Knowing what is going on inside your body is important for your overall health. Analyzing your blood work is the best way to figure out what is going on with our internal chemistry.
When our doctors test our blood as a patient we often times don’t have the knowledge to understand what our blood work is telling us.
Usually when we go to the doctor for our annual physical they draw blood from us. The doctor calls us within a few days if something is out of normal lab range and is a red flag for our health.
Here is a list of standard blood tests done at the Firefighters Health & Wellness Center
for an annual physical.
CBC- Complete Blood Count
• A blood test used to give important information about the kinds and numbers
of cells in the blood, especially red blood cells, white blood cells and
platelets.
CMP- Complete Metabolic Profile
• A blood test that provides an overall picture of your body’s chemical balance and metabolism. It can give you a picture of the way your body is processing and burning fat (triglycerides) and sugar (fasting glucose).
Lipid Panel
•Total Cholesterol, LDL, HDL &Triglycerides. This group of tests
measures the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood.
Hemoglobin A1C
•A blood test that looks at your blood sugar levels over a 3 month period of time in addition to fasting glucose. The higher your A1C level is the greater the risk of diabetes and poor heart health.
There are some key things to look at in our blood work when we are feeling low energy and/or having struggles with weight loss, that may give us the answers.
When looking at your blood work there is a difference between out of lab range and out of functional range. The lab range is used to diagnose disease; the functional range is used to assess risk for disease before the disease develops. When blood work is analyzed by a lab or doctor they are most concerned with blood work that is out of lab range and can be in the disease state.
Preventative health care practitioners, look at blood work that is out of lab range, but also out of functional range. When these numbers are out of functional range, it tells us that we should take preventative measures so they don’t become out of lab range and cause a disease state in our body. We can use different techniques including nutrition and lifestyle modifications that can help us have optimal health and keep our numbers within functional range.
Here are some other key areas to be concerned about in our blood work when trying to identify factors that are affecting our health, such as energy and fat loss that are drawn at the Firefighters Health & Wellness Center.
CORTISOL
A hormone produced in the adrenal glands that is released in response to stress and a low level of blood glucose. It's primary functions are to increase blood sugar, suppress the immune system, aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
Cortisol is measured through blood and saliva tests:
-Blood tests (usually done after 12 hours of fasting and first thing in the morning) measures the level of cortisol in the blood.
-Saliva tests measures your cortisol output rhythm throughout the day.
THYROID
A gland found in the neck that controls how the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls many other hormones in the body. Hormonal output from the thyroid is regulated by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
Blood tests check how well the thyroid gland is working.
A full panel includes -TSH, total T4, Free T4, T3 uptake, total T3, Thyroid antibody.
IRON
A mineral that carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our body and helps our muscles store and use oxygen.
Iron is another mineral to look at if you are feeling tired and run down. If you are iron deficient it is important to figure out why. If you take an iron supplement and your iron levels go up, then you were probably iron deficient. However, if you are taking an iron supplement and your levels do not improve you could have some sort of absorption issues going on in your body.
VITAMIN D
A fat-soluble vitamin that is responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphate and zinc.
Vitamin D plays an important role in the metabolism of calcium. Decreased blood levels can interfere with bone development and strength, while elevated levels can be toxic. Consequently, the serum level needs to be determined and monitored to effectively provide dietary supplementation or treatment. More recently, low vitamin D has been associated with non- skeletal disorders such as: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, allergies, celiac disease, IBS, weight gain and lethargy.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which means it gets absorbed in the fat of your body, not like others that are water soluble and get excreted through urine. We get Vitamin D from the sun, it hits our skin and then it activates a hormonal cascade to make Vitamin D.
Lab levels identify Vitamin D deficiency happens below 30. Functional levels actually say you should be between 50-80 and even up to 100.
When supplementing with Vitamin D, you may want to increase your dosage in the winter months. If you are deficient in D you may need to take higher doses at first to get your Vitamin D levels back up to normal ranges and then taper back down.
When the sun is out, go outside for at least 15 minutes without sunscreen to get the benefits of Vitamin D.
Now that you know what to look for from your blood test results, you will be able to better analyze those results. Armed with this knowledge, you can now feel confident when your doctor reviews your blood tests with you.
If you find out that you are deficient in one of these key areas, it could be what has been holding you back from your weight loss goals or optimizing your health. When you are able to identify these deficiencies you can use nutritious food& quality supplements to help repair the body and get the nutrients it needs to be in optimal health.
When our doctors test our blood as a patient we often times don’t have the knowledge to understand what our blood work is telling us.
Usually when we go to the doctor for our annual physical they draw blood from us. The doctor calls us within a few days if something is out of normal lab range and is a red flag for our health.
Here is a list of standard blood tests done at the Firefighters Health & Wellness Center
for an annual physical.
CBC- Complete Blood Count
• A blood test used to give important information about the kinds and numbers
of cells in the blood, especially red blood cells, white blood cells and
platelets.
CMP- Complete Metabolic Profile
• A blood test that provides an overall picture of your body’s chemical balance and metabolism. It can give you a picture of the way your body is processing and burning fat (triglycerides) and sugar (fasting glucose).
Lipid Panel
•Total Cholesterol, LDL, HDL &Triglycerides. This group of tests
measures the amount of cholesterol and triglycerides in your blood.
Hemoglobin A1C
•A blood test that looks at your blood sugar levels over a 3 month period of time in addition to fasting glucose. The higher your A1C level is the greater the risk of diabetes and poor heart health.
There are some key things to look at in our blood work when we are feeling low energy and/or having struggles with weight loss, that may give us the answers.
When looking at your blood work there is a difference between out of lab range and out of functional range. The lab range is used to diagnose disease; the functional range is used to assess risk for disease before the disease develops. When blood work is analyzed by a lab or doctor they are most concerned with blood work that is out of lab range and can be in the disease state.
Preventative health care practitioners, look at blood work that is out of lab range, but also out of functional range. When these numbers are out of functional range, it tells us that we should take preventative measures so they don’t become out of lab range and cause a disease state in our body. We can use different techniques including nutrition and lifestyle modifications that can help us have optimal health and keep our numbers within functional range.
Here are some other key areas to be concerned about in our blood work when trying to identify factors that are affecting our health, such as energy and fat loss that are drawn at the Firefighters Health & Wellness Center.
CORTISOL
A hormone produced in the adrenal glands that is released in response to stress and a low level of blood glucose. It's primary functions are to increase blood sugar, suppress the immune system, aid in the metabolism of fat, protein, and carbohydrates.
Cortisol is measured through blood and saliva tests:
-Blood tests (usually done after 12 hours of fasting and first thing in the morning) measures the level of cortisol in the blood.
-Saliva tests measures your cortisol output rhythm throughout the day.
THYROID
A gland found in the neck that controls how the body uses energy, makes proteins, and controls many other hormones in the body. Hormonal output from the thyroid is regulated by thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH).
Blood tests check how well the thyroid gland is working.
A full panel includes -TSH, total T4, Free T4, T3 uptake, total T3, Thyroid antibody.
IRON
A mineral that carries oxygen from our lungs throughout our body and helps our muscles store and use oxygen.
Iron is another mineral to look at if you are feeling tired and run down. If you are iron deficient it is important to figure out why. If you take an iron supplement and your iron levels go up, then you were probably iron deficient. However, if you are taking an iron supplement and your levels do not improve you could have some sort of absorption issues going on in your body.
VITAMIN D
A fat-soluble vitamin that is responsible for enhancing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphate and zinc.
Vitamin D plays an important role in the metabolism of calcium. Decreased blood levels can interfere with bone development and strength, while elevated levels can be toxic. Consequently, the serum level needs to be determined and monitored to effectively provide dietary supplementation or treatment. More recently, low vitamin D has been associated with non- skeletal disorders such as: cardiovascular disease, diabetes, allergies, celiac disease, IBS, weight gain and lethargy.
Vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin which means it gets absorbed in the fat of your body, not like others that are water soluble and get excreted through urine. We get Vitamin D from the sun, it hits our skin and then it activates a hormonal cascade to make Vitamin D.
Lab levels identify Vitamin D deficiency happens below 30. Functional levels actually say you should be between 50-80 and even up to 100.
When supplementing with Vitamin D, you may want to increase your dosage in the winter months. If you are deficient in D you may need to take higher doses at first to get your Vitamin D levels back up to normal ranges and then taper back down.
When the sun is out, go outside for at least 15 minutes without sunscreen to get the benefits of Vitamin D.
Now that you know what to look for from your blood test results, you will be able to better analyze those results. Armed with this knowledge, you can now feel confident when your doctor reviews your blood tests with you.
If you find out that you are deficient in one of these key areas, it could be what has been holding you back from your weight loss goals or optimizing your health. When you are able to identify these deficiencies you can use nutritious food& quality supplements to help repair the body and get the nutrients it needs to be in optimal health.