The role of nutrition in hormone balance.
You cannot fully achieve hormone health if you lack key micronutrients - vitamins, minerals, amino acids, antioxidants and metabolites. A single nutrient deficiency can negatively affect hormone levels.
Micronutrients:
- Are the building blocks of many hormones
- Assist in the control of hormone production
- Help regulate enzymes that act on hormones
Why measure hormone levels?
Hormones play a much bigger role in maintaining one's health than many people realize. In fact, relatively healthy individuals who follow an optimal diet and supplementation plan may still suffer from hormonal imbalance symptoms such as weight gain, fatigue and mood disorders. For this reason, a proper balance of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol and other hormones are essential. SpectraCell's hormone panels allow you to pinpoint deficiencies, thus, providing you with the information you may need for optimal treatment. In addition, thyroid testing can be added to any panel, which gives you a general scope of metabolic efficiency throughout the body.
Do you suffer from any of these symptoms?
- Weight Gain
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Hot Flashes and Night Sweats
- Dry Skin & Hair
- Low Libido
- Depression PMS
Matching lab results to clinical symptoms to effective treatment helps achieve the ultimate goal of complete hormone health.
Disease Prevention
Besides affecting the way we look, feel and act, hormone imbalances can alter our risk for the following diseases:
- Endometrial Cancer
- Endometriosis
- Polycystic Ovary Disease
- Osteoporosis
- Heart Disease
Hormone Test Components
Detoxify hormone metabolites that may cause common cancers in the breast, ovaries or prostate and that also affect neurotransmitters by activating genes that regulate hormones.
Steroid (SEK) Hormones:
These include the commonly known sex hormones that impact our mood, metabolism and cancer risk such as testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. These also include important precursor hormones to testosterone and estrogens such as DHEA-S, considered by many as the "mother hormone" since all other sex hormones are derived from it.
SpectraCell's Micronutrient Test measures 35 specific nutritional components and how they affect cellular function. What makes the test particularly relevant is that it takes into consideration a person's biochemical individuality when assessing nutritional status.
Regulatory (Peptide) Hormones:
These control the production and release of other hormones. They include follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and lutenizing hormone (LH) which regulate reproductive health in both men and women. In addition, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) and prolactin are measured, both which may inhibit the action of major sex hormones like testosterone.
Thyroid Hormones (and related proteins that affect thyroid function):
These affect every cell in our body as most basic functions like metabolism, emotions and thinking are directly regulated by thyroid hormones. We also test several proteins that affect thyroid function as well as antibodies to thyroid which can detect autoimmunity (when the immune system attacks healthy tissue) and your levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
A comprehensive micronutrient profile combined with a comprehensive hormone panel gives a more complete diagnostic picture.
