What are conventional lab tests?
Every year during your annual physical, your doctor may take blood to assess your health. These tests can range from a Complete Blood Count (CBC) to a Hemoglobin A1C for your blood sugar, to Lipid or Iron Panel and many others.
The problem is that in conventional lab testing, the Typical Reference Range (TRR) (aka: ‘normal’) represents 95% of the U.S. population. But one in six Americans has an autoimmune disease, 51.8% of US adults have at least 1 chronic condition, and 27.2% have multiple chronic conditions!
So the way conventional medical doctors read these tests is very skewed.
Feeling well or even optimal is a completely different perspective.
What is a functional view of your lab tests?
Functional medicine is an approach to reverse the root causes of disease based on your biology and symptoms. It’s highly individualized in the form of lifestyle, mindset, exercise, and nutritional changes to bring about optimal health.
Functional health coaches look at trends and balances, like if you have adequate electrolytes and nutrients in your body and if your body is creating adequate stomach acid and digestive enzymes to digest and absorb the nutrients that you ingest. Conventional tests can point to the absorption of protein in your diet, glucose regulation, muscle, liver and kidney function.
Conventional annual physical labs like a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) or Complete Blood Count (CBC) can show us how well your body is regulating glucose, hydrating, and if you are digesting your food properly.
A CMP consists of up to 21 different lab markers - a CBC gives us another 20 lab markers - and these basic markers share information about your immune system, blood, hydration, and oxygen in your blood.
This is just a simple example of a variety of blood tests! Which tests are right for you depends on your relationship with your doctor, symptoms, history of disease and personal goals.
I do not diagnose or treat, but by using nutrition, education and holistic intervention, together, we can identify specific areas where you can improve your symptoms such as headache, migraine, insomnia, constipation, weight gain, and gastrointestinal discomfort.
What is the difference if it’s the same lab results?
When I review your lab work from a functional medicine lab lens, I’m looking at a more narrow range and I’m looking at trends based on you as a whole person. Plus I spend time explaining to you what they mean for your unique body. We spend much more time and care for your personal benefit!
We want to prevent those chronic and autoimmune diseases from being diagnosed in the first place, from getting worse if you are on a slippery slope or have already been diagnosed.
I will help you connect your daily life to your labs. Some things we might work on together will be to lower stress, improve your diet, habits and environment to bring you to living in “optimal” land.
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