testing
Nutritional biochemistry testing is the best way to learn about your specific nutrient requirements. Comprehensive versions of the test panels currently available can evaluate several hundreds of biochemical functions to provide a complete snapshot of your unique nutritional needs. Testing will help you and your Nutritional Therapist to correlate nutrient deficiencies and biochemical pathway abnormalities to any symptoms you may have, rather than relying on “guesswork”. Your Nutritional Therapist will then be able to devise a personalised nutritional programme plan for you, based on your unique biochemistry.
Some tests will need you to provide a urine or stool sample, other may require a saliva swab, or a drop (as a DIY prick-test) of blood or a “proper” blood sample. In some cases your Nutritional Therapist will be able to refer you to your GP for tests or use your existing test results as a base to work from.
Tests are not always essential but, when they are, they do help a great deal by providing vital information that allows your Nutritional Therapist to add a specific nutrient element, e.g. a particular food, vitamin or mineral to your programme, or indeed to remove one which may be not be agreeing with you. Although some of them can appear to be costly, the cost of “working in the dark” without any knowledge of your biochemical needs can be much higher in the long run, both in terms of cash and unnecessarily sustained damage to your health.
These are some of the functional tests we can run for you, depending on your specific case:
Cardiovascular profiles: cholesterol (LDL, VLDL, HDL), ADMA, homocysteine.
Gastrointestinal profiles: parasitology, mycology and bacteriology testing using DNA recognition of microorganisms provided by Metametrix laboratories, which is superior in both sensitivity and specificity to other types of tests.
Food sensitivity (IgE) testing: we run different profiles tailored to your needs but we tend to prefer tests that are run at medical laboratories rather than “DIY” or “home kits”.
Metabolic profiling: based on organic acid testing, which analyses the way you process protein, fat and carbohydrates into energy (ATP).
Hormonal profiles including adrenal, thyroid, and sexual hormone profiles can shed much needed light on the reason for many health imbalances.
Essential fatty acid (EFA) profiles: Omega 3 and 6.
Nutrient status profiling: based also on organic acid testing. A very thorough investigation of your health status from a simple urine sample.
Single nutrient analysis, e.g. iodine, vitamin D or magnesium.
Toxic metal analysis. We use a specific lab in London which specialises in toxic metal testing.
The above constitute just a sample of the tests we can order for you. Based on their individual circumstances, two people presenting the same signs and symptoms may need completely different tests. Always ask for the advice of your Nutritional Therapist if you have any questions about functional testing.