Okay, first of all, what’s “normal”?
You always avoided blind dates when they were described simply as “normal”, right?….or you have this vague, undefinable picture when someone describes a family as “normal”.
The good old dictionary talks about “constituting a norm, standard, pattern, level, or type – typical.” Is your picture of this still blurry? So is mine.
But her email headline of “your labs are normal” followed by a subheading of “something IS off” made me stop and read her message.
You see, when I went to a nutritionist who was testing me on a device that displayed results on a computer screen showing green (good zone), yellow (caution), and red (bad zone) as to foods, systems, and my body systems, I called a halt for explanation.
I asked her “who says” these are the zones I should fit in? How was her machine calibrated? What standard was being applied? Does one size fit all? (P.S. I really respect her and still go to her, she handled all this well and was helpful to me.)
So when I saw the “your labs are normal” email, I stopped to read. I respect and follow Leanne Vogel from Healthful Pursuit who sent the email. She has experienced success in keto-based diet and recipes and was of great help to me when I experimented with the keto diet. I had the “keto flu” and did not recognize it until I saw her clear explanation and how to walk out of it.
As I have followed her, I have found her advice good, her knowledge of nutrition way deeper than mine, and her communication very clear.
So, here she was – hitting something that has often bugged me and I never got a good explanation that made sense enough to stick with me: blood lab results. I had to just trust the M.D.’s translation of them to mean I needed XX and “go with it” because I could not understand it well enough to dialogue sensibly about it.
As to timing – a few years ago, my M.D. retired and I wanted to transition to a more naturopathic direction. I recently transferred to a D.O. who is nutrition-minded. We are just getting to know each other, but she is presently having me go through full lab work. This is overlayed on my 8 years of following Dr. Wallach’s Youngevity products and recommendations – which, by the way, have been outstanding for me. If you have followed me any amount of time, you know my testimony in that department.
Thus, when I read Leanne Vogel’s words, I was definitely paying attention.
After she gave allopathic doctors (M.D.’s) a good pat on the back, she then put it in perspective for her topic by saying that we need them for emergency situations, BUT…..(her quote starts here)
What they’re not trained for? Functional problems. Their minds are ready to diagnose, treat and cure diseases. But functional issues are not in their realm.
Maybe you’ve gone to your doctor and explained what was going on. Perhaps they ran labs, went through them with you and state, “your labs are normal”.
THIS should be a relief! Diagnostically, your doctor has said that everything is a-ok. Yet, you’re still dealing with the problem you went there seeking answers for.
Can I suggest another way? Functional blood chemistry – looking at your blood work for patterns that give you clues to your functional needs (not diagnostic needs) including answers about liver function, optimal fat breakdown, infections, kidney function, hormones…so so much of that panel can ALSO be used functionally!
I made a video all about this, sharing how and why you can use your blood work to understand your body from a functional standpoint. If you’re seeking answers, and feel like you’re getting nowhere, I made this one for you!
Yes, I will give you a link to her information – I dug a little deeper into it myself.
She does say “understanding our blood work is a superpower, truly it is.” And I believe her on that – and I do not claim to have that superpower, but I am super interested in this topic. Just knowing about it and getting a bit more education on it was my goal. And that is why I am sharing it with you – just so you know about it and if you wish, you can explore it further, also. I believe this is where my new D.O. primary physician is going – time will tell.
Leanne explains that catching various patterns of nutrient needs is the name of the game and that many answers are in a standard blood work panel. But don’t expect your M.D. to be looking at it that way. It turns out she is quite the expert in the patterns and has a full coaching business along that line.
It is worth listening to her Podcast “Blood Work, Part 1” where she explains Functional Blood Chemistry – she defines it as the art of looking for imbalances within regular blood labs. It is complicated and she has been studying it for a while now.
Probably the most helpful thing she did for me was explain about the “ranges” you see on the lab results. Functional Blood Chemistry looks at very tight ranges on lab work to determine where your imbalances are. When you are looking at the “standard ranges”, which your M.D. uses, she explains these are meant for “sick” people.
The problem with using just those “standard ranges” is that by the time you are out of that range, there is something seriously wrong with what is going on functionally in your body. But up until then – “your labs are normal”.
Her link is HERE
I listened and was impressed – probably because she explained a situation I have gone through in the past several years. Here is her description of this first 30-minute podcast – it covers “….how to spot a need for iron (this is very common!), parasite pattern and what markers outline a potential parasitic imbalance, B12 need, and biofilms.”
Not a particularly exciting description, I grant you that! But I can say that her clear and thorough presentation was eye-opening to me with regard to a whole new subject (ok, new-to-me) – functional blood chemistry.
May this be of help to you and others in your circle of care!
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