Back in 2017 I heard about this diet that would help me achieve my goals at work, eliminate brain fog, upgrade my workouts, and lose some weight. Pretty amazing, right? You’ve probably heard about this one too: the Keto diet.
Just like everyone else (I know), I bought into the pitch. I too wanted to have more energy and feel great while losing some excess weight in the process. After a few months into Keto, it was clear that something felt off. I wasn’t sick— but I wasn’t quite feeling my best either. At this point I needed to investigate further with the help of medical professionals. After I made an appointment with my doctor, the real fun began. I went to get some labs done, I filled out- what seemed like- endless questionnaires, and FINALLY, I waited 20 days to see my results. Bonus, my results had to be collected in person during the middle of my work week.
As it turns out, my low-energy could definitely be explained by the fact that I was suffering from hormonal imbalances and cholesterol problems; my vitamins were also low which it explains the brain fog at the beginning of the journey. It took me many many days, copays, hidden bills, doctor’s opinions and many hours of research on Google to learn what was wrong and come up with a new diet that would fix my current issues… there had to be a better way than this.
Fitness trackers for better sleep and workouts?
One of my approaches to start understanding my body better and to stay motivated was to buy a Fitbit. In my head that was committing to a better lifestyle. If I invested that money that meant that I would have to workout, that I would figure out how to sleep better, that I would optimize my workouts… etc. a wonderful world right?
Except… it was not helping me to understand why sometimes I was waking up tired or what I should eat before or after a workout to prevent injuries. One day it ran out of battery and it is still waiting for me on my nightstand. I went through the honeymoon phase with my fitness tracker, cool graphs, motivational messages etc. but nothing to help me eat better fats or prevent brain fog.
At-home blood tests to understand your sleep, stress, brain fog, sex drive
After that, soon I realized that if I would have had access to my data I would have discovered what was going on with my body early on. It is really hard to feel and know when your cholesterol is off or your Vitamin D levels are low. What you don’t measure, you don’t truly know and you can’t truly fix by diet or supplemental changes.
We’ve known for a long time that focusing on preventative health before they facing irreversible problems leads to longer, healthier lives but the motivation to do so is non-existent. Why? Because it’s hard to know what really matters and what not. Additionally, there’s evidence that if you turn to a genetics test to better understand what are your traits your are missing a big part of the picture given that genetics only determine part of our health. Scientist speculate that lifestyle is a stronger determinant of health and life span 1. This means you are in control of how you feel, now we only have to figure out what is the diet and lifestyle that suits you the best.
Ok, so we’ve narrowed it down. We want to use the traditional lab tests approach to find answers to our sleep issues, brain fog, etc. Similar to how athletes work on improving their performance and being their best selves. However, our healthcare system is designed to diagnose and treat sickness, not how to track and fix every day issues such as fatigue, stomach sensitivities, irritability, sleep quality, brain fog, weight loss, etc. If you tell your primary care doctor that you have anxiety or low energy they’ll likely send you to a specialist outside of the core healthcare system where bills can easily climb. (and if you don’t have health insurance, then you can forget it altogether.) We tend to blame ourselves or attempt to fix our issues by listening to generic recommendations, something I know too well.
Gone with: fad diets, expensive supplements, and bs wellness gurus
At Base we want to empower people to know which supplements to take (if needed and which dosages), what’s their best routine (how much screen time is too much screen time?) and overall make better lifestyle and nutritional decisions. We want our product to be:
- Accessible:Get an at-home test or stop by a conveniently located Quest Diagnostics for a walk-in appointment. Receive results directly to your app in 5 days or less. (Skip the doctor’s office visit).
- Affordable: everyone deserves and affordable access to their data. Get complete transparency with our pricing. There are no hidden lab fees, copays, etc. What you see is what you pay.
- Actionable: You’ll get comprehensive, science-based results along with the tools to improve the areas that need it, recommended by doctors. If your Cortisol levels are low, you might be vitamin deficient — Base will tell you exactly how to fix that.
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