As you probably know already, February is American Heart Month. Every Friday in February, we’re going to spotlight information about heart health, things you can do locally to keep that heart pumping, or ways to support the American Heart Association. (Remember, you can always donate to the American Heart Association online.)
Most of us make a point of visiting our doctors once a year just to make sure that everything is going as it should be. While general checkups are good for—as the name states—general things, there is a new specialized assessment available in Westchester. The CLAY Health Club + Spa in Port Chester now offers hormone measurement testing through its CLAY Performance Lab.
Ali Gilbert, CLAY’s director of performance and fitness professional, says that “[hormone measurement] can affect the markers on our cardiovascular risk profile,” which allows experts like Steven A.R. Murphy, MD, the club’s medical director, to determine our deficiencies. “The panel we run to assess cardiovascular risk is a little more comprehensive than most run by general practitioners,” Gilbert adds.
But what does that mean, exactly? “[The] advanced heart panel will uncover inflammation, sizes of the LDL particles and overall risk,” Gilbert says. CLAY Co-Owner Seth Hirschel, who went through the program, says he was amazed by the thorough breakdown of what was once background information. He discovered which foods he had minor allergies to, and in what ways his testosterone percentage was deficient. Learning about these shortcomings helped him combat them from a nutritional standpoint.
There is still time to add this innovative biomedical testing to your list of fitness goals for 2015—and what more empowering way to improve your lifestyle than to hold your body’s encoded truth at the tip of your fingers?
CLAY Health Club + Spa
11 Riverdale Ave
Port Chester
(914) 937-5000; insideclay.com
