How to Use Biomedical Testing to Find Problems Inside Your Body

Back when we first started working with clients we ordered all the fancy tests for everyone who walked in the door. We tested the gut (not one test, but two), hormones, cortisol, and organic acids, to name a few. It got to be pretty expensive but it seemed to be the best way to figure out exactly what to do next. Our process has evolved over the years, and now we start with just simple, inexpensive blood chemistry. This saves our clients a ton of money and time, and they still get great results.

On the podcast today, NBT Scientific Director and coach Megan Hall and I discuss the advanced (and not-so-advanced) biomedical tests we’ve run for clients over the years. We talk about the ones we still use and the ones we quit - and why. Megan explains why you should be sceptical of genetic testing, and the wealth of information you can derive from basic blood chemistry. We also talk about bloodsmart.ai, the software we use at NBT to give personalised predictions of problems in your body that can help you decide on further testing and/or actions you want to take. We also talk about some software improvements I’ve made recently.

Here’s the outline of this interview with Megan Hall:

[00:02:23] Megan's outline for this podcast.

[00:02:39] Testing in the early days on NBT.

[00:05:43] Chris and Jamie on Ben Greenfield’s podcast in 2014: 7 Signs Your Cortisol And Adrenals Are Broken.

[00:06:32] Ben Greenfield podcasts with Christopher Kelly: The Little-Known Test That Tells You Everything You Need To Know About Your Metabolism and Why Is My Cortisol High Even Though I’m Doing Everything Right? Hidden Causes Of High Cortisol, The DUTCH Test & More!

[00:07:00] Gut tests.

[00:07:42] NBT podcasts featuring Lucy Mailing, PhD: 1. How to Optimise Your Gut Microbiome and 2. Microbiome Myths and Misconceptions.

[00:09:00] Hormone testing.

[00:09:25] Books by Robert Sapolsky: Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers, Third Edition, and Behave: The Biology of Humans at Our Best and Worst.

[00:10:07] Hans Selye.

[00:13:37] Entraining circadian rhythm; Podcasts: How to Use Time-Restricted Eating to Reverse Disease and Optimize Health, with Satchin Panda, PhD; Why You Should Eat Breakfast (and Other Secrets of Circadian Biology), with Bill Lagakos, PhD, How to Entrain Your Circadian Rhythm for Perfect Sleep and Metabolic Health, and Morning Larks and Night Owls: the Biology of Chronotypes, with Greg Potter, PhD.

[00:16:09] Genetic testing.

[00:17:31] Podcast: How to Win at Angry Birds: The Ancestral Paradigm for a Therapeutic Revolution, with Josh Turknett, MD.

[00:18:38] Direct to consumer genetic testing: 40% of variants in raw data were false positives; Study: Tandy-Connor, Stephany, et al. "False-positive results released by direct-to-consumer genetic tests highlight the importance of clinical confirmation testing for appropriate patient care." Genetics in Medicine 20.12 (2018): 1515.

[00:18:59] Promethease.

[00:19:46] 95% of the genome is "non-coding".

[00:21:59] Growth mindset; Book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck; Podcast: Why Most People Never Learn From Their Mistakes - But Some Do, with Simon Marshall, PhD.

[00:24:19] Jeff Kendall-Weed; Podcast: How to Create a Career Doing a Sport You Love.

[00:25:06] Andrew D Huberman on Joe Rogan, Rich Rolls, Instagram.

[00:27:06] Glycomark.

[00:28:34] NutriSense; Podcast: Continuous Glucose Monitoring to Prevent Disease and Increase Healthspan, with Kara Collier, RDN.

[00:29:59] Salivary 1,5-anhydroglucitol inversely related to dental caries in children; Study: Syed, Sadatullah, et al. "Salivary 1, 5-Anhydroglucitol and Vitamin Levels in Relation to Caries Risk in Children." BioMed research international 2019 (2019).

[00:30:34] Tests that have stood the test of time.

[00:33:32] Josh Turknett’s 4-quadrant model.

[00:34:48] bloodsmart.ai.

[00:36:02] The value of a basic blood chemistry.

[00:38:23] NBT podcasts featuring Ivor Cummins: How Not to Die of Cardiovascular Disease and Coronary Artery Calcium (CAC): A Direct Measure of Cardiovascular Disease Risk.

[00:38:33] NBT podcasts featuring Malcolm Kendrick: Why Cholesterol Levels Have No Effect on Cardiovascular Disease (And Things to Think about Instead) and A Statin Nation: Damaging Millions in a Brave New Post-health World.

[00:39:26] CAC scan: Find a scan centre near you; Widowmaker movie; Irish Heart Disease Awareness website.

[00:43:02] Items that can be forecast by bloodsmart.ai, with their sensitivity and specificity.

[00:43:45] PhenoAge (example); Podcast; How to Measure Your Biological Age.

[00:44:17] Optimal vs Standard reference ranges.

[00:48:41] Testing: the future.

[00:50:02] Recent bloodsmart.ai software updates.

[00:50:32] Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 9/24/20 press release: Recommendations About the Use of Dental Amalgam in Certain High-Risk Populations: FDA Safety Communication.

[00:51:43] Take the 7-minute analysis.

[00:54:48] Email us with your ideas for bloodsmart.ai.

[00:55:24] Book a free 15-minute starter session.