My story
Like many of you, I’ve struggled with chronic illness. I dragged myself to one doctor’s appointment after another—more than 30 healthcare practitioners over 10 years—and so I know the toll it can take.
If you’ve been through this yourself, or watched a loved one go through it, chances are you grew frustrated—not just by the symptoms, but by the lack of answers you received from your doctor, and from conventional medicine in general.
At some point you realize that the medicine you think should be able to solve complex health problems is simply not the right tool for the job.
With the help of a handful of truly standout healthcare practitioners and some major behavioral changes, I was able to take back my health and create a rich and rewarding life. That experience changed my life—and my perspective.
I knew that it wasn’t enough to live through the problem—I wanted to be part of the solution. Maybe you feel the same way.
You want to know how to take back your health, yes, but you also want your efforts to mean something. In short, you want to make a difference. If you’ve been thinking that there’s got to be a better way, you’re in the right place.
For my part, I went on to become a licensed acupuncturist and Functional Medicine practitioner, opened my practice, and applied the same principles that I found were most helpful to me—a combination of ancestral nutrition and Functional Medicine—and saw remarkable success for my patients.
But the truth was impossible to ignore: The scope of the chronic illness epidemic is far, far bigger than one practice alone can solve. Chronic disease is sabotaging our health, destroying our quality of life, shortening our lifespan, bankrupting our governments, and threatening the health of future generations.
Conventional medicine doesn’t stand a chance of turning the tide against chronic disease.
What does? A revolution to reinvent healthcare, reverse chronic disease, and create sustainable practices.
Every revolution needs an army, and that’s why I’ve dedicated myself not only to my patients and online followers—giving them information and tools to begin to reverse their own chronic illnesses—but also to training the next generation of highly skilled, certified Functional Medicine practitioners and Functional Health Coaches. If you’re reading this, you can be part of this critical movement to turn the tide against chronic disease through a united effort—which I call Unconventional Medicine.
It’s time that we channel our passion, efforts, and expertise into making a difference in this lifetime—and for generations to come.
That’s what led me to create the ADAPT Framework & Training Programs, which are at the heart of this healthcare revolution. The ADAPT framework is a collaborative model of care—and the first and only training to fully integrate Functional Medicine with an ancestral, evolutionary perspective, while also delivering comprehensive training in 21st-century practice management for practitioners and health coaches.
I created this approach so that together practitioners and health coaches can:
- Prevent and reverse chronic disease, instead of just managing it
- Offer inspiring, meaningful, and rewarding work to doctors, clinicians, healthcare providers, and health coaches
- Reduce the cost of healthcare for governments, organizations, and individuals
- Build a collaborative network of allied healthcare professionals who support patients and clients, and each other, every step of the way
- Provide their patients and clients with that vital (and missing) layer of care to help them make lasting diet, lifestyle, and behavior changes; cope with stress; and receive moral and emotional support
I launched the ADAPT Practitioner Training Program and also the ADAPT Health Coach Training Program, which raises the standard for health coaches, upholding high, evidence-based standards and equipping, supporting, and training health coaches to do paradigm-shifting work. The truth is that helping people to change their diet, lifestyle, and behavior is the single most important step we can take to reverse chronic disease.
Every movement needs a manifesto, right? I recently published a book that serves as the rallying cry: Unconventional Medicine: Join the Revolution to Reinvent Healthcare, Reverse Chronic Disease, and Create a Practice You Love.
This call to action shares the ADAPT Framework for reinventing healthcare and reversing chronic disease using Functional Medicine, an ancestral diet and lifestyle, and a collaborative practice model that links health coaches with licensed providers.
Conventional medicine doesn’t stand a chance of turning the tide against chronic disease, but we do. I’m thrilled to have you join me so we can turn that tide together.
-Chris
About Chris
Chris Kresser, M.S., L.Ac., is the creator of the ADAPT Practitioner and Health Coach Training Programs. He is one of the most respected clinicians and educators in the fields of Functional Medicine and ancestral health and has trained over 1,300 health professionals around the world in his unique approach.
Co-director of the California Center for Functional Medicine, creator of ChrisKresser.com, and New York Times best-selling author, Chris is a prolific communicator; his newest book is Unconventional Medicine. Chris was nominated “Best Inspirational Voice” and “Best Health & Wellness Website” by Paleo magazine 2019. Named one of the 100 most influential people in health and fitness by Greatist.com, he has appeared as a featured guest on The Dr. Oz Show and Fox & Friends, as well as in other national media outlets. Chris lives in Berkeley, CA, with his wife and daughter.