Hi, friends! I am so excited to share Episode 804 of Primal Potential with you! Today I am joined by Dr. Beth Westie, author of the best-selling book The Female Fat Solution, host of The Female Health Solution Podcast, and a personal friend of mine. Br. Beth uses nutrition to help women work with the natural cycle of their bodies to achieve lasting weight loss results.
In this episode, she and I discuss my experience with hormone testing and how a simple test—done conveniently at home—can help women understand their individual hormone profiles.
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After everything my mind and body have been through this year–pregnancy, a c-section, stress, and trauma–Dr. Beth and her business partner were among the first to reach out to help me after my body went through so many changes. I want to be healthy, heal my body, and grow my family and I had near-endless questions for Dr. Beth–and I have the text receipts to prove it!
To get the answers to my questions, Dr. Beth recommended that we test my hormones (especially my cortisol and estrogen levels) and after putting it off for way too long, I finally did the DUTCH test and I’m so glad that I did.
What is the DUTCH Test?
The DUTCH Complete, which analyzes 35 different hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA-S, and cortisol along with their metabolites, is the most advanced hormone test available. An acronym for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones, DUTCH test results are used to identify symptoms of hormonal imbalances, while an assessment of the test results enables you to clearly see your hormonal health profile. It is also a tremendous help in accurately targeting an approach for healing.
Who is it for?
The DUTCH test is for women at any stage of life who suspect that something might be off with their hormones. Many people find DUTCH testing because they want to get to the bottom of why their menstrual cycle is irregular, painful, or heavy, or because they’re experiencing hot flashes, para menopause, or have gone through menopause already but are still having hot flashes. Trouble sleeping, acne, hair falling out, and weight gain can also be signs of a hormonal imbalance.
According to Dr. Beth, sometimes people are scared to do hormonal testing out of a fear that nothing will be wrong, but those of us who have noticed a change over time can really benefit from pulling back the curtain to see what is really happening inside.
Instead of guessing, hormone testing paints an exact map of what you’re experiencing hormonally and what your body really needs. As opposed to taking a blood test where you get stuck once in the doctor’s office, this kind of hormone test takes samples from different times of day, illustrating the pathway that your hormones take from early morning to evening.
How does it work?
The test kit is shipped to your house with paper collection strips, simple directions on how to use them, a health questionnaire, and a sealable envelope to mail back your test. At certain times of the day, you pee on the collection strips (similar to how you would use an at-home pregnancy test), the urine dries, and you ship the test back.
After your test is returned and analyzed, you will set up a phone consultation to go through the results and receive recommendations based on your results.
What can you learn from the DUTCH test?
There is a lot to learn from hormone testing. If you’ve ever suspected that you might have adrenal fatigue, PCOS, estrogen dominance, or any number of hormone-related issues, get the data and find out!
Along with a complete assessment of your various hormone levels, for example, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA-S, the DUTCH test identifies daily cortisol patterns which give insight into your adrenals, oxidative stress markers, melatonin, and organic acid tests include markers for vitamin B12, vitamin B6, dopamine, and norepinephrine or epinephrine. Dr. Beth’s analysis also shares a graphical representation of your results and video tutorials to assist in the hormone assessment.
This kind of testing gives you the specific data on your hormone levels but it also shines a light on how you personally can manage stress better, how to make your goals more achievable, whether you need to reduce sugar, and even which foods and supplements to target.
To check out Dr. Beth Westie’s DUTCH testing analysis and get the hormonal insights you need, use this link https://bit.ly/EBDutch.