Supplements 201: A Smarter Approach for Health Coaches

With thousands of supplements on the market and endless advice about what to take, how much, and why, how can health coaches help clients navigate the conversation with confidence?

Join FMCA for an Ask the Expert webinar featuring Deanna Minich, PhD, nutrition scientist, educator, and internationally recognized expert in nutrition and lifestyle medicine. Hosted by Dr. Sandra Scheinbaum, this conversation will offer a practical, systems-based framework for understanding where supplements fit within a food-first approach to health and how health coaches can discuss them responsibly.

Dr. Minich will break down major supplement categories, from foundational and targeted nutrients to botanicals and specialty compounds, while exploring what influences quality, safety, and effectiveness. You’ll learn why factors such as form, dose, delivery system, purity, packaging, and manufacturing standards matter, along with important considerations such as drug–nutrient interactions, cumulative dosing, health conditions, and life stage needs. Most importantly, you’ll gain practical guidance for navigating supplement conversations within the health coach scope of practice, including when to support a practitioner’s recommendations and when to refer out.

What You’ll Learn:

  • How supplements fit within a systems-based, food-first approach to health
  • The key differences among foundational nutrients, targeted nutrients, botanicals, and specialty compounds
  • What influences supplement quality, safety, and effectiveness
  • Key safety considerations, including interactions, health conditions, life stages, and cumulative dosing
  • How to navigate supplement conversations confidently within the health coach scope of practice
  • When to support practitioner recommendations and when to refer out.
Deanna Minich

Deanna Minich

PhD, MS, CNS, FMCP

Nutrition Scientist, Author

Meet the Presenter

Deanna Minich, PhD, MS, CNS, FMCP

Dr. Deanna Minich is a pioneering nutrition scientist and thought leader with over 25 years of experience bridging science, spirituality, and art to redefine holistic health. Internationally recognized for her work on color-coded nutrition (“eating the rainbow”), detoxification, and hormone health, Dr. Minich brings a multidimensional lens to wellness that is both grounded in research and infused with a soulful approach. For over a decade, she worked closely with the “Father of Functional Medicine,” Dr. Jeffrey Bland on R&D and functional medicine education with the Institute for Functional Medicine and assisting with the start-up of the Personalized Lifestyle Medicine Institute (PLMI) and now on the Board of PLMI. In 2025, she was awarded the Linus & Ava Helen Pauling Award by the Institute for Functional Medicine — one of the highest honors in the field — for her groundbreaking contributions to science-backed integrative health. As the Chief Science Officer at Symphony Natural Health, Dr. Minich leads the Science-Medical Team’s innovation in endocrine, metabolic, and circadian health, developing evidence-based approaches that empower people to reclaim vitality through rhythm, root-cause healing, and renewal. A passionate educator and communicator, she develops transformative curricula and continuing education for health professionals, while also creating accessible, inspiring resources for the general public. Her work meets people where they are — whether they’re practitioners seeking clinical precision, or individuals seeking deeper connection to their body’s wisdom.

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