Today I’m welcoming Brandy Buskow back to the podcast!
We’re digging into the best test for your hormones - DUTCH test.
Check out episode #6 for a functional medicine 101 talk plus a look at some of the tools we use to help couples conceive.
Brandy is part of my team here at Fab Fertile. She is our Clinical Advisor and an integral part of our Couples Coaching program - which uses functional lab testing, diet, and lifestyle changes to dramatically improve conception. If you are struggling with infertility...your body is desperately trying to tell you something...focusing on your health will either help you get pregnant naturally or if you do need to go to the fertility clinic it will improve your chances of success.
She is a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner and Certified Transformational Health Coach and EFT Practitioner.
You may have been told that your hormones are imbalanced and that your only option is IUI/IVF.
Or that you have poor egg health, low AMH, diminished ovarian reserve, premature ovarian insufficiency, and that there is nothing that can be done to optimize your fertility – so donor eggs are your only answer.
But do you know WHY there is an imbalance?
When we address the stressors in your body such as food sensitivity, gut infections, environmental toxin exposure, mental-emotional stress, thyroid imbalance, blood sugar imbalance the body begins to heal. Because if your body is under attack it wants to survive not to procreate.
As part of our Fab Fertile Method, we include functional testing (i.e. food sensitivity, hormone, stool, and hair) so that we can develop a customized protocol to help prepare your body for a baby.
When we myopically look at our egg health, hormones, or focus entirely on our infertility diagnosis, we miss crucial healing opportunities.
The DUTCH test is one of our favourite functional tests. It looks at your hormones using urine and provides an extensive profile of sex and adrenal hormones, melatonin along with their metabolites.
On this podcast you'll learn:
1) What it means when your melatonin is low and the connection to gut health. Why continuing to supplement without correcting the root cause doesn’t work.
2) What your cortisol (stress hormone) means for fertility and steps you can take right now. Especially important if you have been under chronic stress.
3) We discuss estrogen dominance (PMS, anxiety, anger, bloating, etc) how the DUTCH test helps to give us clues for healing.
4) We dig into low estrogen (which may be the case for low AMH, high FSH, low ovarian reserve…BUT may not be the case for all women with this diagnosis). How the DUTCH test goes deeper and shows us what is actually happening with estrogen levels. Why supplementing with DHEA for low ovarian reserve may not be the best option.
06:25- BRANDY'S BIO
08:10- WHAT IS THE DUTCH TEST?
- What do the numbers mean? And why do they look like a dial?
- The hormones that the test look at
10:15- WHY WE USE TESTING AND WHY IT'S IMPORTANT BEFORE SUPPLEMENTING
- "Test don't guess."
11:30- GOING THROUGH AN EXAMPLE OF RESULTS
- "Your estrogen doesn't need to be super high to have estrogen dominance"
- What if you were told donor eggs are your only option? Why should we test?
- The importance of asking WHY there is an imbalance in the first place?
15:20- MEASURING PROGESTERONE
16:20- MEASURING TESTOSTERONE
- Some of the reasons for low testosterone (blood sugar imbalance, toxins, etc)
- Importance of diet and how that effects testosterone
19:40- LEAKY GUT & FOOD SENSITIVITIES
20:45- MEASURING CORTISOL
- Stress' impact on the body and the importance of looking at our lifestyle
- Tests used before the Dutch test and what sets the Dutch test apart
- "Adrenal fatigue" and how cortisol imbalance effects sleep
25:50- LOOKING AT A REAL LIFE EXAMPLE OF CORTISOL LEVELS
28:00- TAKING THE TIME TO ALLOW YOUR BODY TO HEAL
- "Look at the whole body to heal."
30:34- MEASURING DHEA
- DHEA is a precursor hormone so sometimes it's easy to supplement, but should we?
- What can interfere with the conversion of hormones (the importance of testing!)
35:00- HOW TESTERONE BREAKS DOWN (PAGE THREE OF THE DUTCH)
37:25- HOW ESTROGEN BREAKS DOWN (PAGE THREE OF THE DUTCH)
- The break down and roles of E1, E2, and E3
- The pathways estrogen and the role of the liver
- How to know if you are detoxing correctly and what we can do to support proper detoxification
- Should you take DIM?
47:52- MEASURING MELATONIN (PAGE 5)
- Should we supplement melatonin?
- Why would someone have low melatonin?
- Properly preparing your body for sleep (and why that matters)
- Why is melatonin important? How do gut infections affect melatonin?
- What if you have taken melatonin for years?
55:50- CORTISOL VS.CORTISONE
56:50- HOW TO WORK WITH US AND TAKE YOUR OWN TEST
Resources:
Sponsored by: BLUBlox (Sleep+ is the world’s most advanced blue and green light blocking glasses addressing the exact frequencies of light required after dark to optimally produce melatonin for restorative sleep and health) Visit BLUBlox website at: https://www.blublox.com Use coupon code: getpregnantpodcast to receive 15% discount. Free shipping worldwide.
Book your free Supercharge Your Fertility Discovery call. We’ll come up with a simple plan to help you move forward…towards your dream of having your baby.
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