From personal care items to at-home test kits, Amazon has become a one-stop-shop for Canadians looking to stay on top of their health. Nearly half of all Canadians aged 18 to 54 shop on Amazon at least once per week—and there’s a good chance many of them are taking a gamble on at-home hormone tests. But can these tests really reveal hormonal imbalances?

The truth is, you can order just about any at-home test kit you want on Amazon or over-the-counter, but you may not be satisfied with the outcome. Many at-home tests lack a description for your results, like what an elevation or reduction in certain hormones means, where others source an untrustworthy lab or uncertified practitioner to analyze your sample. 

Before opting for an at-home test kit yourself, take a look at the pros and cons of at-home hormone testing and when a Naturopathic Doctor may be better suited for the job.

What is Hormone Testing?

Hormones are a type of chemical. They control crucial bodily functions, like reproduction, metabolism, sleep cycle, and even mood. Hormone testing is a method of analyzing the level of specific hormones in your body as well as learning how your body is processing these chemicals. It has become a widely accepted technique to uncover hormonal imbalances. 

A hormonal imbalance occurs when one or more hormones are present at an improper level within the body. An imbalance may stem from an under-or overproduction of certain hormones or difficulty detoxifying specific hormones. The purpose of hormone testing is to get to the bottom of which hormone levels are skewed and why—then learn how to rebalance them. 

What Are the Different Types of At-Home Hormone Tests?

At first glance, at-home hormone tests seem relatively simple. Most require just a pinprick of bodily fluid, which is then placed on a card that’s sent back to the company analysing the results. The most common types of at-home hormone tests are saliva or blood. 

What Are the Different Types of At-Home Hormone Tests?

At first glance, at-home hormone tests seem relatively simple. Most require just a pinprick of bodily fluid, which is then placed on a card that’s sent back to the company analysing the results. The most common types of at-home hormone tests are saliva or blood. 

However, your results pretty much stop there—leaving you with questions about what “active hormone” even means and why it matters.

Realistically, active hormones refer to the amount of chemicals available to bind to receptors. These hormones float around in the body and, when bound to receptors, can cause shifts in hormone metabolism or hormone activation. With no further context delivered with at-home test kits, you’ll likely be unsure how to move forward with this information alone. 

Blood-Based Hormone Tests

Where saliva-based tests provide a snapshot of active hormones, blood-based tests provide only a somewhat more robust picture. Blood-based tests locate active hormones freely available in the bloodstream as well as inactive hormones bound to proteins. Yet, since roughly 95% of hormones are bound to proteins, blood tests cannot reveal which percentage of the hormones are active.

Moreover, blood-based at-home test kits only provide a partial picture of your overall hormone activity. These tests don’t provide a look at your metabolites, the breakdown products of your hormones. Without this data, it’s difficult to learn how your body is processing and creating hormones. In other words, you’re still at square one learning how to balance them.

Why Should I Get My Hormones Tested with a Professional?

Professional hormone testing is significantly more comprehensive than at-home test kits. At-home kits you buy online won’t explain how you’re supposed to interpret your results or describe how you can help yourself. Instead, they leave you responsible for tons of research, most of which won’t make much sense without additional context (or an actual medical degree!).

In comparison, a professional hormone test provides access to a practitioner who can interpret your results as well as a game plan for resolving imbalances. At Neurvana Naturopathic Medicine, we utilize urine testing to deliver the most detailed, informational hormone test possible. With the help of a practitioner, a urine hormone test will look at:

• Levels of specific hormones, like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, DHEAS, and cortisol 
• Precursors or building blocks of hormones to learn how your body is creating them 
• Metabolites of hormones to reveal how your body is processing these chemicals and if there’s any gap in your liver’s ability to detoxify hormones

What Will My Results Tell Me?

Professional tests provide an exhaustive overview of hormone health compared to the snapshot of available hormones you receive from at-home tests bought online. When you take a professional test with a Naturopathic Doctor, your practitioner can interpret your results and explain whether or not you need to support actual hormone production or the detoxification of hormones.

Some individuals spend years thinking they have imbalanced hormone production just to learn it’s been their liver struggling to process and detoxify available hormones. A Naturopathic Doctor will analyze your test results so you can understand your overall hormone health. Then, you’ll develop a plan together to figure out how to balance them naturally, so you can re-enter the world feeling your best.