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Nutrition 223 — at a Glance
| Course: | Assessing Hormones in Clinical Practice I · 2 PACE-approved CE hours |
| Faculty: | Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN · Clinical Nutrition Faculty, CCEDseminars |
| Format: | On-demand online video with assessment · downloadable handouts · instant certificate |
| Pricing: | $20/hr · automatic 10% off at 6–9 hrs, 20% off at 10+ hrs in one order · no promo codes |
| Approval: | PACE Provider #34015544 · co-sponsored by Texas Chiropractic College · acceptance varies by state |
Board-approved · PACE Provider #34015544 · CE Broker auto-reporting for states served · Instant certificate
Hormone testing is a marketplace as much as a methodology — and the practitioner who cannot tell the reliable test from the marketed one will get both the wrong answer and the wrong protocol. Nutrition 223 introduces the foundational methodology of clinical hormone testing: which hormones are essential to assess, how to implement testing workflows into a chiropractic practice, how to evaluate the reliability of each methodology, and how to identify pseudo-scientific claims in the hormone-testing field.
Dr. Howard Benedikt walks the whole process — patient preparation, sample collection, laboratory analysis and clinical interpretation — through the essential hormones for clinical application (cortisol, DHEA-S, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, TSH, free T3 and reverse T3), the strengths of salivary, serum, urine and dried-urine collection, the hepatic Phase I and Phase II pathways that metabolize steroid hormones and shape what a dried-urine panel shows, and the critical appraisal that separates evidence-based testing from unsupported claims and supplement marketing.
Choose Your Nutrition Path — Three Lanes, One Curriculum
The Nutrition library — sixty-eight courses by Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN — organizes into three working lanes: the gut, the brain, and the conditions you already treat. Nutrition 201–210 is the foundation block, 211–220 the second, 221–230 the third, 231–240 the fourth, 241–250 the fifth, and 201–224 together form the 48-hour Clinical Nutrition Certification (CNC). Two hours each.
1 · Gut, Microbiome, Digestion and Detoxification
Where nutrient status is decided and where systemic inflammation is won or lost — from the intro principles of micronutrients and absorption to the microbiome, the liver’s biotransformation pathways, the GI disease files, the gut/brain connection, functional GI testing, and digestive enzymes.
201: Introduction to Clinical Nutrition
205: Detoxification
207: Microbiota & the Musculoskeletal System
208: Detoxification II
213: Gastrointestinal Disease & Nutrition
214: An Integrative Approach to Gastrointestinal Disease II
221: The Gut/Brain Connection
225: Functional Medicine Testing for GI Disturbances
248: Maximizing Health Through Proper Digestion and Absorption
258: Oxidative Stress Detoxification — Better Responses to Chiropractic Care
2 · Brain, Mood, Stress and the Nervous System
Nutritional neurology — the headache patient, the stress physiology your patients carry through the door, the brain-game files on how food drives cognition, the nutrition-and-mood pair, the fatigued patient, memory and dementia, nervous-system function, chronic fatigue with myofascial pain, the concussion protocol, the maladaptive stress response, and the fatigue work-up.
203: Nutritional Management of Headaches
204: Chiropractic Nutrition for Stress Management
211: The Brain Game — How Nutrition Impacts Brain Function
212: The Brain Game II — How Food Impacts Brain Function
218: Nutrition and Mood
219: Nutrition and Mood II
228: Dealing with Fatigue in Clinical Practice
233: Memory, Dementia, and Chiropractic Care
234: Optimal Nervous System Function & Nutrition
237: Chronic Fatigue and Myofascial Pain Syndrome — an Integrative Approach
240: Nutritional Management of Concussions in a Clinical Setting
242: Maladaptive Stress Response & Musculoskeletal Disease
244: Managing the Fatigued Patient
247: Optimizing Nervous System Function with Nutrition
251: Autonomic Nervous System Regulation
253: Stress Management II
254: Stress I — How Managing Stress Leads to Better Patient Outcomes
263: Stress Update — Supporting Our Patients During Uncertain Times
264: Brain Game III — How Food Impacts Brain Function
3 · Musculoskeletal, Immune, Hormonal and Clinical Conditions
Nutritional management layered onto what you already treat — arthritic and autoimmune joints, neuropathy and neuropathic pain, immune resilience and the cold-and-flu season, lipids and cholesterol, antioxidants, endocrine disruptors, the thyroid and hormone-testing files, menopause and estrogen, vitamin D, sports injuries, diet and chronic disease, women’s musculoskeletal health, the pain files, the pediatric pair, osteoporosis, and the commonly seen conditions. You are here: Nutrition 223.
202: Nutritional Management of Arthritic Disease
206: Management of Neuropathy
209: Nutrition & the Immune System
210: The Fat Story & Cholesterol
215: Antioxidants in Health and Disease
216: Antioxidants in Health and Disease II
217: Endocrine Disruptors in Health & Disease
220: Management of Autoimmune Disorders — Rheumatoid Arthritis
222: Assessing Thyroid Health in Clinical Practice I
223: Assessing Hormones in Clinical Practice I
224: Assessing Hormones in Clinical Practice II
226: Women’s Health Issues — Focus on Menopause and Estrogen
227: Vitamin D & Musculoskeletal Health
229: Nutritional Management of Sports Injuries
230: A Primer on the Role of Diet and Chronic Disease
231: Women’s Health Issues and the Musculoskeletal System
232: An Integrative Approach to the Musculoskeletal System
235: Pediatric Nutrition & Chiropractic I
236: Pediatric Nutrition & Chiropractic II
238: Chiropractic and Osteoporosis
239: Treating Commonly Seen Conditions in Chiropractic Practice
241: Strengthen Your Immune and Musculoskeletal System through Nutrition and Chiropractic
243: Joint Pain & Inflammation
245: Natural Remedies for the Pain Patient
246: Keeping Healthy During Cold and Flu Season
249: New Strategies for Pain Management in the Chiropractic Setting
250: Neuropathic Pain Management
252: Special Topics in Nutrition
255: Autoimmune Disease II
256: Sports Injury Management in a Chiropractic Office
257: Bone Health
259: Path to Wellness
260: Nutrition and Musculoskeletal Health
261: Wellness and Chiropractic
262: Women’s Health and Nutrition
265: Neuropathy — Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Approaches
266: Comprehensive Approach for Treatment of Joints, Tendons and Ligaments
267: How Nutrition and Chiropractic Go Hand in Hand
269: Nutritional Management of Neuropathy
Every course in the series is 2 PACE-approved CE hours at $40, and the automatic bundle discounts apply across the whole lane. The full 68-course catalog continues on the Nutrition category page.
What You’ll Learn in Nutrition 223
Illustrate the various steps involved in hormone testing — from patient preparation and sample collection through laboratory analysis and clinical interpretation.
Discuss the essential hormones to test for clinical application, including cortisol, DHEA, the sex hormones and the thyroid markers.
Understand the methodologies for effective hormone testing — comparing salivary, serum, urine and dried-urine collection methods and when each applies.
Review the metabolism of hormones — hepatic Phase I and Phase II detoxification pathways — and its clinical significance for test interpretation.
Identify which tests are most reliable for hormone assessment and distinguish evidence-based testing protocols from unsupported claims.
Implement hormone testing into practice with clinical workflows for patient intake, result communication and follow-up.
Your Nutrition Faculty
Howard Benedikt, DC, DCBCN — instructor of this course. Board-certified chiropractic clinical nutritionist, Diplomate and President of the Chiropractic Board of Clinical Nutrition, with more than 30 years in clinical nutrition and functional medicine. He authors all 68 courses in the CCEDseminars Nutrition library and the Clinical Nutrition Certification (CNC) track at its core, and is known for translating complex nutritional biochemistry into practical, office-ready protocols — here, the methodology and reliability of clinical hormone testing.
Full bio and the complete instructor roster: CCEDseminars faculty page.
Where Nutrition CE Hours Count — State Rules Worth Knowing
Nutrition coursework is clinical subject matter — assessment, clinical reasoning and nutritional management of patient conditions — which is exactly what several state boards ask for. In Iowa, these hours serve the 36-hour clinical case-management minimum; in Rhode Island, they address the 50-of-60 clinical requirement; and in Vermont — where practice-building coursework earns nothing — patient-care education like this counts fully under the clinical-focus rule.
Online-format allowances still vary by state — some accept every hour online, others cap distance learning or require in-person blocks. Check your state’s guide in the full state directory before building your renewal plan.
Build Your Nutrition Block — or Take the Credential
Every course in the Nutrition series runs 2 hours at $40, so the automatic discounts do the bundling for you: 6–9 hours in one order earns 10% off, and 10 or more earns 20% off — any ten courses from the series is 20 hours, which clears the 20% tier at roughly $320 instead of $400, with no promo codes. Assessing Hormones I pairs naturally with Nutrition 224, its sequel, and Nutrition 222 on thyroid assessment; the three together reach 6 hours and the 10% tier. Pursuing the credential? The Clinical Nutrition Certification (CNC) packages Nutrition 201–224 — 48 hours — in a single $960 checkout. Browse Nutrition Courses
Nutrition 223 — Frequently Asked Questions
What does Nutrition 223 cover?
Nutrition 223 covers the foundations of clinical hormone testing for chiropractors: the steps of the testing process, the essential hormones to assess, the salivary, serum, urine and dried-urine methodologies, hepatic Phase I and Phase II hormone metabolism, workflows for bringing testing into practice, and how to spot fake science in the hormone-testing marketplace. Also known as hormone testing for chiropractors, functional hormone assessment, or the salivary-versus-serum course.
Which hormones should chiropractors prioritize testing?
The most clinically actionable panel typically includes cortisol (diurnal curve), DHEA-S, estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, TSH, free T3 and reverse T3. That profile maps adrenal function, sex-hormone balance and thyroid conversion — the three axes most often behind fatigue, weight dysregulation, mood disturbance and musculoskeletal pain. The course covers which tests are essential, which are redundant, and how to sequence them efficiently.
What is the difference between salivary, serum and dried-urine hormone testing?
Serum measures total hormone (bound plus free) — the standard for gross deficiency but less sensitive to functional imbalance. Salivary testing reflects the free, bioavailable fraction and is superior for cortisol diurnal patterns and free sex hormones. Dried-urine testing (the DUTCH test) captures hormone metabolites over 24 hours and shows the Phase I and Phase II hepatic pathways. Nutrition 223 maps when to use each.
How does liver metabolism of hormones affect test interpretation?
Steroid hormones pass through hepatic Phase I (CYP hydroxylation) and Phase II (glucuronidation, sulfation, methylation) before urinary excretion. Impaired Phase II — common in nutrient-depleted patients — lets estrogen metabolites accumulate and disrupts clearance. Understanding those pathways is essential to reading a dried-urine panel and designing the nutritional support that restores healthy metabolism.
How many CE hours is it, and where does it sit in the Nutrition series?
It is 2 PACE-approved CE hours. Nutrition 223 sits in the musculoskeletal, immune, hormonal and clinical-conditions lane of the Nutrition series with Dr. Howard Benedikt, alongside Nutrition 217 (Endocrine Disruptors), 222 (Assessing Thyroid Health), 224 (Assessing Hormones II) and 226 (Menopause and Estrogen), and is a core module of the Clinical Nutrition Certification.
State Approval and Licensing Reminder
Continuing education requirements — including online-hour caps and clinical-hour minimums — vary by jurisdiction. Review the online chiropractic CE guidelines page and contact CCEDseminars with questions about your specific licensing requirements before registering.
Ready to Enroll in Nutrition 223?
The hormone panel is only as good as the method behind it and the clinician reading it. Two hours here give you the essential hormones, the collection methods and the appraisal skills to test with confidence.
CCEDseminars · PACE Provider #34015544 · Reviewed by Monte Horne, DC · Last updated September 2026 (CT)