Fortitude Functional Nutrition

"I highly recommend Julie’s services for anyone looking to be healthier, address the root causes of their chronic issues, and receive great education and support on their health journey. I had the pleasure of working side-by-side with Julie for over a year, seeing her achieve these things in action and get great results with our clients. Julie is dedicated both to her clients, but also to educating herself. From the time she started her nutrition journey almost a decade ago after her mom’s breast cancer diagnosis, Julie has continually sought out the most rigorous formal education and her knowledge of Functional Medicine and Nutrition is far superior to most any physician or practitioner in the Functional Medicine community. Julie has the ability to see the big picture, while also being able to dig into the details; this allows her to provide highly individualized care helping clients understand their health and improve it. If you need help understanding why you don’t feel well, and what steps you can take to improve, look no further than Julie to be your coach on that journey."

― David Gordon, MD, IFMCP, ABoIM

Owner, 4 Pillars Functional Medicine

"In 2000, I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and before working with Julie and Dr. Gordon, I was struggling with gut pain, bloating and gas. My mood was low, my hands and hips hurt, and no matter how hard I tried, I could not lose weight. 

About a year after working with Julie and Dr. Gordon, I did my colonoscopy and my GI Doctor was very pleased! NO inflammation in my GI track whatsoever! No sign of active Crohns at all! Whoot Whoot!! Since working with Julie, I’m really happy about losing 20+ pounds without starving myself and learning to eat what my body needs and requires. I lost 1.5 inch on my thighs, hips, and waist – dropped 3 pants sizes. My energy is super! I was telling a coworker that every afternoon for years I needed a pickup, but now I no longer need it! My hands don’t hurt, hips don’t hurt, definitely see a positive change.

Overall, I am feeling very well, I’m amazed at all the positive changes. Feeling better than I have in a long time. I’ve made a lot of progress towards my health, mentally and physically. Even my husband commented that I’m happier, in a better mood, less stressed, no more gut pain and people and friends have noticed it too! What a change in my life!

Julie Olson has empowered me to be a better, healthy individual! I have learned so much about nutrition, mindset and overall health thru Julie. She has really taught me what a healthy lifestyle looks like and how to advocate for myself with friends, family and outsiders. Without her support and guidance in this lifestyle journey I am not sure I would be as successful. I would highly recommend working with Julie! She is the best! And my experience inspired my daughter to become a nutritionist!"

― Cynthia Christensen

“The results I got from working with Julie are amazing…My autoimmune Hashimoto's disease antibodies dropped from 1264 to 54 which is super close to remission (40),  I’m no longer allergic to any foods (before I was allergic to 20+ foods), I have more energy and less pain! 

I was referred to Julie by my functional medicine doctor, and she did a terrific job.  She designed a 30-day meal plan for me with literally nothing to go on (IFM has named my diet the mito-keto flex plan, but provides no back-up for it except one page of acceptable foods).  Additionally, I had to eliminate another 20+ foods.... and I don't like meat.  Julie took the time to determine my preferences, increased my protein intake (which was too low) and provided a variety of great recipes.  She explained everything thoroughly, provided all the back-up references I could want, and even lent me her personal copies of books that she felt would help me.  She's very accessible and available to answer any questions.  I highly recommend her.”

― Karen Hohe Suchomel

“Before finding Julie, I was having major stomach issues, my autoimmune disease of psoriasis was out of control, not to mention my sleep was so erratic that I needed help and conventional methods of taking medications seemed to be making things worse. After my first consultation with Julie, we immediately went to work by doing multiple tests that confirmed a gluten sensitivity and leaky gut. From there she designed a detailed supplement and food plan and took me grocery shopping. Within 30 days of following it, I was seeing some huge changes in my overall health as I had an increased amount of energy, weight loss, no more cravings or stomach issues, and sleeping normal again. The psoriasis is getting much better too! I can’t thank Julie enough for her help and would highly recommend her to anyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired. Thank you again Julie!!!”

― Marty Waters 

"Julie began coaching me nutritionally in 2012 at Natural Grocers. She really helped me to understand how my food choices affected my sleeping and hormonal issues. Even though I felt that I had a pretty good knowledge of nutrition, she taught me about functional nutrition and inspired me to continue my health journey.

She has also been a client of mine, I am a hairstylist, so our friendship and exchange of nutrition and holistic health has grown.

Since my husband Troy has struggled with eczema and skin rashes his whole life, he started to work with Julie last year. We had tried all the conventional methods with little to no improvement. He filled out all of Julie’s extensive paperwork and then she recommended labs that helped us to determine his dairy and gluten intolerances. Troy was resistant, but with Julie’s coaching he realized she was correct and has had the best results from her protocol than any conventional treatment! And, His eczema and skin rashes are almost nonexistent now. I highly recommend Julie’s services!"

― Sona and Troy Seaton

"Since I was trained and worked as a Registered Nurse in in the conventional medical model, I never considered alternative therapy. So, after being diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, I continued to feel worse and didn’t think there was anything to change it. I had brain fog, depression, terrible fatigue, and little hope. Everyone said it was the MS that was making me feel so bad and there was nothing I could do about it. Even my neurologist took for granted that I was tired all the time because of the disease.

But, after I did some research, I was fortunate to have discovered functional medicine and nutrition and came to Dr. Gordon and Julie. It was an answer to my prayers. Dr. Gordon ordered lots of labs and took a very detailed history to determine a root cause for my symptoms. It turns out I had multiple imbalances related to a very leaky gut.  Julie ordered supplements tailored to my situation and helped me put many diet and lifestyle changes in place. I am happy to say my gut is healed. I’m now absorbing nutrients properly and look forward to continued improvement. I lost my stubborn weight. My brain fog disappeared. I tapered down my anti-depressants. I’m not saying my MS is cured, but my body is now “putting out the fire” that led me in a downward spiral. I continue to feel much better than I did a year ago when I first started seeing Julie and Dr. Gordon. The biggest improvements have been my diminished fatigue, increased energy and better mood. I can’t thank Julie and Dr. Gordon enough!"

― Karen Weiler

“I had a history of elevated cholesterol and my goals were to avoid medication by using other options and to identify my root causes. Previously, I had a bad reaction to mold exposure, eczema and difficulty losing stubborn weight. Overall, I had a variety of non-specific symptoms, but essentially chalk them up to a long history of more riotous living with low quality foods, alcohol and tobacco when I came to see Julie and Dr. Gordon.

I followed their recommended food and supplement plan almost 100% and found I was eating more, but happily weighing less – I lost 10 pounds and 2.5” inches around my waist without really trying. My friends were asking me what I was doing differently. Julie helped me to simplify my regimen as well as understand the “how” and “why” of what we were doing. She also turned me on to some functional medicine and nutrition podcasts which confirmed everything. Her accountability, support and guidance kept me on track, especially when I would normally stop with my high work demands, time constraints and challenges with a one-year old daughter. Now, I realize that if I keep this up, I’ll never have to go on cholesterol medication and my lab numbers prove it.” 

― Greg Daley

"My breast cancer was Stage III.  I underwent chemo therapy, Taxotere, radiation, Tamoxifen, and Arimidex.  For years I ate McDonald's hamburgers, few vegetables and fruits, and drank two glasses of wine before dinner each night. I was depressed, unmotivated, physically tired, and foggy in the brain. I did not realize that my food and lifestyle choices played such a big role in my health. Julie's expertise, guidance and support made a huge difference in my recovery.

Julie re-educated me with her nutritional counseling sessions and classes to successfully implement healthier food, movement, lifestyle choices and to better manage my stress. She added specific supplements that I was lacking to my routine.  Now I walk and practice yoga daily. I have not been sick, depressed, fatigued or had a cold in years. My brain fog is gone and I no longer eat fast foods or rarely drink any alcoholic beverages. I have not had a recurrence of any type of cancer since my breast cancer. I feel strongly that this reversal in my health is because I followed Julie's advice and recommendations."

― Sandra Sparks