I’m beginning to see the importance and the value of micronutrient and hormone testing. So often here in western culture we want to fix everything via a pill or a capsule and be done with it. Even those who are more so into the holistic realm of it all. It’s not uncommon to see people gravitating towards either the pharmacy line or the vitamin shop. I am also guilty of such. Stressed, moody? Take Ashwaghandha. Depressed? Try St. Johns Warts. High Blood Pressure? Be prescribed a statin. But the thing, the body is such a delicate yet complex network of chemicals, minerals, vitamins, and hormones. Being deficient in say Vitamin E could cause symptoms such as bruising or anemia (while also causing eczema, psoriasis, cataracts, muscle weakness, sterility, rupturing of blood cells). The blood, being interconnected with all else, to a doctor who may test for blood levels rather than nutrients may come with a diagnosis of anemia or hypovolemia and put someone one iron when in fact the person just needed to eat foods containing Vitamin E. The person exhibiting these symptoms may be treated one way but in a way that’s incomplete. They may then go and be tested and treated for the other aforementioned symptoms and problems of vitamin E deficiency and because the specialist seeing a person for cataracts or muscle weakness or sterility may not be necessary checking for a vitamin deficiency but rather a hormone level, the underlying problem can be easily missed and thus a person ends up with multiple medications and treatments.
When a person gets micronutrient and hormone testing done- they have a better baseline or where to start for our nutrients, our hormones, our four humors…and the imbalances that occur there are the building blocks for the pathophysiology that presents itself in a way that may be the baseline for an allopathic physician. Makes me wonder how many people are being misdiagnosed and mistreated. The same goes for those who are fans of vitamins. One may be feeling low energy and may just automatically go for a well known vitamin on the shelf thats known for its specific properties in such and such when really their issue is a hormone issue and in order for the actual problem to be solved, they need to treat the specific hormone and not its symptom.
