A Crash Course On Finding Out What Is Happening Inside Your Body.

Ben Greenfield racing a Half Ironman last weekend, photo courtesy James Richman Do you ever wish you could know e actly what is going on inside your !ody" In my recent bout with MRSA (a nasty staph infection), I certainly wished I could know what was going on inside my body. After all, how on earth could a young, ibrant, healthy guy like me somehow ha e an immune defense system that can!t handle e"ternal attacks from a tiny staphylococcus organism# Something $ust didn!t seem right. What a!out you" Do you get tired a lot? Brain fog every afternoon? hort of !reath when you"re going up stairs? Difficulty sleeping? ore muscles no matter how well you feel like you"re managing recovery? lower or weaker than you think you should !e compared to the amount of actual training that you do? %hat stuff isn!t normal, and it shouldn!t be happening to you. So in today!s post, I!m going to walk you through e"actly how I found out what was going on inside my body, and the tools I used to do it & which are totally accessible to you too. In this day and age, self'testing is easier than you think, and !y the ti#e you $inish reading this crash course on $inding out what is happening inside your !ody% you&ll know e actly how to take charge o$ your own health and identi$y all the things that could !e causing pro!le#s $or you ' including hormone le els, protein allergies, gut issues and more. After you read this post, feel free to lea e any (uestions that you ha e below, as I know that this stuff can get confusing sometimes)

Baseline Blood Assess#ents

My recommendations for baseline blood assessments include the basic tests that your general practitioner physician might order if you were to go in for your annual physical, but when I did my baseline testing, I added in some ariables that are ery important to truly understand what!s going on inside your body (these are the same *add'ons+ I recommend in ,odcast -pisode ./001 2hat 3lood %ests %o Ask 4our 5octor 6or 2hen 4ou 7o In 6or 4our ,hysical). 6or what costs about 8/99, I personally split my baseline assessments into : basic categories1 /) #ardiovascular Health$ %& Inflammation$ '& (eta!olism)Hormones$ *& +iver),idney$ -& .utrients) /lectrolytes. 3elow, I!ll show you a (uick ideo of my 2ellness6; dashboard (2ellness6; is where I got these baseline blood markers tested) and then describe these tests in more detail below, along with my notes on what was good and what was bad in my case.

Cardiovascular Health < er :=> of heart attacks occur in people with totally *normal+ cholesterol le els, and two'thirds of people with what modern medicine would describe as *healthy+ cholesterol ha e other diagnosable risk factors for cardio ascular disease. 6or those of you want to really geek out on cholesterol, my friend ,eter Attia has a great series on cholesterol at his -atingAcademy blog, but what the issue comes down to is this1 0hen it comes to cardiovascular markers for health, particularly your cholesterol and lipid panels, you need to go !eyond typical tests for total cholesterol, HD+ and +D+ to uncover the actual risk factors for early heart disease1 %he tests that I had performed were1 23otal #holesterol & my le els are fairly high (??0), but nearly half of that is @5A, and I eat a high fat diet, so no surprises there) Remember, total cholesterol is not an indicator of heart disease. 2HD+ & good 2+D+ & good 23riglycerides & good (low) 2+p4a& & good 25poB ' this was slightly ele ated in my case, probably due to the fact that I had some inflammation and o"idiBed cholesterol in my bloodstream from a @alf'Ironman the week prior. In$la##ation %ons of research has shown that high sensiti ity C'Reacti e ,rotein (hs'CR,) inflammation marker is associated with lack of reco ery from hard workouts and also with the future onset of diseases such as cancer, dementia, cardio ascular disease, and many other chronic diseases. %here are other inflammatory markers you can test, but hs'CR, is the most important. 2hs2#R6 ' my le els turned out to be low, probably due to my high intake of Caprafle" and ,henocane. 'eta!olis# ( Hor#ones Among the issues that can affect your metabolism, thyroid disease and insulinDblood sugar issues are the most common hormone imbalances and can lead to many symptoms such as fatigue or restlessness, heat or cold intolerance, and weight gain or loss. %ons of people ha e undiagnosed thyroid imbalance andDor insulin insensiti ity. My tests for metabolism and hormones were1 23 H & slightly ele ated, so I will follow up with %E and %F testing to make sure my actual acti e thyroid hormones are ade(uate. 2Glucose & good. 2H!57c 8 slightly high, and as a E month snapshot of blood glucose, this was not as surprise, as I ha e se eral high carbohydrate weeks during race season. )iver ( *idney Health 4our kidney and li er are you body!s filters, and they deto" your body of harmful pollutants from your e eryday en ironment. 2hen these organs are optimally functioning, they play a large role in helping you to a oid chronic diseases such as cardio ascular disease and cancer, and also let you handle en ironmental pollutants much better. 6or li er and kidney, I tested1 2B9. & high, pretty typical in acti e indi iduals who are breaking down muscle on a regular basis, so

no surprises there. 2#reatinine & also high, for the same reason abo e. 25 3 & high. In this case, my li er was processing the antibiotics I had $ust come off from the MRSA, so again, no surprises, but my 2ellness6; physician recommend I get another li er test soon $ust to make sure. 25+3 & good 23otal Biliru!in & good 25l!umin & good 23otal 6rotein & good +utrition ( ,lectrolytes -lectrolytes such as sodium, potassium and others are critical in allowing your body!s cells to function properly and the right balance of electrolytes helps to optimiBe ner e and cellular function that supports nearly e ery system in the body. In addition calcium and Gitamin 5 are essential for hormone and steroid formation, strengthening the immune system, and reducing the risk of cancer. 6or these markers, I tested1 2:itamin D & I see Gitamin 5 le els low in nearly e eryone I help with testing, but my le els were ery high (almost H=), likely due to my high amounts of sun e"posure and cod li er oil consumption. 2#alcium 2 odium 26otassium 2#;% So how did it work if you want to get these baseline blood markers# 3asically, after purchasing a test kit, you $ust print a *re(uisition form+ and isit one of the 2ellness6; partner laboratories for a blood draw. %hen you!re notified to schedule your phone consultation with a physician of your choice to re iew your results and discuss their recommendations. 4ou should know that 2ellness6; is currently a ailable in California, <regon, and 2ashington, but will soon be a ailable in %e"as, Colorado, and Massachusetts, and they!re rapidly e"panding to new regions in the I.S. based on demand. If they!re not a ailable where you are, another good source for these type of baseline markers is 5irectAabs. -u##ary so $ar. so $ar you know that I $ound out that I /and you01 need to continue to !e care$ul with total car!ohydrate intake /returns to 2isk vs. 2eward o$ hardcore triathlon racing1% especially !ecause when eating a high $at diet. But there were no 3serious4 issues noted on #y !aseline !lood #arkers that indicate I&ve got any serious health issues. JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

Allergy 5esting
If you!re eating foods to which you!re allergic, you!re going to be inflamed, and that can set you up for a hyper reacti e immune system. %his can lead to things like resistance to weight loss, getting sick fre(uently, or lack of performance, which is why my R-G 5iet book starts by simply eliminating all basic food allergy triggers. But let"s say you want to actually test to see what e<actly you"re allergic to1

Allergic and other hypersensiti ity reactions to foods can actually characteriBed by ele ated allergen' specific antibody le els in the affected indi idual!s blood. %here is one type of test called an -nByme Ainked Immunosorbent Assay (-AISA) methodology that test allergies and sensiti ities to a ariety of common allergens. <ne name for this type of test is an *immunoglobulin test+, and under the ad ice of my naturopathic physician, (5r. %odd Schlapfer, in Coeur 5! Alene, Idaho), I went ahead and did a (uick blood draw for this test (I simply got this blood draw done at the same time I did my 2ellness6; blood draw, and was at the lab for a total of about /= minutes). @ere!s a link to the IS 3iotek Antibody Assessment that I did, and here is what the results look like1

If you cock your head $ust the right way, you can see the little yellow marks that my physician placed on these test results. It was ery interesting to see that1 5& any dairy from a cow 4not a goat&= B& and also chicken eggs= Kcause my body to mount an inflammatory reaction) Considering the amount of omelets, raw dairy yogurt, raw dairy cheese, 7reek yogurt and e en grass fed cattle whey protein bars I consume, this was ery aluable news for me to ha e, and based on this information, I can cut these immune triggers out of my diet and switch to goat based milk products only.

Another ery good option for food allergy testing (especially for gluten) is Cyre" Aabs. %hey do their testing through sali ary panels that co er all areas of gluten, and also make a ailable a test that can pinpoint the ery areas of your body that are being most affected by gluten. %o get your hands on either of these food allergy tests, you must go through a licensed medical care pro ider, meaning that they need to order the test for you, but that!s easy to do and both sites I linked to abo e gi e you instructions on how to do it. -u##ary so $ar. O!viously% this was a !iggie $or #e. I&# cutting cow dairy and eggs. JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ

-ecretor Blood 5ype

%he secretor blood type test is based on 5r. ,eter 5!AdamoLs blood typing test protocol and blood typing diet. If you ha e a reason to want to be e en more strict in adhering to the diet for health concerns, such as my aforementioned concerns about my MRSA scare, this home kit for sali a testing, which runs about 8:='M=, allows you to refine your diet e en further. 2hile the a erage person may not really need this information, people with special needs and more serious health concerns may want to know their secretor status in order to open the door to e en more specific dietary guidelines. In my case, because of the MRSA issue, I was encouraged by 5r. Schlapfer to also complete this test. As you can see, I was identified as a *%ype A Secretor+1

3ased on this information, 5r. %odd supplied me with list of appropriate foods for a %ype A Secretor (in this case, he specifically ga e me a low glycemic inde" food chart, because I try to keep my blood sugar le els ery well controlled). @ere!s a sample page from my food list1

-u##ary so $ar. I&ll !e sticking to #y secretor type list $or the ne t 67 days to see how I look% $eel and per$or#. 8888888888888888888

9ut 5esting
Although I did not do a gut test in the past couple months, I can!t write a post about how to test your body without including this ital information. %he first time I decided to do gut testing was when I inter iewed Anne Aouise 7ittleman in the episode *@ow Many Critters Are Ai ing In 4<IR 7ut, Making 4ou 6at, %ired, AaBy, 3loated and Sick#*, in which you learn about how testing your poop can re eal presence of things like parasitic infections, candida yeast, digesti e enBymes and more. %he test that I performed was the -"panded 7I ,anel, which runs about 8FF= and is the most complete gastrointestinal test you can get. It tests for parasites and intestinal function using multiple stool and sali a samples, and helps to find causes for digesti e problems, gluten intolerance, hyperacti ity, Inflammatory 3owel 5isease, chronic fatigue and fibromyalgia. It also tests for @. plylori and pathogenic bacteria, Candida albicans and fungus & in addition to screening for many types of protoBoa and worms, including C. difficile, 7iardia, -. coli, 3lastocystis hominis, Roundworm, %o"oplasma, %richinella spiralis (from swine) and %apeworm. Intestinal function markers including 7I immunity'SIgA, pancreatic enByme output, blood in stool, and stool p@ are also included in the results. In the pri acy of your home, E stool samples and ? sali a samples are collected and then sent to the laboratory. At the risk of information o ershare, here are my complete results of this test, along with a link to the e"planation of results1 2(etametri< GI 6anel 2(etametri< GI 6anel results e<plained 3ecause of my fre(uent tra el, especially to Asian countries, I!ll be redoing the -"panded 7I ,anel at the end of this year, $ust to double check and make sure my *gut is clean+. -u##ary. 'y gut is clean. But I&ve discovered through sel$:testing that I need to watch #y car!ohydrate intake /even when e ercising1% !e #uch #ore care$ul with dairy and eggs% and test $oods that are #ore in line with #y speci$ic !lood type. JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJ 0hew> 4ou now know more than 99> of the population about how to self'test your body, and I hope that was a aluable crash course for you. It may seem e"pensi e, but all these tests together are less than a thousand bucks, and to me, that is well worth the in estment in health and sa ings in health insurance premiums and hospital bills. +ow it&s your turn0 If you have questions about what you should get tested, WellnessFX, your baseline blood marker tests, allergy tests, secretor tests or gut tests, then leave your comments below, and I promise to answer!

6; 2esponses to 3A Crash Course On Finding Out What Is Happening Inside Your Body.4

/.

Ben Greenfield says1 August 9, ?=/? at 01=0 pm INm not a doctor. 3ut that CO at M99 is what concerns me most. %hatNs an inflammatory firestorm. INd be doing some serious anti'inflammatory protocols and if youNre e"ercising right now, INd consider putting that on hold for a bit. If your labs show a high re erse %E le el this means that you are con erting most of your %F into re erse %E. %E is the most acti e form of thyroid and it is con erted from %F, but the problem with re erse %E is that it will bind to %E receptors with no acti ity & so high re erse %E le els can gi e you signs of hypothyroidism e en though the other thyroid hormones are normal. -"cessi e cortisol (stress) can amp up re erse %E. INll bet you know what INm going to say1 gi e yourself some reco ery) Reply

?.

Reka says1 August /=, ?=/? at E1E? am 3it scared. If I was told to stop eating eggs, I don!t know what I would do. Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /=, ?=/? at :1:/ am Apparently, duck eggs are <O for me. Puack. Reply

E.

?uoc says1 August /=, ?=/? at F1E= am @i 3en & 7reat post) Infortunately, 2ellness 6; isnNt a ailable in ,ennsyl ania. Is there an e(ui alent test package from 5irectAabs that you would recommend# Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /=, ?=/? at :1:? am %op %en for Male (or %op %en for 6emale) are good. Aots of my clients do thatK Reply

F.

James says1 August /=, ?=/? at M1== am 2hen IS 3iotek antibody assessment checks for cows milk do they specify if it is A/ or A? milk# I hear that makes a big difference. 2hat is the cost $ust for the assessment# Checked the

site but you ha e to ha e it ordered with your primary and before I $ump through any hoops thought you could tell me the cost (INm sure my insurance doesnNt pay). %hanks. Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /=, ?=/? at H1=E am Qames, A/ s. A? is not differentiated on the IS 3io%ek test. My total for all labs e"cept 2ellness6; looking at my receipt was 8EF=. So I know that the secretor was about 8M=, which means the antibody was probably about 8?0=Kand that includes the lab fees and the fact that I paid out of pocket with no insurance co' payK Reply :. (elanie says1 August /=, ?=/? at 91?: am @i 3en, 6or ,odcast ./0H, I had asked about metabolic type diets and blood type diets. 4ou responded that in general you didnNt put much stock in those and might be more trouble than they are worth. 5oes this testing you ha e done and info you put in the post mean that you ha e changed your opinion or are you simply saying that you are willing to try out the blood type diet to see how it goes# RInteresting to note that some cow dairy is on your %ype A list, but your allergen test suggests it is a problem. Melanie Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /=, ?=/? at /=1F= am -"actly Melanie. %his is a self test of blood typing protocols. And in that podcast, I directed M<S% of my eyebrow raising towards metabolic typing compared to blood typing. Also, the list that I recei ed on a %ype A Secretor diet is a standard list that is not created with indi idualiBed immunoglobulin considerations, which is why you see that cow dairy on it. Reply M. (elanie says1 August /=, ?=/? at 91:F am @i 3en, <ne other (uestionK %he e"panded 7I ,anel claims to test for dairy and egg intolerance. 2hen you did this test pre iously did it not show eggs were a problem as now this other test is showing# I know you ha e mentioned in the podcast pre iously some issues with cow dairy that

you were aware of. IN e been wondering for myself if any type of dairy is a problem or if eggs are and ha e considered the e"panded 7I panel since I donNt ha e to go through a doctor. I donNt ha e a doctor and ha enNt in years needed one and hate to try to find one $ust to get allergen testing. I ha e an <3D74S that I go to about e ery two or three years, but donNt think they will order this type of testing. Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /=, ?=/? at /=1F/ am I think the immunoglobulin test is 3-%%-R for protein allergies. INd stick with the 7I panel for parasites, yeast, etc. though. Some tests are better than others at identifying specific markers. Reply H. Dr Jerry Duggar says1 August /=, ?=/? at /=1:? am 7reat post 3en. As a functional medicine specialist I ha e a couple things to add. 2hile meta metri" labs are great. <ther functional med labs are $ust as good. I use diagnos'techs lab for my comprehensi e 7I panels. -(ual if not better results for under E==. %he only down side is that the report isn!t as pretty. Also your followers really should consider an adrenal sali ary test that measures cortisol and dhea. %hen you would ha e certainty regarding the hormone panel. 6ood sensiti ity testing is a bit of an art because there are so many theories and ways to test. I lo e your approach. %est, follow the results for E= days and ree aluate. Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /F, ?=/? at /=1=? am 7reat feedback 5r. Qerry, and really good to hear from you) 7ood point on the hormones tooKINll be doing a follow up post on genetic testing as well. Reply 0. pei--plusgames says1 August /E, ?=/? at F1:= am 2hat is considered @I7@ in terms of total carbs when on a high'fat diet and act itiy le el is about /hr aerobic per day# Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /E, ?=/? at 01?= am @I7@ carb would be /=='/:=gDdayK Reply

9.

(ark says1 August /E, ?=/? at F1F= pm @ey 3en, do you know where I could get these tests done in Australia# Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August /E, ?=/? at M1?M pm Check1 http1DDwww.labtestsonline.org.auD Reply

/=. tu #ameron says1 August /E, ?=/? at :1=9 pm Mark, you beat me to the (uestion there, we seem to miss out on some of the cool stuff that you ha e o er in the IS Reply (ark says1 August /:, ?=/? at E1?= am 4eah i know, I always try to find an Australian outlet for anything that I find worth trying, but struggle with most Reply //. (er says1 August /F, ?=/? at 91E= pm interesting that you mention cowDchicken dairy detriment. are you cutting them out completely# coincides timingn'wise with this article in the atlantic on eggs and cholesterol (yolks being as bad as cigarettes) Reply !en@greenfield says1 August /:, ?=/? at /=1:M am Mer, actually that eggDcholesterol study is something completely different. See my response to 5ennis below. In my case, it is simply an allergy issue & so I am almost completing cutting out /) cow dairy and ?) eggs. Reply /?. 6aid 3o Drive says1 August /:, ?=/? at ?1?F am certainly like your web'site howe er you ha e to take a look at the spelling on (uite a few of

your posts. Se eral of them are rife with spelling issues and I find it ery troublesome to tell the reality howe er I will definitely come again again. Reply /E. Dennis says1 August /:, ?=/? at H1E/ am 7ood morning 3en, I $ust read a 4ahoo research post from Canada that claimed eating egg yokes was as bad for your arteries as smoking. 2hat do you think of a study with this outcome# Reply !en@greenfield says1 August /:, ?=/? at /=1:H am 4es, I responded to this on %witter.comD3en7reenfield from someone else, but basically I can completely belie e this. 5ietary sugars, egetable oils and grains were not controlled, and neither was the omega M fatty acid content of the eggs (i.e. grain fed chickens). %hat is a recipe for o"idiBed cholesterol and artery damage, and also a real reason to AG<I5 -;C-SS SI7ARS and G-7-%A3A- <IAS if you are eating high fat, otherwise it becomes dynamite. Reply /F. (ichael Brooks says1 August ?M, ?=/? at H1:9 pm I noticed your ,ylori count was high what would you recommend if anythingD # mine was about the same Im trying Matula tea and Mastic gum right now Im going to retest soon Reply Ben Greenfield says1 August ?M, ?=/? at 01:M pm Mastic gum, without a doubt. %hat cured me within a month. Reply /:. trategies to enhance performance says1 August E=, ?=/? at M1?9 pm T...U else I recently wrote about was the blood testing that I! e been doing through 2ellness6;. %he more I dig into (uantifying yourself through blood, sali a, urine or stool testing, the more T...U Reply /M. 5(ar says1 <ctober F, ?=/? at //1=? am @i 3en why cut out dairyDeggs if you ha e no ig- response, ig7 and igA $ust mean youN e seen it

before# Reply !en@greenfield says1 <ctober F, ?=/? at /?1EM pm Sot necessarily. I know what youNre saying, but there are arying le els of ig- and igA and mine were off the charts for regular eggs and dairy, e en though I was rarely eating them anyways) Reply /H.How Aour #ells 3alk 3o /ach ;ther says1 <ctober ?=, ?=/? at M1EH am T...U 9MH=E commentshttp>EA>?6>?6www.bengreenfieldfitness.com >?6?=/?>?6/=>?6how'your'cells'talk'to'each'other >?6@owV%oV7etV4ourVCellsV%oVCommunicateV2ithVAightningVSpeed?=/?'/=' ?=V=9>EAE=>EAF:3enV7reenfieldhttp>EA>?6>?6www.bengreenfieldfitness.com>?6 >E6p>E59MH= Click to subscribe to all my fitness tips. %weet (function() W ar po X document.create-lement(NscriptN)Y po.type X Nte"tD$a ascriptNY po.async X trueY po.src X Nhttps1DDapis.google.comD$sDplusone.$sZ.=E9YY ar s X document.get-lements3y%agSame(NscriptN)T=UY s.parentSode.insert3efore(po, s)Y [)()Y ) function(d,s,id)W ar $s,f$sXd.get-lements3y%agSame(s)T=UYif()d.get-lement3yId(id)) W$sXd.create-lement(s)Y$s.idXidY$s.srcX\DDplatform.twitter.comDwidgets.$s\Yf$s.parentSode.insert 3efore($s,f$s)Y[[(document,\script\,\twitter'w$s\)Y In -pisode ./::, *2ay 3eyond Saturopathic Medicine*, I inter iew my personal physician, 5r. %odd Schlapfer, from Coeur 5! Alene, Idaho, and also mention 5r. %odd in my Crash Course <n 6inding <ut 2hat Is @appening Inside 4our 3ody. T...U Reply /0. #1 says1 <ctober E=, ?=/? at E1/0 am 6reakin <ut) @ad blood test today, but ery little info from the 5oc. Said I am dangerously high cholesterol and border line diabetic. %otal cholesterol ?9/, %7 ?=:) And @3A/c :.H. Sote I ha e been low carb, high fat medium protein for M months, and the blood test was taken after /? to /F hour fasting. M months ago on embarking on a ketogenic diet blood work was ok according to the doc. CanNt find any decent info on especially high @3Ac/ data, only on diabetic websites, not much on ,aleo sites etcK Male FMyrs. /0Mcm, 0? kg, fat about/?>. ,lease point me in direction of any good reading materials for me to study up on) %hanks so much))) Reply /9.-' 0ays 3o Be 5 +oser says1 Qanuary /F, ?=/E at E1:= am T...U 5on!t test. T...U Reply ?=.How 3o 3est Aour Blood says1 March ?:, ?=/E at /?1E/ am

T...U know this if you read my article *A Crash Course <n 6inding <ut 2hat Is @appening Inside 4our 3ody*, in which I tell you about a ton of different blood, sali a and urine tests that you can T...U Reply ?/.(arathon Heart 5ttacks says1 April /:, ?=/E at M1E= pm T...U RIn addition to what Armi recommends, I!d also seriously consider checking out ariables such as inflammatory markers (i.e. C'Reacti e ,rotein), potassium and magnesium le els, etc. Check out the article *@ow %o %est 4our 3ody*. T...U ??.