Get These Blood Tests Every Year to Assess Your Health
I suggest my clients get baseline labs annually.
Here’s why —
More often than not, a client comes to me and it’s been years since they’ve had a full set of labs done by their primary doctor. Or, they come to me with recent results without anything for comparison asking me for help nutritionally.
We want yearly labs because they can show us what’s happening under the hood before chronic disease and overt symptoms develop.
Moreover, what your doctor may consider normal, isn’t usually functionally optimal.
Most doctors also don’t order advanced labs and stick to the basics, which only gives us part of the picture.
For example —
Your hbA1c (a blood glucose measure for pre-diabetes) could be within range at 5.5 and your doctor isn’t too concerned. But it’s only two points away from being pre-diabetic. If we know this and we have previous labs showing that two years ago your hbA1c was 5.2, then we know you likely have some insulin resistance and metabolic dysfunction happening. We can then address it through diet, lifestyle, and targeted supplements to lower your numbers without turning to medication.
You’re feeling more tired and sluggish + notice your hair is thinning. Your TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) comes back at 3.02 which is technically within range, but isn’t functionally optimal. We want to see TSH less than 2.5 (ideally between 1-2). Additionally, your free T4, free T3, thyroid antibodies, and selenium weren’t tested - which means we don’t have all the information needed to determine the best next steps.
Knowledge is power. And Being Proactive with your health matters.
Having a history of lab values gives you leverage with your doctor and insight into small dietary and lifestyle tweaks you need to make before markers get worse.
Labs I recommend —
CBC (Complete Blood Count)
CMP (Comprehensive Metabolic Panel)
Cardiovascular Health (Standard Lipid Panel, small LDL particle number, ApoB, Cardiac IQ if available)
Blood Sugar Markers (hbA1c, fasting insulin, fasting glucose)
Thyroid Function (TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Antibodies)
Inflammation (hs-CRP, homocysteine)
Iron (total iron, iron binding capacity, ferritin)
Vitamin D (25-hydroxy)
Additional Nutrients: Vitamin B12, Folate, RBC Magnesium, RBC Zinc, Selenium
OmegaCheck (Omega 3, Omega 6)
Mercury, Blood
I suggest getting labs drawn towards the end of the year, as it’s more likely you’ve met your insurance deductible. Plus, it gives you a fresh perspective for the new year on where to focus your health goals.
If your doctor is unwilling to order these for you, another practitioner likely will. I am also able to order some labs based on the client and their location. You can also pay out of pocket at a Quest or LabCorp, which tends to be far less expensive and reasonably priced vs. what insurance is billed.
Ready for next steps once you get your Results?
Schedule an initial consultation and let’s review them. Here’s the link to my calendar.
Disclaimer: This is not medical advice. I just think it’s so important to test + be an advocate for yourself. And want to empower you to do so.
