IFNA Graduate Directory

Gretchen Spetz

I am Gretchen Spetz, registered and licensed dietitian and owner of The Functional Kitchen. I am honored to be able to share my passion for nutrition with you.

Throughout the course of my career, I have come to learn that the key to better health through food is not a simple equation of eat less and exercise more. Like many other women, I have experienced the fatigue, difficulty losing weight, anxiety, and digestive problems that seem to go hand in hand with the juggling act of motherhood, career, and countless other responsibilities. When I discussed this with my doctor, I was told I was "normal." I sure didn't feel normal! I felt like a shadow of my former self.

Enter functional nutrition. At this point, I started learning everything I could about this food-as-medicine approach to diet and health. Instead of using nutrition reactively to combat chronic disease diagnoses (example: cut sodium intake when you have high blood pressure), I learned to use nutrition to influence the root cause of chronic diseases. Getting the right balance of protein, fat, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals can assist the body's natural regulation mechanisms and bring everything back into balance. This translates to you feeling amazing!

I have a BA from the University of Notre Dame and a master's degree in public health nutrition from Case Western Reserve University. I was an outpatient dietitian specializing in weight management, diabetes, gastrointestinal disorders, and autoimmune disease at The Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals of Cleveland. In 2022, I was recognized as an Integrative and Functional Nutrition Certified Practitioner (IFNCP) after completing the most comprehensive certification program in functional nutrition through the Integrative and Functional Nutrition Academy.

I am the proud mom of two girls. Motherhood was the catalyst for helping me discover functional nutrition, and I am thankful to them for this!

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