The Functional and Integrative Medicine Podcast for Providers · The Functional and Integrative Medicine Podcast for Providers

Interview with Tatiana Pestana, MD, MPH, CCMS, IFMCP, of Pestana Wellness

·27 min·1 clip

A CT scan showing an atrophic pancreas led Dr. Pastana to diagnose pancreatic insufficiency and use enzymes.

1. The Functional and Integrative Medicine Podcast for Providers features Dr. Tatiana Pastana, MD, MPH, CCMS, IFMCP, discussing her shift into Pestana Comprehensive Wellness. 2. Ginger Allen hosts the conversation as founder of Your Medical Liaison, and Dr. Pastana matters here because she blends internal medicine, pediatrics, culinary medicine, and functional medicine. 3. The episode asks what functional medicine looks like in practice when a physician moves from conventional care into a cash-based model focused on root causes. 4. Dr. Pastana says she practiced traditional medicine for just over 21 years before adding culinary medicine and then functional medicine in 2021. 5. She says diet changes and more movement changed lab results in ways that were “eye-opening” and pushed her further toward lifestyle-based care. 6. She describes becoming fully “all in” on functional medicine and leaving primary care behind. 7. Pastana says her practice now includes advanced testing, hormone and metabolic support, GLP-1 therapies, and nutritional counseling. 8. She says her clinical focus includes cardio-metabolic health, hormone optimization, pediatric wellness, and complex chronic illnesses. 9. Her son’s juvenile rheumatoid arthritis comes up as a family example, including a gluten-free and dairy-free attempt. 10. She says her son is in remission and off all medications, and she connects that outcome to the lifestyle changes they made. 11. Pastana says she is open to working with children who have arthritis, while noting that most of her pediatric patients are focused on nutrition for sports, healthy BMI, or immunity. 12. She explains that functional care can still involve medications and coordination with specialists such as endocrinologists and rheumatologists. 13. One patient story centers on a woman with GI symptoms, musculoskeletal symptoms, and brain fog who had seen multiple doctors over many years. 14. Pastana says a prior CT scan showed an atrophic pancreas, but no one had checked pancreatic function until her review. 15. She says diagnosing pancreatic insufficiency and giving enzymes made a major difference in the patient’s symptoms. 16. The conversation returns to the business side, where Pastana says a cash-based model requires educating people about what functional and integrative medicine actually is. 17. She says many physicians are introverts, so networking, videos, and other visibility work can feel uncomfortable. 18. Pastana says one of the hardest parts is explaining the field with a simple sentence, even though she sees it as systems-based and data-driven. 19. The tone is practical and conversational, with Ginger Allen using her own lay perspective to reflect back what she is hearing. 20. Physicians considering cash-based functional care and patients looking for a South Florida provider would likely get the most from this episode.

As heard by us

A longer visit can uncover a root cause that faster care may miss.

The episode makes a straightforward case for root-cause medicine, patient partnership, and the value of enough time to connect details that shorter visits can miss.

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Why you'd press play

You want a real case where more time changed the diagnosis.

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