been used to track subjective responses of patients to treatment in both clinical and research settings. |
| Adherence/compliance to the elimination diet | At 10 weeks | The Adherence/compliance assessment is a 0-10 scale that asks the participant one question to self-rate how well they followed the Elimination Diet. This has been used in the Healthy Diet and Lifestyle Study pilot, a randomized trial. |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed