This comprehensive assessment is my proprietary health optimization system for analyzing your lifestyle to achieve your long-desired health goals. Whether it be longevity, achieving your optimal weight, or resolving a chronic health issue, you’ll gain a deep understanding of your overall health and wellbeing.

A truly unique and proven system, the 10 Pillar Method™ combines my 20+ years of natural health experience to identify which lifestyle “Pillars” are crumbling and how to repair them (and in what priority) so you can feel better and achieve your health goals as quickly as possible.

What you receive in the initial consult:

In the 10 Pillar Method™ call, I will walk you through each of the “Ten Pillars of Health” so we can best determine what lifestyle changes you need to do to feel better as quickly as possible, as well as determine what functional tests are best for you.

The functional tests will tell us what underlying biochemistry has been damaged so we can customize a nutritional program specific to your metabolism.

My clinical experience has shown me that people struggle to get better because they have not been adequately evaluated in a truly holistic way, covering all 10 of the Pillars of Health. Once the ‘crumbling’ pillars are identified, you’ll receive a straightforward set of recommendations to rebuild those pillars.

Here are the 10 Pillars of Health™: 

• Pillar #1 – Brain & Hormones: Assesses adrenal imbalance, potential under- or over-active thyroid, xeno-estrogen exposure
• Pillar #2 – Bowel & Digestion: Assesses gut health, digestion, bowel function, evacuation, constipation/diarrhea, absorption
• Pillar #3 – Body & Genetics: Assesses old/chronic injuries, strains/sprains, accidents, inherited genetic vulnerabilities
• Pillar #4 – Burst exercise and Movement: Assesses your exercise and movement patterns to evaluate if you are doing too little, too much, lack of variety, or the wrong type of exercise and movement
• Pillar #5 – Bio-toxins and chemical exposure: Assesses toxic exposures such as heavy metals, pesticides, and off-gassing
• Pillar #6 – Bio-nutrients and Diet: Assesses nutritional deficiency, poor quality food, and if you are taking inferior quality supplements
• Pillar #7 – Breakfast & Routines: Assesses your breakfast, your morning and evening routines
• Pillar #8 – Bothers and Stressors: Assesses sources of chronic and acute stress
• Pillar #9 – Bugs and Hidden Infections: Checks out for Infections (mold, parasites, old glandular fever, H. Pylori) & beneficial bacterial balance
• Pillar #10 – Bedtime and Sleep quality: Assesses your sleep, including sleep disruption, insomnia, what to do if you wake between 1-4am each night, snoring, shift work, or other sleep problems

Test 1: Mitochondria brain and liver testing

This test is extremely helpful if you struggle with any of the following:

• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Stubborn weight gain
• Anxiety/low mood
• Toxicity (glutathione pathway)
• Inflammation

This mitochondria test is a simple urine test that acts as an ’emissions test’ for your energy system. 

The mitochondria are the ‘power houses’ of the cells that take raw materials (oxygen combined with fats, proteins, and/or carbs) and convert them into energy (called ATP).

The mitochondria are fragile yet efficient energy factories that need the right nutrients to supply the infrastructure of the factory (raw materials, walls, machines, security guards, maintenance crew, and the right signals from the nervous system and hormone system).

This test checks if the mitochondria have been compromised due to vandalism (infection), stress, pollution, and nutritional depletion.

Once we have the results, we will know precisely the pathways to support lifestyle and nutrition to get you feeling better at the cellular level.

This mitochondria test checks for 46 different metabolites that are placed into the following categories:

• Fatty acid metabolism
• Carbohydrate metabolism
• Energy production
• B-complex vitamin markers
• Methylation cofactor markers
• Neurotransmitter metabolism markers
• Oxidative damage and Antioxidant markers
• Toxicants and Detoxification
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How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after the inspection can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10  Pillars assessment, and health goals

Test 2: Advanced mitochondria, brain and liver testing

Aside from being the best overall annual ‘functional health check’ for your metabolism, this test is beneficial if you struggle with any of the following:

• Fatigue (Long-term, debilitating, or unexplained)
• Brain Fog (Long-term, debilitating, or unexplained)
• Weight gain (long-term, unexplained, stubborn weight that does not go away despite diet and exercise)
• Anxiety/low mood (long-term, debilitating, and/or unexplained).
• Any mystery issues that have not yet been figured out by a small army of other practitioners.  Anxiety/low mood
• Chronic inflammation
• When you’ve been told:
  • “It’s all in your head.”
  • “There is nothing wrong with you, stop complaining.”
  • “You look fine, why do you always say you don’t feel well?”

The advanced mitochondria test is the ‘big gun’ of functional testing, checking everything in the normal mitochondria test, plus other vital markers that influence and control your body’s health:

• Fatty Acids: (Omega 3/6/7/9, monounsaturated, saturated, trans fats, and ratios)
• Amino Acids: 20 amino acids for metabolism, muscle, liver function, detox, and neurotransmitters
• Heavy metals: Aluminum, Arsenic, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury
• Minerals: Magnesium, Potassium, Zinc, Copper, Selenium, Calcium
• Anti-oxidants and fat-soluble vitamins: CoQ10, Vitamin A, beta-carotene, alpha- & gamma-tocopheral, Vitamin D (25-OH)
• Free radical marker: 8OHDG
• Inflammatory marker: Homocysteine

To learn more, Watch Dr. Shay discuss this advanced mitochondria test (called the ION Panel) on the Mitochondria Summit.

How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after that assessment can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10 Pillars assessment, and health goals.

Test 3: Gut health & hidden infections test

This test is exceptionally supportive if you struggle with any of the following:

• Indigestion
• Bloating & gas
• Fatigue after meals
• Sugar cravings
• More intolerant to more foods or increasingly sensitive to foods.
• Brain Fog
• Difficulty losing weight
• Difficulty keeping on weight (look ‘too’ thin)
• Foul-smelling stools or gas
• Feeling ‘not right’ after food poisoning, even if it was years ago
• Feeling ‘not right’ after antibiotics, even if it was years ago

Gut testing checks the following key areas:

• Digestion:
  • Do you digest fats (steatocrit or fecal fat markers)? If you don’t, you miss out on fat-soluble vitamins like vitamins A, D, and E and have likely abnormal bowel movements.
  • Does your pancreas secrete sufficient enzymes (elastase maker) to digest food? If not, you’re unable to access the nutrition in your foods.
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• Inflammation & gut immune system:
  • Do you have gut inflammation (high calprotectin or other markers)?
  • Do you have high antibodies to gluten-related foods?
  • Do you have a strong enough immune system inside your gut (secretory IgA antibodies)?
  •  
• Hidden infections
  • Parasites like worms or protozoa (e.g., blastocystis)
  • Fungi/yeast (like candida)
  • Potential autoimmune triggers (e.g., klebsiella)
  • Pathogenic bacteria (e.g., Yersinia)
  • Opportunistic bacteria and dysbiotic/overgrowth of bacteria.
  • H. Pylori
  •  
• Normal bacteria, e.g.:
  • Lactobacillus
  • Bifidobacterium

How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after that assessment can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10 Pillars assessment, and health goals.

Test 4: Stress resilience (adrenal) testing

 

This test is extremely helpful if you struggle with any of the following:

• Morning fatigue (tired when you wake up)
• Afternoon fatigue (energy crash starts ~2-4pm)
• Wired at night, yet tired during the day
• Trouble sleeping/insomnia
• You require stimulants (e.g., coffee, tea) in the morning
• You need stimulants (e.g., coffee, tea) in the afternoon
• Increased belly fat
• Sugar cravings
• Salt cravings
• Frequent snacking
• History of long periods of stress
• History of overwork
• You see lights, dark spots, or feel dizzy when you stand up quickly
• Increasing food sensitivities
•  

How this test works:

• It’s a simple, at-home saliva test where you collect saliva 6 times, over the course of a normal day
• The test is then mailed back to the lab in the courier envelope that comes in the kit
• The test measures your cortisol rhythm (your ‘speedometer’) and DHEA (your repair hormone to rebuild cells damaged by cortisol)

What to look for in the results:

• Identifies if you have low-stress resilience (and you will receive subsequent lifestyle recommendations to increase your resilience)
• If your stress hormones are running too high or even too low or variable through the day
• If you have enough DHEA to help rebuild your cells and tissues from the effects of your stress
• You’ll receive nutritional recommendations based on the lab results
•  

How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after that assessment can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10 Pillars assessment, and health goals.

Test 5: Advanced thyroid with minerals and heavy metals

Comprehensive Thyroid Assessment (fT3, fT4, TPOab & TSH (blood spot); I, Se, Br, Li, As, Cd, Hg (dried urine)).

• This comprehensive Thyroid test is ideal to find out what your thyroid hormones are doing, including:
  • TSH, Total T4, Free T4, Free T3, Thyroglobulin, and Anti-TPO antibodies. This test is critical for those concerned about autoimmunity to the thyroid as well.
  • This test also stands out from other thyroid tests because it also measures critical mineral (Iodine, Selenium) and dangerous heavy metals (bromine, lithium, arsenic, cadmium, and mercury) that can affect the thyroid.
  •  

How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after the assessment can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10 Pillars assessment, and health goals.

Test 6: DUTCH hormone testing: Sex hormones, melatonin, adrenal stress resilience

One of the most comprehensive sex hormone and adrenal hormone tests are available.

Consider if you have:

• Hormone imbalances
• Unusual weight gain
• Peri-menopause, post-menopause
• Sleep issues
• Stress imbalance
• Painful periods

Includes estrogens (7 types), testosterone metabolites, Progesterone metabolites, melatonin, cortisol rhythm, cortisone rhythm, and several organic acids. 

How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after the assessment can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10 Pillars assessment, and health goals.

Test 7: Food Sensitivities and Intolerances

How to order:

• Lab testing is only available to those who complete the 10 Pillars of Health™ assessment because only after that assessment can we truly know what the best-recommended labs should be. Once you have your assessment, you’ll be given a recommended lab package specific to your needs, findings on the 10 Pillars assessment, and health goals.