Welcome back to another episode of The Amberly Lago Show! In this episode, I sit down with the incredible Andrea Nakayama, functional medicine nutritionist, writer, educator, and cultural critic whose work challenges us to rethink what healing really looks like.
Andrea's journey into this work began during one of the most heartbreaking seasons of her life. When she was just seven weeks pregnant, her husband was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer, at only 31 years old. Suddenly, Andrea found herself navigating pregnancy, grief, and a medical system that was incredibly skilled in many ways, but couldn't fully address the complexity of the person behind the diagnosis.
That experience changed everything.
Andrea began noticing something that would eventually become foundational to her work: we are not our diagnoses. A person is not simply Crohn's disease, chronic pain, cancer, menopause, or whatever label may appear in a chart. There is an entire human being behind that diagnosis, with a history, lifestyle, environment, relationships, experiences, and story that matter.
In this conversation, Andrea breaks down what functional medicine actually means and explains its three foundational principles: creating a therapeutic partnership between practitioner and patient, looking for the roots by asking why something is happening instead of only asking what to do about it, and understanding the body through a systems-based approach.
We also talk about the difference between functional medicine and functional nutrition, and why what happens between medical appointments can be just as important as what happens inside the doctor's office. Andrea reminds us that while a healthcare professional may be an expert in medicine, you are the expert in your own lived experience and your body.
One of the most eye-opening parts of our conversation is Andrea's perspective on lab testing. We talk about the difference between conventional lab ranges, looking at those same labs through a functional lens, and the growing trend of expensive specialty testing. Andrea shares her concerns about constantly searching for another diagnosis, deficiency, intolerance, toxin, or problem and how the stories we begin telling ourselves about our bodies can affect the way we experience our health.
We also dive into the wellness industry and the overwhelming amount of information being thrown at us every single day. From peptides and supplements to protein recommendations and the newest wellness trend, it's easy to believe that there's always another product we need to buy in order to finally feel better.
Andrea challenges that thinking.
Instead of immediately searching for another fix, she encourages us to return to the foundations. Her health non-negotiables are refreshingly simple: sleep, elimination, and blood sugar balance. Before chasing every downstream symptom, she encourages us to look at the roots and the environment those roots are growing in.
Andrea also shares an incredibly important reminder about our attention economy. Before buying the supplement, believing the social media post, or jumping onto the next wellness trend, pause and notice what that message is creating inside you. Does it make you feel empowered and understood, or does it create fear and convince you that something else is wrong with your body?
We also talk about sleep and why even something as seemingly simple as saying, "I don't sleep well," deserves curiosity before a solution. Are you struggling to fall asleep? Stay asleep? Are you waking up exhausted? Andrea explains why getting specific about our symptoms allows us to have much more meaningful conversations with our healthcare providers and begin experimenting with our own rhythms instead of immediately looking for another quick fix.
If you've ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting health advice, frustrated that your labs look "normal" when you know something doesn't feel right, or exhausted from constantly trying the next supplement, diet, peptide, or wellness hack, this episode is a powerful invitation to slow down.
Your body isn't simply a problem waiting to be fixed. It's communicating with you.
And sometimes the most powerful thing we can do for our health is stop chasing every answer outside ourselves and start becoming more curious about what's happening within.
We Discuss:
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Andrea's personal journey into functional medicine and nutrition
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Losing her husband to an aggressive brain tumor after his diagnosis while she was seven weeks pregnant
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The gaps Andrea first recognized within the traditional medical system
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Why a person should never be reduced to their diagnosis
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The idea that our biology is connected to our biography
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What functional medicine actually means
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The three foundational principles of functional medicine
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Creating a therapeutic partnership between patient and practitioner
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Why you are an expert in your own body and lived experience
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Looking for the roots and asking "why is this happening?" instead of only "what should I take?"
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Understanding the body through a systems-based approach
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Why the gut, liver, hormones, brain, and other systems cannot be viewed completely separately
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The difference between functional medicine and functional nutrition
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Using nutrition and lifestyle practices to support what happens between medical appointments
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Conventional lab ranges versus looking at lab work through a functional lens
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Why Andrea believes we may sometimes be looking for too many problems through specialty testing
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The danger of self-diagnosing and labeling ourselves based on health trends
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How the stories we tell about our bodies may influence our health experience
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The pressure practitioners can feel to continually offer the newest wellness solutions
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Andrea's concerns about the commercialization of the wellness industry
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What her experience in Japan taught her about food quality and health culture
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Why wellness doesn't have to begin with another supplement or expensive protocol
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Andrea's three foundational health non-negotiables: sleep, elimination, and blood sugar balance
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Looking at the roots instead of constantly treating downstream symptoms
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Understanding where your attention is going in today's wellness culture
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Why Andrea doesn't give generic supplement recommendations
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Pausing before purchasing the next wellness solution you see online
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How large supplement stacks can disconnect us from understanding what our bodies actually need
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Separating the health problem from the proposed solution
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Getting specific about what "bad sleep" actually means
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Tracking your own patterns so you can have better conversations with healthcare professionals
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Experimenting with sleep and daily rhythms instead of immediately searching for another fix
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Why curiosity about your body can be more powerful than constantly trying to control it
Timestamps:
00:00 Preview: cutting through wellness noise and returning to foundational health
01:00 Introduction to Andrea Nakayama and her approach to functional nutrition
03:00 Losing her husband to brain cancer while seven weeks pregnant
06:00 Discovering the gaps in the medical system and realizing we are not our diagnoses
09:00 What functional medicine actually means
12:00 Therapeutic partnership and recognizing yourself as an expert in your own body
14:00 Looking for the roots and asking why instead of only asking what to do
16:00 The systems-based approach and understanding how the whole body is connected
18:00 Functional medicine versus functional nutrition
20:00 Conventional blood work, functional ranges, and the limits of lab testing
22:00 The risks of over-testing, self-diagnosis, and constantly searching for another problem
24:00 The wellness industry's obsession with fixes, supplements, peptides, and optimization
26:00 What Andrea learned about health, food, and culture from spending time in Japan
28:00 The foundational non-negotiables: sleep, elimination, and blood sugar balance
30:00 Attention economy, supplement overload, understanding your symptoms, and becoming more curious about your body's signals
To Connect with Andrea Nakayama:
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https://www.instagram.com/andreanakayama/
Website
https://www.andreanakayama.com/
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