Vitamin B12 deficiency

Vitamin B12 deficiency is most common in vegans. If you are vegan but get enough folic acid and vitamin B1, it can be difficult to detect that you have a vitamin B12 deficiency. Other risk groups are gluten allergy sufferers, alcoholics, the elderly and people with stomach problems such as diarrhea or parasites.

Because vitamin B12 is stored in the body, it can take several years before a deficiency occurs or is detected.

Common symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency are:

• Restless legs
• Numbness
• Memory problem
• Cognitive problems
• Depression
• Irritation

There are different types of vitamin B12 in the body. The active form of vitamin B12 is the one that is most interesting to measure as it is the form that the body can utilize. You can read more about our vitamin B12 test here.

Iron deficiency

Iron is best known for its ability to bind and transport oxygen. The most common cause of iron deficiency in Sweden is due to menstrual bleeding, other increased bleeding, pregnancy or insufficient intake through the diet. As with vitamin B12, it is mainly vegans who are at risk of deficiency due to insufficient intake through the diet, but also people with reduced gastric juice production or poor eating habits.

Common symptoms of iron deficiency are:

• Fatigue
• Impaired immune system
• Dizziness
• Pale skin
• Ant crawls
• Shortness of breath
• Impaired concentration

NOTE – Because iron is stored in the body and is toxic in excessive doses, you should never take extra iron supplements without measuring your values first. There are people who have a tendency to accumulate iron in the tissues, so-called hemochromatosis. Do you want to test if you have iron deficiency? Here you can do it.

Many people today are aware that high sugar intake can affect our energy levels. In fact, food can affect our energy levels in several ways, including food intolerances and allergies can make us tired. Because allergies often cause a direct reaction, these can be easier to detect than food intolerances. Hypersensitivity to food can take anywhere from a couple of hours to several days before symptoms appear, making it more difficult to link it to a particular food. With regular consumption of food that you are hypersensitive to, it can then become almost impossible to see the connection.

When we want to help the body recover, the first rule in functional medicine is to remove what is disturbing. An allergy and food intolerance test can thus be good to perform, not only in case of any stomach problems, skin problems or the like, but also in case of developed symptoms such as fatigue and exhaustion.

Common symptoms of allergies:

• Runny nose
• Red or itchy eyes
• Eczema / Hives
• Asthma-like symptoms
• Fatigue

Do you experience any of the above symptoms and do you want to test yourself for any allergies and food intolerances? Here you can read more and order.

The adrenal glands are the organs in the body that help us deal with stress, whether it is chronic, acute or long-term stress. The adrenal glands produce the hormone cortisol and it is often called the “stress hormone”.

A healthy secretion of the hormone means that the levels are highest in the morning when we wake up and then gradually decrease during the day, to then be in very small amounts during the night when we sleep.

When we are exposed to stress, it is natural that the levels of cortisol are temporarily raised. It makes us more alert, gives us more energy and helps the body to act and escape the danger it thinks it is exposed to in the stressful situation.

When we are exposed to a long-term stress or an acute stress that has affected us very strongly, it can affect our adrenal glands, which leads to them not secreting cortisol as they should. It can manifest itself as either a too low production of cortisol, too high production, or vice versa – ie. that it is low in the morning and the day when it should be at its highest and rises in the evening or at night when it should actually be at its lowest.

Common symptoms of too low cortisol:

• Fatigue
• Muscle weakness
• Low blood pressure
• Loss of appetite
• Nausea
• Menstrual disorders

Common symptoms of too high cortisol:

• Imbalance in blood sugar levels
• Muscle weakness
• High blood pressure
• Impaired cognitive ability
• Increased amount of belly fat
• Lowered immune system
• Weakened thyroid gland

Here you can order a test to measure your cortisol values.

DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands and is important for, among other things, our energy, mood and sex drive. Studies have shown that people with chronic fatigue syndrome often have low levels of DHEA. DHEA is often referred to as a “rejuvenation hormone” that keeps us young and alert. DHEA is further converted to estrogen and testosterone so it also affects our sex hormones. Studies have shown that extra supplements of DHEA in people with chronic fatigue syndrome have made them more alert, contributed to less anxiety and depression and improved their memory and that they think more clearly.

Because too high levels of DHEA can lead to hair loss, acne, sleep disorders, irritation, etc., it is important to measure the levels first before adding any supplements.

Heavy metals and a toxic load is something that can affect our health extremely negatively. Despite this, it is an area that is so easy to miss and connect any symptoms to. Sometimes it can be almost impossible to find the root cause behind this. It can be anything from living on contaminated land or in a stressed house without knowing it; that you worked with something where you were exposed to heavy metals in everyday life; the use of certain cosmetics or skin care products that contain toxic substances; or taking certain medicines containing aluminum and other harmful substances.

Heavy metals can be stored in the body both in adipose tissue, in endocrine organs and even in the skeleton. A person with a heavy metal poisoning and who starts detoxing may experience that he becomes very ill. This is because the cleansing process can sometimes be difficult, but oh so necessary! In these cases, we recommend taking the help of a qualified therapist who can help with advice on how to support the body and detoxification in the right way.

Common symptoms of heavy metal loading are:

• Fatigue
• Weakness
• Headache
• Nausea
• Impaired concentration
• Impaired cognitive ability
• Menstrual disorders

…and much more. Each individual heavy metal can cause different types of symptoms.

Testing yourself is a first step in feeling better. Once you know where the problem comes from, you can take the right steps to feel better. Here you will find heavy metal test.