Many of you have been on this list for a very long time. We go back years — in most cases decades — and that means more to me than I can easily put into words.

Before Portola Valley.
Before the treehouse office.
Before words like leaky gut, metabolic signaling, or systems medicine were ever allowed into polite medical conversation.

Some of you are reading this from places that still live deep in my heart — including the beautiful island of Maui — where my earliest clinical questions, observations, and intuitions were shaped as much by people and place as by textbooks.

For most of my career, I’ve worked at the edges of medicine.

Not because I wanted to be contrarian — but because what I was seeing in real bodies didn’t always match what I was taught. I often felt on the fringe: asking inconvenient questions, following patterns that didn’t yet have a name, and trusting physiology even when it wasn’t popular or reimbursable.

Over the years, acupuncture led me into functional medicine.
Functional medicine led me into traditional nutritional therapy.
And all of it eventually organized itself into what I now call systems medicine — an approach that looks at communication, signaling, and sequence rather than symptoms in isolation.

For a long time, that work felt quiet. Sometimes lonely.

Lately, it feels like there’s a bit of collective reorientation happening.

Long-held nutrition beliefs are being questioned.
The food pyramid has been turned upside down.
And conversations about fat-adaptation, hormone resistance, microbes, immune tolerance, and metabolic health are finally entering the mainstream — not as trends, but as physiology.

I recently recorded a short educational training reflecting on this shift and why it matters. If you choose to watch it, you’ll find the link below. There’s no obligation — and no pressure. It’s simply an offering.

In this 15-minute training, I leaned into something I’ve needed to say for a long time:

This training is not about undoing the past or adopting a new set of rules.

It’s about orienting ourselves to how the body actually works — and moving forward with clarity.

👉 Watch the Food Pyramid Training here

What I do want to say here is this:

My practice today is both clinical and coaching by design.

Reconditioning hormone signaling, restoring microbial balance, rebuilding immune tolerance, and retraining metabolism take time, safety, and consistency. These are not quick fixes — they are adaptive processes. And I’ve learned that true healing happens best when medical insight is paired with guidance, education, and support over time.

Before any of that, though, I’d simply love to hear from you.

If this note stirred something —
If you remember those early days —
If you have thoughts about the food pyramid being flipped, or reflections of your own journey —

Hit reply and say hello.

Truly. I’d love to hear where you are, and what you’re noticing now.

With deep respect & appreciation,
Courtney

Dr. Courtney Jonson
Systems Medicine • Functional Nutrition