See nutrient deficiencies hiding in plain sight
Master Class Starts
Master Class Starts
April 18, 2026
What Your Patients' Bodies Are Telling You Without Words
Liz Lipski, PhD, CNS, FACN, IFMCP, BCHN, LDN
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Lab tests miss what a trained eye catches. Is your assessment complete?
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Learn to identify nutrient insufficiencies from hair, eyes, skin, nails, and tongue
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Over 60% of Americans are deficient in vitamin E—even with supplementation
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27% of children and 18% of adults are iodine-deficient—often undetected
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Add a fast, powerful clinical skill your patients will notice immediately
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CLASS OVERVIEW
How to Read What Your Patients Can't Tell You
This master class distills Dr. Liz Lipski's decades of clinical nutrition expertise into a practical, head-to-toe physical assessment you can perform in minutes. You'll learn:
- What hair texture, color loss, and easy breakage reveal about protein and zinc
- How eyes, lips, and tongue signal deficiencies before labs catch them
- What skin, nails, and sensory changes indicate about essential fatty acids, B vitamins, and minerals
- How to use existing lab values as nutritional data you're already collecting
These are evidence-based clinical skills that sharpen your pattern recognition and reduce unnecessary testing. Immediately applicable in every patient encounter.
The clinical gap hiding in every patient encounter
Most clinicians are trained to diagnose disease: ordering labs, interpreting biomarkers, and managing conditions. What most weren't taught is how to read the body's nutritional story directly.
The nutrition-focused physical assessment—a systematic, head-to-toe evaluation of hair, eyes, skin, nails, mouth, and sensory function—has largely disappeared from clinical training.
Yet it takes only minutes to perform and can reveal nutrient insufficiencies that labs often miss entirely.
Your patients may be eating every day and still be undernourished. Over 60% of Americans are deficient in vitamin E. Iodine insufficiency affects 27% of children and 18% of adults. Magnesium, used in over 200 enzyme reactions, is insufficient in roughly 60% of the population. These deficiencies appear in the body before they appear on a standard lab panel.
When you can't see what you haven't been trained to look for, patients plateau. Protocols stop working. The nutritional root goes unaddressed. This course restores a powerful clinical skill that should have been taught from the start.
The nutrition-focused physical assessment—a systematic, head-to-toe evaluation of hair, eyes, skin, nails, mouth, and sensory function—has largely disappeared from clinical training.
Yet it takes only minutes to perform and can reveal nutrient insufficiencies that labs often miss entirely.
Your patients may be eating every day and still be undernourished. Over 60% of Americans are deficient in vitamin E. Iodine insufficiency affects 27% of children and 18% of adults. Magnesium, used in over 200 enzyme reactions, is insufficient in roughly 60% of the population. These deficiencies appear in the body before they appear on a standard lab panel.
When you can't see what you haven't been trained to look for, patients plateau. Protocols stop working. The nutritional root goes unaddressed. This course restores a powerful clinical skill that should have been taught from the start.
Did You Know...
Did You Know...
Over 60% of Americans are vitamin E-deficient—even when taking supplements.
Iodine deficiency is the #1 cause of preventable mental retardation worldwide.
Horizontal nail ridges, cracked tongue, and pale conjunctiva are readable nutrition signals.
Approximately 60% of Americans don't get enough magnesium, needed in over 200 enzyme reactions.
Food insecurity affects 13% of U.S. households, and overfed patients can still be malnourished.
A low serum creatinine on a basic metabolic panel may signal protein insufficiency.
Introducing the Nutrition-Focused Physical Assessment Master Class with Dr. Liz Lipski
For decades, Dr. Liz Lipski has been asking a question that rarely comes up in clinical training:
What if the information your patients need is already visible—and you just haven't been taught how to read it?
This Master Class distills her career-long expertise into a systematic, learnable clinical skill you can apply starting with your next patient.
You'll learn why hair that's easily plucked signals protein insufficiency. Why pale conjunctiva points to anemia before labs confirm it. Why cracking at the corners of the mouth almost always means B vitamin depletion.
And how to integrate this assessment seamlessly into brief clinical visits, using observations you're already making but haven't learned to systematically interpret.
These are foundational clinical skills that defines great physicians, and it's time to bring them back.
What if the information your patients need is already visible—and you just haven't been taught how to read it?
This Master Class distills her career-long expertise into a systematic, learnable clinical skill you can apply starting with your next patient.
You'll learn why hair that's easily plucked signals protein insufficiency. Why pale conjunctiva points to anemia before labs confirm it. Why cracking at the corners of the mouth almost always means B vitamin depletion.
And how to integrate this assessment seamlessly into brief clinical visits, using observations you're already making but haven't learned to systematically interpret.
These are foundational clinical skills that defines great physicians, and it's time to bring them back.
COURSE FEATURES
What You'll Learn in This Course
1
Reading Hair and Nails
Learn how hair texture, shedding patterns, and nail changes, from ridging to spoon shape, reveal deficiencies in protein, zinc, iron, biotin, and essential fatty acids.
2
Eyes, Lips, and Oral Signs
Identify angular stomatitis, cheilosis, Bitot's spots, and pale conjunctiva. Discover what each finding tells you about B vitamins, vitamin A, and anemia before labs confirm it.
3
Skin as a Nutritional Mirror
Recognize dry skin, scaling, easy bruising, petechiae, and purpura as signals of essential fatty acid depletion, vitamin C insufficiency, or zinc deficiency. Understand when it signals something deeper.
4
Sensory Clues and Taste Testing
Master the bedside zinc taste test and learn what altered smell, taste, and vision indicate about iodine, zinc, and vitamin A status, assessments most clinicians never perform.
5
Malnutrition in Hidden Populations
Identify under-recognized malnutrition in overweight patients, screen for food insecurity, and understand how ultra-processed foods create overfed-but-undernourished presentations.
6
Labs Through a Nutrition Lens
Reinterpret the labs you already ordered—CBC, metabolic panels, homocysteine—as nutritional data. Learn how low creatinine, elevated MCV, and low electrolytes point to specific insufficiencies.
MEET YOUR INSTRUCTOR
Liz Lipski, PhD, CNS, FACN, IFMCP, BCHN, LDN
Dr. Liz Lipski is a pioneer in integrative and functional nutrition — a clinician, educator, author, advocate, and researcher with decades of leadership in personalized nutrition and digestive health.
She developed and implemented the first two doctoral programs in Integrative & Functional Nutrition in the United States, and has spent her career working to put nutrition and lifestyle at the core of health care.
Liz holds a PhD in Clinical Nutrition from the Union Institute and is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (FACN). She holds dual board certifications in clinical nutrition (CNS and BCHN), is certified in functional medicine (IFMCP), and is a Cochrane member.
She retired in 2022 as Professor and Director of Educational Development for the Nutrition programs at Maryland University of Integrative Health. She continues to teach in the Gastrointestinal Modules at the Institute for Functional Medicine and the A4M Fellowship in Longevity Medicine.
Dr. Lipski serves as a special advisor to the Accreditation Council for Nutrition Professional Education and sits on advisory boards for Purdue Global University's Nutrition and Health and Wellness team and the Autism Hope Alliance. She is also a content consultant for AlgaeCal.
She is the author of Digestive Wellness (now in its 5th edition), Digestive Wellness for Children, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Digestion Connection, and has contributed to peer-reviewed papers, textbook chapters, and a Cochrane Review.
Through her company Innovative Healing, she offers nutrition mentoring groups and courses for clinicians. Learn more at www.innovativehealing.com.
She developed and implemented the first two doctoral programs in Integrative & Functional Nutrition in the United States, and has spent her career working to put nutrition and lifestyle at the core of health care.
Liz holds a PhD in Clinical Nutrition from the Union Institute and is a Fellow of the American College of Nutrition (FACN). She holds dual board certifications in clinical nutrition (CNS and BCHN), is certified in functional medicine (IFMCP), and is a Cochrane member.
She retired in 2022 as Professor and Director of Educational Development for the Nutrition programs at Maryland University of Integrative Health. She continues to teach in the Gastrointestinal Modules at the Institute for Functional Medicine and the A4M Fellowship in Longevity Medicine.
Dr. Lipski serves as a special advisor to the Accreditation Council for Nutrition Professional Education and sits on advisory boards for Purdue Global University's Nutrition and Health and Wellness team and the Autism Hope Alliance. She is also a content consultant for AlgaeCal.
She is the author of Digestive Wellness (now in its 5th edition), Digestive Wellness for Children, Leaky Gut Syndrome, and Digestion Connection, and has contributed to peer-reviewed papers, textbook chapters, and a Cochrane Review.
Through her company Innovative Healing, she offers nutrition mentoring groups and courses for clinicians. Learn more at www.innovativehealing.com.
COURSE CONTENT
Course Session Information
Course Session Information
This Master Class is structured around 10 modules, each building systematically on the last to train clinicians in a complete, head-to-toe nutrition-focused physical assessment applicable across every patient population.
SESSION 1
Nutrition-Focused Physical Assessment
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Understand what a nutrition-focused physical assessment is and how it integrates with existing clinical tools like labs, vitals, and patient history
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Learn why physical assessment was the cornerstone of great clinical medicine and why restoring it sharpens your diagnostic precision
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Discover how to structure the assessment into nine observable categories you can complete efficiently in any clinical setting
SESSION 2
The Two Faces of Malnutrition
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Identify malnutrition in overweight and normal-weight patients—recognizing that overfed patients can be simultaneously undernourished
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Screen for food insecurity using targeted intake questions that reveal dietary gaps
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Understand the impact of ultra-processed food consumption on nutrient insufficiency
SESSION 3
What Hair Reveals About Nutritional Status
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Learn the hair pluck test and what easy shedding signals about protein insufficiency, iron, zinc, and essential fatty acid status
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Identify patterns of hair thinning, texture change, and premature graying linked to specific nutrient deficiencies
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Distinguish nutritional causes of hair loss from hormonal, autoimmune, and medication-related factors to guide targeted intervention
SESSION 4
Eyes as Diagnostic Windows
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Recognize early clinical indicators of anemia and vitamin A deficiency
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Understand signs of allergy, anemia, dehydration, and vitamin D or K insufficiency
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Learn what the eyes alone can tell you about a patient's nutritional baseline before a single lab result returns
SESSION 5
Lips, Mouth, and Oral Cavity Assessment
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Identify oral signs of B vitamin depletion, particularly riboflavin and B6
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Recognize oral indicators of zinc, B vitamin, and gut imbalance patterns
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Learn to use the oral cavity as a rapid clinical tool to identify deficiencies that affect skin, digestion, and immune function simultaneously
SESSION 6
Skin Findings and Their Nutritional Meaning
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Link dry skin from scaling, bruising, and petechiae to specific nutrients, including vitamins A, C, E, and essential fatty acids
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Understand indications of vitamin C insufficiency versus medication interaction or deeper vascular pathology
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Use skin findings to accelerate decisions about omega fatty acid supplementation, zinc repletion, and hydration interventions
SESSION 7
Nails as Long-Term Nutritional Records
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Interpret nail findings—pale nails, horizontal ridges, spoon nails—for vitamin B12, iron, and zinc insufficiency
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Distinguish nutritional nail changes from medical conditions, including Raynaud's, kidney disease, psoriasis, and hypothyroidism
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Understand why nails provide a longer clinical timeline than blood markers, giving you historical nutritional data that no lab panel offers
SESSION 8
Sensory Dysfunction and Nutritional Connections
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Perform and interpret the bedside zinc taste test to rapidly assess zinc repletion status without laboratory confirmation
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Understand altered taste, smell, and vision as clinical signals linked to iodine, zinc, vitamin A, and lipoic acid insufficiency
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Recognize chlorine sensitivity in water as a potential marker of iodine deficiency and learn targeted repletion strategies
SESSION 9
Population-Wide Nutrient Insufficiency Patterns
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Interpret NHANES population data to understand which nutrient deficiencies are most prevalent in your patient panel right now
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Identify how ultra-processed food consumption drives micronutrient depletion even in patients who appear well-fed
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Use population-level insufficiency data to prioritize which nutritional patterns to look for during physical assessment
SESSION 10
Using Conventional Labs as Nutritional Data
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Reinterpret CBC and metabolic panel values as nutritional signals you're already collecting
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Learn from a pediatric seizure case study how homocysteine and MCV pointed to B12 and folate deficiency before diagnosis
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Integrate physical assessment findings with standard labs to build a complete nutritional clinical picture without adding new testing
What's Included in the Course
What's Included in the Course
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10 comprehensive recorded modules with full video instruction
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Live demonstration footage of the nutrition-focused physical assessment
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Downloadable clinical reference guides for quick bedside use
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Ongoing access for subscribers / 3-month access for single purchase
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Members-only Facebook group
Online course available beginning:
April 18, 2026
Transform Your Practice...
Enroll Today!
Transform Your Practice...
Enroll Today!
Enroll Today!
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SINGLE CLASS
SINGLE CLASS
$295
$295
3 Months Access
This Course ($395 Value) Includes:
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Add a head-to-toe assessment to every patient encounter without increasing your schedule.
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Catch nutrient insufficiencies your current protocols overlook, before they become harder-to-treat conditions.
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Reduce unnecessary nutritional testing by confirming deficiencies visually before ordering labs.
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Give patients answers they've been searching for and build the trust that keeps them engaged in their care.
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Join a practitioner community advancing nutrition-focused, whole-patient clinical medicine.
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