DUTCH TESTING: Comprehensive Hormone Testing

Struggling to understand the root cause of your symptoms? It might be time take a comprehensive look at your hormones.

Our hormones are complicated. They change significantly throughout the day, throughout our cycle and throughout every stage of our life.

Yet most standard blood tests only give us insight into one snapshot in time.

If you’re feeling tired, moody, inflamed, foggy, or just not like yourself, it may be time to take a deeper look at your hormones. That’s because standard blood tests don’t always show us:

• How hormones rise and fall throughout the day and month

• How they’re being metabolized

• How stress and our body’s detox pathways are influencing them

In other words, we’re missing key pieces of the puzzle.

That's why I use DUTCH testing often in my practice when we're looking for the root cause of hormonal concerns.

These include:

• fatigue

• weight gain

• low libido

• mood changes

• acne

• menopausal symptoms

• brain fog

• vaginal dryness

• painful intercourse

• hair thinning

• PCOS

• infertility

• irregular cycles

• PMS

That’s where DUTCH Testing comes in: the gold standard in comprehensive hormone testing

DUTCH Testing, or the 'Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones', is a simple dried urine test that allows us to learn an extensive amount of information on your hormones.

Comprehensive hormone testing is one of the best ways to uncover the root cause of your concerns and guide treatment in the right direction.

We're able to test:

• Estrogen and estrogen metabolites

• Estrogen (E1, E2, E3)

• 8 estrogen metabolites

• This tells us not only how much estrogen you have, but how your body is breaking it down. Some pathways are protective, while others are linked to increased health risks—we want to make sure your body is favoring the supportive pathways.

• Androgens

  • Including Testosterone, DHT and DHEA-S

  • This is important to take a deep dive into libido, weight gain, muscle mass, mood, increased facial or body hair growth and acne

• Progesterone

  • Essential for cycle regularity, mood balance, brain health, and reproductive health and one of the first hormones to decline with stress and menopause.

• Cortisol levels

  • This tests our body's stress hormone. Learn more about cortisol here. We assess cortisol patterns throughout the day, including the Cortisol Awakening Response, to understand fatigue, anxiety, burnout, and sleep disruption.

• Melatonin

  • Melatonin is our sleep hormone that allows you to get into a deep, restful + refreshing sleep.

  • As we age, we produce less melatonin

  • Melatonin production can also decreased also impacted if cortisol levels are high

• Organic acids

  • These are markers for neurotransmitters that effect mood, depression and anxiety

• The Cortisol Awakening Response

  • *learn why cortisol testing is important here*

• Markers for Vitamin B6 and B12 and other nutritional status

The best part - DUTCH Testing is a simple at home test!

Comprehensive hormone testing allows us to move beyond symptom-management and create a personalized plan that supports your body, your hormones, and your long-term health.

If you are interested in optimizing your hormonal health or comprehensive hormone testing, we are Naturopathic Doctors available virtually and in person in Toronto and would love to help you reach your health goals.