1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,020 S1: In this episode of the Ben Greenfield Life podcast. The 2 00:00:03,020 --> 00:00:08,209 S1: Official Guide to testing your Body my recommended blood, saliva, urine, 3 00:00:08,210 --> 00:00:12,709 S1: poop gene, micronutrient hormone, food allergy tests, and a whole 4 00:00:12,710 --> 00:00:21,259 S1: lot more. Fitness, nutrition, biohacking, longevity, life optimization, spirituality and 5 00:00:21,260 --> 00:00:24,980 S1: a whole lot more. Welcome to the Ben Greenfield Life Show. 6 00:00:25,010 --> 00:00:28,040 S1: Are you ready to hack your life? Let's do this. 7 00:00:37,710 --> 00:00:41,430 S1: Welcome to a pretty special episode of the show. I've 8 00:00:41,430 --> 00:00:45,990 S1: been getting so many questions from people about how to 9 00:00:45,990 --> 00:00:49,890 S1: actually decode the process of poking and prodding the body 10 00:00:49,890 --> 00:00:53,670 S1: to figure out what's going on with your blood, with 11 00:00:53,670 --> 00:00:58,230 S1: your biomarkers, with your gut, with your hormones, your food allergy, 12 00:00:58,230 --> 00:01:01,140 S1: food intolerances, even your genes, and a whole lot more. 13 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,959 S1: And of course, in this era of readily available self-quantification, 14 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:10,440 S1: I'll admit there are a lot of different tests out there. 15 00:01:10,440 --> 00:01:12,840 S1: I mean, probably thousands at this point. I could think 16 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:17,070 S1: of just a dozen plus genetic tests alone. I've been 17 00:01:17,069 --> 00:01:20,880 S1: working pretty hard behind the scenes to put together a 18 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:26,399 S1: page that has all of my gold standard recommended tests 19 00:01:26,400 --> 00:01:28,649 S1: on it that I come back to over and over 20 00:01:28,650 --> 00:01:30,630 S1: again is kind of the test that would be at 21 00:01:30,630 --> 00:01:32,850 S1: the top of the totem pole, so to speak. When 22 00:01:32,850 --> 00:01:36,360 S1: it comes to deciphering what's going on in your body, 23 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,380 S1: giving you actionable information that allows you to actually make 24 00:01:40,380 --> 00:01:49,290 S1: targeted nutrition changes, supplementation choices, uh, exercise modifications, lifestyle modifications, 25 00:01:49,290 --> 00:01:52,500 S1: bio hacks, and beyond. And so that's what I want 26 00:01:52,500 --> 00:01:55,110 S1: to get into on today's show. Now the show notes 27 00:01:55,110 --> 00:01:59,280 S1: are going to be pretty juicy. They'll be at Bengreenfieldlife.com 28 00:01:59,280 --> 00:02:03,420 S1: forward slash testing podcast. And if you go to Bengreenfieldlife.com 29 00:02:03,420 --> 00:02:07,410 S1: slash testing podcast, you'll get access to all of the 30 00:02:07,410 --> 00:02:13,590 S1: different tests that I mentioned, uh, resources, additional podcasts, etc.. 31 00:02:13,590 --> 00:02:16,710 S1: So that being said, I figured we should dive right in. 32 00:02:16,710 --> 00:02:20,700 S1: So if you were to go to the page that 33 00:02:20,700 --> 00:02:23,010 S1: I'll link to in the show notes, you'll see a 34 00:02:23,010 --> 00:02:28,530 S1: whole range of tests categorized under gut health, hormone health, DNA, 35 00:02:28,530 --> 00:02:33,269 S1: general health and longevity, food intolerance and allergy testing, and metals, 36 00:02:33,270 --> 00:02:36,660 S1: molds and toxins. That's kind of all the different categories 37 00:02:36,660 --> 00:02:39,720 S1: that I chunk things into. And I just want to 38 00:02:39,720 --> 00:02:43,530 S1: walk you through what some of these tests are and 39 00:02:43,530 --> 00:02:45,959 S1: what they involve, because I realize this can be confusing 40 00:02:45,990 --> 00:02:49,740 S1: to a lot of folks, uh, the actual interpretation of 41 00:02:49,740 --> 00:02:53,040 S1: many of these tests, by the way, it's actually becoming 42 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,350 S1: a lot easier than it used to be. I mean, 43 00:02:55,350 --> 00:02:57,840 S1: I recently had a podcast with Doctor Matt Dawson at 44 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:01,050 S1: Wild Health, and I'll release that podcast soon, but he's 45 00:03:01,050 --> 00:03:05,340 S1: been working on AI behind the scenes. That will really 46 00:03:05,340 --> 00:03:07,710 S1: take a lot of the guesswork out of lab interpretation, 47 00:03:07,710 --> 00:03:10,380 S1: and they're already rolling that out with some of their clients. 48 00:03:10,380 --> 00:03:14,489 S1: At Wild Health, I spend typically 10 to 15 hours 49 00:03:14,490 --> 00:03:18,419 S1: a week on the phone with people reviewing their lab results, 50 00:03:18,419 --> 00:03:22,650 S1: walking them through their reports, giving them recommendations. Uh, not 51 00:03:22,650 --> 00:03:24,630 S1: that I'm a doctor. I don't give out medical advice, 52 00:03:24,630 --> 00:03:27,060 S1: but I basically tell people what I would do if 53 00:03:27,060 --> 00:03:28,710 S1: I were looking at the same labs that they're holding 54 00:03:28,710 --> 00:03:30,900 S1: in their hands or looking at on their computers or 55 00:03:30,900 --> 00:03:34,830 S1: their screens. But if you're pretty, like, self-motivated and you 56 00:03:34,830 --> 00:03:38,580 S1: like to learn, you're a little bit autodidactic. Uh, I 57 00:03:38,580 --> 00:03:42,780 S1: believe that word means self-learning or something like that. Um, 58 00:03:42,780 --> 00:03:46,650 S1: that or you're a really good car repairman. Uh, or 59 00:03:46,650 --> 00:03:49,770 S1: repair woman, as the case may be an autodidact. That's 60 00:03:49,770 --> 00:03:52,230 S1: the only joke you're going to get the whole podcast. Um, 61 00:03:52,230 --> 00:03:56,910 S1: you can actually read through the PDFs that you typically 62 00:03:56,910 --> 00:03:59,700 S1: get in the email within a few weeks after you 63 00:03:59,700 --> 00:04:01,710 S1: do tests like this. And a lot of times, the 64 00:04:01,710 --> 00:04:04,260 S1: PDF or the dashboard via which you view the test 65 00:04:04,260 --> 00:04:08,310 S1: gives you pretty targeted and really helpful recommendations. Sometimes those 66 00:04:08,310 --> 00:04:10,200 S1: need to be taken with a grain of salt. You know, 67 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,800 S1: a lot of times reference ranges are not as accurate 68 00:04:13,800 --> 00:04:15,960 S1: as I think they should be. So they take like, 69 00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:18,390 S1: you know, vitamin D reference ranges in my opinion, tend 70 00:04:18,390 --> 00:04:21,330 S1: to be a little bit low. Uh, thyroid stimulating hormone 71 00:04:21,330 --> 00:04:26,400 S1: reference ranges tend to not be accurate enough to actually 72 00:04:26,400 --> 00:04:29,370 S1: dictate or tell you if something's actually wrong with your thyroid, 73 00:04:29,370 --> 00:04:31,110 S1: when in fact, a lot of times there is something 74 00:04:31,110 --> 00:04:32,910 S1: wrong with your thyroid. If you're just paying attention to 75 00:04:32,910 --> 00:04:37,440 S1: the TSH of say something that is um, below for 76 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,200 S1: I like a value below two. For example. And those 77 00:04:40,200 --> 00:04:41,909 S1: are those are just a couple examples. I won't go 78 00:04:41,910 --> 00:04:44,070 S1: on and on, but but the general idea is that 79 00:04:44,070 --> 00:04:46,260 S1: you do want to take the whole reference range thing 80 00:04:46,260 --> 00:04:48,839 S1: with a grain of salt, and sometimes the reference ranges 81 00:04:48,839 --> 00:04:54,690 S1: are for absence of disease and not actual personal optimization. 82 00:04:54,690 --> 00:04:58,500 S1: So anyways, that all being said, that aside, let's jump 83 00:04:58,500 --> 00:05:01,080 S1: into what some of these tests are. So the first 84 00:05:01,080 --> 00:05:04,739 S1: test would be just a basic blood panel that will 85 00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:07,830 S1: tell you a little bit more than the average panel 86 00:05:07,830 --> 00:05:10,650 S1: that your doctor might order for you. Now, as I 87 00:05:10,650 --> 00:05:13,080 S1: go through all the these tests, know that most of 88 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,279 S1: them can be ordered directly to your home. Uh, and 89 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:20,490 S1: are a lot of times done via a basic blood spot. 90 00:05:20,490 --> 00:05:24,359 S1: So this first one, this advanced health panel, I like 91 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,919 S1: the one by LabCorp. This is one of the few 92 00:05:28,920 --> 00:05:31,500 S1: tests that you actually do have to go to the 93 00:05:31,500 --> 00:05:34,260 S1: lab for a blood draw for, or have a phlebotomist 94 00:05:34,290 --> 00:05:37,020 S1: come to your home to actually do a blood draw for. 95 00:05:37,370 --> 00:05:39,320 S1: Most the other tests I'm going to talk to you about. 96 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:41,719 S1: They can be done from the comfort of your own home. 97 00:05:41,720 --> 00:05:45,740 S1: But this basic blood panel, or as the case may be, 98 00:05:45,740 --> 00:05:50,930 S1: advanced health panel, goes over C-reactive proteins, the same comprehensive 99 00:05:50,930 --> 00:05:53,870 S1: metabolic panel and what's called complete blood count, like red 100 00:05:53,870 --> 00:05:56,750 S1: blood cells, white blood cells, etc. that your doctor might 101 00:05:56,750 --> 00:05:58,580 S1: order for you. But then a whole bunch of other 102 00:05:58,580 --> 00:06:02,090 S1: things vitamin D, vitamin B12, a full thyroid panel, uh, 103 00:06:02,089 --> 00:06:05,420 S1: reverse T3, which is important when you're looking at thyroid 104 00:06:05,420 --> 00:06:07,909 S1: to see how much of the thyroid is actually not 105 00:06:07,910 --> 00:06:11,660 S1: being made active. Omega three and omega six fatty acids, 106 00:06:11,660 --> 00:06:15,530 S1: full lipid panel, fasting insulin, homocysteine, iron and total iron 107 00:06:15,529 --> 00:06:20,570 S1: binding capacity GT uh, other markers of liver and kidney function. 108 00:06:20,570 --> 00:06:24,950 S1: Cortisol Cystatin C another good marker of kidney function DHEA 109 00:06:24,950 --> 00:06:27,800 S1: as related to hormones. So this is kind of like 110 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:30,469 S1: what your doctor would normally order on a blood panel, 111 00:06:30,470 --> 00:06:33,890 S1: but way fancier. So just so you have your head 112 00:06:33,890 --> 00:06:36,710 S1: wrapped around what a, what a test like that would 113 00:06:36,710 --> 00:06:41,390 S1: actually cost. It is typically around 540 bucks or so. 114 00:06:41,390 --> 00:06:45,230 S1: Now some of that stuff can be billed to insurance, 115 00:06:45,230 --> 00:06:47,690 S1: but many people are now ordering these tests out of 116 00:06:47,690 --> 00:06:49,820 S1: pocket because frankly, when you order them online, you can 117 00:06:49,820 --> 00:06:52,790 S1: get pretty good deals. But this would be a full 118 00:06:52,790 --> 00:06:55,790 S1: blood panel that I would typically recommend someone run on 119 00:06:55,790 --> 00:06:59,359 S1: anywhere from a quarterly to an annual basis. It's called 120 00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:05,360 S1: an advanced health panel. Uh, and if you did not 121 00:07:05,360 --> 00:07:09,860 S1: want to do the advanced health panel on a regular 122 00:07:09,860 --> 00:07:13,550 S1: basis because it is, you know, 500 plus bucks, you 123 00:07:13,550 --> 00:07:17,630 S1: could look at another, more basic panel that I have 124 00:07:17,630 --> 00:07:21,710 S1: on that testing page called a cardio metabolic profile, a 125 00:07:21,710 --> 00:07:26,330 S1: cardio metabolic profile. And this is less expensive. Uh, I 126 00:07:26,330 --> 00:07:31,070 S1: believe that one's, uh, under $200 for the cardio metabolic profile, $180. 127 00:07:31,070 --> 00:07:33,530 S1: And this just looks at some of the things that 128 00:07:33,530 --> 00:07:37,250 S1: are most related to red flags when it comes to 129 00:07:37,250 --> 00:07:42,770 S1: cardiovascular health or metabolism, namely insulin hs-crp a marker of inflammation, 130 00:07:42,770 --> 00:07:51,740 S1: hemoglobin A, 1CA3 month snapshot of your blood sugar levels triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, 131 00:07:51,740 --> 00:07:55,220 S1: and VLDL. And then the other thing that it looks 132 00:07:55,220 --> 00:08:00,170 S1: into is your hormone balances like estrogen, progesterone, uh, cortisol, 133 00:08:00,170 --> 00:08:04,850 S1: DHEA and testosterone. It's called a cardio metabolic profile. And 134 00:08:04,850 --> 00:08:07,280 S1: as you can imagine, for the 180 bucks, it's a 135 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:11,600 S1: little bit easier to to or easier on the pocketbook, 136 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:13,970 S1: I should say, to order on a monthly basis or 137 00:08:13,970 --> 00:08:16,010 S1: I'm sorry, on a quarterly basis without having to eat, 138 00:08:16,010 --> 00:08:18,020 S1: you know, rice and beans all year long. But the 139 00:08:18,020 --> 00:08:21,890 S1: cardio metabolic profile is kind of like a stripped down 140 00:08:21,890 --> 00:08:25,640 S1: baby version of that advanced health panel that I talked about. 141 00:08:25,640 --> 00:08:27,860 S1: The only thing I don't like about the cardio metabolic 142 00:08:27,860 --> 00:08:30,350 S1: panel is it doesn't measure something that I think is 143 00:08:30,350 --> 00:08:33,560 S1: pretty low hanging fruit when it comes to paying attention 144 00:08:33,559 --> 00:08:36,319 S1: to your health. And that's vitamin D, and that's why 145 00:08:36,320 --> 00:08:38,870 S1: if you go to my lab testing page and I 146 00:08:38,870 --> 00:08:41,000 S1: do all my labs through this company called Rupa, by 147 00:08:41,000 --> 00:08:43,880 S1: the way, you'll notice that I have the option for 148 00:08:43,880 --> 00:08:49,400 S1: a vitamin D panel. Uh, and the basic blood test 149 00:08:49,400 --> 00:08:51,410 S1: that I have on that page is basically just the 150 00:08:51,410 --> 00:08:55,280 S1: cardiometabolic profile, plus the vitamin D. It's 199 bucks. So 151 00:08:55,280 --> 00:08:58,160 S1: the vitamin D tacks on about $20 onto it. But 152 00:08:58,160 --> 00:09:01,880 S1: I think that's pretty smart to measure your vitamin D 153 00:09:01,880 --> 00:09:06,230 S1: along with some of these other cardio metabolic profiles. Okay. 154 00:09:06,230 --> 00:09:09,530 S1: So those are like the basics for blood. But there's 155 00:09:09,530 --> 00:09:11,689 S1: a lot more that you can do when it comes 156 00:09:11,690 --> 00:09:16,910 S1: to what I, what I would categorize as nutritional biomarkers 157 00:09:16,910 --> 00:09:20,569 S1: or micronutrients. When you're getting these blood panels, it's important 158 00:09:20,570 --> 00:09:23,360 S1: to understand sometimes they aren't going to tell you things 159 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:28,790 S1: like micronutrients, fatty acids, amino acids and other important nutritional biomarkers. Now, 160 00:09:28,790 --> 00:09:32,450 S1: I like to pair those with about an annual basis 161 00:09:32,450 --> 00:09:36,229 S1: of a urine test to actually this this whole profile. 162 00:09:36,230 --> 00:09:38,630 S1: It's a urine test mixed with a blood spot mixed 163 00:09:38,630 --> 00:09:41,390 S1: with a buccal swab, which is a fancy term for 164 00:09:41,390 --> 00:09:43,610 S1: basically taking a Q-Tip like object on the inside of 165 00:09:43,610 --> 00:09:46,309 S1: your cheeks can all be done at home, and this 166 00:09:46,309 --> 00:09:48,439 S1: same test wasn't even available at home up until a 167 00:09:48,440 --> 00:09:50,449 S1: couple of years ago. Now it's pretty cool. Turnaround time 168 00:09:50,450 --> 00:09:53,510 S1: is two weeks and it tells you a ton. So 169 00:09:53,510 --> 00:09:56,210 S1: it's called a metabolomics. I did a whole podcast on it, 170 00:09:56,210 --> 00:09:57,620 S1: by the way. I'll link to it in the show 171 00:09:57,620 --> 00:10:01,730 S1: notes if you go to Bengreenfieldlife.com slash testing podcast. But 172 00:10:01,730 --> 00:10:07,280 S1: what it looks at are oxidative stress biomarkers, mitochondrial function, 173 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:13,430 S1: your omega balance, your toxic exposure like lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium, etc. 174 00:10:13,429 --> 00:10:16,940 S1: and then any indications of a methylation imbalance. Now it's 175 00:10:16,940 --> 00:10:19,370 S1: not a genetic test for methylation. It looks at things 176 00:10:19,370 --> 00:10:25,490 S1: like arginine, glycine, serine, uh, creatinine, methionine something called methylmalonic acid. 177 00:10:25,490 --> 00:10:28,340 S1: And a lot of these markers would indicate even if 178 00:10:28,340 --> 00:10:30,949 S1: you do have a genetic methylation issue, whether any of 179 00:10:30,950 --> 00:10:34,939 S1: this is actually manifesting biologically in your body. So a 180 00:10:34,940 --> 00:10:38,439 S1: test for all of this, all your essential. Metabolic fatty acids. 181 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,290 S1: But if you want to kind of in addition to 182 00:10:41,290 --> 00:10:45,670 S1: a blood panel, look at oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, omega balances, 183 00:10:45,670 --> 00:10:51,099 S1: toxic exposure and methylation status, this metabolomics profile is the 184 00:10:51,100 --> 00:10:53,860 S1: bee's knees. I mean, I do it on a yearly basis. 185 00:10:53,860 --> 00:10:57,310 S1: I learn a ton, and it kind of can give 186 00:10:57,309 --> 00:11:00,820 S1: you clues about things that a basic blood panel is 187 00:11:00,820 --> 00:11:04,450 S1: not going to tell you. So again, it's called metabolomics 188 00:11:04,450 --> 00:11:08,170 S1: with an X and it's just a small spot of blood, 189 00:11:08,170 --> 00:11:10,570 S1: a little bit of urine and a buccal swab. The 190 00:11:10,570 --> 00:11:12,400 S1: other cool thing about this test is it can tell 191 00:11:12,400 --> 00:11:18,040 S1: you neurotransmitter metabolites, meaning it'll measure epinephrine, norepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine. 192 00:11:18,040 --> 00:11:19,719 S1: So it can tell you a lot about your brain. 193 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,179 S1: You know, especially for somebody who has brain fog or 194 00:11:22,179 --> 00:11:26,260 S1: poor sleep. It looks at bacterial and yeast markers. So 195 00:11:26,260 --> 00:11:27,580 S1: you can know if you might have a yeast or 196 00:11:27,580 --> 00:11:30,819 S1: fungal infection. It looks at these metabolites produced by your 197 00:11:30,820 --> 00:11:35,109 S1: gastrointestinal microbiome like I mentioned. Look at toxins. You look 198 00:11:35,110 --> 00:11:37,660 S1: at oxalates. You can see if your oxalate sensitive. If 199 00:11:37,660 --> 00:11:41,079 S1: you have a risk for kidney stone formation, metabolic dysfunction 200 00:11:41,080 --> 00:11:44,980 S1: related to oxalates, etc., then it'll measure all your amino acids, 201 00:11:44,980 --> 00:11:48,160 S1: all your essential amino acids, so you can see what 202 00:11:48,160 --> 00:11:51,040 S1: essential and non-essential amino acids that you have that are 203 00:11:51,040 --> 00:11:54,820 S1: being synthesized by your body or derived from dietary sources. 204 00:11:54,820 --> 00:11:57,370 S1: So let's say you're having a difficult time putting on 205 00:11:57,370 --> 00:12:00,130 S1: muscle or recovering or you get injured frequently. You could 206 00:12:00,130 --> 00:12:02,229 S1: literally check in and see, hey, are my histidine levels 207 00:12:02,230 --> 00:12:05,290 S1: low or my leucine levels low, or my methionine levels low? 208 00:12:05,290 --> 00:12:08,380 S1: It'll also look at all the fatty acids omega three, 209 00:12:08,410 --> 00:12:13,179 S1: omega six, omega nine, saturated fatty acids, monounsaturated fats, fatty acids, 210 00:12:13,179 --> 00:12:17,530 S1: something called delta six desaturase activity, which assesses the efficiency 211 00:12:17,530 --> 00:12:21,430 S1: of the enzyme that turns omega six into omega three seconds. 212 00:12:21,429 --> 00:12:24,910 S1: And if you if you do the cheek swab part 213 00:12:24,910 --> 00:12:28,390 S1: of it, it'll also do genetic testing for four basic, 214 00:12:28,390 --> 00:12:35,110 S1: very important genetic markers Mthfr, Comt, TNF alpha and ApoE. 215 00:12:35,140 --> 00:12:38,620 S1: So you're looking at brain health, inflammation, methylation status and 216 00:12:38,620 --> 00:12:42,070 S1: dopamine metabolism when you're kind of combining all of those. 217 00:12:42,070 --> 00:12:44,980 S1: So it's a pretty cool as you can imagine pretty 218 00:12:44,980 --> 00:12:50,050 S1: comprehensive test. It is a little spendier than some of 219 00:12:50,050 --> 00:12:52,210 S1: those other tests that I talked about. And I actually 220 00:12:52,210 --> 00:12:54,400 S1: need to I gotta pull the price up here. So 221 00:12:54,400 --> 00:12:57,640 S1: I remember, uh, that yeah, that was 3.99. So it's 222 00:12:57,640 --> 00:13:01,809 S1: a lot of information. Um, 3.99 is not bad considering 223 00:13:01,809 --> 00:13:03,640 S1: that a test like this used to be like 2000 224 00:13:03,640 --> 00:13:06,790 S1: bucks a few years ago. Uh, but considering you can 225 00:13:06,790 --> 00:13:08,980 S1: get all of that within the comfort of your own home, 226 00:13:08,980 --> 00:13:11,020 S1: it's definitely one of those ones that I tend to 227 00:13:11,020 --> 00:13:16,000 S1: recommend pretty frequently. Okay, so then we move on and 228 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:18,820 S1: we go to what I would consider to be another 229 00:13:18,820 --> 00:13:22,780 S1: very important test. Now this is related to the gut. 230 00:13:22,780 --> 00:13:25,090 S1: It's important to understand that there are a lot of 231 00:13:25,090 --> 00:13:27,280 S1: gut testing companies out there that look at the DNA 232 00:13:27,280 --> 00:13:32,080 S1: of your gut, like say, Vitrac or Viome or thorn. 233 00:13:32,080 --> 00:13:35,620 S1: And these are actually assessing the genetic profile of the 234 00:13:35,620 --> 00:13:37,690 S1: biome in your gut. Those are helpful. They can they 235 00:13:37,690 --> 00:13:40,060 S1: can look at bacterial imbalances. They can predict the amount 236 00:13:40,059 --> 00:13:43,600 S1: of metabolites that your gut is producing. They can look 237 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:45,609 S1: at the type of foods that you should or should 238 00:13:45,610 --> 00:13:49,240 S1: not be eating. But what I like about a test 239 00:13:49,240 --> 00:13:53,110 S1: that actually goes in and analyzes not just the DNA, 240 00:13:53,110 --> 00:13:55,750 S1: but the actual metabolites in the gut, is that you 241 00:13:55,750 --> 00:14:01,240 S1: can get a really, really good picture of yeast, fungus, bacteria. 242 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,359 S1: Even as nasty as this is to think about parasites. 243 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,420 S1: And I'll admit it, this test is not pleasant. It's 244 00:14:07,420 --> 00:14:12,250 S1: a three day Genova Diagnostics stool profile. And yes, that 245 00:14:12,250 --> 00:14:15,130 S1: involves pooping into like the equivalent of a hot dog 246 00:14:15,130 --> 00:14:17,170 S1: tray for three days, taking a little spoon that it 247 00:14:17,170 --> 00:14:19,180 S1: comes with, putting it into little tubes that it comes with, 248 00:14:19,180 --> 00:14:23,380 S1: shaking them up, taking your poop, putting it in the refrigerator, rinsing, washing, 249 00:14:23,380 --> 00:14:26,650 S1: and repeating for three days. Especially that rinsing part, folks, 250 00:14:26,650 --> 00:14:29,710 S1: wash your hands. And then once all of that poop 251 00:14:29,710 --> 00:14:32,530 S1: is collected for three days, you take the prepaid Fedex 252 00:14:32,530 --> 00:14:35,710 S1: shipping package out of the refrigerator where your family has 253 00:14:35,710 --> 00:14:37,930 S1: been having to stare at your poop, or at least 254 00:14:37,930 --> 00:14:40,240 S1: your packaged poop for the past three days and you 255 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:43,660 S1: ship it off. But it's worth it. In my opinion. 256 00:14:43,660 --> 00:14:47,380 S1: It is definitely worth it. So, uh, the the cost 257 00:14:47,380 --> 00:14:52,810 S1: of a test like that. The Genova Diagnostics Gut panel is. 258 00:14:52,810 --> 00:14:55,120 S1: Let me make sure I've got this one pulled up 259 00:14:55,120 --> 00:14:58,150 S1: for you. It's 4.95. Okay. So I don't do this 260 00:14:58,150 --> 00:15:01,510 S1: test frequently. Obviously I'd be spending like, you know, thousands 261 00:15:01,510 --> 00:15:03,550 S1: of dollars a month or a quarter if I were 262 00:15:03,550 --> 00:15:04,990 S1: to do all these tests. But this is another one 263 00:15:04,990 --> 00:15:07,690 S1: I'll do annually. Or if I come back from hefty 264 00:15:07,690 --> 00:15:10,300 S1: travel and my gut's just feeling messed up, and I 265 00:15:10,300 --> 00:15:11,650 S1: don't know if I've had a parasite or I don't 266 00:15:11,650 --> 00:15:13,900 S1: know if I have a fungal infection or if I'm 267 00:15:13,900 --> 00:15:16,720 S1: symptomatic and it's concerning me, I'll do a test like this. 268 00:15:16,720 --> 00:15:19,780 S1: But basically it tells you inflammation. So to look at 269 00:15:19,780 --> 00:15:25,120 S1: things like blood in the stool, calprotectin, eosinophil protein, secretory IGA, 270 00:15:25,330 --> 00:15:28,990 S1: it'll look at mail digesting meaning your pancreatic enzyme production, 271 00:15:28,990 --> 00:15:32,200 S1: how well you're doing, breaking down proteins, fecal fats, which 272 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:34,120 S1: is yes. How much fat is in your stool. Are 273 00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:37,350 S1: you a floater or a sinker? Uh, dysbiosis. Meaning the 274 00:15:37,350 --> 00:15:40,080 S1: actual balance of the bacteria in your gut. Uh, the 275 00:15:40,080 --> 00:15:44,190 S1: need for probiotic or probiotic support, the need for antimicrobial support, 276 00:15:44,190 --> 00:15:46,650 S1: even like which parasites and little critters you have in 277 00:15:46,650 --> 00:15:49,500 S1: your gut and which herbs or pharmaceuticals those might be 278 00:15:49,500 --> 00:15:54,780 S1: sensitive to for an eradication profile. So, as you can imagine, 279 00:15:54,780 --> 00:15:58,170 S1: you can learn a ton from a test like this. 280 00:15:58,170 --> 00:16:00,780 S1: And the other thing that I like is that it 281 00:16:00,780 --> 00:16:05,070 S1: will go in and basically give you a profiling of 282 00:16:05,070 --> 00:16:08,370 S1: all of these different bacteria so you can see what's balanced, 283 00:16:08,370 --> 00:16:11,070 S1: what's imbalanced, how you might need to adjust your diet, 284 00:16:11,070 --> 00:16:13,530 S1: whether you need to take a probiotic, foods you might 285 00:16:13,530 --> 00:16:17,370 S1: want to avoid, foods you might want to include, etc. like, uh, 286 00:16:17,370 --> 00:16:20,400 S1: the the profile I was recently looking at last week 287 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:24,120 S1: for a client. They showed a ten for inflammation, high 288 00:16:24,120 --> 00:16:27,360 S1: need for inflammation, modulation in the gut, and the actual 289 00:16:27,360 --> 00:16:33,090 S1: report itself said you slippery elm bark, use aloe use 290 00:16:33,090 --> 00:16:35,370 S1: uh d gel, which is a form of like a 291 00:16:35,370 --> 00:16:41,280 S1: licorice acid. Zinc carnosine, glutamine, quercetin, turmeric, omega three. And then, uh, 292 00:16:41,280 --> 00:16:43,590 S1: do a food sensitivity test to ensure that there were 293 00:16:43,590 --> 00:16:45,600 S1: no food allergies in the diet. And I'll tell you what, 294 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:48,510 S1: my favorite food sensitivity test is here shortly. But as 295 00:16:48,510 --> 00:16:51,390 S1: you can imagine, that's a ton of super useful advice 296 00:16:51,390 --> 00:16:54,210 S1: by just looking at the report. And it ranks things 297 00:16:54,210 --> 00:16:56,160 S1: on a 1 to 10 scale in terms of how 298 00:16:56,160 --> 00:16:59,160 S1: much support you would need for different areas of your gut. 299 00:16:59,520 --> 00:17:04,290 S1: So again, that's the Genova Diagnostics GI effects panel. Fantastic 300 00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:07,680 S1: test for the gut. Now, in addition to that, I 301 00:17:07,680 --> 00:17:10,830 S1: would say the second most important thing to realize with 302 00:17:10,830 --> 00:17:14,639 S1: the gut is a ton of people have small intestine 303 00:17:14,640 --> 00:17:20,100 S1: bacterial overgrowth, small intestine bacterial overgrowth. Now in a nutshell, 304 00:17:20,100 --> 00:17:22,830 S1: that is a syndrome that's characterized by an increase in 305 00:17:22,830 --> 00:17:26,820 S1: the number or the presence of atypical microbiota in the 306 00:17:26,820 --> 00:17:28,980 S1: small intestine. It's kind of nasty to think about, but 307 00:17:28,980 --> 00:17:30,270 S1: it's basically all the stuff that's supposed to be in 308 00:17:30,270 --> 00:17:32,520 S1: the large intestine, or a lot of it winds up 309 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:35,550 S1: in the small intestine. You get gas, you get bloating, 310 00:17:35,550 --> 00:17:38,219 S1: you get constipation from the gas build up, and you 311 00:17:38,220 --> 00:17:43,200 S1: typically have a real sensitivity to foods like wheat, garlic, onions, apples, 312 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:47,430 S1: stone fruits, melons. A lot of these fermentable, not fermented, 313 00:17:47,430 --> 00:17:54,840 S1: but fermentable carbohydrates, so-called FODMAPs. Fermentable. What's it stand for? Oligosaccharides, disaccharides, 314 00:17:54,840 --> 00:17:58,260 S1: monosaccharides and polyols. I think I got that right. Some 315 00:17:58,260 --> 00:18:00,450 S1: gastroenterologist is probably going to slap me on the wrist 316 00:18:00,450 --> 00:18:05,010 S1: for mispronunciation, but the, uh, the Sibo test is a 317 00:18:05,010 --> 00:18:09,270 S1: breath test in which you get this kit sent to you, 318 00:18:09,270 --> 00:18:12,000 S1: and you breathe into these tubes like every 20 minutes 319 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,270 S1: or so for a couple of hours. And it measures 320 00:18:15,270 --> 00:18:19,740 S1: the rise of hydrogen gases that occur over time. That 321 00:18:19,740 --> 00:18:23,580 S1: would indicate that you might have Sibo. It'll also measure 322 00:18:23,580 --> 00:18:27,360 S1: the methane that's produced over time. The CH4 carbon with 323 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,590 S1: four hydrogens, methane following the ingestion of a little drink 324 00:18:31,590 --> 00:18:34,169 S1: that you drink right before you start all these breaths. 325 00:18:34,170 --> 00:18:37,830 S1: So you're actually drinking lactulose and uh, and yes, that 326 00:18:37,830 --> 00:18:39,660 S1: will break your fast. For those of you concerned about 327 00:18:39,660 --> 00:18:41,760 S1: doing a Sibo test in a fasted state, but it's 328 00:18:41,760 --> 00:18:44,669 S1: worth it because you actually, if you have gas or bloating, 329 00:18:44,670 --> 00:18:47,400 S1: this is an important test to take. And it tells 330 00:18:47,400 --> 00:18:49,859 S1: you some things that that other test I was talking about, 331 00:18:49,859 --> 00:18:52,500 S1: the GI effects test can only give you clues about, 332 00:18:52,500 --> 00:18:54,750 S1: but the Sibo test can give you a much, much 333 00:18:54,750 --> 00:18:58,740 S1: more targeted evaluation. So it's a it's a breath test. 334 00:18:58,830 --> 00:19:01,260 S1: It's mailed straight to your home. Takes about 90 minutes 335 00:19:01,260 --> 00:19:02,580 S1: to do. When I do it, you know, I'm just 336 00:19:02,580 --> 00:19:04,710 S1: going about and doing my regular things. And when the 337 00:19:04,710 --> 00:19:07,140 S1: timer goes off to do my next breath, I breathe. 338 00:19:07,140 --> 00:19:09,420 S1: And then it gets shipped off and that's it. So 339 00:19:09,420 --> 00:19:13,440 S1: that's a Sibo test. Super useful. It's very, very insightful 340 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:17,850 S1: for a lot of people. It's about $260. Um, and 341 00:19:17,850 --> 00:19:21,750 S1: it'll include recommendations on which foods to eliminate and which 342 00:19:21,750 --> 00:19:24,659 S1: foods that you can keep eating based on the methane 343 00:19:24,660 --> 00:19:28,980 S1: and the hydrogen that you're producing during that test. Okay. 344 00:19:28,980 --> 00:19:33,420 S1: Next up is a thyroid panel. Now, the reason I 345 00:19:33,420 --> 00:19:36,869 S1: have this included as an available test. And again, I'll 346 00:19:36,869 --> 00:19:40,650 S1: link to all of these at bengreenfieldlife.com. Slash testing podcast 347 00:19:40,650 --> 00:19:43,560 S1: is because sometimes you don't want to pay all the 348 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:45,780 S1: money for a blood test, because all you're wanting to 349 00:19:45,780 --> 00:19:48,810 S1: do is just track the thyroid. And in this case, 350 00:19:48,810 --> 00:19:51,360 S1: the test that I've chosen for the thyroid is not 351 00:19:51,359 --> 00:19:55,230 S1: that fancy. It's not that expensive. It's about $175. And 352 00:19:55,230 --> 00:19:59,520 S1: it looks at your TSH. So your thyroid stimulating hormone. 353 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,100 S1: How good a job of is your brain doing telling 354 00:20:02,100 --> 00:20:05,460 S1: your thyroid to produce hormones? And is it being upregulated 355 00:20:05,460 --> 00:20:08,820 S1: or downregulated by the response of your thyroid gland, your 356 00:20:08,820 --> 00:20:12,690 S1: free T3 levels, your free T4 levels, and then your 357 00:20:12,690 --> 00:20:15,990 S1: thyroid antibodies and the thyroid antibodies are important because a 358 00:20:15,990 --> 00:20:19,139 S1: lot of disorders of the thyroid gland are frequently caused 359 00:20:19,140 --> 00:20:23,850 S1: by autoimmune reactions to certain foods like, say, wheat or nuts, 360 00:20:23,850 --> 00:20:27,419 S1: or dairy or soy or egg, sometimes nightshades. So a 361 00:20:27,420 --> 00:20:30,240 S1: lot of times if I see that the thyroid is dysregulated, 362 00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:33,540 S1: but I see elevated thyroid antibodies are called thyroid peroxidase 363 00:20:33,570 --> 00:20:37,870 S1: TPO antibodies, then I can tell that. Person. Hey, your 364 00:20:37,869 --> 00:20:41,020 S1: thyroid appears to be dysregulated by something that you're eating, 365 00:20:41,020 --> 00:20:43,570 S1: so let's go out and do an actual food allergy 366 00:20:43,570 --> 00:20:48,310 S1: panel to see if or what foods are aggravating the thyroid. 367 00:20:48,310 --> 00:20:52,000 S1: And sometimes TPO antibodies are down, but uh, say uh, 368 00:20:52,000 --> 00:20:54,879 S1: T4 is high but T3 is low. So there's a 369 00:20:54,880 --> 00:20:58,030 S1: conversion issue. Or sometimes both are low, indicating a need 370 00:20:58,030 --> 00:21:01,570 S1: for micronutrients like iodine or selenium. So there's a whole 371 00:21:01,570 --> 00:21:04,540 S1: bunch of clues that that this particular test can give you. 372 00:21:04,540 --> 00:21:06,669 S1: But I like to have the option of just a 373 00:21:06,670 --> 00:21:09,460 S1: standalone thyroid panel. This is another one that's at home. 374 00:21:09,460 --> 00:21:12,040 S1: It's a blood spot test. Right? So we're not talking 375 00:21:12,040 --> 00:21:14,260 S1: about a bunch of tubes and a and a, you know, 376 00:21:14,260 --> 00:21:17,050 S1: looking like you're you're vampire ING it over your kitchen table. 377 00:21:17,050 --> 00:21:18,880 S1: Just a little blood spot test. And it can tell 378 00:21:18,880 --> 00:21:22,780 S1: you a ton about your thyroid gland. And I will include, 379 00:21:22,780 --> 00:21:25,480 S1: by the way, on the on the show notes, a 380 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:27,460 S1: link to the testing page where you can even look 381 00:21:27,460 --> 00:21:30,100 S1: at sample reports to see what your report would actually 382 00:21:30,100 --> 00:21:33,969 S1: look like when you were to get a test like this. Okay, 383 00:21:33,970 --> 00:21:38,500 S1: so I talked briefly about a blood test that, uh, 384 00:21:38,500 --> 00:21:42,070 S1: in the very beginning of this podcast could measure your hormones. 385 00:21:42,070 --> 00:21:44,740 S1: The problem with the blood test for hormones is it's 386 00:21:44,740 --> 00:21:48,400 S1: a one time snapshot of what's going on with your hormones. 387 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:51,160 S1: And as you probably know, your hormones fluctuate all day long. 388 00:21:51,160 --> 00:21:52,810 S1: I mean, they're up and down and up and down. 389 00:21:52,810 --> 00:21:54,760 S1: It's like all of us are having the equivalent of, 390 00:21:54,760 --> 00:21:58,180 S1: like a menstrual cycle all day. All right. That was unfair. 391 00:21:58,180 --> 00:22:01,389 S1: I realized that that us guys aren't having a menstrual 392 00:22:01,390 --> 00:22:03,639 S1: cycle all day, but our testosterone is going up and down, 393 00:22:03,640 --> 00:22:07,510 S1: and women's estrogen and progesterone are fluctuating. And this is 394 00:22:07,510 --> 00:22:10,780 S1: where a urine test, an at home urine test in 395 00:22:10,780 --> 00:22:14,500 S1: which you're peeing multiple times during a 24 hour cycle, 396 00:22:14,500 --> 00:22:18,250 S1: can give you a much, much better idea of what's 397 00:22:18,250 --> 00:22:24,490 S1: going on with cortisol, with estrogen, with progesterone, with testosterone. 398 00:22:24,490 --> 00:22:28,750 S1: And this this Dutch test, this dried urine test by 399 00:22:28,750 --> 00:22:33,219 S1: a company called Precision Analytical utilizes, as the name implies, 400 00:22:33,220 --> 00:22:36,199 S1: these dried urine samples that are collected over a 24 401 00:22:36,200 --> 00:22:39,310 S1: hour period. Now, what I like about this test is 402 00:22:39,310 --> 00:22:42,850 S1: it's not just going to look at major hormones like 403 00:22:42,850 --> 00:22:47,470 S1: estrogen or cortisol or testosterone, but it also will look 404 00:22:47,470 --> 00:22:51,400 S1: at the upstream and downstream metabolites of those hormones. So 405 00:22:51,400 --> 00:22:53,709 S1: let's say I don't know. Let me think of a 406 00:22:53,710 --> 00:22:56,859 S1: good example. Your cortisol is high. And you could do 407 00:22:56,859 --> 00:22:59,109 S1: a blood test and find out that your cortisol is high. 408 00:22:59,109 --> 00:23:02,889 S1: But is it high because you're producing too much cortisol. 409 00:23:02,890 --> 00:23:06,399 S1: And the precursors to cortisol are elevated. Is it high 410 00:23:06,400 --> 00:23:10,330 S1: because you have poor thyroid function and you're clearing the 411 00:23:10,330 --> 00:23:15,370 S1: cortisol inadequately? Um, you know, is it high because there's 412 00:23:15,369 --> 00:23:18,040 S1: some kind of a low count of something else, like 413 00:23:18,040 --> 00:23:21,490 S1: low testosterone or low DHEA or something like that? Is 414 00:23:21,490 --> 00:23:24,010 S1: it low because you have low levels of progesterone or 415 00:23:24,010 --> 00:23:28,030 S1: pregnenolone or something like that? So this Dutch test can 416 00:23:28,030 --> 00:23:30,580 S1: just tell you a whole lot more than what a 417 00:23:30,580 --> 00:23:34,690 S1: basic blood panel will tell you. And anybody who is 418 00:23:34,690 --> 00:23:38,200 S1: struggling with energy levels, with libido, with sexual function, with 419 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:43,510 S1: erectile function, with workout recovery, with building strength, with losing fat, 420 00:23:43,510 --> 00:23:49,120 S1: getting a really, really, um, thorough and timely view of 421 00:23:49,119 --> 00:23:51,250 S1: what's going on with the hormones and the upstream and 422 00:23:51,250 --> 00:23:54,460 S1: downstream metabolites of those hormones is a reason why I 423 00:23:54,460 --> 00:23:57,670 S1: really like the Dutch test as one of the main 424 00:23:57,670 --> 00:24:01,209 S1: tests for hormones that I feature on this testing page, 425 00:24:01,210 --> 00:24:03,369 S1: and you can just learn so much. I mean, it'll 426 00:24:03,369 --> 00:24:08,439 S1: even delve into neurotransmitters. And I will admit that urinary 427 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:13,300 S1: neurotransmitters aren't a wonderful corollary to what's actually going on 428 00:24:13,300 --> 00:24:16,060 S1: in the brain, but they can give you a lot 429 00:24:16,060 --> 00:24:18,130 S1: of clues, you know, like if you have a a 430 00:24:18,130 --> 00:24:21,940 S1: ton of homovanillic acid or vanillyl mandelic acid, that could 431 00:24:21,940 --> 00:24:24,970 S1: give you clues about your dopamine production or your serotonin 432 00:24:24,970 --> 00:24:29,020 S1: production or enzymes that function in hormone processing, like like 433 00:24:29,020 --> 00:24:33,370 S1: your Comt enzyme for, for for dopamine. So anyways, this 434 00:24:33,369 --> 00:24:37,120 S1: Dutch test, uh, it is super useful for hormones. It's 435 00:24:37,119 --> 00:24:41,740 S1: about $370, this Dutch test. But as you can imagine, 436 00:24:41,740 --> 00:24:43,780 S1: if you are concerned about your hormones and you want 437 00:24:43,780 --> 00:24:46,060 S1: to track them, it's a really, really great test to 438 00:24:46,060 --> 00:24:48,580 S1: have in your back pocket or I suppose, in your 439 00:24:48,580 --> 00:24:51,340 S1: front pocket, so to speak, because it's a urine test. Okay, 440 00:24:51,340 --> 00:24:54,280 S1: so the next one is also a urine test, also 441 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:58,209 S1: an at home test. And this one is for oxidative stress, 442 00:24:58,210 --> 00:25:01,480 S1: which can really give you clues into your mitochondrial function 443 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:05,619 S1: and mitochondrial health. It will measure what are called lipid peroxides. 444 00:25:05,619 --> 00:25:08,590 S1: And then this other thing that kind of flies under 445 00:25:08,590 --> 00:25:14,470 S1: the radar called eight oh HD G8O hdg that's reflective 446 00:25:14,470 --> 00:25:18,310 S1: of oxidative damage to the DNA, whereas the lipid peroxides 447 00:25:18,310 --> 00:25:21,550 S1: are reflective of oxidative damage to fatty acids in your body. 448 00:25:21,550 --> 00:25:24,250 S1: So if you're concerned about inflammation, if you don't want 449 00:25:24,250 --> 00:25:26,410 S1: to test anything but you just want to see, hey, 450 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:28,990 S1: does my body have a high level of toxic peroxide 451 00:25:28,990 --> 00:25:32,590 S1: in it that could damage cells, proteins, lipids, and DNAs? 452 00:25:32,590 --> 00:25:35,350 S1: Or I suppose I should say DNA? I don't think 453 00:25:35,350 --> 00:25:37,890 S1: there is a DNA. Or do I have some sort 454 00:25:37,890 --> 00:25:43,080 S1: of oxidative stress that might be causing excess aging, or 455 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,350 S1: some other form of inflammation that could predispose me to 456 00:25:46,350 --> 00:25:50,129 S1: cardiovascular disease, or chronic pain, or poor recovery? That's where 457 00:25:50,130 --> 00:25:52,710 S1: this oxidative stress profile comes in. Because straight to the chase, 458 00:25:52,710 --> 00:25:56,760 S1: you're not measuring anything. Except am I inflamed? Am I inflamed? 459 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,550 S1: And if so, what's going on that would cause that 460 00:25:59,550 --> 00:26:03,119 S1: to happen? It is, surprisingly, in my opinion, a little 461 00:26:03,119 --> 00:26:05,609 S1: bit expensive for a urinary test, considering you're just looking 462 00:26:05,609 --> 00:26:09,300 S1: at a couple of things. It's about $360, but it 463 00:26:09,300 --> 00:26:12,960 S1: is a little bit difficult to analyze these two parameters, 464 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:15,149 S1: which is why it's a little bit more expensive test. 465 00:26:15,150 --> 00:26:18,330 S1: It can also give you good information about your antioxidant reserve. Right. 466 00:26:18,330 --> 00:26:21,420 S1: Do I need more vitamin C or vitamin E or 467 00:26:21,420 --> 00:26:25,290 S1: polyphenols or some form of antioxidants? So it's an interesting test. 468 00:26:25,290 --> 00:26:27,600 S1: It's one that I really like to use for athletes 469 00:26:27,600 --> 00:26:29,490 S1: or people who have been traveling a lot, or people 470 00:26:29,490 --> 00:26:32,400 S1: who want to know if they should upregulate their antioxidant intake, 471 00:26:32,400 --> 00:26:34,379 S1: or people who are just curious if they're inflamed or 472 00:26:34,380 --> 00:26:36,120 S1: under a lot of oxidative stress and they don't want 473 00:26:36,119 --> 00:26:38,520 S1: to do all the other blood panels, so that one's 474 00:26:38,520 --> 00:26:44,100 S1: called the oxidative stress 2.0 test. Now, related to inflammation, also, 475 00:26:44,100 --> 00:26:49,020 S1: as you probably know is your omega fatty acid count. Now, 476 00:26:49,020 --> 00:26:51,330 S1: I've done a few podcasts on this one, quite notably 477 00:26:51,330 --> 00:26:53,820 S1: with Bill and Christina Harris, where we talk about how 478 00:26:53,820 --> 00:26:57,150 S1: back to reference ranges, a lot of reference ranges for 479 00:26:57,150 --> 00:26:59,910 S1: what your omega three and omega six fatty acid count 480 00:26:59,910 --> 00:27:02,489 S1: should be. They're surprisingly low. As a matter of fact, 481 00:27:02,490 --> 00:27:05,040 S1: during the podcast that I did with them, they mentioned 482 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:07,320 S1: that if you get a test of your Omega index, 483 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,440 S1: it should be above 8% and the reference range value 484 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:13,170 S1: tells you you're fine if you're like 5%. But what 485 00:27:13,170 --> 00:27:16,830 S1: this next test is, is called an omega three index report, 486 00:27:16,830 --> 00:27:21,480 S1: or also known as an omega three index. And what 487 00:27:21,480 --> 00:27:25,709 S1: it looks at is the amount of EPA and DHA 488 00:27:25,740 --> 00:27:29,490 S1: that you have, the omega three to omega six fatty 489 00:27:29,490 --> 00:27:33,629 S1: acid balance, or the omega three to omega six ratio. 490 00:27:33,630 --> 00:27:37,080 S1: And then it will also look at trans fatty acids. 491 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:42,270 S1: It will look at your monounsaturated fatty acids, your saturated 492 00:27:42,270 --> 00:27:47,460 S1: fatty acids, the ratio of arachidonic acid to EPA. Again 493 00:27:47,460 --> 00:27:49,950 S1: like I mentioned, the omega three to omega six fatty acids. 494 00:27:49,950 --> 00:27:53,399 S1: You can basically see, hey, am I eating too much 495 00:27:53,670 --> 00:27:56,850 S1: olive oil compared to saturated fats? Do I need to 496 00:27:56,850 --> 00:27:59,070 S1: take more fish oil? Is the fish oil I'm taking 497 00:27:59,070 --> 00:28:03,000 S1: even raising my omega index and any appreciable way. And 498 00:28:03,000 --> 00:28:05,130 S1: it's a really, really good way to just see if 499 00:28:05,130 --> 00:28:07,350 S1: you're getting the right type of fats and if those 500 00:28:07,350 --> 00:28:10,560 S1: fats that you're eating are in the right balance. Now, 501 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:13,470 S1: of course, you could. You know, there are food. Uh, uh, 502 00:28:13,470 --> 00:28:16,920 S1: what do you call them? Food tracking systems like chronometers one. Right. 503 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:21,570 S1: A dietary intake tracker that will tell you how much 504 00:28:21,570 --> 00:28:24,000 S1: you're getting from your diet in terms of omegas and 505 00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:27,780 S1: vitamins and micronutrients and minerals. But that doesn't necessarily show 506 00:28:27,780 --> 00:28:29,369 S1: you what's going on in the body as far as 507 00:28:29,369 --> 00:28:32,760 S1: the actual conversion and bioavailability of those. So I think 508 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:34,590 S1: it is a good idea to track your food, especially 509 00:28:34,590 --> 00:28:36,000 S1: on a short term basis. If you just want to 510 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:39,270 S1: know how many calories you're eating or the dietary composition 511 00:28:39,270 --> 00:28:41,850 S1: of your average meal intake during the week. But this 512 00:28:41,880 --> 00:28:44,760 S1: omega index test would be one, you know, for example, 513 00:28:44,760 --> 00:28:48,600 S1: I would do something like that yearly. Now, I think 514 00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:50,700 S1: that if you were to get the metabolomics test, you 515 00:28:50,700 --> 00:28:54,240 S1: might be able to skip on the Omega test. But 516 00:28:54,240 --> 00:28:56,430 S1: it does. The Omega test does take a deeper dive 517 00:28:56,430 --> 00:29:00,750 S1: into fatty acids and fatty acid balances. Then the metabolomics. 518 00:29:00,750 --> 00:29:02,790 S1: And it's just 84 bucks, right? So it's a lot 519 00:29:02,790 --> 00:29:06,150 S1: less expensive than the metabolomics considering the amount of information 520 00:29:06,150 --> 00:29:08,070 S1: that you get from it, I think it's a pretty 521 00:29:08,070 --> 00:29:13,680 S1: valuable test. Okay. I briefly mentioned food allergy testing. There 522 00:29:13,680 --> 00:29:16,469 S1: are a lot of food allergy tests out there. But 523 00:29:16,470 --> 00:29:19,410 S1: the problem with them is many tend to give you 524 00:29:19,410 --> 00:29:22,200 S1: a laundry list of false positives. They don't test the 525 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,800 S1: food raw protein versus cooked protein in terms of the 526 00:29:25,800 --> 00:29:29,400 S1: white blood cells immune reaction to that, they don't really 527 00:29:29,400 --> 00:29:33,450 S1: give you a complete gold standard profiling of whether or 528 00:29:33,450 --> 00:29:35,880 S1: not you're truly allergic to a food or whether, say, 529 00:29:35,880 --> 00:29:38,100 S1: you have elevated antibodies because you've just been eating a 530 00:29:38,100 --> 00:29:39,990 S1: lot of that food. Right? You don't know how many 531 00:29:39,990 --> 00:29:43,350 S1: times someone gets a substandard food allergy test, and they're 532 00:29:43,350 --> 00:29:45,630 S1: super stressed out that they're now allergic to eggs. When 533 00:29:45,630 --> 00:29:48,180 S1: it turns out, the only reason those antibodies are appearing 534 00:29:48,180 --> 00:29:50,760 S1: elevated on the test is because they've been having an 535 00:29:50,760 --> 00:29:54,420 S1: omelette every morning, not because they're allergic to eggs. So anyways, 536 00:29:54,420 --> 00:29:59,670 S1: a cyrex panel is my favored panel for food allergy testing, 537 00:29:59,670 --> 00:30:02,130 S1: and cyrex can be a little bit confusing if you 538 00:30:02,130 --> 00:30:04,290 S1: were to go to their website. I've basically just taken 539 00:30:04,290 --> 00:30:06,840 S1: the test that I recommend from their website and put 540 00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:09,750 S1: them on my testing page, because there's really only three 541 00:30:09,780 --> 00:30:12,450 S1: that I tend to repeat over and over again. Uh, 542 00:30:12,450 --> 00:30:16,920 S1: the array for which basically tests for all of your, uh, 543 00:30:16,920 --> 00:30:25,800 S1: gluten sensitivities, gliadin cross-reactivity, gluten containing foods rye, barley, spelt, wheat, polish, wheat, rice, corn, quinoa, 544 00:30:25,800 --> 00:30:28,410 S1: you name it. It'll also throw in a couple of 545 00:30:28,410 --> 00:30:31,410 S1: common antigenic foods egg and soy. So it's kind of 546 00:30:31,410 --> 00:30:34,410 S1: like a stripped down version of their more comprehensive food 547 00:30:34,410 --> 00:30:37,570 S1: allergy test. And that one's 300. 40 bucks. I like 548 00:30:37,570 --> 00:30:39,700 S1: it because it can tell you a ton about foods 549 00:30:39,700 --> 00:30:41,470 S1: that a lot of people consume, and it does throw 550 00:30:41,470 --> 00:30:45,190 S1: chocolate and milk and oats and a few others on there. 551 00:30:45,190 --> 00:30:50,950 S1: The Cyrex array ten is way more complete, so the 552 00:30:50,950 --> 00:30:55,030 S1: Cyrex array ten includes basically all your beans and legumes, 553 00:30:55,030 --> 00:30:58,090 S1: your dairy, your eggs, your grains, your nuts, your seeds, 554 00:30:58,090 --> 00:31:04,480 S1: your vegetables, uh, and fruits, um, fish, seafood, meat, herbs, spices. 555 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:06,130 S1: I mean, it'll tell you if you're freaking allergic to 556 00:31:06,130 --> 00:31:09,940 S1: green tea or locust bean gum. I mean, it's that comprehensive. 557 00:31:09,940 --> 00:31:13,840 S1: And it gives you a good color coded range of, hey, 558 00:31:13,840 --> 00:31:17,050 S1: you're fine. Hey, moderate these foods, or you should probably 559 00:31:17,050 --> 00:31:20,560 S1: avoid these foods. And that's the Cyrex ten test. The 560 00:31:20,560 --> 00:31:24,250 S1: Cyrex ten C just combines the four and the ten. 561 00:31:24,250 --> 00:31:27,040 S1: So you get really, really good wheat sensitivity testing and 562 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,400 S1: gluten sensitivity testing and then all these other foods as well. 563 00:31:30,400 --> 00:31:34,390 S1: And so it's a full food immune reactivity screen. I 564 00:31:34,390 --> 00:31:37,150 S1: think it is one of the best ones out there. 565 00:31:37,150 --> 00:31:41,020 S1: The problem with the Cyrex test is they are expensive. 566 00:31:41,020 --> 00:31:43,810 S1: Like if you were going to do that full Cyrex test, 567 00:31:43,810 --> 00:31:49,090 S1: it is 1165 bucks, right? So, so it's it's pretty 568 00:31:49,090 --> 00:31:53,620 S1: expensive if you want what I would consider to be 569 00:31:53,620 --> 00:31:57,190 S1: kind of like a test that gives you, I would say, 70% 570 00:31:57,190 --> 00:31:59,530 S1: of the value of that test. There is another one 571 00:31:59,530 --> 00:32:01,030 S1: that I've listed on the page. If you can't afford 572 00:32:01,030 --> 00:32:02,560 S1: the cyrex, you don't want to take that deep of 573 00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:05,590 S1: a dive. It's called the 88 Food Dried Blood Spot test. 574 00:32:05,590 --> 00:32:10,810 S1: Looks at Ige, IgG4, IgG and something called C3 b d. 575 00:32:11,050 --> 00:32:16,750 S1: It identifies food sensitivities, intolerances, and allergies. It's $420 compared 576 00:32:16,750 --> 00:32:19,540 S1: to being over $1,000 for the Cyrex. And it does 577 00:32:19,540 --> 00:32:25,840 S1: tell you a lot. I mean, like, you know, eggs, coffee, cranberry, garlic, ginger, walnuts, cocoa, 578 00:32:25,870 --> 00:32:29,320 S1: you know, grapes, squash it. Most of the foods you 579 00:32:29,320 --> 00:32:32,650 S1: commonly consume. If you're just like looking for the best 580 00:32:32,650 --> 00:32:35,110 S1: of the best and expenses not an issue. Get the 581 00:32:35,110 --> 00:32:38,920 S1: cyrex ten-c. But if you want something that's just going 582 00:32:38,920 --> 00:32:40,960 S1: to give you a pretty good idea, the 88 Food 583 00:32:40,960 --> 00:32:43,930 S1: Dried Blood Spot test is a good option. So when 584 00:32:43,930 --> 00:32:47,469 S1: it comes to food sensitivity and food allergy testing, those 585 00:32:47,470 --> 00:32:51,580 S1: are some of my preferred go to tests. Then we 586 00:32:51,580 --> 00:32:54,070 S1: get to the next issue that a lot of people 587 00:32:54,070 --> 00:32:58,810 S1: are concerned about these days, and that is mold and mycotoxins. Well, 588 00:32:58,810 --> 00:33:02,080 S1: it turns out that you can test mold and mycotoxins 589 00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:05,290 S1: from the comfort of your own home. Oh, and I 590 00:33:05,290 --> 00:33:07,990 S1: forgot to tell you about the, uh, the Cyrex test 591 00:33:08,170 --> 00:33:10,780 S1: as far as whether that's an at home test. That 592 00:33:10,780 --> 00:33:14,890 S1: one is a lab test. It's a lab test. So 593 00:33:14,890 --> 00:33:18,310 S1: you either have to have a phlebotomist come to your home, uh, 594 00:33:18,310 --> 00:33:20,260 S1: or you have to go to a lab to get 595 00:33:20,260 --> 00:33:24,160 S1: that one done. So just an FYI, whereas the infinite 596 00:33:24,160 --> 00:33:27,760 S1: allergies test, that other food allergy test that I talked about, 597 00:33:27,760 --> 00:33:31,570 S1: that one is, um, remember, that one's at home. It's 598 00:33:31,570 --> 00:33:34,420 S1: a blood spot test at home. So a little bit 599 00:33:34,420 --> 00:33:36,790 S1: more convenience with that at home blood spot test versus 600 00:33:36,790 --> 00:33:39,130 S1: going to the lab two. And we're looking at food allergies. 601 00:33:39,130 --> 00:33:44,890 S1: But anyways urine at home mold and mycotoxin test incredibly helpful. 602 00:33:44,890 --> 00:33:51,220 S1: It is called a mycotoxin profile. It looks ochratoxin gliotoxin 603 00:33:51,220 --> 00:33:55,330 S1: mycophenolic acid. All the different molds and mycotoxins that can 604 00:33:55,330 --> 00:33:59,110 S1: cause oxidative stress 11 of the most common. And then 605 00:33:59,110 --> 00:34:01,870 S1: it will give you a rundown in the report about 606 00:34:01,870 --> 00:34:04,120 S1: what to do about those. Like let's say you test 607 00:34:04,120 --> 00:34:10,330 S1: high for um, trichothecenes. Right. And you'll find out as 608 00:34:10,330 --> 00:34:12,790 S1: you read the test that those are found in board 609 00:34:12,790 --> 00:34:15,939 S1: and wood and wallpaper and water damage buildings. They can 610 00:34:15,940 --> 00:34:19,930 S1: be found in corn and popcorn, wheat flour, buckwheat, sorghum 611 00:34:19,930 --> 00:34:23,290 S1: and oats and breakfast cereals as well. And they can 612 00:34:23,290 --> 00:34:26,920 S1: cause inhibition of protein synthesis because of the reactive oxygen 613 00:34:26,920 --> 00:34:29,890 S1: species that are produced by them. And then it will 614 00:34:29,890 --> 00:34:32,950 S1: give you clinical insights, it will give you recommendations, and 615 00:34:32,950 --> 00:34:34,600 S1: it'll just basically give you an idea of where you 616 00:34:34,600 --> 00:34:37,330 S1: might have gotten exposed to this mold or mycotoxin, and 617 00:34:37,330 --> 00:34:40,180 S1: what to do about it. And so I really like 618 00:34:40,180 --> 00:34:43,960 S1: this as, as something for anybody who's suspected they've been 619 00:34:43,960 --> 00:34:46,480 S1: exposed to mold and wants to actually check and see 620 00:34:46,480 --> 00:34:50,320 S1: if that's really the case to get it is, um, 621 00:34:50,320 --> 00:34:56,320 S1: 335 bucks for the for the mold and mycotoxin panel. Now, 622 00:34:56,320 --> 00:34:59,560 S1: that of course, is not going to test for metals, right. 623 00:34:59,560 --> 00:35:01,960 S1: The other kind of component that you want to bear 624 00:35:01,960 --> 00:35:04,089 S1: in mind and what you can certainly get something as 625 00:35:04,090 --> 00:35:07,060 S1: simple as like a hair tissue mineral analysis, if you 626 00:35:07,060 --> 00:35:11,590 S1: really want to assess a little bit more completely what's 627 00:35:11,590 --> 00:35:15,670 S1: going on with metals. There's one called the Mercury Tri test. 628 00:35:15,670 --> 00:35:18,820 S1: The one to be the most concerned about is mercury. 629 00:35:18,910 --> 00:35:21,460 S1: And the thing is, when you look at Mercury, there's 630 00:35:21,460 --> 00:35:23,890 S1: two different types of mercury. There's methyl mercury, which you 631 00:35:23,890 --> 00:35:26,800 S1: mostly get from seafood or amalgams basically in the mouth. 632 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,460 S1: And then there's inorganic mercury, which is a much more 633 00:35:30,460 --> 00:35:32,860 S1: toxic form, which you might get from, I don't know, 634 00:35:32,860 --> 00:35:35,969 S1: like a broken light bulb in the garage or. Brake 635 00:35:35,969 --> 00:35:38,880 S1: dust or, God forbid, you know, tainted water. So this 636 00:35:38,880 --> 00:35:42,420 S1: mercury tritus, which was developed by Quicksilver Scientific, it'll look 637 00:35:42,420 --> 00:35:46,800 S1: at methylmercury and inorganic mercury, give you a full, super 638 00:35:46,800 --> 00:35:49,620 S1: accurate account of those, and then tell you what you 639 00:35:49,620 --> 00:35:52,530 S1: need to do as far as the type of things 640 00:35:52,530 --> 00:35:55,350 S1: you can do to get rid of that mercury, its urine, 641 00:35:55,350 --> 00:36:00,990 S1: its hair, its blood. And because it's a pretty complicated test, 642 00:36:00,989 --> 00:36:04,890 S1: the urine and the hair you do at home and 643 00:36:04,890 --> 00:36:06,510 S1: then the blood, you have to go to a lab 644 00:36:06,510 --> 00:36:08,370 S1: to do or have a phlebotomist come to your house 645 00:36:08,370 --> 00:36:11,250 S1: to do. This is not a test I recommend for everybody. 646 00:36:11,250 --> 00:36:13,319 S1: This is the test that I'll recommend for people who 647 00:36:13,320 --> 00:36:16,440 S1: are showing symptoms of metal toxicity, or some of their 648 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:18,810 S1: other labs are coming back, indicating that there might be 649 00:36:18,810 --> 00:36:21,779 S1: high mercury. This test can give you a really good 650 00:36:21,780 --> 00:36:24,900 S1: rundown of what kind of mercury it is, and then 651 00:36:24,900 --> 00:36:26,340 S1: what you can do about it. So it's called a 652 00:36:26,340 --> 00:36:29,370 S1: mercury try test. And this is again one that you'd 653 00:36:29,370 --> 00:36:33,660 S1: get if you're really concerned about mercury. It's $275. But 654 00:36:33,660 --> 00:36:36,120 S1: that and the mold and mycotoxin test that I mentioned, 655 00:36:36,120 --> 00:36:38,100 S1: those are kind of like the two that I recommend 656 00:36:38,100 --> 00:36:41,250 S1: if you actually want to see how, uh, how toxic 657 00:36:41,280 --> 00:36:44,790 S1: your body is, so to speak. Okay. So almost done here. 658 00:36:44,790 --> 00:36:48,779 S1: But then we get to the DNA and genetic piece. 659 00:36:48,780 --> 00:36:51,420 S1: So I mentioned Doctor Matt Dawson earlier, and he and 660 00:36:51,420 --> 00:36:54,690 S1: I had a really great discussion recently. That podcast might 661 00:36:54,690 --> 00:36:56,399 S1: come out before this one. If it does I'll link 662 00:36:56,400 --> 00:36:57,450 S1: to it in the show notes. If you go to 663 00:36:57,450 --> 00:37:02,730 S1: Bengreenfieldlife.com slash testing podcast. But we talked about triage diagnostic. 664 00:37:02,969 --> 00:37:06,900 S1: It's an at home blood spot test that is based 665 00:37:06,900 --> 00:37:10,380 S1: on big data, meaning following thousands and thousands of people 666 00:37:10,380 --> 00:37:13,560 S1: over a long period of time, and then drawing corollaries 667 00:37:13,560 --> 00:37:16,739 S1: to the genetic profile that they determine from the blood 668 00:37:16,739 --> 00:37:19,200 S1: spot that you send in and the genetic profile of 669 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:22,500 S1: thousands and thousands of people to then turn around and 670 00:37:22,500 --> 00:37:26,399 S1: give you everything from your immune system age to your 671 00:37:26,400 --> 00:37:30,779 S1: overall biological age, to your risk for diabetes, to your 672 00:37:30,780 --> 00:37:35,160 S1: fitness age, to your your alcohol consumption risk, to your 673 00:37:35,160 --> 00:37:39,450 S1: methylation status. It is a very insightful report and as 674 00:37:39,450 --> 00:37:42,480 S1: a matter of fact, based on what's called a large 675 00:37:42,480 --> 00:37:47,520 S1: predictive data models, you can actually eventually imagine that this 676 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:49,590 S1: test might be one of the only tests that you 677 00:37:49,590 --> 00:37:52,470 S1: actually need to get, uh, which is kind of exciting. 678 00:37:52,469 --> 00:37:54,750 S1: And we're probably years down the road from that. But 679 00:37:54,750 --> 00:37:57,210 S1: the science is moving pretty quickly. And this true age 680 00:37:57,210 --> 00:37:59,969 S1: diagnostics test, you hear about all these different biological aging 681 00:38:00,000 --> 00:38:03,150 S1: tests and all the different ways of measuring rate of 682 00:38:03,150 --> 00:38:04,980 S1: aging and pace of aging. This is the top of 683 00:38:04,980 --> 00:38:08,130 S1: the totem pole. This is the best, most verified test 684 00:38:08,130 --> 00:38:11,250 S1: based on what's called a Dunedin pace data. And it's 685 00:38:11,250 --> 00:38:13,500 S1: the one that they're using in the rejuvenation Olympics. It's 686 00:38:13,500 --> 00:38:16,650 S1: the one all the big biohackers and tech entrepreneurs and 687 00:38:16,650 --> 00:38:20,670 S1: billionaires are using to monitor their biological pace of aging. Uh, 688 00:38:20,670 --> 00:38:24,029 S1: it is a $500 test. If you go to the 689 00:38:24,030 --> 00:38:27,089 S1: True Diagnostics website. I think we have a code that 690 00:38:27,090 --> 00:38:30,000 S1: I believe is Ben VIP that knocks not a whole 691 00:38:30,000 --> 00:38:31,740 S1: lot off of that. I think like 10% off of it. 692 00:38:31,739 --> 00:38:34,890 S1: So you save 50 bucks. But basically the true age 693 00:38:34,890 --> 00:38:38,759 S1: test is I would consider it to be the best test. 694 00:38:38,760 --> 00:38:41,190 S1: If you want to find out what your true pace 695 00:38:41,190 --> 00:38:45,989 S1: of aging is based on what are called epigenetic biomarker proxies, 696 00:38:45,989 --> 00:38:47,940 S1: I'm not going to spend the hour that it would 697 00:38:47,940 --> 00:38:50,310 S1: take right now on this podcast explaining to you the 698 00:38:50,310 --> 00:38:54,720 S1: epigenetic biomarker proxy that drives biological age. But it's basically 699 00:38:54,719 --> 00:38:58,080 S1: predictive model, as the word proxy implies. And if you 700 00:38:58,080 --> 00:39:00,600 S1: listen to my podcast with Doctor Matt Dawson, we spend 701 00:39:00,600 --> 00:39:04,050 S1: about 45 minutes explaining that and how this test was developed. 702 00:39:04,050 --> 00:39:05,460 S1: But the main thing I want to get across to 703 00:39:05,460 --> 00:39:07,080 S1: you right now is if you want to know your 704 00:39:07,080 --> 00:39:09,150 S1: biological age and you want to cut through all the 705 00:39:09,150 --> 00:39:11,370 S1: crap and confusion, the true age test is the way 706 00:39:11,370 --> 00:39:13,859 S1: to do it. And then finally we get to the 707 00:39:13,860 --> 00:39:16,649 S1: three by four genetic tests. Okay, so you've heard about 708 00:39:16,650 --> 00:39:18,960 S1: these tests that will tell you, you know, are you 709 00:39:18,960 --> 00:39:23,040 S1: a better responder to power versus endurance training? Um, what's 710 00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:28,020 S1: your methylation status? What is your histamine tolerance. Your your 711 00:39:28,020 --> 00:39:30,899 S1: sulfate tolerance. Uh, how good a job do you do 712 00:39:30,900 --> 00:39:34,200 S1: producing nitric oxide. What's your collagen and joint health and 713 00:39:34,200 --> 00:39:36,000 S1: how long a period of time do you probably need 714 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:40,620 S1: to recover after exercise? What's your risk of lactose intolerance? 715 00:39:40,620 --> 00:39:43,410 S1: What's your need for vitamin B and antioxidants? All of 716 00:39:43,410 --> 00:39:48,150 S1: this based on genetic testing. Well, I really like this 717 00:39:48,150 --> 00:39:51,510 S1: company called three by four. Uh, three by four is 718 00:39:51,510 --> 00:39:53,400 S1: named after the three main areas that they focus on 719 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:56,310 S1: health traits and ancestry. So it will be able to 720 00:39:56,310 --> 00:39:59,850 S1: give you ancestral data as well. And what I like 721 00:39:59,850 --> 00:40:03,270 S1: is the report, it's like colored. It's cartoonish. As you 722 00:40:03,270 --> 00:40:05,459 S1: read through the report, it tells you all about your 723 00:40:05,460 --> 00:40:09,690 S1: inflammation risk and your methylation status and the beneficial genes 724 00:40:09,690 --> 00:40:11,219 S1: that you have and the genes that you should pay 725 00:40:11,219 --> 00:40:14,910 S1: a lot of attention to, like methylation or inflammation versus 726 00:40:14,910 --> 00:40:18,210 S1: genes that you might not be as much of a 727 00:40:18,210 --> 00:40:21,989 S1: risk for, like glucose or insulin or blood clotting. Super 728 00:40:21,989 --> 00:40:25,350 S1: simple report to read. I mean, it's a salivary test. 729 00:40:25,890 --> 00:40:31,440 S1: And within just basically like I would say 30 minutes 730 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:33,719 S1: of reading after doing this cheek swab on your PDF, 731 00:40:33,750 --> 00:40:36,160 S1: you will have your head wrapped around. All of your genetics. 732 00:40:36,160 --> 00:40:37,690 S1: I mean, it's like reading a comic book to go 733 00:40:37,690 --> 00:40:40,240 S1: through the report. So they did a really good job 734 00:40:40,239 --> 00:40:43,450 S1: making the information and the recommendations palatable all the way 735 00:40:43,450 --> 00:40:46,180 S1: down to should you train with more of endurance or power. 736 00:40:46,180 --> 00:40:48,010 S1: You have high risk of injury, low risk of injury. 737 00:40:48,010 --> 00:40:52,300 S1: So that one's called a three by 43X4 genetic report. 738 00:40:52,300 --> 00:40:56,560 S1: It's about $375 okay. So I mean if you're doing 739 00:40:56,560 --> 00:40:58,480 S1: the math as I went through all of this. Yeah, 740 00:40:58,480 --> 00:41:03,339 S1: I mean, you could spend probably close to what, $8,000 741 00:41:03,370 --> 00:41:05,439 S1: a little less than that on all of these tests 742 00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,500 S1: if you get all of them. But again, most of 743 00:41:08,500 --> 00:41:11,200 S1: these tests, for me, I would get on a yearly basis, 744 00:41:11,200 --> 00:41:13,450 S1: like I'll do a gut test once a year. I'll 745 00:41:13,450 --> 00:41:16,570 S1: do the fancy blood test once a year. The genetics 746 00:41:16,570 --> 00:41:20,680 S1: test is like once in a lifetime. The other one 747 00:41:20,680 --> 00:41:25,089 S1: off tests I'll do if I'm symptomatic. The food allergy 748 00:41:25,090 --> 00:41:26,710 S1: test is kind of sort of a once in a 749 00:41:26,710 --> 00:41:29,859 S1: lifetime one. The mold and mycotoxin and mercury would be 750 00:41:29,860 --> 00:41:32,290 S1: if you're concerned that you're exposed. So I would say 751 00:41:32,290 --> 00:41:36,550 S1: my own total outlay on testing expense probably comes out 752 00:41:36,550 --> 00:41:41,410 S1: to around 800 bucks a quarter, 800 bucks a quarter. 753 00:41:41,410 --> 00:41:44,620 S1: And considering like I would easily spend tens of thousands 754 00:41:44,620 --> 00:41:48,009 S1: of dollars years ago at the Princeton Longevity Institute or 755 00:41:48,010 --> 00:41:52,060 S1: some fancy health executive screening, getting all of those, um, 756 00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:55,510 S1: it's a pretty good deal. And I think more of 757 00:41:55,510 --> 00:41:58,810 S1: the expense would be spent on, I won't lie, like 758 00:41:58,810 --> 00:42:00,790 S1: hiring a guy like me to walk you through the 759 00:42:00,790 --> 00:42:03,460 S1: results or working with a doctor, you know, via tele 760 00:42:03,460 --> 00:42:06,190 S1: consulting or, you know, visiting to the doctor's office to 761 00:42:06,190 --> 00:42:08,740 S1: go over everything. Like, really, I think more of the 762 00:42:08,739 --> 00:42:11,710 S1: expense is in the interpretation than in the actual testing. 763 00:42:11,710 --> 00:42:14,230 S1: But again, like a lot of these tests, I mean, 764 00:42:14,230 --> 00:42:16,240 S1: they maybe it's just because I like to read and 765 00:42:16,239 --> 00:42:18,279 S1: I like to look up new words that I don't 766 00:42:18,280 --> 00:42:20,290 S1: know on my Kindle and Google them and see what 767 00:42:20,290 --> 00:42:22,299 S1: they mean, and then come back like, what was I 768 00:42:22,300 --> 00:42:25,510 S1: reading last night? It was the word uniformitarianism. And I'm 769 00:42:25,510 --> 00:42:27,430 S1: reading a book with my sons and I thought, gosh, 770 00:42:27,430 --> 00:42:28,750 S1: I don't even know what that means. I'll have to 771 00:42:28,750 --> 00:42:31,960 S1: look it up. This doctrine that states that the physical, 772 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:35,020 S1: chemical and biological processes that are currently at work on 773 00:42:35,020 --> 00:42:38,920 S1: and within the Earth have appeared with general uniformity over 774 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:44,380 S1: a period of time. That's uniformitarianism. And honestly, it's kind of, uh, 775 00:42:44,380 --> 00:42:46,750 S1: it's kind of related to this podcast because the absence 776 00:42:46,750 --> 00:42:49,570 S1: of uniformitarianism in the human body is why we test. 777 00:42:49,570 --> 00:42:51,880 S1: There you have it. The biggest word I'll use all day. 778 00:42:51,880 --> 00:42:54,969 S1: So anyways, um, that's that's really what I wanted to 779 00:42:54,969 --> 00:42:56,950 S1: do in this show, was just decode all these tests 780 00:42:56,950 --> 00:43:01,270 S1: for you and walk you through why I recommend certain tests, 781 00:43:01,270 --> 00:43:04,839 S1: and why certain tests do or do not appear on 782 00:43:04,840 --> 00:43:08,110 S1: my own recommended lab testing page at Ben Greenfield Life. 783 00:43:08,230 --> 00:43:10,120 S1: If you have questions, if you have comments, if you 784 00:43:10,120 --> 00:43:14,770 S1: have feedback, you can go to bengreenfieldlife.com. Uh, slash testing 785 00:43:14,770 --> 00:43:18,520 S1: podcast and leave your notes there. I'll link to the 786 00:43:18,520 --> 00:43:20,379 S1: The Lab shop where you can check out all these 787 00:43:20,380 --> 00:43:23,140 S1: tests if you have questions. You know, my coaching team 788 00:43:23,140 --> 00:43:26,259 S1: is very helpful at Ben Greenfield Coaching. Com most of 789 00:43:26,260 --> 00:43:28,270 S1: the clients I work with get these kind of tests. 790 00:43:28,270 --> 00:43:30,070 S1: And then I walk them through the results. I spend 791 00:43:30,070 --> 00:43:32,020 S1: a lot of time on the phone with people who 792 00:43:32,020 --> 00:43:34,750 S1: will get consults at Ben Greenfield Coaching. Com to go 793 00:43:34,750 --> 00:43:37,480 S1: over the results of tests like this, but anyways, I 794 00:43:37,480 --> 00:43:40,360 S1: just wanted to give you a real good overview to 795 00:43:40,390 --> 00:43:46,030 S1: to decode this sometimes complex world of self-quantification. And so, um, 796 00:43:46,570 --> 00:43:48,610 S1: in addition to that, I'm working on a brand new 797 00:43:48,610 --> 00:43:51,700 S1: updated version of my book, boundless. It will be out 798 00:43:51,700 --> 00:43:56,469 S1: in January of 2025, and I've got some deep, deep 799 00:43:56,469 --> 00:44:01,390 S1: dives into tracking, stress tracking, sleep, um, tracking, fitness parameters, 800 00:44:01,390 --> 00:44:03,700 S1: tracking a whole lot that I didn't even talk about 801 00:44:03,700 --> 00:44:05,739 S1: in this podcast all the way down to like, lung 802 00:44:05,739 --> 00:44:09,340 S1: CT scans and retinal scans and AI powered skin cancer 803 00:44:09,340 --> 00:44:13,750 S1: screens and balance tracking and neurocognitive testing like that book 804 00:44:13,750 --> 00:44:16,460 S1: takes a deep dive. I'm literally writing for like 2 805 00:44:16,460 --> 00:44:18,790 S1: or 3 hours a morning right now, just trying to 806 00:44:18,790 --> 00:44:21,549 S1: finish up that bad boy on deadline that the publisher 807 00:44:21,550 --> 00:44:24,100 S1: has given me. So anyways, there'll be plenty in there 808 00:44:24,100 --> 00:44:26,890 S1: as well when that book, uh, gets republished. And in 809 00:44:26,890 --> 00:44:29,380 S1: the current version, honestly, chapter 16 of the current version 810 00:44:29,380 --> 00:44:32,740 S1: has a ton on Self-quantification as well. So that's the 811 00:44:32,739 --> 00:44:35,140 S1: book boundless. So anyway, I'm going to wrap it up. 812 00:44:35,140 --> 00:44:40,540 S1: Show notes are at bengreenfieldlife.com slash testing podcast. Uh, bonus 813 00:44:40,540 --> 00:44:43,150 S1: points drinking game if you can use the word uniformitarianism 814 00:44:43,150 --> 00:44:46,180 S1: in a conversation today. And till next time I'm Ben 815 00:44:46,180 --> 00:44:50,410 S1: Greenfield signing out. Have an amazing week! Do you want 816 00:44:50,410 --> 00:44:55,450 S1: free access to comprehensive show notes? My weekly round up newsletter, 817 00:44:55,450 --> 00:44:59,230 S1: cutting edge research and articles. 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