Is Micronutrient Testing Legitimate & Worth It?

By Kayley George, RDN, LD

Micronutrients, as opposed to macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates and fat, include vitamins and minerals which are required in small quantities to ensure normal metabolism, growth and physical well‐being. Your genetics, aging, lifestyle, chronic illness, and medications all affect how well your body absorbs such nutrients.

With that being said, knowing your micronutrient levels are key to a thorough understanding of your nutritional requirements at a foundational level, which may contribute to your risk for disease, as well as positively impacting your overall health and well-being. In this article we will be reviewing if micronutrient testing is legitimate and if it is worth doing.

What Is Micronutrient Testing?

Micronutrient testing is a comprehensive nutrient analysis that measures and identifies functional deficiencies at the cellular level of a person’s nutritional status. It is used to assess how efficiently the body utilizes 31 different vitamins, minerals, amino/fatty acids, antioxidants, and metabolites.

It also shows how micronutrients affect the cellular function in a person. Identifying micronutrient deficiencies not only helps to slow down aging and degenerative disease progression, but it also prevents and repairs cellular dysfunction and disease.

Is Micronutrient Testing The Same As Vitamin Testing?

No, micronutrient testing is not the same as vitamin testing. Vitamin testing only tests for certain vitamins, whereas micronutrient testing evaluates 31 different vitamins, minerals, amino/fatty acids, antioxidants, and metabolites.

Is Micronutrient Testing Legitimate?

Micronutrient testing is legitimate, as it is performed intracellularly, and not in a static serum measurement. With that being said, it takes into account cellular absorption, metabolism, and utilization in its nutritional evaluation of cell function, which correlates with tissue health and systemic health.

The micronutrient test measures nutrient status, in the context of cellular function, making it very reliable.

Is Micronutrient Testing Worth It?

Micronutrient testing is well worth it due to the many benefits it entails. These tests uncover micronutrient deficiencies, as well as reflect different factors that affect nutritional needs for each person, including age, lifestyle, illness, injury, drugs, circumstance, and genetics.

Knowing these results and deficiencies is like having preventive and personalized medicine at its finest.

Who Should Take a Micronutrient Test?

Anyone can take a micronutrient test and benefit from it, as it can shed light onto any deficiencies and allow you to prevent potential conditions. With that being said, there are a variety of different conditions that people have that could benefit from this testing.

A list of those it could have big benefits is included below.

  • If you suffer from:

    • Chronic diseases like diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, and/or arthritis.

    • Skin problems.

    • Numbness/tingling in your hands or feet.

    • Weakened immune system.

    • Digestive issues/disorders like celiac, wheat sensitivity, IBS, IBD, and SIBO.

  • Are experiencing the following symptoms:

    • Advanced aging.

    • Stress, feeling tired, or chronic fatigue.

    • Depression.

  • Have a history of

    • Long-term use of prescription medications.

    • Poor diet.

    • Obesity.

  • Are someone who is:

    • An athletic competitor/regular exerciser.

    • A vegan or vegetarian.

    • Trying to optimize sports performance.

    • Pregnant or breastfeeding.

    • Recovering from an injury.

How Do I Take a Micronutrient Test?

Since micronutrient tests cannot be collected at home, a phlebotomist must collect these samples at a draw site. The phlebotomist will handle the sample collection, preparation, and shipment.

The micronutrient test will analyze both whole blood and serum samples to measure the direct levels of extracellular and intracellular micronutrients, which provides a complete picture of a patient’s nutritional status. After about 2-3 weeks, reports are generated with reference ranges and an easy to interpret educational guide for each of the micronutrients analyzed.

Are Micronutrient Tests Taken At Home?

Micronutrients tests are only available to order through your provider, and must be done at a lab draw center.

The Best Micronutrient Test

There are a ton of different micronutrient tests on the market, but which ones are the most reliable? Vibrant’s micronutrient test is probably the best.

The Vibrant micronutrient test utilizes patented technology and reporting that allows for high sensitivity quantitative detection of both Extracellular and Intracellular testing for a thorough, complete understanding of your short-term and long-term nutritional status and requirements. Vibrant’s test is highly accurate and precise, enabled by automation and advanced testing methodologies.

They also provide advanced reporting with easy to interpret results and repletion suggestions, highly qualified expert dietitians capable of providing support on dietary plans and supplementation based on your results, and if necessary, comprehensive backup testing to identify potential sources of malabsorption.

Contact me (Kayley) today to get setup with a micronutrient test from Vibrant.

What Will I Learn From My Micronutrient Testing Results?

Depending on the test, you will learn about any micronutrient deficiencies in 31 different vitamins, minerals, amino/fatty acids, antioxidants and metabolites, inlcuding: 

  • Vitamins

    • Vitamin A

    • Vitamin B1

    • Vitamin B2

    • Vitamin B3

    • Vitamin B6

    • Vitamin B12

    • Biotin

    • Folate

    • Pantothenate

    • Vitamin C

    • Vitamin D3

    • Vitamin K2

  • Minerals

    • Calcium

    • Magnesium

    • Manganese

    • Zinc

    • Copper

  • Amino Acids

    • Asparagine

    • Glutamine

    • Serine

  • Fatty Acids

    • Oleic Acid

  • Antioxidants

    • Alpha Lipoic Acid

    • Coenzyme Q10

    • Cysteine

    • Glutathione

    • Selenium

    • Vitamin E

  • Carbohydrate Metabolism

    • Chromium

    • Fructose Sensitivity

    • Glucose-Insulin Metabolism

  • Metabolites

  • Choline

  • Inositol

  • Carnitine

  • Spectrox®

    • Total Antioxidant Function

  • Immunidex

    • Immune Response Score

Vitamin Deficiency

Micronutrient tests can pinpoint what vitamin deficiencies you may have. This is extremely beneficial, because when dietary intake of a vitamin is inadequate, deficiency disorders result.

Although vitamins are sometimes forgotten in comparison to macronutrients, they are just as important to our health and must to be considered in the context of nutrition quality.

Is micronutrient testing right for you?

Micronutrient testing is legitimate and if you are having certain health problems micronutrient testing is worth the cost. The tests provide a comprehensive extracellular and intracellular assessment of the levels of the most important vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fatty acids and amino acids.

So, if you want a clear understanding of your nutritional requirements at a foundational level, which may contribute to your risk for disease, while simultaneously and positively impacting your overall health and well-being, then micronutrient testing will be right for you.

Get setup with micronutrient testing NOW, just contact me here and setup a discovery call.

Published on Sep 20, 2021 at 2:49 pm

Dietitian TipsKayley George