What does "Root Cause" even mean?

Tyler Lafleur


We get this question quite often when first speaking with clients or potential clients.

They want to know how we are different from other doctors.

Our reply is that we figure out what the root cause of their health problems are as opposed to masking the symptoms with medication and Tom Foolery.

(Don’t know him? Ask your grandma about him.)

But what does it really mean to discover the “root cause” of health issues?

Well, it can mean several things, whether your problems are stemming directly from your actions or primarily from your thinking.

You are probably wondering: “My thinking?!”

And, yes, of course.

Your thinking plays quite the lead role in this whole “health detective” endeavor.

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For example:

Do you believe that your diarrhea is caused from a Pepto Bismol deficiency?

Is your blood pressure high due to a Beta Blocker deficiency?

Is your heart burn directly due to a Pepcid or Prevacid deficiency?

Most of you are probably thinking: “Well of course not!”

But the majority of American Healthcare seems to be performing opposite to your common sense thought process.

It seems as though we live in a very “my doctor says…” society.

As if, because another human told us how we should be living then of course we MUST act that way.


If that was the case, parenting would be the easiest job in the world… Am I right?

So, how do we find this elusive “root cause”?

And, of course, that depends heavily on your symptoms and your lifestyle.

But particularly, for the topic of any ailments from the mouth to Uranus, we can quite easily troubleshoot the source of the problem that we are looking to remove.

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For example:

  • In regards to heart burn, it is usually not caused by too much stomach acid, but too little. (But how would we know?)

  • In regards to gas and bloating, it is usually due to overgrowth of certain microbes in the gut and the source of the carbs that you eat.
    (But how would we know?)

  • For stomach pain after eating, it is usually due to ulcers that could be due to an H.pylori infection
    (But how would we know?)

  • For unknown intestinal inflammation and Autoimmune disorders, it is usually caused from some sort of parasitic infection or food sensitivity (such as wheat or dairy).
TEST and not GUESS

But, seriously, how would we know?

In the Functional Medicine world, the answer: We TEST and don't GUESS.

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We have ran over 65 stool tests on symptomatic patients thus far, and guess how many have come back negative:


Figuring out the source of the issue and targeting that specifically with lifestyle, sleep, supplements, diet, training, and stress reduction is the surest way to heal your digestive woes and thus expedite your longterm health.

You could just keep throwing over the counter medications at your problems,


You could have us ask you a lot of questions, maybe take a comprehensive stool test, and tweak your current diet and lifestyle regimen, then go about the rest of your life relieved of your nagging stomach pains.

But, the choice is yours!

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