Congratulations

Congratulations on taking your health into your own hands. Here are the top three tests I recommend to my patients:

1. Blood panel. Ask your doctor to order:

  • VAP cholesterol [extensive – includes subtypes of LDL and HDL plus lipo(a), VLDL
  • Ferritin (this is a measure of your iron levels)
  • Thyroid panel: TSH, free T3, reverse T3
  • Cortisol
  • DHEAS
  • Fasting glucose

If you’re overweight, add: leptin, insulin. IGF-1 (growth hormone)

If you’re subfertile or infertile, add: free, bioavailable and total testosterone, progesterone day 21-23, fasting insulin and glucose.

2. Omega-6/Omega-3 ratio.

It costs $149 and is offered from Vital Choice. You can also get this done as part of the NutrEval series of tests. If you are having new symptoms of ADD in perimenopause, get the omega-6/omega-3 ratio test. Omega-3s are one of the most proven supplements we have, yet most people don’t optimize their level.

Go here to get your tests:

3. Complete Hormone Profile.

If your doctor is the more open-minded type, check this Genova test. It will tell you about your adrenals, both short- and long-term adrenal health, and inform you of your estrogen metabolism – that is, do you have a modifiable tendency toward breast cancer or not?

If your doctor won’t order these tests, consider going to CanaryClub.org to order them yourself and test at home. I especially like their blood spot test because the little thyroid hormones are very stable when dried on their test cards, and I suspect more stable than sitting around all day in a test tube at a lab. If you can afford it, I recommend the Advanced Plus Hormone Profile. For those of you who really love to measure everything, and want to know where your nutritional deficiencies are NutrEval will rock your world.