Why accurate testing is so important
By Dr. Paul Deglmann
Edited by Meghan Feir Walker
In the clinic, one of our favorite statements is “Test, don’t guess!”
Why is accurate testing so important when figuring out the cause(s) of your symptoms?
During my initial phone consultations and visits, people tell me all the things they have tried in their attempts at abating symptoms and improving health. Despite their dedication to following health suggestions and various diets they’ve discovered online or in a doctor’s office, they’ve been met with little to no success. If they notice any improvements, these are often short-lived and their symptoms return with a vengeance soon after stopping their strict regimen.
Unfortunately, while many of the health tips they have tried can be good and helpful, their attempts have been centered on guessing. Very little testing has been done, and these patients are just guessing at what might help their suffering bodies.
Here are some examples of the frustrations I hear frequently:
- “I’ve tried a lot of different diets; Paleo, AIP, GF, GF/DF, carnivore, Keto, vegan…but I still don’t feel good.”
- “One of my friends said a certain probiotic got rid of their gut issues, but I tried it and it didn’t help at all.”
- “I saw this supplement on social media that was supposed to help with constipation and bloating, but it seemed to only make my symptoms worse.”
- “I think I have candida because of my symptoms, so I just looked up a candida protocol. I tried that for a few months and it helped a little, but once I went back off of the protocol, my symptoms came roaring back.”
- “I heard that B12 is good for energy, so I tried that, but it didn’t help my energy levels.”
Have you experienced any of these frustrations, and do you have your own to add to the list?
Stop guessing and use good testing
Instead of wasting your time and money guessing and missing the mark another time, I suggest taking a different approach. Much of this guessing can be eliminated with good, high-quality testing.
Do you relate to any of these examples?
Instead of guessing what foods are creating reactions, we can accurately test to see what foods you react to within three hours (which is a food allergy test) and to what foods you have a delayed reaction (which is a food sensitivity test). With food sensitivities, the reaction happens anywhere from three hours to three weeks after you consume that food. This is one of the main reasons why food journaling can be so frustrating. Without accurate, high-quality testing, it can be extremely challenging to pinpoint which food(s) may be contributing to a symptom you are experiencing today.
Instead of just buying a probiotic to help your gut health, we can conduct a high-quality stool test. This looks at the levels of beneficial probiotics in your body.
If you think you might be experiencing an overgrowth of Candida, you can request a high-quality stool and organic acid test to see if Candida is present.
Are you wondering if your lack of energy is due to a vitamin B12 deficiency? Test for it! To see if you have a long-term deficiency of B12 or other nutrients, test your levels with a good intracellular micronutrient panel.
Do bloating and constipation plague you every day? We can also use stool testing and organic acids testing to discover why you’re experiencing these and other digestive ailments so frequently. Reasons for your chronic bloating and constipation might be due to food sensitivities, low stomach acid production, low digestive enzyme production, poor gallbladder function, yeast or candida overgrowth, bacterial overgrowth, parasitic overgrowth, or chronic stress.
These are only a few examples of what might be causing your symptoms. This is why it’s imperative to know what is causing your distress. If you know the why, you can figure out how to regain your health more easily.
Everyone is different, so don’t guess
Another reason why testing is so important is because everyone is different. You can have 100 people with the same symptoms go in for testing. When the test results come back, you will see differences across the board. No two people have the exact lineup of problems, even if they seem like two peas in a pod. You might have two people suffering from mold, Lyme, and SIBO, but upon further testing, you’ll see their micronutrient and probiotic levels are different. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Everyone has different food sensitivities, nutritional deficiencies, genetics, microbiomes, stress, cortisol, hormone levels, etc. This is why functional medicine is a one-size-fits-one approach and not a one-size-fits-all approach.
Because of this, we develop an individualized, personalized plan for you, and only you.
When we consider what to test, there are many things to consider. First, we run through your history, symptoms, what you have already tried, what you haven't tried, what's worked, what hasn't worked, what your health goals are, health concerns, and many other factors that can all contribute to health distress.
8 Factors to Consider with Testing
After running through all of those factors with you, we will then consider the testing included in these eight different categories.
Here are the eight different categories we consider when it comes to testing.
- Food: This includes testing food allergies and food sensitivities.
- Imbalance of the microbiome and infections: We use good, high-quality blood, stool, and organic acids testing to check for infections and to see if there’s an imbalance in your microbiome. When it comes to testing for infections, we include viral infections, tick-borne illnesses, such as Lyme and co-infections, and many other infections.
- Toxicity: When we’re concerned symptoms may be caused by toxin overload, we like to check the levels of certain toxins, chemicals, mold, or heavy metals in your body.
- Nutritional deficiencies: We check intracellular micronutrient levels to ensure your body is getting all the vital nutrients and minerals it needs to function optimally.
- Stress and cortisol: Testing for adrenal function is necessary when stress and cortisol levels may be to blame for digestive distress.
- Hormonal imbalances: Almost every woman knows how hormone imbalances can cause digestive problems like nausea, bloating, and more symptoms. Hormone imbalances can affect the digestive health of men, too. Hormones also include organs like the thyroid. These hormone panels check for hormone levels of things like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and much more.
- Anemia: We want to make sure we rule out anemia. Anemia is where we have low red blood cells, low hematocrit, or low hemoglobin. This is so important because it's extremely difficult to get better when you have anemia. Your red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your body, giving you the ability to heal, recover, and repair.
- Blood sugar imbalance: Blood sugar imbalances can include conditions like prediabetes, diabetes, insulin resistance, hypoglycemia, where blood sugar is too low, or reactive hypoglycemia, where blood sugar goes up quickly and then tanks quickly, like a roller coaster. Any blood sugar imbalance can be a problem.
Which piece of the pie is making you sick?
Imagine a pie chart. There are five different pieces of this pie chart. These five different pieces represent the different factors that are driving your symptoms.
Appropriately, the first piece of the pie represents food. The next piece equals microbiome imbalances; the next slice represents toxins; the next represents nutritional deficiencies; and the last slice equals hormones, stress, and cortisol levels.
Each piece of the pie
- Food
- Microbiome imbalances
- Toxins
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Hormones, stress, and cortisol levels
We have five different things that are potentially driving your health issues. If we only test for one of them, two of them, or none of them, we’ll still have many questions about the remaining factors or pieces of the pie.
This is why we want to test and not guess. As each category gets tested, you receive more insight and answers that can help explain your unique health situation. The more details we have, the more laser-focused your protocol can be. This vastly increases your chances of getting and feeling better and reaching your health goals.
The more we test and don’t guess, the more certainty there is. That is one of the most important points I share with my patients. While there are no guarantees in medicine, testing provides a much clearer picture of how we can reach your health goals.
Accurate testing leads to more accurate health plans that may help you regain your health faster.
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We’re here to help: Stop guessing your way through health issues
Are you sick of guessing your way through your health issues? We’re here to help.
Trying to take your health back on your own can feel overwhelming. This is why at RHS, we offer free 15-minute phone consultations to go over your individual case and see if we are a good fit for you.
If you or anyone you know is having health issues with little to no answers, give us a call today at 952-479-7801.
