About Todd Ehalt, FDN-P, AFDNP Member
My Own Journey
My interest in health and fitness began at an early age. I was born with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), a degenerative retinal disease, which left me with severe tunnel vision and night blindness. Having RP motivated me to learn as much as I could about healthy living, as to perhaps play a role in preventing deterioration in my vision. From as early as high school, I always saw prevention as more valuable than treatment.
My initial interest in fitness was primarily to train for the sports I participated in, such as wrestling, track and field, judo and powerlifting. This interest lead me to pursue my bachelor’s degree in exercise science.
Throughout my life I dealt with anxiety, depression, insomnia, fatigue and ADD. As I grew into adulthood, I constantly researched natural/alternative ways of dealing with these symptoms through exercise, nutrition and supplementation. Within less than a year of marriage to my wonderful wife, she had a miscarriage and afterwards found out she had Celiac disease. This took a great emotional and life altering tole on us. Going completely gluten-free is a tall order and a far cry from how we were eating up to that point. It was a big adjustment, but I learned a lot from the experience. I also found out that I was reacting to gluten as well (skin issues), as these symptoms abated when I went gluten-free.
In researching what could be done to help my wife, I stumbled upon functional medicine. The philosophy of getting to the root cause of health conditions was exactly what I was looking for. This discovery motivated me to acquire my certification in Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN). I used the techniques I learned in FDN to address my own health issues, which included the discovery and self treatment of gut infections.
My own health journey has lead me to a place in my life where I desire to help people through their own health journey. I can empathize with what many are going through, and I want to help. I know it can be a difficult and lonely place when you are dealing with deteriorating health, but I want people to know there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Education/Career
-Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® certification (FDN-P)
-Bachelor of science degree in exercise science and minor in psychology with an emphasis in neuroscience from Winona State University
-Graduate courses in psychology at the University of St. Thomas
-Program adviser at a weight loss clinic
-Health and wellness internship at the Mayo Clinic Dan Abraham Healthy Living Center
-Strength and conditioning coach at 1st Athlete Performance Center
Coaching Philosophy
The body has an innate ability to heal itself given the proper conditions. The proper conditions are created by lowering the toxic burden within our environment, giving our bodies the nutrients they need to heal through what we eat, and utilizing movement in a proper manner to help build and restore our bodies. Lastly, reducing the effects of stress in our lives through various stress reduction techniques and/or spiritual practices. This is a holistic view of health that encompasses physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual factors.
Within my FDN practice I use functional lab testing to look for healing opportunities within the areas of hormones, digestion, pathogen screening, intestinal permeability (leaky gut), immune function and food sensitivities. In assessing the results of the tests, client health history and symptoms, I look for relationships between these to create protocols using diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction and supplementation to bring the person’s body back into balance or homeostasis.