Blood Tests for Hormones: Functional Lab Recommendations to Improve Your Fertility

If you spend time in the holistic space (especially on social media), you’ve probably noticed an increase in hormone-focused content. From your puffy morning face to hair loss, it’s easy to blame mystery symptoms on your hormone levels.

But targeting and restoring your hormone levels is easier said than done. These chemical messengers control everything from blood sugar levels to mood swings and metabolism. Not everything is a hormone issue. But when we do experience hormone imbalances, we need targeted and intentional strategies to restore balance.

If you’re tired of guessing the root cause of your symptoms and are ready to find real answers, I recommend functional lab testing. These tests are much different from your typical doctor’s recommendations, and work to get the data behind your concerns.

Intentional testing is your best resource for truly understanding your hormone health (no more throwing darts). Here, I’m sharing the tests I recommend to help you find real answers you can turn into an action plan.

Symptoms of Hormone Imbalance

As you review these symptoms of hormone imbalance, keep in mind that these aren’t a diagnosis. These symptoms serve as a guide to tell you if functional blood tests for hormones are a good investment.

• Metabolism dysfunction. From blood sugar issues to unexplained weight changes, your hormones and metabolic function are closely connected.

• Trouble getting pregnant. If you’ve been trying to get pregnant for six months or more, your hormones could be playing a role in your fertility journey.

• Irregular menstrual cycles. Unpredictable periods that are heavy and painful (or almost nonexistent) are always a good indicator that your hormone health isn’t where it should be.

• Irregular heartbeat. Heart palpitations are often connected to thyroid dysfunction, a magnesium deficiency, and general hormone imbalance.

• Mineral deficiencies. Your mineral stores say a lot about your hormone health. Chronic stress, inflammation, and thyroid dysfunction can deplete your mineral stores with little warning.

• Acne. Especially as an adult, hormonal acne is a sign that something’s not quite right with your cycles. Check on your liver health and blood sugar regulation.

• Mood swings. You may notice increased anxiety and depression with severe mood swings around your period. These can indicate high levels of estrogen and an inability to detox.

• Poor quality sleep. When we talk about hormone health, we’re not just addressing sex hormones. Melatonin and serotonin are hormones that regulate our wake and sleep cycles, along with our happiness.

Why Should You Get Blood Tests for Hormones?

Remove the guesswork from your health. Don’t get me wrong — I love that women are taking their health into their own hands. That said, you can spend too much time DIYing your health and never really get to the bottom of your symptoms. Functional blood tests for hormones are the best way to get you on the fast track to wellness.

Here are some reasons you should consider lab tests for hormones:

• You experience infertility. Lab tests should never feel like a last resort when you’re trying to get pregnant. In fact, I encourage all of my preconception clients to pursue lab testing, so they can prepare their bodies for pregnancy. Functional testing gives us the data behind your hormone levels, allowing us to create a map to better fertility.

• You’re trying to conceive. Knowing your hormone levels before pregnancy can give you a window into potential pregnancy symptoms. I always recommend this testing to increase your changes of conception and set you up for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum.

• You have symptoms of hormone imbalance. At minimum, these symptoms are no fun to live with. Lab tests for hormones help you focus on the diet, lifestyle, and supplement changes your body needs most.

• Biohack your health. If you simply want to know more about your health, blood tests for hormones should point you in the right direction.

• Track ovulation. Since ovulation tracking plays an important role in natural birth control methods, it’s helpful to know how your cycle works. I recommend these tests for natural family planning, especially if you experience an irregular cycle.

• You’ve been on birth control. Even if you don’t notice symptoms, long-term birth control use can really wreck your hormones. Functional lab testing is a great way to hone your health and get you back on track.

Blood Tests for Hormones I Recommend

No gatekeeping here. I’ve worked with hundreds of women to support better fertility and hormone health. These are my go-to blood tests for hormones:

Full Thyroid Panel

This test doesn’t just search for thyroid conditions but can also check up on your hormone health in general. The thyroid releases, regulates, and metabolizes hormones — so it’s a great window into how your fertility and hormone health are doing overall.

Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) Test 

I recommend this test during multiple stages of preconception, pregnancy, and postpartum. It’s easy to do from home and can provide an accurate picture of your nutrient stores. Since your hormones rely on vitamins and minerals to function optimally, the Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis test should act as a guide for better nutrition and better hormones.

Lipid Panel

This blood test is well known for its ability to diagnose high cholesterol. But when I use it, I’m looking at your low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). High cholesterol is usually the result of an imbalance between the two (and long-term inflammation). Essentially, the lipid panel ensures you have the nutrients needed to conceive and checks on your inflammation levels.

Blood Sugar (Hemoglobin A1C, Insulin, and Blood Glucose)

Just because you haven’t been diagnosed with high blood sugar doesn’t mean you don’t have high blood sugar. Insulin resistance doesn’t typically show up on an A1C test, because there’s a threshold you have to pass to be considered diabetic or pre-diabetic. If you’re slightly under that threshold, you’re considered insulin resistant. This lets us know that we have some work to do on your hormones, metabolism, and liver health.

Liver Health Analysis

Most of the women I work with have poor liver health. This isn’t necessarily because of diet or a lack of self-care but is often the result of environmental toxins, hormone disruptors, and daily stress. Checking in on your liver health lets us know how much inflammation is in your body and what we need to do to reverse it.

Comprehensive Metabolic Panel

It’s possible for you to consume nutrients without actually absorbing them. So this multi-faceted test helps us get a clear picture of exactly how your body metabolizes and uses nutrients. It can provide vital information about your hormone and thyroid function, helping us create the ideal food and supplement plan to prompt gentle healing.

Vitamin Deficiencies

In the United States, vitamin deficiencies aren’t commonly acknowledged. We assume that a diet of quality whole foods is enough to eliminate any gaps. But due to poor soil quality, high-stress environments, and processed foods, this simply isn’t true. Most of us have vitamin deficiencies, which can impact everything from our fertility and hormones to thyroid and blood sugar health. Learning what these deficiencies are and how to target them is key to restoring your health.

Build an Action Plan to Restore Your Hormones

The last thing you want to hear is “Your labs look normal.”

Because you don’t feel normal.

The functional lab tests I recommend are much different than those ordered at a typical doctor’s appointment. They’re intentionally designed to uncover the root cause of hormone imbalance, infertility, and uncomfortable period symptoms.

And in my holistic nutrition practice, I go one step further by combining your lab test results with a comprehensive guide to getting well.

There’s no “Your labs look normal” here.

Between birth control pills, the modern diet, and environmental hormone disruptors, it’s extremely common for women to experience imbalances.

You’re not alone.

And your imbalance is easier to fix than you realize.

Let’s take the first step and find answers.

Stop Guessing and Get the Data