Originally posted by Dr. Davis on 2017-08-23
on the Wheat Belly Blog,
sourced from and currently found at: Infinite Health Blog.
PCM forum Index
of WB Blog articles.
Why not order your own lab tests?
Most of us already notice
obvious changes in our bodies such as body weight,
blood pressure, and waist circumference. During the
Undoctored process you
will discover that you could also benefit from
tracking some important lab values. These lab
values will reflect reemerging health in blood
sugar levels, triglycerides, and factors that
reflect risk for heart disease, stroke, and
other conditions.
Here are lab values to
consider tracking:
- Fasting glucose, hemoglobin A1c, fasting insulin—all
reflecting blood sugar and insulin-resistance status
- NMR lipoproteins (NMR LipoProfile) or other advanced
lipoprotein testing service (see above)
- 25-hydroxy vitamin D—an assessment of your vitamin D status
- Thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH), free T3,
free T4, reverse T3, thyroid antibodies—all
measures of thyroid status
- Other measures specific to your individual health
concerns can be tracked also, such as a complete blood
count (CBC) and ferritin if iron deficiency is suspected.
If you want to take control
of your own health care and want to save some money
in the process you might want to consider ordering
your own testing. Direct-to-consumer blood tests
are another category of empowering testing available
to us. More people are becoming aware of the
additional information available through such
testing but not pursued by doctors—a huge swath of
health measures that can yield health insights and
solutions. Increased exposure to healthcare costs
is also fueling the growth of home blood tests. It
is common, for example, for lab testing of simple
measures— such as cholesterol levels, complete
blood count (CBC), and electrolytes—to add up
to many hundreds of dollars and to now come directly
out of your pocket. More advanced forms of testing
can add up to thousands of dollars.
Curious thing: If you go to
a lab and ask for the direct-to-consumer price, not
the price charged to health insurance, it is typically
much lower, often 70 to 80 percent less, since
direct-to-consumer lab testing lacks the added layer
of costs introduced by health insurance. As with
other direct-to-consumer products, competition keeps
prices low, unlike the prices charged to health
insurance. It means that you can often save money
by dealing directly with the lab.
The wide variety of health
measures available through blood tests is among the
most empowering Undoctored health tools. Knowing,
for example, that a deficient blood level of
vitamin D explains your low bone density
allows you to take action and follow the results
of your program over time.
Tracking triglycerides as
you convert from a low-fat, grain-filled diet to
an unrestricted-fat, grain-free diet—dropping from,
say, an abnormally high 300 mg/dL to a wonderful
40 mg/dL—provides feedback on the effects of
your diet. A test called hemoglobin A1c,
an index of blood sugar fluctuations over a 3-month
period, can track a decline from diabetic range to
nondiabetic range or, conversely, show failure to
achieve nondiabetic range, prompting you to
intensify your efforts.
Direct-to-Consumer Lab Testing
The following labs make
just about any test available direct to the consumer,
except in New York, New Jersey, California, and
Rhode Island. (Blame the hospital lobbies for this,
as they try to protect hospital profits in those
states; they want you to rely on their labs only.)
In every other state, it means that nearly any lab
test you desire can be obtained without a doctor’s
order with results delivered directly to you.
- ZRT Laboratory is the premiere
finger-stick blood, saliva, and urine
direct-to-consumer lab, providing access
to an impressive array of testing: cortisol,
sex hormones, lipids, HbA1c, heavy metals,
thyroid, and others.
You will find a more
complete list in the book Undoctored.
A WORD OF CAUTION:
Blood work should generally not be obtained
during the Undoctored 6-week process because
weight loss occurs in the majority during this
period, which will temporarily disrupt lab
values, making, for instance, blood sugar and
triglycerides high (due to the flood of fatty
acids into the bloodstream that is a natural
part of weight loss). Ideally, blood should be
drawn no sooner than 4 weeks after weight
loss has plateaued.
