Yes, you can order your own labs!

PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Okay today, I got a message from someone that said, Hey, I'm a new follower. And I saw your highlight for lab testing. And I'm really interested in having my cortisol and micronutrients tested, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Went to a naturopath who did some kind of bio Meridian testing. So I think energy testing instead, blah, blah, blah. I'm not sure how reliable this testing is, but we're prefer to have lab testing done. Do you recommend a company online or how can I go about getting this done so you can order this stuff on your own, but what are you going to do with it? So let's talk about the types of nutrient testing and where you could get it. Well, let me start with, you can always order you're on that. So it's great to work through your primary care provider, but sometimes there's tests that are done conventionally, and sometimes there's a lot of other tests out there and they all have different utilities, right? So it just kinda depends on like what you're interested in. How are you going to get results when you have those lab tests, right? Are those going to magically tell you something? So let's talk about what's conventially done from a micronutrient standpoint. So conventionally, we do test to B12 iron vitamin D. Those are kind of common things. I'll never forget this guy who called me one time with selenium toxicity, because someone put them on too much supplemental selenium. Apparently there's some detective show about someone who killed someone by putting selenium in the coffee grounds push, and he ran share that. But like, it's a story that helps me remember that I never really supplement selenium separately. Selenium is a key nutrient for thyroid function to get T4 into T3, but I never supplement it on its own. I usually use what's in the multi, which is 200 micrograms. Or I go with like three personas. I don't know why I went off on that. Tangent. My point is, I'll never forget that this guy said he had to go to Mayo clinic to get selenium tests. And I was like, why is it like such a oddity to have micronutrients tested? So Julia only a few comprehensive micronutrient companies SpectraCell which I used to really enjoy it. And by the way, we have most research around serum testing for nutrients and spectrums. I looked inside the cell or intracellular. And so it was kind of like, well, what's actually getting inside the cell, which is what matters. So I think that that can be useful. Vibrant does a little bit of a combination and then there's Genova and I can't, and don't use Genova. So I am not super familiar with their testing. So with a comprehensive micronutrient test, you can get over 30 micronutrients, antioxidants, vitamin minerals, et cetera. And then I have an Instagram highlight around this. And so depending on those trends, you can really infer a lot. So I always call it a gateway testing. So this is all fine and dandy. And I did have a mini episode about like why a B12 deficiency. Isn't really just a B12 deficiency. And so I kind of apply all that same rule to pretty much every nutrient, if this, this, and this are deficient, this is what that tells me. And I can do all kinds of patterns if you find that interesting, but can you go order this on your own? Yes, you can order any pretty much all functional and conventional testing from there's a few different companies, but a couple of them would be direct labs.com. And I think Ulta lab tests.com you LTA. So as practitioners, sometimes we use different lab conglomerations. So I'm using Alexia right now, which I pay a fee to several hundred dollars a year. This is new for me, so I can get like thyroid stuff at half price. And this came about because people had a really hard time getting a draw done at the provider's office because of insurance hoops. So you can order whatever you want. Right. Basically I just suggest we always work with a provider if we need medication, but there's a lot to that. So anyway, providers have some access to tests a little bit differently, but as a consumer, you can order things to me, it's a matter of what are you going to do with those results? I think that you could get a cortisol report and it just kinda depends on the reporting that comes with it. There are practitioners out there that if they read those tests, not all of us read every single company's tests, like we're experts in certain tests that we use in our practice, because they all look a little different. That's different conventionally. Like the tests are all standardized, functionally. Some stuff is just like total garbage. And I think we could pretty much all agree. I think any practitioner would agree on that. There's a lot of stuff out there that's just like total garbage or a total waste of money. So some kind of a custodian of people's money with testing, I'd like to use just what I think is most effective, but some stuff that you get on tests is just like overwhelming and jibberish. So you're welcome to always order whatever you want, but make sure you have a plan on what you're going to do with that information. And if you need an iron panel or a full thyroid panel, and you're having trouble getting a full thyroid panel done, you can go to these companies and get one drawn. Now there are fingerprint tests out there and I've been meaning to do. And I probably will hear eventually, but I'm meaning to do. One of my friends did a finger prick test with a company I won't name. And then she did a blood test and literally no correlation whatsoever. And there's another company. I just saw some results from it the other day from someone. And they looked like kind of normal, but also the reference ranges were really weird and it was a company that's not American. So I'll probably end up doing one of their tests. Side-by-side with a conventional like serum test, just to see if there's any correlation. Cause at this moment, I'm not really a fan of a lot of bloodspot stuff. Now there's an exception. Omega quant does do a blood spot for mega three index testing. And they're really the premiere and the leaders in their testing. So I would give them kind of the pass on that one, but the others, I really haven't validated or decided if that is actually effective or not. So a lot of crap out there, a lot of good stuff out there. So if you want to know specifics about any particular testing or testing or nutrient patterns or particular tests or what I think of certain tests, please let me know over on SpeakPipe, which is kind of the voicemail app. You can either join the Facebook group, which is learn, grow, share, circle.com and ask your question there and I'll answer it. Or you can go over to less stress like.com and click on that little SpeakPipe app. And I can answer your questions on our many episodes. Thanks so much. Have a great day. Dude, you need to detox. January is really a time where the word detox gets thrown around and people spew all kinds of craziness on both sides of it, the fence, but here's the thing we need to show respect where respect is due. My friends detox is amazing and I happen to have a pretty intimate connection and knowledge on what detox looks like. And when it is slowed from waking up with a puffy face or your eyes being swollen or retaining water weight, or having skin stuff like acne, eczema, et cetera, pop up or identifying as a sweaty person, not handling alcohol like I did when I was 21, not waking up energized, waking up in the middle of the night. You've had some interesting ice symptoms I can trace to my detox systems. So what do you do? Well, thank God. This is a podcast and not a Twitter post because it doesn't fit in 140 characters. When people ask me questions, like, what do you think of this chlorella supplement or dandelion tea or juice cleanse. I want to sit down and give you the one Oh one on what's happening inside your body. So you know exactly if and what that tea or supplement will or will not help. That's why I'm doing a live detox masterclass on January 8th. Don't worry. A replay will be available if you register for the live version. In my detox masterclass, you'll get the detox for one 11 of what's going on on the inside and outside of your body. Plus simple shifts you can make to make these systems work better. You'll get how often you should give your body some love on your detox pathways. So your skin digestion, energy, and just your body in general runs at its absolute best. 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