How Five Journeys Specialty Labs are the Key to Your Health and Wellness

Functional medicine is a comprehensive, science-based approach to health and wellness. Providers are well-trained in using diagnostics to uncover the root causes of illness and medical conditions and rely on lab tests as the foundation of treatment plans. At Five Journeys, labs are used to better understand how your body’s unique complex systems are working so you can get the answers and tools you need to restore health and balance to your life.

How Functional Medicine Utilizes Specialty Labs for Treatment

Conventional physicians frequently use specialty lab tests to evaluate how advanced an illness is or how much damage a medical condition has done to your body. These lab tests are necessary but reactionary.

Functional medicine lab testing is used for the same purposes but also proactively identifies illnesses for which you may be at risk. By uncovering risk factors such as genetics, hormone imbalances, nutritional deficiencies, and toxin exposure, functional medicine reduces or eliminates the dangers of developing a serious condition. 

If you’re already feeling the effects of imbalances in your system, such as fatigue, brain fog, and chronic pain, Five Journeys labs will find the source and treat it. You may begin to feel relief in as little as one or two visits, depending on the root cause of your condition.

Functional medicine lab testing commonly involves.

• Gut function analysis
• Hormone testing
• Inflammatory markers
• Food sensitivity or allergy testing
• Genetic tests
• Nutrient deficiency testing

These tests are a foundation of your personalized lab work, and Five Journeys may recommend additional tests to uncover the root causes of your medical condition.

Five Journeys Labs Focus on Uncovering the Root Causes of Illness

Functional medicine is based on the understanding that no illness is a stand-alone illness. Each condition affects every system in the entire network of your body. Health concerns such as chronic pain, fatigue, GI complaints, mood swings, depression, sleep disturbances, and frequent headaches are symptoms of an imbalance in your body’s complex network of systems.

Your Five Journeys specialty lab tests focus on uncovering the root causes of your condition, including the following:

Gut Function

A healthy gut is a foundation for optimal health. Any imbalances in the gut affect almost all of your body’s systems and lead to fatigue, brain fog, abdominal and GI discomfort, anxiety, and inflammation. 

Gut health links to five root causes of illness and chronic medical conditions.

Toxins

Your body’s natural detoxification process is compromised when the GI tract isn’t functioning correctly. When this happens, toxins build up in your body and affect every other system. 

Poor Diet/Nutritional Deficiencies

A poor diet affects the GI system and directly impairs its ability to function correctly. Imbalances in your gut’s natural ecosystem increase your vulnerability to toxins and leaky gut syndrome.

Stress

The gut-brain connection is essential to your overall well-being. Stress can directly change your gut’s health by changing its ecosystem. Conversely, the gut constantly communicates with your brain, so poor gut health increases stress.

Allergens

Allergens promote inflammation in your gut and can damage your intestinal lining. Your GI system houses your immune system, so increased exposure to allergens will also weaken your body’s defenses.

Microbes

Yeast, bacteria, and parasites affect your gut’s health, leading to leaky gut and inflammation. Poor diet, infections, medications, food sensitivity, and toxins help to fuel these imbalances.

Inflammation

Systemic inflammation plays a role in nearly every disease and health issue that functional medicine doctors address, from chronic illness to brain fog, fatigue, and digestive complaints. Testing for inflammatory markers is one of the Five Journeys labs we recommend to reduce or eliminate the causes of inflammation.

Toxins

A toxin buildup in your body can have many root causes and, in many cases, more than one source. These include the following:

Environmental toxins

Pollution, allergens, and exposure to everyday products like cleaning solutions and even some personal care products cause environmental toxicity. 

Bacterial toxins

Bacterial toxins are harmful substances that can cause severe illness. When ingested, these bacteria cause food poisoning and other GI issues. Other methods of exposure include inhalation and skin or eye contact.

Cellular waste products

Cellular waste builds up when your body’s natural detoxification system is compromised and causes illness. Sometimes these illnesses are severe, such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s. Examples of cellular waste include carbon dioxide, ammonia, urea, and lactic acid. At Five Journeys, labs identifying weaknesses or imbalances in your natural detoxification system are essential tools to help restore and maintain your body’s ability to eliminate toxins.

Hormonal Imbalances

Hormones regulate your physical health as well as your emotional well-being. When your hormones are out of balance, your body will be affected in many ways, such as weight gain, mood swings, anxiety and depression, skin disorders, brain fog, and fatigue.

Nutritional Deficiencies

Many things, including your diet, stress, medications, and lifestyle habits, affect your nutrient status. Imbalances in vitamins and minerals cause many conditions that functional medicine doctors address, like fatigue, brain fog, and autoimmune disease flare-ups. At Five Journeys, labs involving your nutrient status are essential in creating your unique wellness plan.

Other Lab Tests

Five Journeys may recommend additional lab tests to uncover why you feel unwell. These can include the following: 

• Saliva cortisol testing: Evaluates adrenal imbalance
• Heavy metals testing: Uncovers the presence of harmful heavy metals
• Bartonella, Lyme, babesia: Tests for tick-borne illnesses
• Mycotoxins: Looks for mold-specific toxins
• SIBO: Measures and evaluates small intestinal bacterial overgrowth
• Mediator Release Test: Is the most complete food sensitivity test available

Because your journey to good health differs from anyone else’s, your lab tests are specific to your personalized needs.

Why Choose Five Journeys Lab Testing?

At Five Journeys, labs are essential tools to evaluate your health status. We offer lab tests in our office, and you can perform some of our tests at home.  

Here are just a few benefits of Five Journeys Labs in Newton, Massachusetts:

• Reliable, accurate results
• Affordable pricing for self-pay patients
• Insurance accepted for covered patients
• Trusted partnerships with providers including Galaxy, Genova Diagnostics, The Great Plains Laboratory, Quest Diagnostics, and Igx
• Personalized testing specific to your needs
• Testing that can be done in-office or in your own home

At Five Journeys, labs can get you back to balanced health. It’s time to take charge of your physical and emotional well-being. Contact us now to book a discovery call that will change your life.