After this Functional Diagnostic Nutrition review, you’ll know if FDN is right for you! Get in-depth knowledge about FDN here.
What is Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN)?
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition is a functional health certification program. Its goal is to create superior health coaches that support clients through functional lab testing and individualized protocols. Unlike many health coaches, one of the FDN mottos is “test, don’t guess.” This way, there should be much less guessing and quicker improvements.
(Disclosure: Affiliate links are provided throughout the article. If you decide to make a purchase, I may receive a commission.)
What is a FDN? What is a FDN-P?
FDN is Functional Diagnostic Nutrition. Once a person fulfills all requirements and passes all exams, the person can use the FDN-P abbreviation. FDN-P is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner.
An FDN, or FDN-P, will be qualified health coach that can run many functional lab tests and provide individualized healing protocols aimed at identifying healing opportunities and recommending ways to address them.
What are the core principles of FDN?
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition’s #1 motto is “test, don’t guess.” FDN-Ps believe in data-driven protocol creation. Helping the client goes beyond recommending common or popular supplements. With the ability to provide functional lab testing to clients, FDN-Ps are able to go beyond the typical and truly individualized.
FDN also believes all FDN-Ps should be “walking the talk.” This means that FDN-Ps have learned through the experience before they’ve even become official FDN-Ps. As part of the course curriculum, each student will take the foundational labs and connect with an FDN-P to go over results and recommendations. The student learns how to improve his/her health (walk the talk) AND how to conduct a great client session (DOUBLE walk the talk).
FDN’s mission statement is: to educate as many people as possible about how to get well & stay well naturally, so they in turn can empower others to live healthier lives.
What is the FDN course curriculum?
The Functional Diagnostic Nutrition certification program has 16 modules. Each module has an average of 5 lessons, and each lesson is somewhere between ~5-45 minutes long. To pass each lesson, you need to pass a quiz. In addition, each FDN student takes the 5 foundational labs and goes through several sessions with an FDN-P that will provide results and recommendations (this is how future FDN-Ps learn to walk the talk). Lastly, each student must pass a written and oral exam.
I’ve gone through my fair share of online courses, and unfortunately, many of them are a waste of money. Don’t get me started on “45+ videos for $700” that sums up to maybe 2 hrs of info and minimal support. Anyway, after committing to the cost of this program, I was relieved to see the vast amount of content and support available.
To ensure a solid foundation, the course begins by teaching biology, physiology, and biochemistry, all BEFORE talking about functional lab testing and results. I found this incredibly refreshing. The fact they spent so much time establishing a solid foundation speaks to the integrity of creating the program.
Once you’ve passed the in-depth science sections, you’ll move to learn about FDN’s foundational labs. Lastly, you’ll learn about creating individualized protocols using FDN’s D.R.E.S.S. for Health Success® framework all while receiving your own protocol (because you will have taken the foundational labs and met with an FDN-P).
If you’re interested in an in-depth course tour, check it out here. FDN put together a 1+ hr video that walks you through the learning management software (LMS), learning process, and functional lab tests that you’ll have access to for clients. (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you decide to make a purchase, I may receive a commission.)
>> If you already feel like this is a great fit for you, click here to learn how you can save money. (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you decide to make a purchase, I may receive a commission.)
Not sure about FDN yet? No problem. Keep reading!
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Full Tuition Cost
The total cost of the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition certification program ranges from $8,997-$9,597, depending on which payment plan you choose. Want to start the FDN program for free (try before you buy?) Look for the next section!
If you decide to pay in full upfront, you will be paying the lowest price. If you choose a payment plan, the monthly payments vary.
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1 payment of $8,997
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6 payments of $1,524.50
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12 payments of $774.75
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18 payments of $524.83
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24 payments of $399.88
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Affirm payment plan also available
Start the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Certification Program for FREE
Want to try before you buy? You can complete Module 1 without spending a single dollar.
I will warn you of one thing – Module 1 is all based on the FDN philosophy and general process. You won’t learn anything specific here, sorry folks!
However, it’s a good way to see the teaching style and understand the overall content and the platform. If you’re interested, it’s definitely worth a look/listen.
>> Click here to start FDN for FREE (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you decide to make a purchase, I may receive a commission.)
FDN Foundational Labs
The FDN foundational labs are the labs that the certification program covers in-depth. The 5 FDN foundational labs are:
- FLUIDS iQ Stress & Hormone Panel (SHP)
- FLUIDS iQ Metabolic Wellness Panel (MWP)
- FLUIDS iQ Mucosal Barrier Assessment
- Diagnostic Solutions GI-MAP
- Metabolic Typing
These are considered foundational because they give a lot of information to both the client and FDN-P that will reveal healing opportunities. Working on these healing opportunities will help clients feel better.
NOTE: FDN-Ps have access to 60+ functional labs. These include popular functional lab tests such as Oxford MRT (food sensitivities), Precision Analytical DUTCH, OAT, HTMA, and many others.
FDN Course Difficulty
Given my background is in biomedical engineering with a biochemistry focus, I would say that this course was at an intermediate level for me.
Why?
Though almost all of biology, physiology, and biochemistry were a refresher for me, the sheer amount of information is what makes this complex.
There is so much to learn, and many things overlap. For example – what can cause a specific symptom like fatigue? SOOO many things. Being able to piece together all client information, test results, and knowledge is certainly admirable. This is, of course, a skill that one develops as experience increases. Also, Functional Diagnostic Nutrition stresses the importance of helping the client, not just helping with the test results or symptoms. We’re not helping a piece of paper. Everything is in the bigger context of the client.
If your background is different, know that you may need to spend a bit more time there. You may have to rewatch a lesson or YouTube for further info. However, know that you’re totally capable of learning this stuff if you set your mind to it. There’s also a lot of support from the student’s Facebook, weekly calls, and additional tutoring.
How long does the FDN certification program take to complete?
The Functional Diagnostic Nutrition course is advertised as taking 6+ months to complete. I think this is fair, but staying on pace with this does require a lot of disciplined dedication.
I’m approximately on pace with this and have to dedicate several hours per week. But, I am taking notes the whole time and pausing, so depending on your style of learning, things may be different. Also, there were holidays somewhere in there…
You do have to complete the full program within 1 year of signing up. This is very doable. However, for extenuating circumstances, you can reach out to FDN Support to discuss this.
FDN Certification Exams
The FDN program does require you to complete a quiz each lesson (you can’t advance without passing). You do get multiple tries on these.
Most importantly, you must pass a written exam and a true oral exam. Only then can you proudly call yourself an FDN-P.
There will be a Part 2 coming for this blog topic. Right now, I’m only 50% done with the program. I’ll be writing more once I complete the whole FDN certification.
Other FDN Resources
On top of the 16 modules, you also have access to an FDN student-only Facebook group. Unlike many other support FBs, this one is active. At least one post each day – and there are people responding back! I love it because you can ask your questions, link up with study buddies, find accountability partners, and search the whole group and find answers to your questions. Oh – and all the weekly calls are recorded and posted to the group.
In addition, you’ll get access to the FDN Connect website. This is where the course is located. However, there are so many more tabs on this website including:
- Years’ worth of weekly phone calls – from before FB live calls were used
- Hot Topics videos – course supplements information for major course topics
- Case Studies with real data- see FDN in action
- Documents – includes intake questionnaires, client handouts, coaching frameworks, etc.
- (8) 1:1 sessions with program mentors
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Support
If you have any questions while going through the FDN certification program, there are two main ways of seeking support:
- Contact the student-specific support email
- Post to FB and add #mentors
Both of these methods will get a response back to you in a timely manner.
FDN Cons
If you’re passionate about health and wellness, the biggest downside to this course (and many others) is the large investment ($$$). Will you make your money back? That’s a whole separate topic, but the potential is there!
Will this course be the end all be all? No, but I do think it’s an excellent starting point with a promising framework. Once I’ve tested it, I’ll write more.
The presentation material for the lectures is a bit aesthetically outdated (sorry, I’m a sucker for *aesthetics*), but the content is gold and keeps me coming back
FDN Pros
- Straightforward syllabus and learning management system
- Tons of PDFs (course material, intake forms, other client support forms, etc)
- A lot of support (email, weekly live calls, support email)
- 1:1s with mentors
- Ability to access 60+ functional lab tests (including OAT, DUTCH, MRT, etc) once you graduate
- Ability to “walk the talk” and experience the full FDN process yourself by taking the foundational lab tests and reviewing with mentors
Alternatives to Functional Diagnostic Nutrition
If you’ve been on the market for health certification, you’ve probably seen a lot of the popular programs out there, including:
- The Institute for Integrative Nutrition (IIN, $6795)
- Nutrition Therapy Association (NTA, $6,900)
- Restorative Wellness Solutions (RWS; up to $15,800 if you do all 4 courses)
- Precision Nutrition (PN, $1428)
- … the list goes on!
All of these programs are different than each other and than FDN. However, they all have similar goals in mind.
What makes Functional Diagnostic Nutrition stand out is the fact that you have access to 60+ labs as soon as you graduate. For many of these programs, you have no access to labs.
The only exception is Restorative Wellness Solutions. However, it seems like you incrementally get access to labs as you take more courses. Therefore, if you wanted to get the most access to labs, you’d end up spending $15,800. AND, in order to take these courses, there is a prerequisite that you already have some type of health training, like completing NTA ($6,900). That’s a lot of money and a lot of time.
With FDN, you can finish and start your business within a year AND include testing. NOTE: if you’re a licensed professional (ex. MDs), then this doesn’t apply to you.
However, there is a requirement that you must fulfill certain hours/year to maintain your FDN-P standing (common for many certifications). You probably know this – but getting into this field, and continued education will always be a major part of your continued success.
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition: Summary
So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised with the value I’m getting out of the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Certification Program. There is so much content that I can learn from – it’s great!
I’m very happy with my decision to pursue this. I look forward to going through the FDN foundational labs and learning more about myself and the FDN process while sharing the experience with you.
For Part 2, I hope to dive deeper into mentor sessions, functional lab testing (FDN foundational labs), exams, and maybe some other topics, too.
Let me know if there’s anything you’re curious about! I’d be happy to cover it in the future.
>> Want to get started on your own FDN journey? Click here to learn how you can save money. (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you decide to make a purchase, I may receive a commission.)
>> OR start FDN for FREE before you buy. (Disclosure: This is an affiliate link. If you decide to make a purchase, I may receive a commission.)
>> Would you like to work with me as a certified FDN-P? Check out the services page here.
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