Dr. Anthony Crifase
Functional Medicine Practitioner
How this practice came to be
My path into medicine started in a kitchen. I trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Chicago and worked under Michelin-starred chefs before I ever set foot in a clinic — and that experience taught me something most practitioners learn last, if ever: food is information, and what we eat shapes how we feel at the deepest level.
I went on to earn my Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine and my Bachelor of Biomedical Science at National University of Health Sciences in Illinois, one of the few institutions in the country that integrates hands-on clinical training with rigorous biomedical science. Dr. Anthony Crifase is a chiropractic physician and functional medicine practitioner, with years of post-doctoral training in clinical nutrition and functional medicine.
But the real education came from patients. Person after person arrived having seen multiple doctors, holding a folder of "normal" lab results, still exhausted, still in pain, still without answers. Conventional medicine is extraordinary at acute care — and structurally unequipped for chronic, complex conditions. Functional medicine asks the question those patients had been waiting for someone to ask: why is this happening?
At Rupa Health, I founded and hosted The Root Cause Medicine Podcast, which climbed into the top 25 U.S. podcasts in the Medicine category in under 90 days — root-cause medicine isn't a tagline for me, it's been the work for years.
Education, Training & Credentials Earned
- Doctor of Chiropractic — National University of Health Sciences
- B.S. Biomedical Science — Summa Cum Laude
- Diplomate, American Clinical Board of Nutrition (DACBN)
- Certified Nutrition Specialist (CNS)
- Licensed Dietitian Nutritionist (LDN)
- Culinary Arts — Le Cordon Bleu
How I practice
Every patient is unique, so every plan is too. My work starts with a long conversation — initial consultations run 60 to 90 minutes — and advanced functional lab testing that goes far beyond a standard panel. From there we build a personalized protocol: targeted nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle changes with clear reasoning behind every recommendation. Everything is 100% virtual, which means I work with people nationwide and internationally.
"Each patient is highly unique and therefore each patient will need a different plan than the patient before them. This sounds obvious — but it is not how healthcare is currently practiced."
— Dr. Anthony Crifase
As Featured In
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