Questions We Hear
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Functional nutrition looks for the root cause of your symptoms instead of just managing them. Rather than treating fatigue, bloating, or hormonal issues in isolation, it investigates how systems like your gut, hormones, and metabolism interact — uses advanced lab testing to find what is actually driving how you feel — and builds a personalized plan around your results. It is not a diet. It is an investigation.

Conventional care is built to diagnose and treat disease, and it is essential for that. Hackett Health works alongside it, focusing on the dysfunction that drives symptoms before it becomes a diagnosis. We investigate before we prescribe: running functional lab panels, reading them against optimal ranges, and building a protocol around your specific biology rather than a template.

We work with women navigating gut and digestive issues (IBS, SIBO, bloating, constipation), hormonal concerns (PCOS, PMS, irregular cycles, fertility), thyroid dysfunction including Hashimoto's, metabolic and blood-sugar issues, disordered eating recovery, and nervous-system symptoms like chronic stress and burnout. If your diagnosis is not listed, the investigative approach is the same.

Yes. Hackett Health works with clients virtually nationwide, so you can do the program from wherever you are — no need to be in Los Angeles.

The core program runs four months. You work directly with Jackie and her team throughout, with regular check-ins, lab reviews, and protocol adjustments as your body responds. Root-cause work takes time to do properly, and the length is what makes the results hold.

Because every plan is personalized to your testing and situation, pricing is discussed on your free strategy call rather than listed as a flat number. The call is where you find out what working together would actually involve for you.

Some clients are able to use insurance for nutrition coaching through Berry Street, and HSA/FSA funds are often eligible. The strategy call is the best place to confirm what applies to you.

Yes. Jackie has specialized training in disordered eating and works with women navigating binge-restrict cycles, emotional eating, orthorexia, and the metabolic and hormonal consequences of years of dieting. The approach is non-diet and weight-neutral, focused on rebuilding a functional relationship with food alongside the physiological repair that chronic restriction or bingeing requires.

The term 'adrenal fatigue' is not an official medical diagnosis, but the underlying pattern — HPA axis dysregulation — is real and measurable. Symptoms include waking unrefreshed, crashing in the afternoon, getting a second wind at night, salt cravings, difficulty handling stress, low blood pressure, and feeling 'wired but tired.' A DUTCH hormone test measures cortisol and cortisone at four points throughout the day, giving us a detailed picture of your cortisol rhythm and whether it is blunted, elevated, or dysregulated — which guides the protocol.

Depending on your symptoms, we may run a comprehensive stool analysis (gut microbiome, pathogens, digestive markers), a DUTCH hormone panel (sex hormones, cortisol, melatonin), a full thyroid panel with antibodies (TSH, Free T3, Free T4, Reverse T3, TPO, TgAb), an organic acids test (mitochondrial function, neurotransmitter metabolites, nutrient status), a mineral and heavy metals hair tissue analysis, and advanced blood work that goes beyond a standard annual physical. We order the tests your doctor doesn't.

Standard lab reference ranges are built to detect disease, not to identify optimal function. A TSH of 4.5 is technically 'normal' but is associated with significant symptoms in many women. Functional nutrition reads labs against optimal ranges — the ranges where people actually feel well — rather than the disease-detection cutoffs. We also run tests that conventional medicine rarely orders, which means we often find patterns that explain symptoms that have been dismissed for years.

The gut produces approximately 90% of the body's serotonin and 50% of its dopamine. Gut dysbiosis — an imbalance in the microbiome — directly impairs neurotransmitter production and contributes to anxiety, depression, and poor concentration. Nutritional deficiencies in magnesium, B12, folate, iron, zinc, and omega-3 fatty acids are also common drivers of cognitive symptoms. Brain fog is almost never 'just stress' — it is usually a physiological signal with identifiable and addressable causes.

SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth — a condition where bacteria that belong in the large intestine migrate into the small intestine, where they ferment food and produce gas. Symptoms include bloating (especially within 90 minutes of eating), alternating constipation and diarrhea, belching, abdominal distension, and food sensitivities that seem to multiply over time. SIBO is diagnosed with a lactulose or glucose breath test and is one of the most common drivers of IBS-type symptoms.

Intestinal permeability — commonly called leaky gut — is a well-documented phenomenon in the medical literature. The gut lining is a single cell layer thick, and when the tight junctions between those cells are compromised, larger particles including undigested food proteins, bacterial fragments, and toxins can pass into the bloodstream. This triggers a systemic immune response that can manifest as food sensitivities, skin issues, joint pain, brain fog, fatigue, and autoimmune flares. It is real, it is measurable, and it is addressable.

The foundation of gut health is diversity — a wide variety of plant foods feeds a diverse microbiome, which is associated with lower inflammation, better hormone metabolism, and stronger immune function. Practically, this means aiming for 30 or more different plant foods per week (including vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, herbs, and spices), prioritizing fiber-rich foods, including fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi, and minimizing ultra-processed foods and artificial sweeteners that disrupt microbial balance. That said, the right diet for your gut depends on what is actually happening in your gut — which is why we test.

Probiotics can be helpful, but the right strain matters enormously and the wrong one can make certain conditions — including SIBO — significantly worse. Before recommending a probiotic, we want to know what is actually in your gut. A comprehensive stool analysis gives us a map of your microbiome so we can recommend targeted strains based on what is deficient or overgrown, rather than guessing with a generic supplement.

We do not have a standard supplement protocol because supplements should be targeted to your individual lab results and symptoms. What is therapeutic for one person can be harmful for another — high-dose iron supplementation, for example, can feed pathogenic bacteria in a compromised gut. After reviewing your labs, we build a protocol that is specific to your deficiencies, your gut status, and your health goals. We prioritize food-first strategies and use supplements to fill gaps that diet alone cannot address.

An elimination diet is a structured protocol in which common inflammatory foods — typically gluten, dairy, eggs, soy, corn, sugar, alcohol, and sometimes nightshades — are removed for 3 to 6 weeks and then systematically reintroduced one at a time to identify triggers. It is used when food sensitivities are suspected as a driver of symptoms including bloating, skin issues, joint pain, brain fog, or fatigue. It is not a permanent diet — it is a diagnostic tool. We use it selectively, when indicated by symptoms and labs, and always with a structured reintroduction protocol.

Your gut and hormones are in constant communication. The gut microbiome contains a collection of bacteria called the estrobolome that directly regulates how estrogen is metabolized and excreted. When the microbiome is disrupted — through antibiotics, stress, poor diet, or infection — estrogen can be reactivated and recirculated, contributing to estrogen dominance, PMS, heavy periods, and PCOS. Healing the gut is often the first step in resolving hormonal symptoms.

Approximately 20% of the conversion of inactive thyroid hormone (T4) to the active form your cells use (T3) happens in the gut. If your gut lining is compromised — a condition often called intestinal permeability or 'leaky gut' — this conversion is impaired, and you can have low-normal T3 even with a normal TSH. Gut inflammation also drives the immune activation that underlies Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Addressing gut health is central to thyroid recovery.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) is the most common hormonal disorder in women of reproductive age, affecting roughly 1 in 10. Despite the name, it is primarily a metabolic and hormonal condition driven by insulin resistance in the majority of cases. Nutrition is one of the most powerful levers for PCOS: stabilizing blood sugar reduces androgen production, supports ovulation, and improves cycle regularity. We also investigate the gut microbiome, adrenal function, and inflammation patterns that compound PCOS symptoms.

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune condition in which the immune system attacks the thyroid gland. It is the most common cause of hypothyroidism. Diet and lifestyle have a significant evidence base for reducing antibody levels and symptom burden: gluten elimination has been shown to reduce TPO antibodies in a subset of patients, selenium and inositol support thyroid hormone conversion, and gut healing reduces the immune activation that drives the autoimmune attack. Medication manages the thyroid; functional nutrition addresses why the immune system is attacking it.

Blood sugar dysregulation is one of the most underdiagnosed drivers of hormonal and energy symptoms. When blood sugar spikes and crashes throughout the day, cortisol is recruited to raise it back up — which over time suppresses progesterone, disrupts the HPA axis, and contributes to adrenal fatigue. The energy crashes, afternoon slumps, waking at 3am, irritability before meals, and sugar cravings that many women experience are often blood sugar patterns, not willpower problems. Stabilizing blood sugar is foundational to hormone balance.

The HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis is the body's central stress-response system. When it is chronically activated — by physical stress, blood sugar swings, gut inflammation, sleep deprivation, or emotional stress — it produces excess cortisol, which over time suppresses thyroid function, disrupts sex hormone balance, impairs digestion, and drives fat storage around the midsection. Addressing HPA axis dysregulation is often the missing piece for women who have tried everything and still feel exhausted.

Magnesium is involved in over 300 enzymatic reactions in the body and is one of the most commonly depleted minerals in modern women, partly because chronic stress depletes it rapidly. Magnesium deficiency is associated with PMS, menstrual cramps, poor sleep, anxiety, constipation, muscle tension, migraines, and insulin resistance. It is also required for the conversion of T4 to active T3 thyroid hormone. Magnesium is one of the most impactful and underutilized interventions in women's health.

Non-celiac gluten sensitivity (NCGS) is a recognized clinical condition distinct from celiac disease, in which gluten triggers symptoms including bloating, brain fog, fatigue, joint pain, and skin issues without the intestinal damage seen in celiac. Additionally, gliadin — a protein in gluten — has been shown to trigger the release of zonulin, a protein that opens tight junctions in the gut lining, contributing to intestinal permeability. For women with Hashimoto's, PCOS, or significant gut symptoms, a structured gluten elimination trial is often a high-value intervention.

Sleep is arguably the most underrated hormone intervention available. During deep sleep, growth hormone is secreted, cortisol is cleared, and the brain's glymphatic system removes metabolic waste. Even one night of poor sleep measurably increases insulin resistance, elevates cortisol, suppresses leptin (the satiety hormone), and elevates ghrelin (the hunger hormone) — which is why poor sleep drives cravings, fat storage, and hormonal disruption. Addressing sleep is not optional in a functional nutrition program; it is foundational.

Absolutely — and the mechanism is well understood. Chronic psychological stress activates the HPA axis and the sympathetic nervous system, which suppresses digestion, alters gut motility, changes the composition of the gut microbiome, elevates cortisol, and drives systemic inflammation. The gut-brain axis is bidirectional: gut dysfunction causes anxiety and brain fog, and chronic stress causes gut dysfunction. Stress is not 'just in your head' — it has measurable physiological consequences that show up in lab work.

Food allergies involve an immediate IgE-mediated immune response — hives, swelling, anaphylaxis — and are diagnosed by an allergist. Food sensitivities involve a delayed IgG or IgA immune response that can occur hours to days after eating the trigger food, making them much harder to identify without testing or an elimination protocol. Symptoms of food sensitivities include bloating, fatigue, brain fog, skin breakouts, joint pain, and mood changes. Standard allergy tests do not detect food sensitivities.