You've run the labs. Maybe more than once. And you keep getting told everything looks normal while you're still bloated, still exhausted, still anxious, still dealing with periods that wreck your month. You are not imagining it and you are not crazy. You're either not running the right labs or nobody is looking at them through the right lens. Here's what that actually means and which tests give you real answers.
In this episode:
- The client who came from a family of doctors, had every lab run, and was still told she was normal at six months postpartum with no energy to play with her kid.
- What functional testing actually means, and why your regular blood work can be functional testing if someone reads it correctly
- The wide "normal" range that runs from very sick to fully healthy, why you're sitting in the middle of it, and why your doctor genuinely has nothing to offer you there.
- Why TSH alone is not a thyroid panel, and the full list of markers Leah wants to see instead.
- Why hair tissue mineral analysis is the foundational lab for every one of her clients, and why minerals are the spark plugs for everything else
- The scenario where your thyroid labs are perfect but your basal temps are under 97.5, your hands and feet are cold, and your hair is falling out, and the mineral that explains it.
- Why potassium sensitizes your cells to thyroid hormone, and how stress depletes it in a loop that makes everything worse.
- Why testing before supplementing minerals matters, and what to do with food instead.
- The copper and estrogen relationship, explained with food coloring in a glass of water.
- What happens when you start supporting your liver before you've addressed the foundation, and why mobilizing copper can bring on worse acne, heavier periods, more anxiety, and more cramps.
- Why a Dutch test tells you about pathways, not just levels, and what that reveals about how you're detoxing estrogen.
- Why looking at cortisol alone will mislead you, and how DHEA shows whether you've already come through an acute stress phase and are now running on empty.
- What's actually in the viral cortisol fixing drink all over your feed.
- Beta-glucuronidase on a GI Map, why high levels mean estrogen keeps recirculating, and why this is the marker to look at when you're doing all the detox things and nothing is working.
- H. pylori, low stomach acid, and why that combination sets you up for poor nutrient absorption, overgrowth, parasites, and thyroid medication that won't absorb.
- Why Leah does not start with a GI Map, and the foundations she wants in place first.
- When an organic acids test earns its place, especially with mold, methylation, or PMDD and neurotransmitter symptoms.
- Why she won't hand you a $2,000 lab list on day one, and how she lets the first test guide what comes next.
- The mistake practitioners and clients both make with HTMA: trying to manipulate individual markers instead of reading the whole story.
- The client with Hashimoto's and a cancer history whose high tissue calcium finally connected symptoms nobody had ever tied together for her.
If your labs came back normal and your body says otherwise, believe your body. The answer isn't that the tests are useless. It's that you need the right ones, read by someone looking at your hormones specifically, and put together with your history and your actual life. That's when it stops being a pile of numbers and starts being a story that makes sense.
If you want that kind of support, book a free consult call at bit.ly/hrpfreecall and talk to Alexis, one of Leah's past clients who's about to finish becoming an FDN herself. You can also access these labs with analysis through the membership at leahbrueggemann.com under services.
I'm Leah Brueggemann, a Functional Diagnostic Nutritional® Practitioner and Hormone Health Coach, helping you balance your hormones in effective and realistic ways so you can live a healthier, happier life.
Through the Balance Hormones Naturally podcast, you'll discover why your cycle is so important to your everyday health and how you can use nutrition to help support the rise and fall of your hormones and finally feel truly amazing. We dig deep to understand and heal the root causes of your symptoms so you can achieve lasting results through manageable and realistic lifestyle changes, allowing you to live a healthy and balanced life without a long-term pharmaceutical prescription.
The recommendations presented in this podcast are not a substitute for medical advice from a qualified doctor. Before making any changes to your diet and lifestyle, please consult with your healthcare provider.
What is Balancing Hormones Naturally?
Boost your energy, balance hormones naturally, and heal holistically all without uprooting your entire life! Learn the secrets to balancing your hormones at: freehormonetraining.com.
Have you ever tried to Google your symptoms only to slam the laptop shut in frustration? Do you want natural, holistic solutions that actually work? Are you tired of being told that everything is normal, when you know it’s not? Are you ready to take back your health to live your best life?
In this podcast, you’ll discover why your cycle is so important to your everyday health and how you can use nutrition to help support the rise and fall of your hormones and finally feel truly amazing. We dig deep to understand and heal the root causes of your symptoms so you can achieve lasting results that allow you to live a healthy and balanced life without a life-long pharmaceutical prescription.
If you're ready to reclaim your energy, learn how to listen to your body, and holistically improve your overall health, you're in the right place! I’ll be sharing my tried and true methods for blood sugar balance, improved sleep quality, weight loss, and increased energy levels so you can live your healthiest life all without unreasonable lifestyle shifts, like restrictive dieting or excessive supplementing.
I’m Leah Brueggemann, a Functional Diagnostic Nutritional® Practitioner and Hormone Health Coach, helping you balance your hormones in effective and realistic ways so you can live a healthier, happier life.
Five years ago, I found out I had fibroadenomas (benign breast tumors), which 90% of the time return after surgical removal. I decided not to undergo the operation and instead found a way to heal the underlying cause. After years of extreme pain, irregular cycles, and ovarian cysts, I finally learned how to balance my hormones which healed my fibroadenomas and led me to regular, pain-free periods.
I learned how to make lifestyle shifts, remove toxins from my environment, and give my body what it actually needs to function optimally and heal on a cellular level. After my experience, I became a Functional Diagnostic Nutritional® Practitioner so that I can empower women in their own holistic health journey.
Even if you’ve been told your labs are normal or that your symptoms aren’t a cause for concern - YOU are the expert of your body and your experience. You deserve to feel AMAZING, not just “normal”. I’m here to help you achieve optimal overall health through simple, straightforward lifestyle changes that you can start to implement today.
Balancing Hormones Naturally isn’t just the name of the podcast, it’s the way forward to a happier, healthier life and I can’t wait to join you on the journey!
Connect with Leah:
📧 Email: leahbcoaching@gmail.com
🌐 Website: leahbrueggemann.com
📷 IG: @leah_brueg and @balancinghormonesnaturally
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