What is a functional test?
The purpose of a functional test is to determine how the physiology of the body is functioning. This differs from the type of testing offered by GP, which looks for markers of disease.
Using functional testing we can look for imbalances in the body and use nutrition and lifestyle changes to restore balance.
What type of test will I need?
This depends on your symptoms, we may find that actually that you don't need any testing because the changes you make address the underlying cause(s). However, as sometimes is the way for more complex cases, we may need to introduce some testing. Depending on your symptoms, this might mean a saliva, breath, blood or stool test.
What can you test for?
When it comes to nutritional therapy, the most common testing everyone thinks of is allergies or the digestive system.
For digestive complaints, testing can be used for gas, bloating, indigestion, abdominal pain, diarrhoea, and constipation.
For allergies, we can test not only for food allergies but also environmental allergies. If you have an allergy you may suffer from the following symptoms
Migraines, aching joints, fatigue, gastrointestinal disorders.
We can also test for hormone imbalances.
An adrenal stress profile can help to identify root causes of if imbalances affecting the nervous system, such as chronic fatigue, depression and anxiety
Thyroid profiles available through functional testing labs offer much more in-depth analysis and flag suboptimal levels of thyroid hormone, rather than just deficiencies.
Male and female sex hormones
Vitamin and Mineral status
Toxicity profile, exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium, mercury and other toxic materials can lead to osteoporosis, depression and fatigue
Then what?
Once the imbalances affecting your symptoms are identified, I then create a tailored plan to restore balance.
If you would like to know more about functional testing or how nutritional therapy might help you, get in touch for a free 15-minute discovery call.
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