When I review and interpret laboratory tests, my approach is not concerned with lowering or raising numbers. That method is called allopathy. My primary intention with lab tests is to assess biochemical individuality, and to devise a nutritional protocol that aims to support FUNCTION.
By addressing function and biological individuality a person’s numbers will likely improve. More important than the numbers themselves, is what the numbers are pointing to. So many laboratory factors are a reaction to something else happening in the body. I’ll give you a few examples.
The Solution Is Not Found At the Level Of the Problem
If a blood test indicates there is iron deficient anemia, before making nutritional recommendations, I must take into account a person’s individual status. Iron deficient anemia markers on a blood test could actually be more than just a need for iron. It could also mean:
- A need for Vitamin C
- Digestive inefficiencies/ Poor nutrient absorption
- Folic acid and other B-Vitamin deficiencies
- Chronic infections
From an allopathic model of healthcare, a physician or nutritionist who is recommending iron supplements based upon low blood values of iron, MCV and MCH is likely not addressing what is really going on. And even more disappointing is the fact that iron supplements are often made with junk, inorganic forms of iron, which may actually lead to toxicity. From a Functional model of healthcare, with this patient, I am analyzing other critical factors and asking questions such as:
- Is the person consuming adequate forms of iron-containing foods? If so, why are nutrients not being utilized?
- Does the patient have digestive insufficiency, low levels of HCL, poor nutrient absorption as indicated by other factors on the blood test?
- What is the age of the patient? Often the elderly have HCL insufficiency.
- Does the patient have any chronic infections which may be underlying digestive distress? What are the immune factors on the CBC indicating?
- What are this patients’ metabolic and nutritional requirements and are they fulfilling those needs?
So you see, whenver I see a blood test value “out of range” it really is only the tip of the iceberg. It points me to investigate on a deeper level, rather than treat the appearance of the problem. As the saying goes: “The solution is not found at the level of the problem.”
Another example is elevated triglycerides. Triglycerides on a blood test are a measurement of fats in the blood. A typical range for serum triglycerides is 60-95. If an allopathic physician or nutritionist saw a triglyceride levels say at 200, the practitioner would likely recommend a reduction in dietary fat, and an increase in carbohydrates.
Just like with iron deficient anemia, there is much more to meet the eye than the apparent excess consumption of fat in the diet. “But I hardly eat any fats. I eat mostly bread, rice, pasta and potatoes”, exclaims the patient. The physician shutters…”well just be aware of it”.
What is little understood by the symptom-hunting allopath is that excess consumption of complex carbohydrates results in a de-regulation of blood sugar metabolism and causes elevated fats in the blood. The consumption of dietary fat is almost never the sole problem. Elevated blood fats reflects a breakdown in the body’s ability to clear fats from the blood. The muscle tissues (which burn fats) and the liver facilitate triglyceride clearance in the blood.
If I see an elevated triglyceride level, I am going to investigate multiple factors:
- How is this person’s liver function, as indicated on a blood test by liver enzyme values?
- Is this person consuming artificial trans fats?
- Is this person consuming high amounts of complex carbohydrates?
- Is this person consuming alcohol, another sugar which will tend to elevate triglycerides?
- What is this patient’s fasting glucose (blood sugar) and insulin levels? An elevated triglyceride level is often secondary to elevated glucose.
- Does this patient have symptoms associated with hypothyroidism? High triglycerides often can indicate this.
- Does this patient have signs of adrenal dysfunction? Fatty acids can be released into the blood in these cases.
So as we begin to dig deeper, we find that there are likely multiple factors besides dietary fat consumption causing this patient’s high triglyceride level. In fact, it is very common to discover that the patient is not consuming much dietary fat at all! So much for narrow allopathy which doesn’t even come close to understanding the problem.
The nutritional recommendations are going to come AFTER I have hunted down all of the precipitating factors and assessed this person’s biochemical individuality. The recommendations are not at all based upon treating triglycerides, but are more based upon hunting the underlying factors which have caused the triglycerides levels to elevate.
Healthcare is much more powerful and effective when it is Functional rather than allopathic.