By Renata Cauchon-Robles (intern) and Orli Rabin of ThrivingBiome
March 2024
There are many factors that influence our health and how good we feel. Our environment, our chronic stress, acute stress events, our nutrition or diet, and any diagnoses we are living with, all play a part. If you have been trying all kinds of things to understand your symptoms, it might be time to look deeper.
Are you hitting a lot of dead ends with your medical provider? Have you had zero luck with different diets? This article offers an overview of different types of functional medicine lab tests and how they might help you learn more about what’s going on in your body. Always remember to work with a qualified professional who can help you understand your results and create a plan that supports your health.
What are functional medicine lab tests?
There are many types of functional lab tests. In general, they provide comprehensive results about your nutritional, hormonal, or microbial status. This can help explain symptoms and help you find opportunities to feel better. They can even help identify signs of dysfunction even before it reaches full-blown disease. For example:
What is the difference between functional and conventional lab testing?
You may have had a conventional lab test that your primary doctor ordered for you; where you get a blood draw at the lab, and you get results in 1-2 weeks about your blood count or a few vitamin levels. Conventional labs drawn from just your blood give you your status at that snapshot in time. This means they can be easily influenced by what you ate that day or how you slept the night before. Their “normal” reference ranges were often established a long time ago, and may not reflect standards for a healthy population.
Functional labs, on the other hand, can give a more detailed picture of your individual scenario. They still have to be ordered by a qualified professional, but they have a longer menu of options to test for and the values for their “normal” results reflect current science findings. They can help signal imbalances earlier on, before a disease develops. This is especially true for thyroid concerns, type 2 diabetes, or Vitamin D deficiency.
What is the best type of functional lab test?
The type of test that might be right for you will depend on your individual needs or current symptoms.
Which functional lab test is most affordable?
The HTMA hair test. It does require a measurable amount of hair, but it’s otherwise non-invasive.
Which functional lab test is most labor-intensive?
The DUTCH hormone test. It takes some preparation and detailed instructions. The GI-MAP test does involve some elaborate stool testing, and needs to be either shipped the day-of or stored at a proper fridge temperature.
What are lab results helpful for?
Any type of lab result is a way to gain insight into your health status. It can be a way to identify any vitamin or nutrient imbalances in your body. It can also be a way to find out if you are truly deficient in something.
Minerals in the body get excreted faster when we are under high stress, so functional lab tests can explain a lot about your stress response. They can even paint a picture of whether the stress is new or something more chronic.
Nutrient imbalances can affect daily symptoms and long term disease development. Micronutrients and minerals are super important for our metabolism, and metabolism is how our cells and tissues get the energy they need to function properly. Micronutrients play a key role in the work done by amino acids, antioxidants, and our immune system throughout the body.
Is functional lab testing worth it?
You might be wondering, why should I bother getting a functional lab test? Not all symptoms are super obvious or even visible. A lot of symptoms can be vague and potentially ignored. Are you dealing with chronic fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, recurring infections or digestive issues like bloating, gas, diarrhea, or constipation? Do you live with frequent skin troubles such as rashes, eczema, or psoriasis?
The results from a functional lab test can help identify the root cause of your symptoms or diagnosis. They are personalized and comprehensive. Functional lab tests can be especially helpful before and after a diagnosis of an autoimmune disease, such as Hashimoto’s, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Psoriasis or Graves’ Disease.
When should I test?
The right time to test might depend on your personal health history or your active symptoms. Many times we try making changes before knowing the details. A functional lab test can help us know more before making drastic changes.
Our advice is to trust yourself and trust your body. If you are feeling off, even if your other labs have come back “normal”, it might be time to dig a little deeper. Just because many symptoms tend to be written off and blamed on lifestyle, or ignored because they are common, does not mean you have to keep feeling off.
How do I order functional lab tests?
A qualified professional like a registered dietitian or doctor can order lab tests on your behalf. We recommend working with someone who knows how to order tests from reputable sources, and who is skilled at interpreting the results to create recommendations that meet your needs.
You may find some third party or direct-to-consumer options to order online, however having skilled interpretation is what can help you know what to do next. A practitioner who has experience interpreting results will be able to notice patterns and important details in your results. A qualified professional can also help monitor your progress over time to continue learning what changes are helping your health journey.
What if I can’t test?
While functional lab tests can be a great option for people already working with a registered dietitian or health professional, insurance doesn’t always cover that opportunity. The test charge may be an out-of-pocket cost that just isn’t reasonable for you right now. That is okay, there are still options!
If you aren’t able to find a way to get a functional lab test done at this time, focus on some of the basics. You’ll be surprised how the following 5 things can really make a difference:
What happens after I get my results?
This is the fun part! Knowing your individual lab results can help carve a plan for feeling better. It takes effort and commitment, but there are simple changes you can make that can really have an impact.
Next steps will depend on your symptoms, your goals, and your individual results. Here are some examples:
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