Functional Labs vs. Blood Labs: Finding the Root Cause of Your Symptoms
You feel bad. You're fatigued, bloated, inflamed, and dealing with skin issues. So, you go to your healthcare provider and get blood labs done, but the results come back normal. You feel a momentary sense of relief, but at the same time, you're left with a lingering question: Why do I still feel so bad?
Do You Need a Blood Test or a Functional Lab Test?
Blood labs are a great tool to detect disease, severe imbalances, or acute conditions. They offer a snapshot of your body's current state and can identify issues like infections, deficiencies, or elevated markers of inflammation. However, the normal ranges for blood labs are based on averages of the general population. While this is fine for detecting disease, it's not particularly helpful for health optimization.
Why? Because "normal" lab results don't necessarily equate to optimal health. The ranges are set to detect acute illness, and unless you're significantly outside the average, the results might come back as "normal," even if you're far from feeling your best. For someone looking to optimize their health, relying solely on conventional blood labs often leaves questions unanswered.
What blood tests don’t show
The problem with standard blood labs is that they only tell part of the story. Think of them as a snapshot of one moment in time—what your body was doing at the precise time of the test. While this can be useful, it's limited. Your blood will do everything it can to maintain balance, even robbing minerals from your tissues to stay in equilibrium. This means that while your blood may appear balanced, your tissues could be in a state of severe depletion or imbalance.
The benefits of functional lab testing
When it comes to functional medicine, we take a much more holistic and in-depth approach. While blood labs have their place, they often need to be viewed through a functional lens to extract their full potential for health optimization. Functional lab testing helps uncover imbalances that conventional medicine usually overlooks. Tests like the GI Map, Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA), and DUTCH hormone tests allow us to dive deeper into the root causes of your symptoms.
Learn more about functional lab testing with Laura Grubb
Here's how we use these functional lab tests:
Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA): This test analyzes mineral levels in your tissues rather than your blood. Since your blood robs minerals from tissues to maintain balance, HTMA is critical for understanding long-term imbalances and deficiencies. We can help your body regain its natural balance by addressing these deficiencies.
GI Map (Stool Test): A stool test helps us assess the state of your gut microbiome. Gut health is foundational to overall health, impacting everything from digestion and inflammation to mood and energy levels. By analyzing your microbiome, we can address dysbiosis, leaky gut, and inflammation that could contribute to your symptoms.
DUTCH Hormone Test: This test offers a comprehensive analysis of your hormonal health, including how you produce and eliminate hormones like cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. It also looks at how your body metabolizes these hormones, offering deeper insights than a standard blood test can provide. If you're feeling fatigued, anxious, or dealing with mood swings, hormone imbalance could be the culprit.
One of the most common concerns I hear from clients is: "What if my labs are normal?" My response? I've never seen functional labs that are entirely normal across the board. Even in seemingly healthy clients looking to optimize their well-being, there is always room for improvement. Functional lab tests offer a more comprehensive picture of what's happening beneath the surface, identifying hidden imbalances that might be contributing to how you're feeling.
Optimizing Your Health with Functional Labs
If you're experiencing symptoms like chronic fatigue, bloating, skin issues, or brain fog, it's a sign that something in your body is out of balance. These symptoms are like your body's "check engine light," alerting you that something isn't quite right. My role is to help identify the root cause of that imbalance and guide you back to health.
Integrating conventional and functional medicine
While functional labs give us a deeper understanding of what's happening in your body, blood labs can still be helpful when viewed through a functional lens. If you already have blood labs, I can review them and apply more optimal, functional ranges to assess how they relate to your overall health.
For instance, conventional medicine might consider your mineral levels "normal," but through a functional perspective, we might see opportunities to optimize your health further. If heavy metals are present, we can take steps to detoxify your body. If your gut is out of balance, we can introduce protocols to restore harmony in your digestive system. If your hormones are misfiring, we can tweak your stress, lifestyle, and nutrition to bring everything back into balance.
Why choose functional medicine?
Functional medicine goes beyond the "normal" and dives into the "optimal." It takes a proactive approach to health by identifying and addressing the underlying causes of your symptoms rather than simply treating them. Through functional lab testing, we can uncover hidden imbalances, deficiencies, and toxicities that may hold you back from feeling your best.
You don't have to settle for normal regarding your health. By combining the insights from both blood labs and functional labs, we can create a personalized health plan designed to optimize your well-being and help you thrive.
If you're tired of feeling poorly despite "normal" blood work, it's time to explore the deeper answers functional medicine can provide. Together, we'll uncover the root of your symptoms and bring you back to balance.