Micronutrient Testing: Inside Look at Your Body’s Nutritional Needs

There are 30 vitamins and minerals that your body cannot manufacture in sufficient amounts on its own which are known as “essential micronutrients.”

Despite the fact that you may be living “healthy lifestyle” and eating nutritious foods it is still possible that you may not have the levels in your blood that you need—an answer that can only be revealed though a blood analysis known as micronutrient testing.

If you eat less than optimal amounts of important vitamins, minerals, and other compounds, these “vitamin deficiencies” can potentially contribute to a number of major illnesses, such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, osteoporosis, and more, according to the Harvard Medical School. Other symptoms, such as fatigue, mood disorders, infertility, athletic performance and weight issues may also be linked to micronutrient deficiencies.

Since there are a variety of factors that can contribute to any number of these conditions aside from micronutrient deficiencies, the only way to know for sure if your body is lacking a certain micronutrient is to have your blood levels evaluated.

It is also crucial to know that despite eating nutritious food, you can still have deficiencies of these important micronutrients due to a variety of factors.

What Prevents The Body From Absorbing Nutrients:

Stress: Stress causes indigestion and heartburn, both of which negatively affect your body’s ability to absorb nutrients. Consequently, if you take antacids to reduce your symptoms, you may be doing more harm than good since antacids can decrease nutrient absorption. It is important to find ways to reduce stress naturally.

Low Fat Diet: Completely eliminating dietary fat, especially healthy and natural forms of fat, actually impairs your health. Keeping healthy fats in your diet is necessary in order for your body to absorb certain nutrients. Vitamin A, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, and Vitamin K are fat-soluble vitamins—meaning they need fat present in the body to be absorbed and provide their benefits.

Exercise: While exercise is great for your body, more intense workouts can affect how efficiently your body absorbs nutrients. If you don’t give your body the time it needs to absorb nutrients properly before you work out, you will miss out on the benefits of your food and your workout.

Caffeine: Caffeine can negatively affect nutrient absorption. This holds true especially for iron. No worries, you don’t have to completely cut out your morning Cup of Joe—simply wait an hour after consuming caffeine before you take supplements or eat a nutritious meal.

Alcohol: Studies have shown that in large amounts alcohol can overwhelm the gastrointestinal tract and lead to intestinal damage. This damage can end up reducing nutrient absorption. You don’t have to cut out alcohol consumption altogether, but moderation is crucial.

Smoking: It is common knowledge that smoking tobacco can lead to a variety of health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, emphysema, and others. What exacerbates these conditions is the fact that your body is not absorbing the macronutrients and micronutrients due to smoking. Research shows that smoking can lower the level of vitamin C and B-carotene in plasma. These micronutrients are involved in the overall cellular antioxidant defense against several conditions. Cadmium is naturally found in tobacco and can decrease the bioavailability of selenium while also acting antagonistically to zinc, another important micronutrient. Vitamin E, one of the main fat-soluble antioxidants, has also been found to be at decreased levels in the tissues of smokers. Last but certainly not least, tobacco has been shown to reduce levels of several B-complex vitamins.

Medications: Micronutrients and drug interactions can work both ways. Some drugs increase the absorption of some nutrients and some decrease absorption. If you are concerned about your medications and their impact on your ability to absorb micronutrients, talk to your doctor.

Body Composition: Plain and simple, the higher your body mass index, (BMI) the less likely you will be to absorb nutrients from your food.

Nova Vita Wellness Centers provides highly detailed micronutrient testing by examining deficiencies at the cellular level. Our micronutrient test requires a small blood sample that can be used to examine 31 vitamins, amino acids, minerals, antioxidants and metabolites that are required by the body to produce hormones, enzymes and other substances needed for good health.

Micronutrient testing can detect deficiencies that impact:

• Energy levels
• Metabolism
• Antioxidants
• Fatigue
• Immune health
• Circulation
• Stress
• Depression
• Mood
• Anti-aging
• Bone health
• Infections

While many tests available today concentrate on the amount of nutrients outside of the cell (extracellular), the Nova Vita Wellness Centers assessment analyzes the functional level and capability of micronutrients within white blood cells. The advantage to this approach is that it looks at the impact and performance of the micronutrients where they matter most. We are then able to use the results of your assessment to create a custom IV vitamin drip tailored to your specific needs.

What Nova Vita Wellness Centers Tests For:

VITAMINS

• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B1
• Vitamin B2
• Vitamin B3
• Vitamin B6
• Vitamin B12
• Biotin
• Folate
• Pantothenate
• Vitamin C
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin K

MINERALS

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Manganese
• Zinc
• Copper

AMINO ACIDS

• Asparagine
• Glutamine
• Serine

ANTIOXIDANTS

• Alpha Lipoic Acid
• Coenzyme Q10
• Cysteine
• Glutathione
• Selenium
• Vitamin E

For more information about micronutrient testing available at Nova Vita Wellness Centers and how to get a custom, IV vitamin infusion designed specifically for your needs, give us a call at 956-335-0250 or schedule online.