Richmond Integrative and Functional Medicine

Richmond Integrative and Functional Medicine Aaron Hartman, MD
Restoring health & hope with science-backed solutions and innovative healthcare.

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What If We Were Wrong About Food?For decades, nutrition advice focused on restraint: less fat, fewer calories, more disc...
02/18/2026

What If We Were Wrong About Food?

For decades, nutrition advice focused on restraint: less fat, fewer calories, more discipline.

But what if that framework quietly created the very problems it promised to solve?

In this conversation with Sally Fallon Morell, we explore why low-fat diets backfired, how appetite is regulated biochemically (not morally), and why traditional foods once provided stability modern diets struggle to replace.

👉 Read the full article: https://richmondfunctionalmedicine.com/what-if-we-were-wrong-about-food




02/17/2026

She came to the ER with chest pain and was sent home with antacids. Three days later, she was dead.

How does our system miss a heart attack in a woman? Medical gaslighting. We act like this is a recent problem, but it has likely been happening for generations.

Women’s symptoms are dismissed. They are told it is anxiety or that it is all in their head. Many are blown off, especially when gut related symptoms connected to the heart are ignored.

Have you experienced medical gaslighting? What symptoms were dismissed, and how did you discover something more serious was going on? Share in the comments.

You protect yourself by recognizing these blind spots and understanding where gaslighting happens most.

02/16/2026

Your past does not have to determine your present or your future health.

Trauma and major life events can push your nervous system into a constant fight or flight state. The loss of a loved one or a child’s health struggle can truly change the trajectory of your health.

But it does not have to stay that way. Healing requires meaning and purpose. You need an attachment to something greater than yourself. It may be your family or another calling, but connection and purpose are vital to real recovery.

If you leave this out, your healing will never be as complete as it could be. Do not ignore this in your personal healing plan.

02/15/2026

Purpose is healing.

Do you have a higher purpose for your life? Family, friends, faith, a calling? Something greater than yourself?

Just having that sense of something bigger can dramatically change how you handle stress. When you live with meaning and purpose, your body responds differently. You cope with stressors better. You face difficult diagnoses with more resilience. You recover more effectively from heart attacks and strokes. You are less prone to depression.

Purpose is not just emotional. It is biological.

That sense of meaning often comes down to community, family, and a connection to something greater than yourself. And it can be one of the most powerful foundations for healing.

02/14/2026

Did you know that up to 30% of protein products on the market may contain detectable levels of lead?

So how does lead end up in collagen or beef protein?

Lead accumulates in bones. Animals are exposed through their environment and feed, and over time it can be stored in their skeletal system. When we concentrate bone based products like collagen or animal proteins, we can also concentrate what was stored there.

You cannot see, taste, or smell heavy metals. So what can you do?

Ask for the certificate of analysis. A reputable manufacturer should provide third party testing that shows exactly what is in the product, including heavy metals. If they cannot, you really do not know what you are putting into your body.

If you pick three random protein products off the shelf, odds are at least one may contain lead. Even low level, daily exposure matters.

We have resources on our website to help you find cleaner, properly tested options.

You deserve transparency. Ask for the data. Do not assume all protein powders are equal.

02/13/2026

Let’s talk about the difference between degenerative agriculture and regenerative agriculture.

As Ashley Armstrong (.sistas) explains, the degenerative model is like taking an antibiotic every day. You are wiping out the very organisms designed to protect and nourish you.

When we farm this way, we are damaging the beneficial microbes in the soil, just like overusing antibiotics harms the gut microbiome.

In a regenerative model, we take a different approach. Instead of destroying microbes, we support and foster them. We return to ancestral farming practices and work with the principles of nature, not against them.

Healthy soil microbes help produce the compounds that support plant health and, ultimately, our health. When we degrade the soil, we degrade our food. When we restore the soil, we restore resilience to the entire system, including the human body.

Check out my full conversation with Ashley Armstrong on YouTube here:

https://youtu.be/E5cSgF-CQWs?si=Rjo4fzkZ_nB_hRP5

02/12/2026

90% of patients with fibromyalgia are women.

And women are disproportionately medically gaslit.

For decades, women with fibromyalgia were told nothing was wrong. They were told it was stress. Anxiety. Depression. That it was all in their head. That they were overreacting.

That was wrong.

When a condition primarily affects women and medicine does not fully understand it, it too often gets minimized. Women are more likely to have their symptoms dismissed, psychologized, or brushed aside. That is medical gaslighting. It is not always intentional, but it is harmful.

We now understand that fibromyalgia is often connected to underlying drivers like yeast overgrowth, Lyme disease, mold exposure, gut dysfunction, and nutrient deficiencies. These are not imagined problems. They are measurable and treatable.

As a physician, I was trained to listen. When you truly listen, patients will tell you what is happening in their bodies. Somewhere along the way, many in medicine stopped listening to women.

Have you ever felt dismissed by a doctor? Told not to worry when you knew something was wrong?

We are collecting these stories because this has gone on far too long. If you have experienced medical gaslighting, especially as a woman, your story matters.

You can help change this. You can help restore listening. You can be part of the movement to end medical gaslighting.

You can sleep all night and still wake up exhausted.Functional dentists are noticing patterns that traditional medicine ...
02/11/2026

You can sleep all night and still wake up exhausted.
Functional dentists are noticing patterns that traditional medicine often misses — where breathing, airway, and oral inflammation quietly prevent recovery from ever turning on.

02/11/2026

What you believe about the future changes your biology.

Take a moment and ask yourself where you see your life five or ten years from now. Where do you see your health. Where do you see your family. Those expectations matter. Purpose and direction shape the choices you make every day. They influence what you eat, how you sleep, how you manage stress, and how you show up the next morning. A future vision creates momentum.

At the same time, we are becoming less connected to what makes us human and more driven by technology. You can see the impact in rising rates of anxiety and depression. For the first time, we are facing a generation of children who are not expected to outlive their parents.

That should stop us in our tracks.

Having a sense of purpose and meaning, and having goals that extend into the future, can literally change your life. It influences longevity. It supports health. And it reminds your biology that there is something worth moving toward.

02/10/2026

I hear this all the time. Patients tell me their labs came back normal, yet they still do not feel well and they do not know what to do next.

Here is the truth. Normal labs do not mean you are healthy. They simply mean your results fall within a statistical range for the general population. That range is based on averages. About 95 percent of people are included, regardless of whether that population is actually well.

But what if diabetes is common? What if low vitamin D is common? Suddenly abnormal becomes normal, and that is exactly what has happened with many lab markers today.

This is where functional lab evaluation matters. It looks at optimal versus suboptimal versus disease. Our current system is primarily designed to identify disease, not to define health.

We offer a lot of resources to help with this. Through our website blogs, podcasts, and courses, we walk you through what optimal labs actually look like. We also give you the opportunity to have your own labs evaluated in a meaningful way.

Get on your own path. Get your own labs. Figure out what optimal looks like for you.

02/09/2026

Your healing journey needs a guide, not a savior.

I often think about Frodo in The Lord of the Rings. He carried the responsibility. He held the ring. But he was never meant to do it alone. He had a fellowship around him. Legolas. Gandalf. And Samwise, who quite literally carried him when he had nothing left.

Healing works the same way.

You need people who can guide you, support you, and walk beside you. But you are still the one who has to take the steps. You are the one who carries the weight. You are the one who moves forward, one choice at a time.

So take a look at the group around you. Make sure you have people who do not give up on you. People who believe in you. People who remind you who you are when you forget.

Healing is not a solo journey. Community is essential to self healing and self repairing.

02/08/2026

Quietness and stillness may be the most powerful superdrug and superfood we have.

In today’s culture, we are constantly run ragged. There is no space to sit, reflect, or even think. One hundred and fifty years ago, before electricity extended the day, people were naturally forced into stillness when the sun went down.

Now, with constant light, screens, and technology, we rarely create time to contemplate, journal, or process the day. This has a direct impact on your nervous system and your gut health.

Did you know that nearly 25 percent of your digestive enzymes are released simply by experiencing your food? By slowing down. By being present. By thinking about what you are eating.

Calming your nervous system is essential for healing. You must develop a daily practice that allows your body to shift out of stress and into repair. This is not optional. It is critical for your healing journey moving forward.

Address

1 Park West Circle, Ste 301
Midlothian, VA
23114

Opening Hours

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Tuesday 8am - 5pm
Wednesday 8am - 5pm
Thursday 8am - 5pm
Friday 8am - 5pm

Telephone

+18048933920

Website

https://made-for-health.captivate.fm/listen

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About Dr. Hartman

My own journey with Functional Medicine actually started with our first daughter, who we took in as a foster child, then adopted. She has cerebral palsy and countless dietary issues. We went to specialist after specialist, and even as a physician I felt let down and confused.

My daughter's health struggles forced me to confront an uncomfortable realization:

Our current health care system doesn't have all the answers.

My wife, a brilliant--and very stubborn--occupational therapist refused to give up hope. She ultimately pointed me towards functional medicine.