Hormone & cortisol test · Dried urine and saliva · UK clinic
DUTCH Plus Complete Test + Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR)
The DUTCH Plus is an at-home hormone test from a UK clinic. Dried urine collected over one day maps your oestrogens, progesterone, androgens, cortisol and the metabolites that show how your body processes them; five saliva samples add the Cortisol Awakening Response. For fatigue, poor sleep, low mood, PMS, perimenopause or stress that will not lift, when a blood test has said everything is normal.
- Free UK delivery and prepaid return by DHL
- Results in 15 to 20 working days
Not sure if this is the right test for you? Book a free 15-minute Discovery Call with a registered practitioner.
What you receive
Your at-home kit with four dried-urine collection strips and saliva tubes, laboratory analysis by mass spectrometry, plus a lab report covering your sex hormones, cortisol and cortisone with their metabolites, the Cortisol Awakening Response and the DUTCH organic acids, each shown against the lab’s reference ranges. View a sample report (from a woman’s test) and the collection instructions, which cover women and men.
Delivery and turnaround
Free UK delivery and prepaid return, both by DHL courier. Kits are dispatched within 1 to 2 working days and delivered the next working day. Results ready approximately 15 to 20 working days from when the lab receives your sample. International delivery is available, with costs calculated at checkout.
What does the DUTCH Plus test for?
It tests your sex hormones and cortisol, and the metabolites that show how your body makes, uses and clears them, from dried urine; five saliva samples add the Cortisol Awakening Response, the rise in cortisol in the first hour after waking; and a set of organic acids covers melatonin, B vitamins, neurotransmitter metabolites and oxidative stress.
Cortisol & cortisone
Free and metabolised cortisol, and the balance with cortisone, which shows how much stress hormone your body is making and using.
Cortisol Awakening Response
Five saliva samples track the rise in cortisol after waking, the marker of how your stress system starts the day.
Oestrogens & how you clear them
Oestrone, oestradiol and oestriol, and whether your oestrogen is going down the protective or the inflammatory pathway.
Organic acids
Melatonin, B12 and B6 markers, dopamine and adrenaline metabolites, glutathione and a marker of oxidative stress.
Progesterone & androgens
Progesterone metabolites, testosterone, DHEA-S and the metabolites that show how strongly your androgens are acting.
See every marker, in seven groupsTap or click a group to see every marker in it
Oestrogens & metabolites
The three oestrogens and the pathways your body uses to break them down.
- Oestrone (E1)
- Oestradiol (E2)
- Oestriol (E3)
- 2-OH-E1
- 4-OH-E1
- 16-OH-E1
- 2-Methoxy-E1
- 2-OH-E2
- 4-OH-E2
- Total oestrogen
Progesterone metabolites
The two main breakdown products of progesterone, which show how much progesterone you are making.
- a-Pregnanediol
- b-Pregnanediol
Androgens & metabolites
Testosterone, DHEA-S and the metabolites that show whether androgens are being converted down the stronger 5a pathway.
- DHEA-S
- Testosterone
- Epi-testosterone
- Androsterone
- Etiocholanolone
- 5a-DHT
- 5a-Androstanediol
- 5b-Androstanediol
Daily cortisol pattern (saliva)
Free cortisol and free cortisone at five points through the day, including the Cortisol Awakening Response.
- Free cortisol: waking, 30 and 60 minutes after waking, evening, bedtime
- Free cortisone at the same five points
Cortisol metabolites (urine)
How much cortisol your body produced over the whole day, not only what was free at the moment of sampling.
- a-Tetrahydrocortisol (a-THF)
- b-Tetrahydrocortisol (b-THF)
- b-Tetrahydrocortisone (b-THE)
- Metabolised cortisol
Organic acids
Markers of melatonin, B-vitamin status, neurotransmitter turnover, glutathione and oxidative stress.
- Melatonin (6-OH-melatonin-sulfate)
- 8-OHdG (oxidative stress)
- Methylmalonate (B12)
- Xanthurenate (B6)
- Kynurenate
- Quinolinate
- Pyroglutamate (glutathione)
- b-Hydroxyisovalerate (biotin)
- Homovanillate (dopamine)
- Vanillylmandelate (adrenaline and noradrenaline)
- Indican
Creatinine
Measured in each urine sample to correct for how concentrated it is.
- Creatinine, four samples over the day
Who is the DUTCH Plus for?
For the symptoms that sit between hormones and stress: fatigue that sleep does not fix, waking in the night, PMS, perimenopause, low mood or anxiety, and burnout, especially when a blood test has come back normal.
Acne, hair loss or unwanted hair
Often linked to: androgens being converted down the stronger 5a pathway.
This test measures: 5a-DHT, androsterone, etiocholanolone and the 5a to 5b balance.
Afternoon energy crash
Often linked to: cortisol dropping too steeply through the day.
This test measures: the late-afternoon and bedtime cortisol samples against the morning ones.
Anxiety & low mood
Often linked to: a high or erratic cortisol pattern, low progesterone or low dopamine turnover.
This test measures: cortisol and cortisone, b-pregnanediol, homovanillate and kynurenate.
Brain fog
Often linked to: cortisol imbalance, low B12 or B6 markers, or poor dopamine turnover.
This test measures: the cortisol curve, methylmalonate, xanthurenate and homovanillate.
Fatigue & burnout
Often linked to: a flattened cortisol pattern, low DHEA or low total cortisol output.
This test measures: free cortisol at five points, metabolised cortisol and DHEA-S.
Hot flushes & night sweats
Often linked to: falling oestradiol and progesterone.
This test measures: oestradiol, oestrone, the progesterone metabolites and the night cortisol sample.
Low libido
Often linked to: low testosterone or DHEA-S, or androgens being cleared too fast.
This test measures: testosterone, DHEA-S, 5a-DHT and the androgen metabolites.
Perimenopause
Often linked to: oestrogen and progesterone swinging and falling, often with a disturbed cortisol pattern.
This test measures: oestradiol, progesterone metabolites, DHEA-S and the daily cortisol curve.
PMS & heavy or irregular periods
Often linked to: oestrogen out of proportion to progesterone in the second half of the cycle.
This test measures: the three oestrogens, a- and b-pregnanediol, and total oestrogen.
Stress that will not lift
Often linked to: an exaggerated or blunted Cortisol Awakening Response.
This test measures: the three waking saliva samples that make up the Cortisol Awakening Response.
Trying to conceive
Often linked to: low progesterone in the second half of the cycle, or a stress pattern that suppresses it.
This test measures: the progesterone metabolites, oestrogens and the cortisol curve.
Waking at 3am
Often linked to: cortisol rising too early or melatonin running low.
This test measures: the night and waking cortisol samples and 6-OH-melatonin-sulfate.
Weight gain around the middle
Often linked to: high cortisol output or oestrogen dominance.
This test measures: metabolised cortisol, the daily cortisol pattern and the oestrogen to progesterone balance.
How does the at-home DUTCH test work?
You collect four dried-urine strips and five saliva samples over one ordinary day at home, following the timings in the kit, and DHL collects the pack from your door.
Order online
Secure checkout. No clinic visit or GP referral required.
Your kit arrives by courier
Dispatched within 1 to 2 working days. Delivered next day by DHL.
Collect over one day at home
Six collections through one day, the first when you wake up and the last at bedtime. The kit gives the times.
Return by prepaid courier
Book a free DHL collection online. Results ready in 15 to 20 working days.
How do I interpret my results?
Making sense of a lab report is the most important part of testing. Once your results are ready, your lab report is uploaded to your secure Client Folder. From there, you choose your level of support from our UK-registered nutritional therapist (optional, priced separately): a Lab Findings Review or a Comprehensive Consultation.
BSc, mBANT, CNHC, NLP Dip
Which consultation is right for me?
Understand your results with a Lab Findings Review, or go a step further and act on them with a Comprehensive Consultation.
Lab Findings Review
£99- Clinical analysis of your lab results
- What the findings mean for your symptoms and health
- Time for your questions
Comprehensive Consultation
£180- Everything in the Lab Findings Review
- In-depth review of your health history, diet and lifestyle (Health Questionnaire and Food & Symptoms Diary)
- A fully personalised nutrition & lifestyle action plan
What do our customers say?
“My results came back with lots of insights about my cortisol levels and other markers like sex hormones, inflammation and oxidation stress that explained why I've been feeling burnt out.”
AlexVerified customerBetter sleep and energy three months on
I was recommended this test by Carmen after explaining my symptoms of fatigue, low energy and overall problems with sleep during our first call. Since taking the test and going over the results together, I've been following her personalised plan to improve the balance of my hormones, using a combination of food, supplements and lifestyle adjustments. Three months in, and I have seen a noticeable improvement in my sleep and my energy levels already.
KathyVerified customerThe test kits were easy to use and quick to produce results, so I could get to work with Carmen, who was absolutely brilliant at translating everything into simple terms for me to understand. I had a DUTCH test & GI Map + Zonulin to investigate potential reasons why I could be losing my hair (alopecia / patchy bald spots as well as thinning). I had a few areas that needed some TLC, and Carmen created a list of suggested vitamins and supplements, with the Natural Dispensary, to support my gut health and encourage better, deeper sleep. I am happy to report that while recovering from alopecia isn't going to happen overnight, my hair is growing back!! My largest patch is around the size of a credit card - AND IS NO LONGER BALD :))... Which is a huge relief. The other patches (3), which are much smaller, only 1p, also now have small hairs coming through. I could not recommend Carmen highly enough. It took me a solid 6 months to find someone genuinely interested in helping me solve this problem and who approached it with the utmost compassion. I couldn't have asked for a better practitioner.
JadeVerified customerRead all 3 reviews of this testWrite a review
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Frequently Asked Questions
Can I do the DUTCH Plus at home in the UK?
Yes. It is an at-home test: you order online, the kit comes to your door by DHL, you collect at home and the prepaid DHL return takes it to the lab. No GP referral or clinic visit is needed. We send kits to any UK address, and international delivery is priced at checkout.
Is the DUTCH Plus worth it if my blood hormone tests were normal?
Often, yes. A blood test measures a hormone at one moment; the DUTCH Plus measures hormones and their metabolites across a whole day, so it can show a cortisol pattern that is flat or inverted, oestrogen going down an unhelpful pathway, or progesterone that is low only in the second half of the cycle, none of which a single morning blood draw can see. If your symptoms are ongoing and the blood results have not explained them, this is the test that looks at the pattern.
How accurate is the DUTCH Plus?
The DUTCH Plus is made by a single specialist laboratory and analysed by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry, which identifies each hormone and metabolite by its molecular signature rather than by an antibody reaction. Dried urine over a day and five saliva points give a pattern rather than a single reading. Like any lab test, the report is a snapshot of the days you collected, which is why a practitioner reads it against your symptoms, your cycle and your history.
Can I get the DUTCH Plus on the NHS?
No. The NHS can test some hormones in blood, usually one or two at a time when there is a specific clinical question, but it does not offer the DUTCH Plus or metabolite and cortisol-pattern testing. The DUTCH Plus is a private test ordered through a clinic. The price covers the kit, the lab analysis and your lab report; having the report interpreted is a separate, optional consultation.
When should I collect my samples?
On one ordinary day, not a day you are ill, travelling or sleeping unusually. If you have a regular menstrual cycle, collect between days 19 and 22 of a 28-day cycle (the instructions explain how to adjust for longer or shorter cycles); if you do not have a cycle, any day works. For 48 hours beforehand avoid avocado, bananas and fava beans, and check any supplements on the kit’s list with your practitioner; avoid caffeine, alcohol and hard exercise the night before and on the day. On the day you collect four urine strips and five saliva samples at set times, let the urine strips dry for 24 hours, keep the saliva in the freezer, then book the DHL collection. Full instructions are in the kit.
Can someone help me interpret my results, even if I tested elsewhere?
Yes. Book a Lab Findings Review with us and a registered nutritional therapist will take you through every marker against your symptoms and history, whether you tested with us or elsewhere; bring your report to the session. If you then want a personalised plan, that is the Comprehensive Consultation.
3 reviews for DUTCH Plus Complete Test + Cortisol Awakening Response (CAR)
Alex verified customer
My partner and I are planning to get pregnant soon and since I’ve been experiencing fatigue, brain fog and generally feeling low energy, we decided to investigate my hormone health with this DUTCH Plus test. And I’m really glad we did because my results came back with lots of insights about my cortisol levels and other markers like sex hormones, inflammation and oxidation stress that explained why I’ve been feeling burnt out. During my Comprehensive consultation with my practitioner Carmen, she reviewed my results and designed a lifestyle, diet and supplement protocol focused specifically on improving these particular aspects of my health. We feel much more informed and confident now and would strongly recommend this test to anyone who wants to clarity and peace of mind about their health or who is on their own fertility journey.
Kathy verified customer
I was recommended this test by Carmen after explaining my symptoms of fatigue, low energy and overall problems with sleep during our first call. Since taking the test and going over the results together, I’ve been following her personalised plan to improve the balance of my hormones, using a combination of food, supplements and lifestyle adjustments. Three months in, and I have seen a noticeable improvement in my sleep and my energy levels already.
Jade
The test kits were easy to use and quick to produce results, so I could get to work with Carmen, who was absolutely brilliant at translating everything into simple terms for me to understand.
I had a DUTCH test & GI Map + Zonulin to investigate potential reasons why I could be losing my hair (alopecia / patchy bald spots as well as thinning). I had a few areas that needed some TLC, and Carmen created a list of suggested vitamins and supplements, with the Natural Dispensary, to support my gut health and encourage better, deeper sleep.
I am happy to report that while recovering from alopecia isn’t going to happen overnight, my hair is growing back!! My largest patch is around the size of a credit card – AND IS NO LONGER BALD :))… Which is a huge relief. The other patches (3), which are much smaller, only 1p, also now have small hairs coming through. I could not recommend Carmen highly enough.
It took me a solid 6 months to find someone genuinely interested in helping me solve this problem and who approached it with the utmost compassion. I couldn’t have asked for a better practitioner.