The Role of Narrative Medicine in Understanding Your Body's Story with Andrea Nakayama

12/29/24 • 55 min

Happy Satiated Saturday!

Something I've been noticing is how much we're taught to see any symptom as a sign that something is "wrong" and that we have to embark on a "healing journey" to "fix" the symptom.

For a moment, try this out on your body. Tell it that there is something wrong that you need to fix. What do you notice? How does your body respond to that?

Striving to “heal” your body sends the message to your body that you are in danger. Your body activates your sympathetic nervous system and takes all your internal resources away from repair toward survival. You cannot heal in a fight or flight state. To decrease any bodily symptom or food coping mechanism, you have to stop thinking of yourself as broken and needing to be fixed.

In this week's Satiated Podcast episode, I chat with Andrea Nakayama, Functional Medicine Nutritionist, educator, and founder of Functional Nutrition Alliance about:

The gaps in traditional healthcare
Shifting perspective of a "healing journey"
Misconceptions of nutrition
The basics of a health foundation
Understanding the body's signals
The three tiers of nutritional mastery
Role of Narrative Medicine in recovery
Supporting the body's natural healing

You can also read the transcript to this week’s episode here: https://www.stephaniemara.com/blog/narrative-medicine-in-understanding-your-body

With Compassion and Empathy,
Stephanie Mara Fox
Keep in touch with Andrea:

Websites: https://www.andreanakayama.com/
https://www.fxnutrition.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andreanakayama/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/ReplenishPDX
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AndreaNakayama.page
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreanakayama/

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Keep in touch with Stephanie Mara:
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephaniemarafox
Website: https://www.stephaniemara.com/
https://www.somaticeating.com/
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephmara/
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Special thanks to Bendsound for the music in this episode. ...

Happy Satiated Saturday!

Something I've been noticing is how much we're taught to see any symptom as a sign that something is "wrong" and that we have to embark on a "healing journey" to "fix" the symptom.

For a moment, try this out on your body. Tell it that there is something wrong that you need to fix. What do you notice? How does your body respond to that?

In this week's Satiated Podcast episode, I chat with Andrea Nakayama, Functional Medicine Nutritionist, educator, and founder of Functional Nutrition Alliance about:

The gaps in traditional healthcare
Shifting perspective of a "healing journey"
Misconceptions of nutrition
The basics of a health foundation
Understanding the body's signals
The three tiers of nutritional mastery
Role of Narrative Medicine in recovery
Supporting the body's natural healing

You can also read the transcript to this week’s episode here: https://www.stephaniemara.com/blog/narrative-medicine-in-understanding-your-body

With Compassion and Empathy,
Stephanie Mara Fox
Keep in touch with Andrea:

Support the show

Special thanks to Bendsound for the music in this episode. ...

Previous Episode

Recover from Trauma and Food Struggles with Nutrition with Timothy Frie

Happy Satiated Saturday!

As many of you know, I started my PhD in somatic psychology in September and just completed my first semester. 🎉

While I initially wanted to research all eating disorders (which may still happen), I decided this first semester to focus on research surrounding binge eating disorders.

Going through graduate school almost 15 years ago, I was often confused about why there was not a single class on nutrition. Wouldn't that be something that would be important for a therapist to at least know the basics when exploring any issue someone is navigating? How a person eats can contribute to depression, anxiety, and overall mood.

When recovering from food struggles, a balance must be explored between discovering what foods feel best in your body, while not making it too important that the anxiety with food perpetuates.

In this week's episode, I chat with Timothy Frie, Neuronutritionist, nutritional neuroscience researcher, and founder of the Georgia Center for Neuronutrition about:

The impact of food on mental and emotional health
The link between trauma and nutrition
How healing from trauma needs to include both nutritional and emotional support
Navigating the unknowns in nutrition
The diet industry
Questions you can journal about to raise awareness of how your current relationship with food was created

You can also read the transcript to this week’s episode here: https://www.stephaniemara.com/blog/recover-from-trauma-and-food-struggles-with-nutrition

If you want to work together in the new year, book a free 20 minute Connect Call with me here. Or, join the Somatic Eating® Program waitlist here.

With Compassion and Empathy,
Stephanie Mara Fox

Keep in touch with Timothy:

Website: https://www.timfrie.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nutritionfortrauma/

Support the show

Special thanks to Bendsound for the music in this episode. ...

Next Episode

2025 Forecast of Trends to Embrace and Abandon in Functional Medicine and Somatic Therapy with Michelle Shapiro

Happy Satiated Saturday!

Your struggles with food rooted in a lack of safety in your body are not just a response to trauma, they're also shaped by the commodification of health.

The idea that a product, supplement, protocol, or routine could "fix" you and make you feel safe often triggers your fight-or-flight response. This constant sense of danger can intensify binge or restrictive food behaviors as your body seeks regulation.

When health is commodified, it can never feel like enough. There’s always another longevity bio-hack, another supplement, another "should" to do for your health that your body never gets the chance to feel safe and relax into the health that is here right now.

There were a lot of health trends in 2024 including ozempic, cortisol face, the continued focus on eating enough protein, lifting weights, and the demonization of foods like hyper-palatable foods, seed oils, and sugar. So what's to come in 2025?

In this week's Satiated Podcast episode, I chat with my dear friend and colleague Michelle Shapiro, Integrative & Functional Registered Dietitian and the host of the Quiet the Diet Podcast about: