59: Hormone Imbalance? Why Functional Medicine Might Be the Missing Piece

If you’ve been struggling with low energy, PMS, mood swings, irregular cycles—or just feeling off—and your labs keep coming back “normal,” this episode is for you.

I’m walking you through the functional medicine approach I use with all my clients to uncover the real reasons behind hormone imbalance. We’ll cover:

• What functional medicine is and how it’s different from conventional care
• The analogy I always use to explain “root cause” work (spoiler: it involves a bucket and a hose!)
• The two functional tests I rely on most—HTMA (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis) and DUTCH hormone testing
• Who should consider each test and when they’re most effective
• Why these tools help you skip the guesswork and finally see progress

Whether you're newly off birth control, trying to conceive, navigating postpartum, or just sick of feeling stuck in your symptoms—this episode will show you what’s possible when you support your body with real data and personalized care.

 👉 Ready to dig deeper into your hormones? [Apply to work with me here.] 

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Transcript

Hey hey, welcome back to the podcast! I'm so excited to sit down and record this episode because we're going back to the basics—really the foundation of what I do. We’re talking about functional medicine: what it is, why it matters, and how I use two key types of functional testing—HTMA and DUTCH tests—in my practice.

What is Functional Medicine?

You’ve probably heard me say I’m a functional medicine nurse or that my work is rooted in functional medicine, but what does that actually mean?

Let me walk you through an analogy. Imagine you're trying to fill up a bucket with water using a hose. But no matter how long you run the water, the bucket won’t fill. So you bring in another hose—and still, the water won’t stay in the bucket. Why? Because there’s a hole in the bottom.
 That’s what conventional medicine often misses. We throw more “hoses” at the problem—more meds, more quick fixes—without patching the root issue.

Functional medicine takes a step back and asks: what’s causing the symptoms in the first place? Instead of throwing bandaids at the symptoms, we look for the “hole in the bucket.” Symptoms are our body’s way of signaling that something deeper needs attention.

Why Your Story Matters

One of the most important pillars of functional medicine is listening to your story. I want to know your full health timeline—when your symptoms started, what else was going on in your life at the time, and how things have evolved since.

Unfortunately, in traditional healthcare settings, you often only get 15–20 minutes with a provider, and you might feel rushed, interrupted, or dismissed. That’s not how I operate. In functional medicine, the intake process is thorough, and the time is intentional. That context matters when building your care plan.

The Power of Functional Testing

The other core part of my practice is functional testing. I’m a data girl. I love using objective information to back up what I suspect based on your symptoms and story. It keeps us from guessing and helps us stop throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something works.

HTMA Testing (Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis)

HTMA is a simple at-home test that measures minerals and heavy metals. You just cut a small sample of hair and mail it to the lab. (Don’t worry—it's not a lot of hair, and a friend, partner, or stylist can help if cutting your own stresses you out.)

HTMA gives us over 38 data points, including levels of calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, copper, and more. It also shows us how your body is functioning behind the scenes—things like blood sugar balance, thyroid function, inflammation, metabolism, and chronic stress response.

Here’s the cool part: minerals have specific “parking spots” on your cells. But if you don’t have enough of the right minerals, heavy metals can sneak in and take those spots. They try to do the job, but not very well. So when we correct mineral imbalances, we support your body’s natural detox process and help your cells function optimally.

Another reason I love HTMA is that it reflects long-term patterns—about the past 3–4 months—whereas blood work only gives you a snapshot of a single moment in time. HTMA shows us what's going on inside the cell, which is often more accurate than blood levels that your body works hard to keep stable, even when you're not actually balanced.

DUTCH Testing

The DUTCH test is a dried urine hormone test that tells us your levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and cortisol. It also shows your cortisol rhythm throughout the day, how you metabolize estrogen (which pathways your body uses), and whether those pathways are protective or potentially risky.

DUTCH gives us insight into how your body is processing hormones, not just what the levels are. For example, we might see signs of estrogen dominance or sluggish detox pathways, which helps guide the next steps.

In short:

• DUTCH testing tells us what your hormone levels are.
• HTMA testing helps explain why your hormones are imbalanced.

That’s why I often recommend both tests together. When we have both the “what” and the “why,” we can build a personalized, targeted plan that gets results faster and feels sustainable.

Who Should Get Which Test?

Here’s a quick breakdown:

DUTCH Test:
Great for women who:

• Have cycle issues (irregular, heavy, painful periods)
• Struggle with PMS or PMDD
• Are trying to conceive or dealing with infertility
• Recently stopped birth control (at least 3 months ago)
• Are curious about perimenopause or menopause symptoms

I don’t recommend DUTCH for:

• Women who are currently breastfeeding
• Women on hormonal birth control (it skews results)
• Women who just stopped birth control and haven’t given it 3 months

HTMA Test:
I recommend this for almost everyone. Unless you’ve recently done one (within the past 4–6 months), it’s almost always helpful—especially if you’re experiencing fatigue, mood swings, burnout, brain fog, or any hormone-related symptoms. It gives us the mineral foundation your hormones depend on.

Why This Matters

Functional testing removes the guesswork. You don’t need to try every supplement on the internet or wonder why your “healthy habits” aren’t working. The data helps us pinpoint exactly what your body needs—and where it’s out of balance.

That’s why these tests are included in my programs. In fact, I have a few different options depending on your goals:

• HTMA Only (great for fatigue, burnout, or if you're unsure where to start)
• HTMA + DUTCH (ideal for cycle problems, fertility struggles, or long-term hormone issues)

If this sounds like what you’ve been missing, there’s an application link in the show notes. Tell me a bit about what’s going on, and I’ll let you know which test(s) and package I think would help most.

And if you’re brand new to my world and want to learn more about hormones, grab my free mini podcast: Hormones 101. You can binge it in under 25 minutes, and it’ll give you a solid starting place.

Thanks for tuning in! Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss the upcoming episodes—we’re going to dive deeper into estrogen dominance, PCOS, and secondary infertility soon. And if you have a question you want answered in a future episode, send it to me over on Instagram @wellnesswithvanda.