Still not feeling right, even after doing the basics? You’re not alone, and it’s not in your head. Sometimes one more piece of the picture helps show why.
DUTCH stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones. It is made by Precision Analytical. You collect a few small urine samples on filter-paper strips at home over one day. Those samples show your hormones and also how your body is breaking them down. They also show how your main stress hormone rises and falls across the day.
Only when it helps. Barbie recommends this test only after she has reviewed your history and your first results, and only when it would change what you do next. It is separate from the $539 New Leaf Mineral Reset, and it is not sold on this site.
What the report covers
Barbie may suggest the DUTCH Complete or the DUTCH Plus. The Plus includes everything in the Complete and adds one more piece, described at the end of this list.
- Sex hormones and their metabolites. Estrogens, progesterone, and androgens such as testosterone and DHEA. The report shows how much your body is making and what it turns those hormones into, not just a single level.
- Estrogen clearance pathways. Estrogen is broken down along three main routes, often written 2-OH, 4-OH, and 16-OH. The balance between them, and how well your body finishes the job through a step called methylation, helps show whether estrogen is being cleared smoothly.
- The daily cortisol and cortisone rhythm. Free cortisol (your main stress hormone) and cortisone (its resting form) are measured several times through the day. That shows the shape of your curve: whether you get a healthy morning rise and an evening wind-down.
- Total cortisol metabolites. The overall amount of cortisol your body has been producing and clearing. It can look different from the free cortisol curve, and that difference is useful information.
- Melatonin. A marker of the melatonin your body made overnight, which relates to sleep and daily rhythm.
- Select organic acid markers. Functional clues about B12 and B6, glutathione (a key antioxidant), and the breakdown products of dopamine and adrenaline-type neurotransmitters.
- DUTCH Plus adds the cortisol awakening response. A few saliva samples in the first hour after waking show how sharply cortisol rises as your day begins. This piece can be off even when the rest of the day looks normal.
When Barbie may consider it
- Cycle-related symptoms such as PMS, painful or heavy periods, mood that shifts with your cycle, or cycle-timed headaches
- Signs that may point to estrogen running high relative to progesterone, such as breast tenderness, heavy periods, or bloating before your period
- Perimenopause changes such as night sweats, new sleep trouble, or cycles that are closer together or less predictable
- Stress, fatigue, or sleep patterns that do not shift as minerals improve: tired in the morning, wired at night, or waking at the same hour
- When blood hormone results and symptoms do not seem to match
What it can and can’t tell you
It can show how your hormones are being made and cleared, how your stress hormone moves across a full day, and where nutrients that support those pathways may be stretched. It gives Barbie a much richer hormone picture than a single number.
It can’t capture an entire month from one day of samples, and results are affected by timing, sleep, stress, and some medications or hormone products. It doesn’t diagnose a condition. A pattern on the report is a clue to weigh alongside your history and other results.
How it differs from blood hormone panels
A blood hormone panel is one snapshot of what is circulating at the moment of the draw. It is simple, widely available, and often the right first step. The DUTCH test adds two things blood can’t easily show: the metabolites (what your body is turning hormones into) and the shape of your cortisol curve across a whole day. Barbie chooses between them based on the question being asked; you rarely need both at once.
How it fits with HTMA and the Functional Lab Panel
HTMA ratios often point toward the same story from another angle. The sodium-to-potassium and sodium-to-magnesium ratios reflect long-term stress, which the cortisol curve can confirm or clarify. The zinc-to-copper ratio relates to estrogen balance, and the estrogen metabolites show how that is playing out. The calcium-to-potassium ratio relates to thyroid activity at the cell, which affects hormones too. Insulin and leptin on the Functional Lab Panel round out the picture, since blood sugar affects every hormone downstream.
Practical notes
- An at-home kit. You collect dried urine samples on small strips several times over one day; the DUTCH Plus also uses a few saliva samples right after waking.
- If you have a menstrual cycle, timing matters, and Barbie will tell you which day of your cycle to collect. After menopause, any day works.
- Follow the kit instructions exactly, including what to pause beforehand. Anything involving a prescription or hormone therapy stays with your prescriber.
This page is educational and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Barbie Fisher is a certified HTMA practitioner and health coach, not a medical doctor; these tests are not sold on this site, and nothing here replaces care from your own doctor. Please keep your physician involved in your care, especially for any result that needs medical follow-up.