Meet Your Caring Certified Functional Nutrition Coach

Re-Root: Joseph Bershad's Approach to Nutrition

With the combination of the Standard American Diet and high-stress jobs, it is no surprise that digestive issues, problems focusing, pain, and low energy are more common than ever.

With Re-Root’s 1:1 Functional Health and Lifestyle Coaching Programs, we’ll look to address the root cause of your symptoms and eventually get you back to all of the activities and relationships you used to love to engage with. Getting outside, having dinner with friends, and having a fun family day become the norm not the exception.

Check out the video interview above to learn more about Joseph Bershad and my approach to functional health coaching.

Ready to get your health back and feel like you did in your 20s & 30s again?

Scheduling a complimentary 30-minute discovery call is your first step.

Introducing Joseph Bershad: Your Functional Nutrition Coach

My Journey Is Probably Similar To Yours

I’m Joseph Bershad, a Certified Functional Nutrition Coach, a Culinarian classically trained in classic French cuisine, and a global food product development leader based out of Baltimore, Maryland.

I’ve always enjoyed food, but my passion arose from watching Saturday afternoon cooking shows on PBS, way before the Food Network.

This sparked my interest to grow my own cooking skills which ultimately led me to culinary school in Philadelphia.

I spent 10 years working in kitchens at premiere innovative modern French restaurants in Philadelphia (Taquet, Passerelle, Ciboulette, and Tierra) and New York City (Le Bernardin and Dava), and was a private in-home chef for a well-to-do family in suburban Philadelphia. During this time I honed my culinary skills with a focus on a whole foods based on modern Mediterranean cuisine.

I then spent 22 years leading highly successful product development teams for Keystone Foods (now a part of Tyson Foods) and the herb and spice company, McCormick & Company. I oversaw new product development and commercialization of hundreds of innovative culinary menu items for some of the world’s top global restaurant and consumer packaged goods brands like McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chic-Fil-A, Subway, KFC, Chipotle, Campbell’s Soup, Hormel and many more.

These were amazing jobs that allowed me to meet great people, learn and utilize new and exciting technologies, and travel all over the world.

However, one day I woke up and said to myself that I couldn’t do this anymore.

Making mass product food items with unhealthy fats, flavors, preservatives and other ingredients that you can’t pronounce, was not for me anymore knowing how bad they are for your health.

I knew then that it was time for me to do something different and to be able focus on helping people improve their health vs making them sick.

Having both a science and culinary background has allowed me to combine both of these passions to be able to invigorate my own health and wellness by knowing how and what to eat.

This is what led me to become a certified functional nutrition health coach training at both The Functional Nutrition Alliance under Andrea Nakayama and at mindbodygreen’s Functional Nutrition Coaching program training under leading functional medicine Drs. like Mark Hyman, Jeffery Bland, Joel Kahn, Frank Lipman, Vincent Pedre, Amy Shah Will Cole & Stephen Gundry.

Now I want to help you to do the same by allowing you to learn and implement simple nutrition and lifestyle changes.

Looking for the Latest Nutrition News, Sleep & Stress Reduction Tips, or Gut & Cognitive Health Support?

Check Out My Blog for Practical Tips

My Own Health Struggles

I've Been In Your Shoes - I Know What You Are Going Through

My personal health journey really began when I was in my early 30’s when I was working as a private chef. I thought I was eating well and in great shape riding my road bike 50+ miles per week.

Eventually, I realized I wasn’t feeling as great as I expected considering my good habits.

I was experiencing digestive issues, brain fog, fatigue, lack of energy, and poor memory recall.

I worked with multiple traditional doctors who told me that nothing was wrong with me.

I was told to “just live with it,” which I managed to do until my late 40’s, when my health started to get worse.

At that time I developed lower back pain, which ultimately was due to three herniated discs from too much work travel, a two-hour daily commute, a suboptimal diet, and not enough exercise.

Unfortunately, this eventually required painful back surgery and a long recovery.

While working with a chiropractor who was also a functional medicine doctor, I learned how to optimize my health by improving my diet and lifestyle so that I was able to address and improve my prior chronic health issues.

I was also able to drop 30+ pounds that I could never lose before and I continue to keep it off today.

This was all possible by following an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean-based diet, exercising regularly, and implementing key lifestyle habits.

This was an enlightening experience for me that triggered my passion for functional nutrition coaching and integrative holistic wellness.

Healing Is Not Linear

Here We Go Again

A few years later, I started having odd digestive concerns and again no one could figure out what was going on.

After working with a digestion centric functional medicine doctor who dove in deep to figure out my WHY, I was diagnosed with small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) and small intestinal fungal overgrowth (SIFO), most likely due to job and life stress that caused a leaky gut.

My doctor put me on a specific regime of antibiotics, antifungals, supplements, a low FODMAP diet, and lifestyle changes.

It took time, but I did get better.

This also demonstrates that healing is not always linear and that you will have good days and bad days as you heal.

I continued to read and listen to everything I could get my hands on about the functional model.

I eventually left my job as a director of product development at the herb and spice manufacturer, McCormick & Company in Hunt Valley, Maryland to practice what I am truly passionate about today as a certified health and nutrition coach.

I now want to help you optimize your health and help you find your empowerment by taking control of your own diet, nutrition, and lifestyle.

If all of this resonates with you, then it’s time to work with Joseph as your certified functional nutrition coach, guide, and mentor to get your quality of life back to what it used to be.

Are You Ready To Feel Better?

I'm Ready To Help You - Are You Ready To Join Me?

Don’t keep putting off focusing on your own health.

The longer you wait, the worse it may become.

The time to start is now with the Re-Root Functional Nutrition & Lifestyle Coaching Program.

Take the first step and schedule your free 30 minute discovery call to start your journey to feeling the best you have in years.

Book Your Discovery Call

Client Success Stories

“Joseph has been a wonderful nutrition coach. He’s very good with the science behind heathy eating and behaviors. He offers inspiring food ideas and lifestyle adjustments. In our 3 months of sessions, I achieved my goals and established new ones. Thanks, Joseph!”

-Elaine R.

“I have struggled with eating habits and trying to change them for my entire life. Some struggles are culturally rooted (food makes you feel better), and some are rooted in a lack of coping. I originally signed up with Joseph because I wanted a plan. I needed some structure inserted into how I eat and conceptualize eating. My hesitation, as always, is rooted in my self-doubt. I have enjoyed the work with Joseph.

His approach is very low-pressure and non-judgmental, as well as commonsensical. I can now see how to change my habits. I used to hold an “all or nothing” approach, and now I am working to make individual changes and sticking with them.

Joseph provides an intuitive, data-driven approach to changing how one conceptualizes their relationship with food. He comes to you with no judgment and uses his wealth of knowledge and experience to help to start to change habits.”

-Nick W.

“I first reached out to Joseph while dealing with a sports injury in my knee. I was hoping that Joseph’s functional nutritional coaching would help reduce my knee pain.

While Joseph offered targeted strategies for reducing the inflammation that was causing the pain, he also provided a more holistic perspective for boosting overall wellness.

I would strongly recommend his coaching to anyone who is looking for an integrated, positive approach to improving diet and lifestyle for overall wellness.”

-Johnathan C.

“Joseph has keen attention to detail. He sets clear milestones and enhances any person. Joseph reads each situation quickly and uses his vast acumen to identify the best path forward. As a result, he handles difficult situations easily, excels in making informed decisions, and operates from a fact-based foundation.

Joseph can find a path forward regardless of the complexity.

He is very persistent and has an excellent work ethic. He treats everyone with whom he interacts with an approachable, articulate, and thoughtful demeanor.

-Diego S.

“A great resource that helped me make great strides in understanding how food affected me, making better daily choices, and generally having a greater relationship with food.”

-Will S.

Note: Some names and photos of our clients have been changed to protect their privacy