Functional Labs + Why You Need Them

I hear it a lot… “I can’t afford functional labs”, or… “will my insurance cover it?”. (No, and I’ll cover why another time).

Yes, functional labs (like the GI MAP, DUTCH, SIBO, HTMA, Bioenergetic Testing) are expensive and no, they are not covered under insurance (a system problem, not a product problem).

And I don't mean going to your primary care and asking for a blood work-up. At best, they will give you a minimum of testing. Your results will be based on a range that’s far too wide to actually identify imbalances (for instance, your TSH range is 0.5 - 4.5 UL/L, when optimal range is somewhere between 0.5 - 2 UL/L). If you do get bloodwork done or you have current bloodwork, you’ll want to make sure you are comparing those with optimal ranges, not averages of really sick people! You’re aiming for optimal, not mediocre health, right?

I understand that it’s hard to imagine spending $500, $700, $900 or more on testing alone. But, ask yourself, “can I really afford to stay sick?”. Can you afford (emotionally, mentally, physically, financially) to be where you are now, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years… from now?

I know I speak for many people in my industry when I say I would never have gotten well if I hadn’t had access to these labs. I’d never have identified the imbalances I had without them (H. Pylori, SIBO, dysbiosis, slow thyroid, mold, candida, parasites, heavy metals).

Let me just remind you, I LOOKED like the picture of health…

Here’s the thing: we can GUESS, and we do, naturally, make conjectures about what our clients’ are going through. But I cannot see inside of your body. I don’t know what’s happening in there without testing to see! This is why we say TEST, don’t GUESS!

So, you may be asking, well what kind of test do I need? That depends on what you are going through.

I don’t always recommend expensive testing— but with gut issues you have to bite the bullet. Proper stool testing is the key to knowing what to address to get you well. This is because there are MANY different issues related to the gut, each with their own set of herbal & dietary remedies. For instance, someone with parasites & H. Pylori showing as anxiety & loose stools are going to have an entirely different protocol than someone with Candida & mold toxicity.

PCR (polymerase chain reaction) stool testing is the gold standard in functional medicine to observe microbial activity & other digestive markers of the large intestine, otherwise known as the colon. Your average Joe Doctor will use what’s known as a stool culture, which has a few shortcomings. First, in order for something to be detected, it must be SEEN, under a microscope, by a person. Human error exists, meaning a microbe could be easily missed, especially it it’s dead (not moving) or if it’s a piece of their body, not the entire microbe. Next, the DROP of poo that’s placed onto the slide must contain what we’re looking for. There are simply too many potential errors. With PCR stool testing, microbes are detected via a database that tests the entire sample for the DNA of many various microbes (bacteria, yeast, fungi, parasites & viruses). This means it can be dead, alive, moving, not moving, partial pieces, the whole dang thing — it doesn’t matter, because if the DNA exists in the sample, it will be found. So save up, and get the testing done. It will save you so much in the long run.

Additionally, SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) breath testing is recommended for people with gut issues. This is the only way to identify an overgrowth of microbial activity in the small intestine. There are a few ways to tell if both a PCR stool test & SIBO tests are necessary or if you can get away with one or the other, however, again this is just GUESSING, and I don’t recommend doing that unless you are REALLY strapped for money. In that case, you’re better off focusing on your foundations, saving and doing them at the same time, because if you’ve got issues in both the lower & upper intestines, you want to make sure you’re addressing both and you know what you’re up against. There are many nuances that make protocols easier if we have everything out on the table, rather than discovering things one by one.

There are more functional tests that I use in my practice, such as the HTMA, DUTCH, mycotoxins test & bioenergetic testing.

If you’d like to order a GI MAP stool test, but you are not a client of mine, click below.

If you’d like a test mentioned in this blog post that doesn’t have a link, you can email me via the button below.

Happy healing