Tara McLellan is a Certified Functional Medicine Nurse Practitioner and the founder of Integrative Healthcare of Lower Alabama. She believes that the functional medicine model can bring true wellness, which involves not only the body, but also the mind and soul.

“Not only has my functional medicine approach helped patients with psoriasis, but a slew of other symptoms and diseases…anxiety and depression, stomach issues, hormone and thyroid imbalances, autoimmune dysfunction and many others. I am awed by the improvements in my patients’ health once we can identify triggers or underlying inflammation and we can address these with natural interventions,” says McLellan.

Functional medicine offers testing beyond traditional bloodwork so causes to health issues can often be found even after traditional lab work up does not find any.

McLellan has many success stories. One of her patients suffered chronic constipation since childhood, was evaluated by a gastroenterologist and had several colonoscopies and other tests. Findings were normal, so the patient was prescribed medication but was still very irregular and bloated. McLellan conducted bloodwork that revealed nutritional insufficiencies and malfunction of the thyroid. After eliminating the foods which were likely causing inflammation and adding supplements to support the thyroid, the patient was no longer constipated and her energy level significantly improved.

Another patient suffered with years of psoriasis and then developed joint pain due to psoriatic arthritis. His doctor prescribed monthly injections to suppress his immune system and manage the symptoms, which was extremely expensive. The patient decided to meet with McLellan to see what functional medicine might offer and to avoid simply putting a band-aid on his symptoms. McLellan recommended eliminating dairy and other inflammatory foods to address inflammation along with other lifestyle changes and supplements and his rash was nearly gone after just one month.

Raised in Mobile, Alabama, McLellan has been a board-certified Family Nurse Practitioner for over 10 years and is also an instructor for the Masters of Science in Nursing program at the University of South Alabama. She practiced in two of the largest community health centers on the Gulf Coast prior to starting Integrative Healthcare of Lower Alabama.