Food as Medicine
Certification Summit
Advanced Functional Nutrition for Better Patient Outcomes
One Stage. Two Powerhouse Clinicians.
One chance to finally learn what your clinical training never taught you.
For the first time ever, Cindi Lockhart, RDN, LD, IFNCP, and Vanessa Ruiz, ND, RN-BSN, are taking the stage together to deliver their #1 bestselling Food as Medicine Certification Course — the training that’s transformed thousands of practices and finally cracked the code on the treatment-resistant cases that have stumped you for years.
Past participants call it lifechanging. Practice-changing. Unforgettable.
And this event takes it to the next level. You'll get your hands on 2026's breakthrough clinical research, transformative protocols already changing patient outcomes nationwide, and evidence-based interventions no other training is teaching yet.
This is where everything clicks for you.
- Uncover the gut, hormone, and metabolic root causes your conventional toolkit was never designed to find
- Create food-as-medicine protocols that get results — fast
- Navigate supplements, diet wars, and GLP-1 protocols with confidence
- Become the clinician your most complex patients have been searching for
In-person. Livestream.
Both life-changing.
- ✓ Full 3-day in-person training experience
- ✓ Up to 19 CE hours
- ✓ Live Q&A and direct access to Cindi & Vanessa
- ✓ Peer networking with like-minded clinicians
- ✓ 90-day replay access included
🔴 Seats are limited — early registration strongly advised
- ✓ All 3 days via high-quality livestream
- ✓ Up to 19 CE hours
- ✓ Live chat & submitted Q&A access
- ✓ 90-day replay access included
Past participants don't just recommend this. They rave about it.
This is one of the very best programs I have taken. I have been a nurse for 40+ years and ARNP for 21 years. Gut health is the center of all health. I will use this program and have already shared with co-workers some new information. Excellent!
Best class I have ever taken online or through CEU. So so great. Vanessa is a fantastic teacher!
This course exceeded my expectations. I love Cindi's enthusiasm.
Deep Dive Into the Most Pressing Topics in Nutrition — All of Them.
Everything your clinical training didn't teach you about nutrition — translated into the clinical language, assessment tools, and patient protocols you can use starting the Monday after you leave. Fully updated for 2026.
Food as Medicine: The Foundation
The clinical lens that changes every patient encounter.
- Oxidative stress, chronic inflammation & mitochondrial health
- Patient assessment tools: interpretation, application & reassessment
- Diet recall methods: matching the tactic to the patient
- Reading food labels: what actually matters
- Beverages, sweeteners & hidden inflammatory triggers
- Psychology of food choices: homeostatic vs. hedonic drivers
- Food guilt, compliance fatigue & why knowing better ≠ doing better
- Building sustainable behavior change & long-term patient independence
Sleep, Stress & Circadian Health: The Missing Pieces
The missing pieces that explain why everything else isn't working.
- Patient assessment tools for sleep & stress
- Nutrition's impact on sleep, cortisol & nervous system regulation
- Blood sugar stabilization, meal timing & circadian alignment
- When fasting helps — and when it harms
- Sleep hygiene & stress management for clinical practice
- Wearables & resources for ongoing patient support
- Red flags & when to refer out
Gut Health: The Root of Everything
Fix the gut. Fix the patient.
- Digestion, absorption & digestive enzyme function
- Hypochlorhydria & long-term PPI consequences
- Leaky gut, zonulin & the gluten connection
- The microbiome: bacteria, hormone metabolism & inflammation
- Gut-immune-brain axis & healthy elimination (Bristol scale)
- The 5R Protocol: step-by-step gut healing framework
- Prebiotics, probiotics & postbiotics: which to use when
- Post-antibiotic gut restoration
Macros, Micros & What Really Matters
Cut through the noise. Here's what the evidence actually says.
- Ultra-processed vs. whole vs. organic: quality over quantity
- Navigating the 2026 dietary guidelines with patients
- Fats: omega-3s, saturated fats & the real evidence
- Carbohydrates: when to restrict, what to include
- Protein: actual requirements & why most patients fall short
- Visual portion tools you can teach in 2 minutes
Food Reactions: Allergies, Sensitivities & Intolerances
Know the difference. Know what to do next.
- Allergies vs. sensitivities vs. intolerances: clinical distinctions
- When to test vs. when to trial
- When & how to refer for elimination protocols
- Low FODMAP, AIP vs. SCD & Low Histamine approaches
Diet Wars: Finding the Right Fit for Your Patients
Stop guessing. Match the diet to the patient.
- Standard American vs. anti-inflammatory: side-by-side
- N of 1 approach & nutrigenomics: precision nutrition
- Mediterranean, Paleo, DASH: when to recommend each
- Keto, low-carb & high-protein: evidence & application
- Intermittent fasting & fasting-mimicking: when they help vs. harm
- Vegan & vegetarian: preventing nutrient deficiencies
- How to know if a patient's diet is working — or isn't
Metabolism, Weight & the GLP-1 Revolution
The clinical conversation has changed. Get ahead of it.
- Metabolic flexibility vs. caloric balance
- Weight loss resistance: it's not about compliance
- Appetite hormones: ghrelin, leptin & what actually works
- Nutrition for GLP-1 patients + post-GLP-1 transition
- Nutrition to support physical activity & recovery
- How underfeeding destroys metabolic function
- BMI in clinical practice: still useful?
- Reverse dieting: implications & application
Supplements: Separating Science from Snake Oil
What to recommend, what to skip, how to explain the difference.
- The foundational five most patients could benefit from
- Quality: third-party testing, bioavailability & effective forms
- Drug-nutrient interactions: assessment & referral guidance
- Evaluating claims: what's worth the money
- Food first vs. when supplementation is warranted
- Building & sequencing personalized supplement protocols
Food as Medicine for Common Chronic Conditions
The complex, multi-system cases most trainings leave out — covered in depth.
- Cardiometabolic: diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia & NAFLD/NASH
- Thyroid & hormones: hypothyroidism & nutritional support
- Mental health: anxiety, depression & the food-mood connection
- Energy & sleep: insomnia & chronic fatigue
- Pain & inflammation: chronic pain, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis
- Autoimmunity: IBD & anti-inflammatory protocols
- Post-viral syndromes: long COVID, EBV & related conditions
- Mold & toxic exposures: food & environmental factors
- MCAS, EDS & POTS
- Case reviews & complex multi-condition management
The clinical lens that changes every patient encounter.
- Oxidative stress, chronic inflammation & mitochondrial health
- Patient assessment tools: interpretation, application & reassessment
- Diet recall methods: matching the tactic to the patient
- Reading food labels: what actually matters
- Beverages, sweeteners & hidden inflammatory triggers
- Psychology of food choices: homeostatic vs. hedonic drivers
- Food guilt, compliance fatigue & why knowing better ≠ doing better
- Building sustainable behavior change & long-term patient independence
The missing pieces that explain why everything else isn't working.
- Patient assessment tools for sleep & stress
- Nutrition's impact on sleep, cortisol & nervous system regulation
- Blood sugar stabilization, meal timing & circadian alignment
- When fasting helps — and when it harms
- Sleep hygiene & stress management for clinical practice
- Wearables & resources for ongoing patient support
- Red flags & when to refer out
Fix the gut. Fix the patient.
- Digestion, absorption & digestive enzyme function
- Hypochlorhydria & long-term PPI consequences
- Leaky gut, zonulin & the gluten connection
- The microbiome: bacteria, hormone metabolism & inflammation
- Gut-immune-brain axis & healthy elimination (Bristol scale)
- The 5R Protocol: step-by-step gut healing framework
- Prebiotics, probiotics & postbiotics: which to use when
- Post-antibiotic gut restoration
Cut through the noise.
- Ultra-processed vs. whole vs. organic
- Navigating the 2026 dietary guidelines
- Fats: omega-3s, saturated fats & the real evidence
- Carbohydrates: when to restrict, what to include
- Protein: actual requirements & why most patients fall short
- Visual portion tools you can teach in 2 minutes
Know the difference. Know what to do next.
- Allergies vs. sensitivities vs. intolerances
- When to test vs. when to trial
- When & how to refer for elimination protocols
- Low FODMAP, AIP vs. SCD & Low Histamine
Stop guessing. Match the diet to the patient.
- Standard American vs. anti-inflammatory
- N of 1 approach & nutrigenomics
- Mediterranean, Paleo, DASH: when to recommend each
- Keto, low-carb & high-protein
- Intermittent fasting & fasting-mimicking
- Vegan & vegetarian: preventing nutrient deficiencies
The clinical conversation has changed.
- Metabolic flexibility vs. caloric balance
- Weight loss resistance
- Appetite hormones: ghrelin, leptin
- Nutrition for GLP-1 patients + post-GLP-1 transition
- How underfeeding destroys metabolic function
- BMI in clinical practice: still useful?
What to recommend, what to skip.
- The foundational five
- Quality: third-party testing & bioavailability
- Drug-nutrient interactions
- Food first vs. when supplementation is warranted
- Building personalized supplement protocols
The complex, multi-system cases most trainings leave out.
- Cardiometabolic: diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension, NAFLD/NASH
- Thyroid & hormones
- Mental health: anxiety, depression
- Pain & inflammation: fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis
- Autoimmunity: IBD & anti-inflammatory protocols
- Post-viral syndromes: long COVID, EBV
- MCAS, EDS & POTS
The most complex patients in the system
deserve a clinician who has answers.
Across every specialty and setting, clinicians are encountering the same pattern: complex, multi-system presentations that conventional approaches haven't solved. MCAS, post-viral syndromes, treatment-resistant metabolic disease — these aren't edge cases anymore. They're your Tuesday afternoon. You'll leave with evidence-based frameworks for every one of them.
Bloomington, MN — October 28–30, 2026
Edina Bloomington
Bloomington, MN 55435
In-person. Livestream.
Both life-changing.
- ✓ Full 3-day in-person training experience
- ✓ Up to 19 CE hours
- ✓ Live Q&A and direct access to Cindi & Vanessa
- ✓ Peer networking with like-minded clinicians
- ✓ 90-day replay access included
Seats are limited — early registration strongly advised
- ✓ All 3 days via high-quality livestream
- ✓ Up to 19 CE hours
- ✓ Live chat & submitted Q&A access
- ✓ 90-day replay access included
Earn the certification that tells patients
you're the one who actually knows this.
Certified Functional Nutrition Informed Professional
The CFNIP credential signals advanced, evidence-based functional nutrition expertise — the knowledge most clinical training programs never provided. It positions you as the trusted expert patients are actively searching for, and the practitioner colleagues send their most complex cases to. Included at no additional charge (a $99.99 value) with every registration.
*Professional standards apply. See evergreencertifications.com/CFNIP for details.
The problems this summit solves.
Your patients are doing everything right. And still not getting better.
You've adjusted the medications. Ordered the labs. Followed the guidelines. And yet they sit across from you — exhausted, inflamed, frustrated — asking why nothing is working. You don't have a better answer. Not because you're not a good clinician. Because no one ever taught you this part.
You have more patient contact time than almost anyone on their care team. And no systematic framework for what to do with it.
You ask about diet. They say "pretty good." You nod. You move on. Because you were never given the tools to go deeper — to actually decode what's driving the inflammation, the weight resistance, the hormonal chaos, the gut dysfunction that's upstream of everything else on their chart.
The referral-out loop is failing your patients.
You refer out — and they come back to you six weeks later, unchanged. Not because their care team didn't try. Because the system wasn't built for the complexity of what you're seeing — the post-viral fatigue, the MCAS presentation, the perimenopausal patient whose every lab comes back "normal." You need tools the system doesn't hand you.
This summit gives you what your training never did.
A systematic, evidence-based framework for using food as medicine — built for the clinical realities of your practice. Not theory. Not wellness influencer advice. The kind of functional nutrition knowledge that changes what happens in your exam room starting Monday.
These aren't statistics from a distant public health report. They're your Tuesday afternoon — and the gap your training was never designed to fill.
- Ogburn DF. NCHS Data Brief No. 536. CDC; August 2025.
- U.S. HHS. Nutrition education reforms. HHS Press Room; August 27, 2025.
- CDC. About chronic diseases. Updated March 4, 2025.
Two of the most trusted names in functional nutrition.
Three full days. Every minute counts.
Each Day's Structure
- 8:00 AMProgram begins
- —Mid-morning break (15 minutes)
- 11:50Lunch break begins
- 1:00 PMTraining resumes
- —Mid-afternoon break (15 minutes)
- 4:00 PMProgram ends
Designed For
- ✓Athletic Trainers
- ✓Chiropractors
- ✓Nurses & Nurse Practitioners
- ✓Physician Assistants & Physicians
- ✓Physical Therapists & PTAs
- ✓Other Rehab & Healthcare Professionals
Train more. Pay less. Implement together.
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We've got answers.
Please note: You will have access for 90 days after the program for review. For live CE credit, you must watch the live presentation in its entirety at its scheduled time and complete the CE quiz and evaluation within one week. Please note that this requirement may vary by credit type. Please see detailed credit information for specific requirements for each credit type.
The patients who need you most
deserve a clinician who knows this.
Join Cindi Lockhart and Vanessa Ruiz for the training that practitioners across disciplines call lifechanging, practice-changing, unforgettable — and walk out certified, equipped, and finally ready for the cases that used to stop you cold.