Nourishment, Made Personal
At Gingko, we have always found that there is no universal nutrition prescription for a woman’s health.
Our clinical work is rooted in the “N of 1”: understanding the individual's physiology and using those insights to develop precise care. This month, we are expanding that philosophy with our innovative Precision Nutrition track, pairing individualized nutritional assessment with one-on-one support so women can translate what we learn about their bodies into an approachable daily nourishment strategy. The objective is for women to translate what we learn into an approachable nourishment strategy.
Knowing what your body needs is an important starting point; figuring out how to consistently provide it makes success possible.
Nutrition is information to the body.
Food is far more than a calculation of calories or macros. Nutrients provide the substrates required to make hormones and neurotransmitters, support mitochondrial energy production, build and preserve muscle and bone, regulate glucose and insulin signaling, maintain the intestinal barrier and microbiome, and carry out the liver’s many pathways of biotransformation.
Those needs are not static.
They shift across the reproductive lifespan and across a woman's cycle. Nutritional mandates are dynamic during preconception and fertility treatment, pregnancy and postpartum, and again through the profound metabolic transition of perimenopause and menopause. Genetics, hormone status, activity, sleep, stress physiology, gut function, medications and an individual woman’s nutrient stores all influence what “optimal nutrition” may look like for her.
This is why we believe nutritional medicine deserves the same granularity we apply to hormone, metabolism and GI care.
We assess a woman’s physiology through her narrative and symptoms, conventional and advanced laboratory testing, body composition, metabolic markers and nutrigenetics. Rather than applying a nutritional template, we aim to ask deeper questions: What does this body need more of? Where might absorption, utilization or demand be altered? And what nutritional inputs could help move her physiology toward greater resilience?
Resilience, through nutritional signaling, can be foundational to a woman's well-being.
At Gingko, we are particularly interested in what is additive.
Women have received an extraordinary amount of messaging about what they should eat less of.
Eat less. Weigh less. Restrict carbohydrates. Restrict fat. Fast longer. Try harder.
At Gingko, our nutritional lens begins somewhere different:
What might we add that allows the body to feel adequately nourished?
Enough protein and amino acids to maintain lean tissue. Essential fatty acids to support cell membranes, inflammatory balance and neurologic health. Minerals and micronutrients required for thyroid function, methylation, ovulation and energy production. Fiber and phytonutrients to nourish the microbiome and support hormone metabolism. Carbohydrate availability appropriate to a woman’s energy needs. And, importantly, enough overall energy to communicate that resources are adequate.
The female body is remarkably responsive to its energetic environment. Reproduction, thyroid signaling, bone remodeling, muscle synthesis and metabolic function all require adequate resources. Particularly during midlife and fertility, our goal is not to manipulate a number on a scale. It is to create a physiologic environment in which the body has the raw materials—and the sense of sufficiency—required to function well.
Nourishment is a central signal of safety.
We also know that a beautifully designed nutritional plan sitting in a patient portal does very little.
Women come to us with full lives: children, careers, aging parents, travel, disrupted sleep, demanding schedules and bodies whose needs may suddenly feel unfamiliar. The question becomes not only what would support my physiology?
As centrally- how does that fit into my actual life?
This is why one-on-one Nutritional coaching is integral to our new program. Our Functional nutritionist, Melissa, can help identify the physiologic targets, informed by our clinician's insights. She offers dedicated nutritional support and then translate those targets into meals, routines, grocery choices, timing and realistic strategies that can be practiced over time. Like our other providers, her work is available both in-person and virtually (link to booking)
The development of this track stems from our awareness that nourishing yourself can become increasingly intuitive, sustainable and uniquely yours.
Introducing Melissa
We are delighted to welcome Melissa Scheeline CNC to the Gingko team. Melissa brings 20+ years of experience in health and wellness to her work with clients, with a specialty in women's health, weight management, autoimmune conditions, and hormonal balance. A certified holistic nutrition consultant and lifelong fitness enthusiast, Melissa believes good nutrition is a lifestyle, not a diet, fad, or quick fix — something that evolves and grows based on your body's changing needs.
Melissa will work collaboratively with our clinical team, helping patients translate individualized nutritional recommendations into practical, nourishing strategies and providing the one-on-one partnership that meaningful behavior change often requires.
Three Precision Nutrition tracks for Gingko care:
We created three Precision Nutrition tracks so patients can choose the level of assessment and support that best fits their current needs:
Comprehensive Nutrition Support
Focused Nutrition Visit
Micronutrient Assessment and Strategy
You can explore what is included in each pathway on our Precision Nutrition Services page and learn more about Melissa under Who We Are.
For our midlife patients, Functional nutrition can inform estrogen signaling, protect lean muscle and bone, improve cardiometabolic resilience, support cognition and energy, and help them learn how to nourish a body whose needs may differ from a decade ago.
For our fertility patients, this may mean identifying and correcting nutrient insufficiencies, supporting metabolic and mitochondrial health, and creating an adequately nourished physiologic landscape for conception and pregnancy.
And for many women, it may simply mean finally having someone look closely enough to answer a question that deserves a personalized response:
What does my body need to thrive?
We think women deserve both the science to answer that question and the support to put the answer into practice.
Please let us know any questions you have about this offering or anything else at Gingko. Our admin team is always happy to help: patientliason@gingkointegrative.com
Warmly,
Rachel