The majority of women we see at Cultivate are exhausted, undernourished, and burned out, spending their time juggling family duties, work, and other life challenges that life throws at them. This a recipe for hormonal imbalance, abnormal menstruation, PMS, headaches, low libido, bloating, fatigue, anxiety, depression, endometriosis, fibroids, and weight gain. For these symptoms, we almost always recommend a complete DUTCH test. The DUTCH test is top tier when it comes to testing reproductive and adrenal hormones, in addition to testing melatonin and oxidative stress levels. The DUTCH test involves a collection of a small amount of urine on paper four times in one day, and tests hormone metabolites from the sample:

Extensive Estrogen Metabolites: E1, E2, E3, 2-OH-E1, 4-OH-E1, 16-OH-E1, 2-Methoxy-E1, 2-OH-E2, 4-OH-E2

• Extensive Androgen Metabolites: Testosterone, DHEAS, DHT, and more

• Progesterone Metabolites: b-Pregnanediol, a-Pregnanediol

• Daily free cortisol + cortisone pattern

• Cortisol + cortisone metabolites

• DHEAS

• Markers for Melatonin, Dopamine, B6, B12, Glutathione, Biotion

• Markers for Oxidative Stress and Gut Health

This test also measures cortisol and cortisone rhythms and levels, and estrogen metabolism pathways.

WHY MEASURE THESE HORMONES?

While hormone blood tests are a useful tool, they are not the same as the DUTCH test. Blood and saliva tests don’t measure cortisol rhythms and estrogen metabolism and do not track hormone replacement as thoroughly. The DUTCH test is well-recognized for its ease of collection, coupled with comprehensive reporting that is not currently available from other tests. The DUTCH test can determine:

• Adrenal fatigue, sleep, or stress issues. Testing the adrenal hormones provides specific information about how to support stress and sleep issues, by specifically looking at the HPA axis (hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal) adrenal-brain communication.

• Fertility problems, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). This test is beneficial for people suffering from fibroids, PMS, irregular periods, painful periods, anxiety & moodiness, and endometriosis. It provides a comprehensive picture of how adrenal and reproductive hormone imbalances are contributing to the progression of these disorders.

• Sleep problems. By checking melatonin levels we can assess how your sleep patterns may be affected. Melatonin can be low and related to your sleep problems, or it can be normal.

• DHEA levels. This “feel-good” hormone is produced by your adrenal glands, when low can cause fatigue, decrease in muscle mass or bone density, depression, aching joints, loss of libido, and lowered immunity.

• Estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance occurs when we have too much estrogen in the body relative to the other sex hormones, such as having too little progesterone to balance it. Estrogen dominance can be a factor in endometriosis, PMS, painful periods, fibroids, breast distension, moodiness, and more. It can also make perimenopausal symptoms worse.

• The metabolization of estrogen through the liver. This is important for understanding how we are clearing estrogens from the body. If you don’t metabolize estrogen well, you risk estrogen dominance, as well as risks of estrogen-related cancers such as breast, cervical and uterine cancers. We can also see the methylation pathway of estrogen when doing the DUTCH test, which can tell if there are nutrient deficiencies or an MTHFR gene mutation, which would then need to be addressed in order to maximize health.

HOW TO ORDER THE TEST:

Please ask about DUTCH testing at your next appointment, purchase one here or give us a call to send you one in the mail/schedule a time to pick one up. If you are unsure which test is appropriate for you, please feel free to contact us at hello@cultivatenashville.com for guidance. The test result includes 19 pages of very technical data that will need to be analyzed by Dr. Renee, and you will receive a 1 hour virtual or in-person appointment to go over your assessment in detail with subsequent recommendations such as herbs, supplements, low-dose bio-identical hormones, nutritional and lifestyle adjustments, and stress management techniques. *The price of the test includes the at-home test kit, return shipping, and the 1-hour analysis appointment with recommendations for your specific conditions.*