A big part of what makes my practice different is that I run functional lab tests that you won’t find at a traditional practice. Below, you’ll find a list of the labs I offer. These are NOT covered by insurance. Prices range anywhere from $200-$450.
Advanced functional labs provide detailed insight into the health status of a variety of your body’s systems.
This level of testing can be used to:
- Dig deeper diagnostically to identify key health imbalances/potential root causes
- Learn more about your personal health status to identify functional targets for health optimization (prevent/optimize)
If you don’t test, you ultimately guess. While traditional labs provide important clinical information, some questions can only be answered using functional testing. I use a combination of both to get to the root cause of my client’s conditions. Again, testing and treatment protocols are highly individualized. Here are some of the functional tests I use most often:
Comprehensive Stool Testing
In this panel, I look at how your digestive system is working + identifying any imbalances. When we get to the root of imbalances, we use food as medicine to support your gut. This test looks for: dysbiosis, yeast, parasites, inflammation, digestion markers, liver function, short chain fatty acids, intestinal permeability (leaky gut), sIgA, enzymes, and more!
The test performs the most comprehensive analysis available of your intestinal microbiome ecosystem from a simple one-time stool collection. This test examines the complex and intricate relative abundance of each species or genus measured, in relation to the rest of the ecosystem, to provide a unique perspective on the gut microbiome and its connection to disease and inflammation.
This test uses a proprietary microarray hybridization technology platform, using the whole-genome data to simultaneously detect over 300 microorganisms with 99% specificity and 98% sensitivity, unheard-of levels of accuracy in the detection of pathogenic microorganisms.
The Comprehensive Stool test provides you with actionable recommendations that include potential risks for:
- Intestinal permeability
- Intestinal disorders (IBS and IBD)
- Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO)
- Cardiovascular health
- Autoimmune health (celiac, Crohn’s, rheumatoid arthritis, etc)
- Neurological health (MS, Parkinson’s, and more)
- Liver diseases (cirrhosis, hepatitis, cholangitis, and more)
- Metabolic health (Obesity, diabetes, etc)
- Nutrition (Vitamin production, oxalate metabolism)
- Microbiome and hormone connections (Beta-glucuronidase and Beta-glucosidase)
- 67 pathogenic bacteria
- 24 Intestinal parasites
- 8 viruses
- 5 Fungal or yeast species
- 5 worm species
- 6 antibiotic resistance genes measured
Micronutrient Testing
In this panel, I dive into figuring out what your nutrient deficiencies are! This can help us target your supplement routine to be personalized and support your body with the building blocks it needs. Your genetics, aging, lifestyle, chronic illness, and medications all affect your cellular nutrient absorption. This test can reveal a person’s functional nutritional status over a much longer time (4-6 months) than extracellular testing.
This test is helpful for anyone who has suffered gut issues in the past (or present) and after some gut work is done, we can start replenishing nutrient stores due to better absorption. Other reasons this test is helpful are finding out if you have enough building blocks for hormones if you have hormonal imbalances, making sure your immune system is strong and can give answers to stubborn symptoms, like hair loss, easy bruising, etc.
Functional testing measures the amount of nutrients inside your cells, rather than in the serum. This gives a true picture of what deficiencies are present.
EXTRACELLULAR MICRONUTRIENTS
Micronutrients that are free-floating in your blood and exist outside the cells, determined in serum are called extracellular micronutrients. These extracellular micronutrients are a static measure of what is in your blood at any given time. These are dependent on your short-term intake of supplements and diet and give a direct assessment of your baseline micronutrient levels. Extracellular nutrient tests reflect a person’s diet over a relatively narrow time frame.
INTRACELLULAR MICRONUTRIENTS
Intracellular micronutrients are the micronutrients absorbed by your circulating white blood cells and red blood cells. Cellular micronutrient absorption is an important step in maintaining and promoting the optimal functioning of all our cells. It is important to understand that, even though you may be consuming an adequate or healthy diet or supplements, your cellular intake levels of those nutrients may not be sufficient and may still provide risks for deficiencies and the disorders associated with them.
Organic Acids and Amino Acids Testing
Think of organic and amino acids tests as a look under the hood. They measure the metabolic compounds in your urine, providing many important clues. These tests can be used to evaluate cellular and mitochondrial energy production, gastrointestinal function, nutrient utilization, and neurotransmitter processing. They also give clues to possible nutrient deficiencies.
Gluten Sensitivity Testing, Autoimmune Testing, Intestinal Permeability
I use peptide based testing to look for gluten sensitivity and gluten cross-reactivity.
Genetic Testing
There are gene variants, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that can contribute to a variety of conditions and nutrient deficiencies. For example, methylation is effected by SNPs of the MTHFR and COMT genes. In another example, carbohydrate tolerance and risk of developing type II diabetes is effected by genetics. In the case of both of these examples, knowing the genetics would change the nutrition care plan. Although the science around genetic testing and its clinical implications is still evolving, a good genetic panel can provide important insight. I use Nutrigenomix , DNAFit, and Genomic Solutions Now for comprehensive panels. I also use Genova Diagnostics and Spectracell or Great Plains Lab for specialty genetic tests.
Need More Info?
This page is a pretty brief summary of labs that I can run. If you’d like to know more about functional testing feel free to contact me through the contact form below. I also offer a free 10-minute phone call. You can learn more about my services here.