The adage, “You are what you eat,” resonates with Dr. Donna Kulp, owner of Kulp Nutrition & Wellness Center. As a chiropractor with a particular interest in nutrition, she has grown her practice into a comprehensive functional wellness center, with a focus on nutrition and the vital connection between food and chronic illness.

Kulp’s first experience with chiropractic care goes back to the late 1970s, when she sought relief from an injury and other health challenges. She visited a chiropractor whose wife was a nutritionist and had operated a nutrition and wellness center within the practice. As Kulp recovered, she started working alongside her and was enthralled by the symbiotic relationship between nutrition and chiropractic whole-wellness principles.

Inspired to become one herself, Kulp studied at Logan University, a chiropractic and health sciences university in Missouri. After graduation and licensure, she opened her own chiropractic and nutrition practice in 1992 while continuing her education in nutrition to later become the vice president of the Chiropractic Board of Clinical Nutrition. She is also a certified practitioner with the Institute of Functional Medicine.

While the chiropractic aspect of her practice has been rewarding for Kulp—she served as the team chiropractor for the Reading Royals and provided chiropractic care for well-known musicians—the functional nutrition aspect drives her passion.

Kulp uses nutritional wellness to help patients achieve weight loss and address chronic autoimmune conditions, digestive diseases such as Crohn’s, celiac and acid reflux, infertility, thyroid issues and more. “We always say, ‘We test, we don’t guess,’” Kulp emphasizes. “We are an evidence-based practice, and we do a complete physical exam, we obtain the patient’s complete health history including environmental exposures and genetics, and we do thorough testing to put together an individualized approach for each patient.” These approaches include food plans for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Kulp also makes recommendations for exercise, lifestyle changes and stress reduction.

It is commonplace today for people to consult the internet for health advice, but Kulp emphasizes that food and nutrition trends often found on social media are typically one-size-fits-all tips and cannot address individual needs. “The keto diet is not good for everyone, and gluten-free diets are not for everyone. If I suspect celiac disease in a patient, I test for that—testing helps get to the root of what’s causing a health issue.”

Education is a key component of Kulp’s work. She takes patients on a deep dive into how the body processes carbohydrates, proteins and fat and explains the differences between vitamins, how they work in the body and how they interact with medications and supplements. She also shows people how to spot deceptive marketing tactics when purchasing vitamins and supplements. Kulp Nutrition & Wellness Center has a retail component where customers can purchase high-grade vitamins and supplements.

Kulp also notes that when purchasing local foods from farmers markets or roadside stands, people should not assume they are organic or organically grown just because they are grown on a smaller farm. Even some small, local farms use pesticides, she notes, so it is important to ask the farmer questions about their agricultural methods.

“I encourage people to put in the homework and do things such as keeping a food diary,” she explains. “I help people see what’s wrong and work in reverse to undo damage from poor nutrition. Issues such as gastrointestinal problems can spiral into headaches, aches and pains and  fatigue. When you address the root cause of a gastrointestinal problem, those other symptoms, like headaches, will often also go away.”

Kulp emphasizes that customized care based on testing and thorough intake histories can go a long way to address root causes of ailments. “The best part of my work is seeing positive change,” she says. “I see patients that first came into my office broken, and now their chronic pain is either gone or has significantly decreased.”