Why Should You Run Functional Lab Tests?
If you’re new to the world of integrative/holistic/alternative health, you’re probably used to your annual bloodwork with your doctor and that’s it. And while those labs can often catch acute issues, standard bloodwork won’t give you answers about your:
thyroid health - why you’re cold and achy and gaining weight and losing your hair
stress and cortisol - why you can’t get out of bed in the morning but are so wired at night you can’t sleep
sex hormones - why your period has you calling out because you’re in so much pain or you’re on the rage-sob rollercoaster
gut health - why you get painfully bloated or deal with days of constipation/diarrhea or why your hunger is all over the place
nutrient status - why you might still be feeling crappy even on a super clean diet because you’re missing key nutrients
Bloodwork is limited in the insights it can give you because it’s a snapshot in time - exactly at the time your blood was drawn. What we need is a historical record of averages that can explain what’s been going on inside!
Enter functional lab testing.
These labs utilize everything from urine and stool samples to saliva and hair (and also sometimes blood). Measuring different byproducts of your body, we’re able to see what’s really affecting your health and keeping you from feeling your best!
One of the main reasons these labs are so important is they provide you the hard data that something is going on. It’s not just in your head. you’re not being overdramatic. And you don’t have to feel sick forever.
The most common labs I run in my practice are a gut health test, a hormone panel, and an organic acids test. I don’t believe in testing just for the heck of it - I understand that lab testing can be expensive and unfortunately, it still isn’t covered by insurance. I’ve found that these three labs provide the most insight into common complaints for my clients.
The Gut Health Test - The Bad Bugs
This stool test is incredible for assessing what is driving your bloating, hunger, constipation, acid reflux, and more. It tests for SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), parasites, candida yeast overgrowth, and h. pylori. Understanding exactly what we need to remove and rebalance within your gut helps me to tailor a protocol specifically to you!
The Hormone Panel - Thyroid, Cortisol, & Sex Hormones
I love this test and find it gives the most “aha” moments! It’s a combination blood spot and saliva test that provides a 24-hour map of cortisol which is how we spot that “tired and wired” feeling. The blood spot captures T3, T4, TSH, thyroid antibodies, progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone. This can help explain why your cycle may be ruining your month (or why you’re not cycling at all), and it can also show where your thyroid may be struggling.
The Organic Acids Test - Basically Everything
This urine sample test gives us 10-12 pages of data covering everything from toxic mold exposure to how we’ll you’re metabolizing fats or if you’re deficient in specific B vitamins. The organic acids test allows me to fill in the gaps as to how your gut or hormones became compromised in the first place and how to bring it alllll back into balance.
Functional lab testing isn’t required to heal; there are foundational protocols that virtually everyone living in the modern world needs to implement to be healthy. BUT. There’s a reason I include the cost of these tests in my coaching program. Being able to identify exactly what is driving your symptoms allows us to target the root cause and get you feeling better faster.
I’ll never forget the first time I ran a functional lab test. I was at my sickest, sleeping 16+ hours a day and could barely read a page of text without forgetting everything. My results came back - I was empty. Like for real, EMPTY. My cortisol production was so low, my progesterone was all but gone, my vitamins and minerals? All super low because my body didn’t have the energy to even process my food.
I felt oddly relieved. I wasn’t crazy. And I wasn’t “just stressed”. My body was on its last leg just trying to survive. And once I knew all the things that had gone wrong, I could build a plan to heal. And I did. And so can you.
