Quieting Inflammation Through Food

Quieting Inflammation Through Food: Summary

In Quieting Inflammation Through Food, host Evan Transue (Detective Ev) interviews Dr. Wanda Parks, I-MD, PhD, BSN, FDN-P, an integrative and functional health practitioner, certified aromatherapist, yoga instructor/coach, and retired military veteran who helps women over 40 with metabolic and autoimmune conditions improve health naturally and sustainably.

Dr. Parks shares her personal health journey beginning while she was active duty as a flight nurse, when she woke up with a “frozen finger” she could not move. After extensive imaging and rheumatology workups, she was told she would need medication “forever,” later learning she had been prescribed a chemotherapy drug despite not having cancer, and eventually being moved to weekly injectable medication. Despite escalating treatment, she continued to struggle with severe pain, difficulty walking, heel/Achilles pain, and fluctuating daily function, along with depression and additional prescriptions. She notes heavy steroid use affected her bones and contributed to a wrist injury requiring screws and pins.

Seeking a better way, she first explored aromatherapy and pursued advanced training, including a doctorate in integrative medicine focus, adding modalities such as face yoga after stroke-like symptoms and a suspected Bell’s palsy episode. She describes Functional Diagnostic Nutrition (FDN) training as “the icing on the cake,” because it filled gaps left by prior lab work and approaches.

A key turning point was MRT food sensitivity testing, which revealed inflammatory triggers in foods she believed were healthy, such as cauliflower. She also cites leaky gut findings from foundational testing. Removing reactive foods led to meaningful symptom improvement, yet her physician only maintained medication dosage without asking what changed.

Dr. Parks emphasizes foundational labs, shares client improvements, and advises generally avoiding artificial sweeteners. In the closing, she recommends MRT food sensitivity screening as the single most impactful step for health insight and improvement.