Dr. Paul Deglmann
Meghan Feir Walker
Perhaps you’ve had tests done through your regular doctor in an attempt to understand why you are constantly fatigued, bloated, or suffering from a myriad of other chronic symptoms, only to be left with more questions than answers.
While traditional testing may have failed to provide answers for you in the past, functional lab testing can provide a wealth of information and the guidance you need to restore your health.
In this article, we’ll cover the differences between traditional lab testing and functional lab testing, along with how functional lab testing can help you uncover the answers to chronic health issues and health optimization.
What is Functional Lab Testing?
Functional lab testing looks at how the body is functioning as a whole and looks for the causes of why symptoms are occurring. With functional lab testing, we are looking to identify imbalances within the body so we can develop personalized strategies to restore optimal function.
For example, functional lab testing can identify nutritional deficiencies, imbalances within the microbiome, metabolic imbalances, hormonal imbalances, inflammatory triggers from food allergies/sensitivities, toxin overload, chronic infections, and more.
These tests can include functional blood, saliva, stool, hair, and/or urine tests
Functional Lab Testing vs Traditional Lab Testing
In regular clinics, traditional lab testing is used to primarily rule out pathology and looks for more “high alert” markers. These tests are used to help diagnose or rule out certain diseases or conditions. Unfortunately, many less common or less tested conditions don’t get noticed.
Just as with functional medicine, functional lab testing aims to figure out why different systems in the body aren’t functioning optimally. Because all systems of the body are connected, when one area is off, it impacts the other areas as well.
For example, if something isn’t functioning properly in the gut, it can also impact the health of your skin, brain, joint health, hormones, etc.
Through comprehensive analysis of biomarkers, we can more easily figure out why you feel off. Then we can put together a personalized plan to help you restore your body to optimal health.
The lab ranges also vary in traditional lab testing and functional lab testing. Traditional testing is intended to detect values that clearly indicate a state of disease and don’t take into consideration borderline conditions well. Functional testing’s lab ranges are much tighter than traditional ranges and are able to detect potential indications of conditions faster than traditional testing methods. The optimal and standard reference ranges make a big difference.
Why try functional lab testing
Even subtle imbalances can eventually lead to more significant imbalances over time, which can eventually contribute to a growing number of symptoms.
For example, you may not feel issues occurring in the gut, but inflammation can still be present.
Perhaps you’re not absorbing your nutrients properly because of an underlying gluten sensitivity or other food sensitivities.
If you don’t have the right amount of stomach acid, digestive enzyme output, or concentrated bile to help digest your proteins, fats, and carbs, this could not only lead to gut health issues but additional issues that may be triggered by inflammation or nutritional deficiencies. Some of these problems could include headaches, fatigue, skin issues, brain fog, unexplained joint pain, weakened immune system, autoimmunity, and more.
If you’re experiencing fatigue, go to your doctor for testing, but everything comes back as “normal,” you might be given a clean bill of health and sent on your way. While your doctor may say it’s normal to get tired as you age or get stressed, you know it’s something more than that.
Functional lab testing can more effectively target areas of dysfunction before they progress any further. In functional medicine, our goal is to restore your energy so you can live your life without feeling like you’re missing out or trudging along.
One of the areas we commonly see traditional testing miss the mark is in testing thyroid markers. TSH is usually the only thyroid lab tested in traditional medicine. The lab range on TSH is typically 0.45-4.50. If the test result is anywhere within that range, most patients are told everything is “normal.”
However, in functional lab testing, we believe optimal levels of TSH are between 1-2. While it’s technically considered “normal” in traditional medicine, if the result is 4.45, we believe this is not an optimal level and could be a major cause of symptoms.
When you’re being proactive with your health instead of reactive, you can catch problems early and enjoy a life full of more health and stamina. If you can test early and figure out why you’re tired, why you get frequent headaches, why you feel bloated after every meal, or why you can’t sleep well, we have a better chance of optimizing function and restoring health. We don’t want to wait for the problem to progress into a disease or condition.
What conditions/issues can functional lab testing help detect?
At Restorative Health Solutions, we base testing on symptoms and likely root causes. There are various areas that can be tested, so symptoms, health history, lifestyle, and more considerations are made before choosing which tests to carry out.
By using functional labs, we’re able to identify myriad imbalances, inflammatory triggers, or areas of dysfunction within the body, including:
- Food allergies/sensitivities
- Imbalance of the microbiome including lack of beneficial bacteria (probiotics), overgrowth of bacteria, overgrowth of yeast/candida, overgrowth of parasites
- Chronic infections such as Lyme/coinfections, viral infections
- Toxicity (mold, heavy metals, environmental toxins, etc)
- Nutritional deficiencies
- Hormonal imbalances
- Blood sugar imbalances
- Much more
Some of the functional lab tests used at RHS
Food
- Genetic testing for gluten sensitivity
- Food allergy testing
- Food sensitivity testing
Identifying food sensitivities or allergies and altering your diet can reduce inflammation or allergies and help alleviate symptoms such as bloating, digestive issues, headaches, etc.
Microbiome imbalance/infections
- Stool
- Organic acid test (OAT)
- Lyme disease/co-infections testing
- Viral panels
For anyone, especially those with IBS, autoimmune diseases, chronic fatigue, and other conditions, it’s helpful to discover microbiome imbalances, infections, and inflammatory markers.
Toxins, chemicals, and heavy metals
- Mold/mycotoxin testing
- Heavy metal testing
- Environmental toxins testing
Mycotoxin, heavy metals, and environmental toxin panels can help you identify harmful levels of toxic exposures that could be affecting your overall health. These tests are often used to identify causes for chronic symptoms like fatigue, brain fog, immune issues, and other “unexplained” symptoms.
Nutritional deficiencies
- Intracellular micronutrient testing
Using intracellular micronutrient tests, we can see what vitamins, minerals, and amino acids your body may be deficient in. Deficiencies are incredibly important to address because they can cause various symptoms, including low energy production, immune dysfunction, and poor health.
After discovering what your body needs, we can develop a personalized nutrition and supplementation plan.
Hormone and cortisol imbalances
- Dried urine hormone panel
- Adrenal/cortisol levels testing
These tests include adrenal stress panels and sex hormone panels (estrogen, testosterone, progesterone), along with other hormones. Measuring cortisol and hormone imbalances can help you discover causes for heightened stress, mood swings, brain fog, fatigue, and many other symptoms. When we know your levels and where you need support, we can develop a targeted hormone-balancing protocol.
Thyroid function
- Full thyroid hormone panel
Instead of just measuring TSH, we also measure free T3, free T4, total T3, total T4, and thyroid antibodies. These tests help us to detect thyroid imbalances that can be missed in basic tests.
In addition to these tests, we may also use some traditional blood testing in addition to the functional labs.
Who can benefit from functional lab testing?
Chronic health issues: Whether you need to address long-term conditions like IBS, chronic gut health issues, autoimmune diseases, fatigue, hormonal imbalances, skin issues, Lyme disease, co-infections, sleeping problems, or other health issues, you need help and solutions. People with chronic health issues with limited results through traditional medicine can greatly benefit from functional lab testing and functional medicine.
Unclear symptoms: Have you been to various doctors, only to be left without answers or help for your chronic symptoms and health issues? Functional lab testing can help those who haven’t found answers with conventional tests. Whether you’ve received an official diagnosis or not through traditional medicine, you need answers and solutions. Functional lab testing can help point you in the right direction for healing.
Stress-related health concerns: If your tank always feels empty or you constantly feel stressed and overwhelmed, testing can help us identify cortisol imbalances and adrenal fatigue. Functional adrenal/cortisol testing can measure stress hormone levels in the body throughout the day and help us develop a personalized plan for your unique needs.
Proactive health seekers: While you may not be experiencing any major symptoms, you want to optimize your health and wellness and ensure you’re catching any imbalances before they lead to problems.
These are just a few scenarios of why functional lab testing may be right for you.
Why choose RHS for functional lab testing?
At RHS, we have been using functional lab testing for several years and have helped thousands of patients restore their health. Whether it’s a saliva test, blood test, stool test, hair, or urine test, we use state-of-the-art lab testing. We credit the functional lab testing as being a big part of our success to help explain why patients are having symptoms and aren’t in optimal health.
Through understanding a person’s history, symptoms, lifestyle and environmental factors, ordering the right functional labs, and constructing personalized plans, we are dedicated to helping our patients get healthy.
We are big believers in educating patients at the same time we are guiding them. In the end, our mission is to reach our patients’ health goals and help them maintain optimal health through education.
Take the next step toward better health
If you have felt disheartened after seeing multiple doctors, specialists, and clinics, you’re not alone. However, there are answers and there are ways to uncover those answers so you can start feeling better.
Each individual needs a tailored approach because of their body’s unique needs and situations. This is why we stress the importance of using accurate testing methods and customizing the protocols for every patient.
At Restorative Health Solutions, we offer individualized care based on your history, symptoms, and personalized test results.
Take control of your gut health with guidance based on years of experience from Dr. Paul at Restorative Health Solutions. Schedule your consultation today to explore how microbiome testing and other assessments can unlock personalized insights for a healthier gut and balanced life.
We hope this article helps you in your quest for answers and relief. Consult with your healthcare practitioner to find out what steps are best for you.
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