Saliva Hormone Testing & Bioidentical Hormones

Just Spit It Out

Zen-tai Wellness Centre offers saliva hormone testing, as it is a accurate and non-invasive way to determine hormone imbalances in the body.

Measuring salivary levels of hormones is important because hormones pass through saliva gland tissues before entering the saliva. Thus, it is reflective of actual tissue hormone levels as compared to blood hormones which represent hormones that may eventually get to tissue.

Saliva collection is painless and easy to do at home, whereas blood hormone testing requires blood collection from a laboratory, and some hormones (such as estriol) cannot be tested in blood. Furthermore, with cortisol (a hormone released during stress), the stress of a needle puncture can falsely elevate blood cortisol levels.

For women, the Female Hormone Panel measures the hormones estradiol, progesterone, cortisol, DHEA-S, and testosterone. Conditions such as a perimenopausal symptoms, PMS, heavy painful periods, menstrual irregularities, endometriosis, uterine fibroids, painful breasts, fibrocystic breasts, ovarian cysts can be related to hormone irregularities. Imbalances can contribute to the following hormone-related conditions:

Weight gain
Low libido
Depression/Difficulty coping/Irritability
Sleep disturbances
Hot flashes
Bone loss
Breast cancer

For men, the Male Hormone Panel is available. It measures levels of testosterone, cortisol, DHEA-S and estradiol. Imbalances can lead to the following hormone-related conditions:

Bone loss
Erectile dysfunction
Low libido
Memory loss
Apathy/Depression/Grumpiness
Breast enlargement
Weight gain
Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH) - prostate enlargement

As well, melatonin (the hormone for sleep-wake cycles) and cortisol (the stress hormone) levels can be measured.

Consult with our Naturopathic Doctor to determine if this test is right for you and potential treatment options.

Treatment: Naturopathic & Bioidentical Hormone Therapy

Naturopathic treatment can assist your body to regulate hormones with a combination of diet & lifestyle recommendations, herbal medicine, acupuncture and homeopathy.

Bioidentical hormones may also be recommended based upon outcomes of the hormone test. Bioidentical hormones are much safer than conventional pharmaceutical hormones as they are identical to those produced in your body. Conventional pharmaceutical hormone therapy uses similar hormones, but they are not identical hormones to those in humans. Common sense tells us that adding non-identical hormones to our delicate hormone balance will create adverse effects...and time has definitely shown that adverse effects are produced in multitude.

A recommendation for bioidentical hormone therapy requires a complete Naturopathic assessment to determine if this is the most appropriate treatment option for your individual health. Naturopathic Doctor, Makoto Trotter, will make recommendations and appropriate dosing based on outcomes of the hormone test.