What is the best way for testing the levels of sex hormones?
Many professionals use blood tests. Unfortunately, blood tests only measure the amount of hormone that is not bound up in the bloodstream by steroid hormone binding globulin. This does not give a true picture of how much hormone is available at the tissue level where it is used in the body. Also, usually only one specimen is taken. As a woman’s estrogen level changes every six to eighteen hours, this does not give a true and accurate picture of what is happening to a woman’s hormonal levels from day to day or even within the day. Furthermore, the only estrogen that is tested is estradiol as it is the estrogen that has been researched by the pharmaceutical companies for use in birth control pills and other synthetic preparations. A woman’s body makes approximately 30 estrogens including the 3 most important ones, estrone, estradiol and estriol. Both estrone and estradiol make up 10 to 20 percent of a woman’s estrogens and are known to help protect against osteoporosis. Estriol makes up
