...and THANK YOU for following along! My name is Beth Ann Davenport {yes, I go by ‘Beth Ann’ - this is The South!}, and I want to share my story with you.
I am a pharmacist who is finally convinced that the best medication is prepared on the kitchen counter. I say finally because I should have reached this conclusion long before I did! My father, also a pharmacist, has always been ahead of his time, and he's been living functional medicine principles for as long as I can remember. He even hired a nutritionist to focus on natural health in our small town community pharmacy in the 90's - The 1990's! The decade of "low fat" high sugar / uber processed everything. But as the story goes, I had to come to the knowledge on my own, and that took more time than I care to admit.
I survived the majority of my twenties on microwavable mac’n’cheese, fun size candy bars, and diet drinks. I wish I were kidding. The concept of portion control has always made sense to me – I’m just a little over 5 feet tall, so it seems reasonable (albeit unfair) that I can’t eat as much as someone closer to the six foot mark. Calories were the only measure that mattered, and I was convinced that all calories were created equal until I found out I was expecting our first child a little over seven years ago.
Teased by some coworkers that I would have a “macaroni baby,” I harnessed all the super power that comes with pregnancy and nursing, and I made the healthiest decisions of my life up to that point. But then, ever so gradually, I slipped back toward poor eating amidst the chaos that is the everyday life of a modern working mama, and I only seemed to prioritize quality nutrition and healthy habits when I was growing or nourishing another life besides my own. I am not a fan of mama martyrdom, so I’ll move on.
Fast forward a couple of years, and my husband, Josh, and I had two precious children. Our daughter was three years old, and our youngest son was 9 months. You may be wondering why I specified youngest son when we only had one, but it’s not a typo. It was at this time that we added our third child to the family, a second son also three years old. A few months into life as a family of five, a turning point came. No bolt of lightning struck, and no dramatic last straw broke the proverbial camel's back as a catalyst for changing my life. I just looked up one day and saw three children staring back, all three years old or under and all depending on me. And when I looked in the mirror, the woman staring back at me was well on her way to becoming the stereotype of a mom who had given up on herself. I was tired and crazy and unhealthy in too many ways, but I couldn’t accept that it was all downhill from here.
I began to recognize that this body I had been given had done so much work growing and nourishing two and now raising these three little ones in addition to trying to fill the roles of wife, pharmacist, friend, and I can’t even remember what else. Recognition was followed by gratitude, and gratitude was followed by a pivotal decision. I decided I was not going to be a victim of motherhood or of American culture or of aging or of anything else. I was going to need to take care of myself in a way I really hadn't ever before, and then, I would give my best to each of those callings.
Not long after I began to make changes in my life at home, I also started incorporating what I was learning into my work. As I helped patients manage their medication, I quickly found myself spending more and more time on the nutrition and therapeutic lifestyle changes that are really first line therapy for almost every chronic disease. I quickly began shifting the focus of my continuing education and clinical experience to nutrition, disease prevention, appropriately studied supplements, and lifestyle modifications for improved overall health, and that eventually led to Functional Medicine {What is Functional Medicine? Read about it here!}.
According to the Institute for Functional Medicine (IFM), Functional Medicine determines how and why illness occurs and restores health by addressing the root causes of disease for each individual. Rather than simply looking to a pill to bandaid a symptom, functional medicine looks at your whole body, determines from where the symptom derives, and seeks to heal from the root up. While modern, traditional medicine does an incredible job keeping us alive (treating acute health disparities like traumas, injuries, infections, etc) and fixing broken parts, it’s not doing the best job of keeping us well (treating chronic/lifestyle diseases like heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, etc.). In other words, it isn’t fixing our broken systems.
Functional Medicine looks at you as a whole person, one with a completely unique combination of genetics, lifestyle, relationships, environment, and many other factors specific to you. And ultimately, Functional Medicine looks to restore health to your life in every capacity, largely by looking to food as medicine.
The more I learned, the more I began to understand that our bodies are made up of intricately connected and co-dependent systems, and accounting for those connections is critical to health. I dove into IFM’s intense and thorough coursework, and immersed myself in all things "natural healing."
Here's the thing - there is so much hope! The information I have learned and continue to learn everyday {literally!} is simply too good, too fascinating, and too crucial to keep to myself. I knew I needed a way to help people understand and implement it, but that opportunity didn’t exist behind the traditional pharmacy counter. So I launched Prescription Wellness, a concierge wellness consultation company. Prescription Wellness exists to accomplish that very purpose - to share knowledge and tools about functional nutrition, physical activity, quality rest, and healthy stress management to make a real impact in the lives of others - in your life!
My goal for this space is to help further spread the news about this incredible movement in healthcare - a shift toward allowing our bodies to function according to their incredible design. I am also so excited to highlight my favorite healthy restaurants, brands, and products in Arkansas and beyond. There are so many folks really doing it right, and supporting them is a win for everyone!
Official G O A L :: #improveARhealth together!
All the Best!
Beth Ann