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Why Men Should Take the DUTCH Hormone Test

When men think of hormones usually one thing comes to mind, Testosterone!

And while testosterone is an important hormone for men of all ages, there is a number of other hormones that can influence their health, which is why I think all men should take the DUTCH hormone test at least once.

First, if you have not heard of the DUTCH hormone test it is the most advanced hormone test available, DUTCH stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones.

The DUTCH hormone test has been talked about on many podcasts from Ben Greenfield to Dr. Peter Attia’s Drive podcast and is the go-to test for many functional medicine practitioners.

But because most conventional general practitioners (GPs) rarely test hormones, or only understand the basics of hormone testing. The DUTCH hormone test is not likely to be offered by your regular doctor.

The DUTCH hormone test can be a great test to identify hormone imbalances in men, but also help you prevent health issues from occurring, like prostate, hair loss, and libido issues.

A lot of women do the DUTCH hormone test, and women tend to be more proactive with their health – but let’s go into detail about why men should take the DUTCH hormone test.

The DUTCH Hormone Test And Male Hormones

There is more to men’s hormones than just looking at testosterone. Other hormones that are important for men’s health are estrogen, DHEA, and the adrenal hormones cortisol and cortisone.

These hormones can be tested in a blood test, but in the DUTCH hormone test they are tested in a lot more detail – here is a list of the hormones tested, and many of them are unique to the DUTCH test.

DUTCH Hormone Test Breakdown For Men

  • Testosterone and Epi-Testosterone help differentiate between free testosterone levels and total testosterone production.
  • 5a-DHT is a more androgenic version of testosterone which is associated with hair loss, prostate problems, and acne. You want to have some but you don’t want to have high levels.
  • DHEA-s and total DHEA levels – this includes etiocholanolone and androsterone.
  • 5a-Androstanediol and 5b-Androstanediol are metabolites of testosterone and help to guide the best way to treat high 5a-DHT levels.
  • The 3 different types of estrogen and how your body is metabolizing estrogen. Men need some estrogen but not too much, and poor estrogen detoxification can increase prostate problems.
  • Total cortisol production plus the levels of free cortisol and free cortisone which are measured 4-5 times throughout the day and night to assess the changing cortisol rhythm.
  • Melatonin production, low melatonin, or high cortisol can affect sleep quality.
  • Methylmalonic acid measures the cellular levels of B12.
  • Xanthurenate and Kynurenate are neuroinflammation markers and help to determine B6 levels.
  • Dopamine and Norepinephrine metabolites can affect mood and cognitive function.
  • Glutathione and oxidative stress markers help assess the detoxification.

So you can see that the DUTCH hormone test covers a lot of different areas to help men optimize their health and prevent health problems from occurring.

Why Men Should Take the DUTCH Hormone Test 1

The detail on the DUTCH test can seem a little overwhelming if you are not familiar with these hormones, which is why at Planet Naturopath we offer a one-hour consultation to help you understand your test results, and implement a treatment plan to help improve your results.

Why Men Should Take The DUTCH Hormone Test

There are a lot of different hormones and health markers assessed on the DUTCH hormone test but how can this help men to improve their health?

You might be wondering how do these hormones relate to me, well if you experience any of these symptoms, or have a family history of these symptoms then the DUTCH hormone test would be good to do.

10 Symptoms Of Hormone Imbalance In Men

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You don’t need all of these symptoms to do the DUTCH test, even 1 or 2 of these symptoms or family history is enough to be proactive and take action to improve your health.

Low Mood or Low Motivation

Depression, anxiety, irritability are often caused by low testosterone levels. These health problems could be also caused by low adrenal function or low dopamine levels. The DUTCH hormone test can give you answers.

Aggression, Anger, and Mood Changes 

If you are up and down with your mood, have too much aggression or anger then this could be caused by high levels of testosterone, poor metabolism of testosterone, or high cortisol.

Low Libido or Erectile Dysfunction

A decreased sex drive is becoming a problem for men at younger ages and can be caused by low testosterone levels or high estrogen levels (often both).

Hair Loss

There is a genetic link to hair loss but if you have high 5a-DHT this will accelerate hair loss. The drugs like Finasteride are used to combat this, but there are negative effects of these drugs and natural options can be more effective.

Bone Loss 

Too little estrogen or too high cortisol can lead to accelerated bone loss and osteoporosis in men.

Memory Loss and Cognitive Function 

Another important aspect of testosterone, and high cortisol levels that they can affect brain health. Vitamin B12 is also important for cognitive health.

Weight Gain

Weight gain especially around the waist and breasts can be caused by low testosterone, high estrogen, and high cortisol levels.

Prostate Problems

This includes prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia which can be caused by high 5a-DHT and poor detoxification of the sex hormones

Fatigue

Fatigue can be caused by low B12 levels, low testosterone, or low cortisol.

Insomnia

Insomnia is affecting more and more people. It be caused by low melatonin or high cortisol. Increased weight is also another risk factor for sleep disorders like sleep apnea and snoring.

It is easy to brush off a lot of these symptoms as just simply getting older, but by optimizing your hormones you can help to slow down the aging process.

The standard blood tests may show that everything is “in the range” yet you feel far from well, and that is because the standard pathology tests don’t assess hormone health very well.

How To Do The DUTCH Hormone Test

Women need to do the DUTCH hormone test at a specific time of their cycle, but for men, it is easy as you can do the test at any time.

I recommend doing the test on a “typical day” but don’t do any intense exercise sessions as this will give you a short term spike in free cortisol levels.

The urine samples are collected on a special litmus paper which is left to dry overnight before shipping back to the laboratory for analysis.

The collection times are approximately dinner time, bedtime, (the middle of the night if you happen to wake up), first thing in the morning, and 2 hours after waking up.

In total there are 4 to 5 samples collected throughout the day and night so that we can analyze the cortisol rhythm and total cortisol production.

Read also: When Should I Take The DUTCH Hormone Test?

Free shipping is included back to the lab from most countries.

How Do We Treat Hormone Imbalances In Men

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Your treatment plan is going to depend on the results, that is why we are doing the test so that we can analyze the results and customize a treatment plan just for you.

If you go to a doctor and have low testosterone you are often put on Testosterone Replacement Therapy (TRT), but this is a band-aid approach and does not address the cause of the low testosterone in the first place.

At Planet Naturopath, I like to address the cause of hormone imbalances, and while this can involve supplements and in some cases TRT, it is important to address the reason why your hormones are low in the first place.

This can include a number of things but often overlooked are poor sleep (DUTCH hormone test will help us to understand why this is an issue), poor diet, high cortisol levels, too much or too little exercise, and even genetics.

As part of the consultation that comes with your DUTCH test kit, we will address all of these factors.

Order The DUTCH Hormone Test For Men

There are two options when ordering the DUTCH hormone test for men.

The DUTCH Plus

This involves the collection of both urine samples and saliva samples to test the adrenal and sex hormones. The only difference between the DUTCH Plus and the DUTCH complete test is the way that the cortisol is measured – the DUTCH plus uses saliva and urine samples to measure cortisol levels and can provide a more detailed analysis of the cortisol awakening response.

The DUTCH Complete

This test only involves the collection of urine samples, this makes it easier and it is a cheaper test to do. This is the test that I recommend for most people, the results for the Sex Hormones and Organic Acid markers are exactly the same as the DUTCH Plus test, the only difference is the way cortisol is analyzed. I recommend this because not only it is cheaper but I prefer the way it can assess the overnight cortisol levels. The high cortisol at night is not good and can give some valuable insights into your sleep.

The DUTCH hormone test can be shipped worldwide and the dried urine samples make it easy to ship back to the lab for analysis as they are stable for 3 weeks.

The DUTCH hormone test helps to take out the guesswork, so whether you are trying to address the health issues, or simply want to optimize your health, the DUTCH hormone test for men is a good place to start.

Click here to find more about the difference between the DUTCH Complete and the DUTCH Plus.

This is the most popular option that includes a one-hour consultation to explain your results and help you with a treatment plan.
$475

DUTCH Complete Test AND CONSULTATION


  • Comprehensive Sex hormones
  • Sex Hormone Metabolites
  • Adrenal Hormones
  • 8 Organic Acid Markers
  • Treatment Plan and Written Report
If you want to measure hormones, their metabolites and cortisol awakening response (CAR), this is the option for you.
$550

Dutch plus
 and consultation


  • Comprehensive Sex hormones
  • Sex Hormone Metabolites
  • Adrenal Hormones
  • 8 Organic Acid Markers
  • Cortisol Awakening Response
  • A One-Hour Consultation
  • Treatment Plan and Written Report
If you’re based in Australia, click here to order the DUTCH hormone test.

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