Vitamin and Mineral Testing

Every single thing your body in a day does runs off nutrients – from digestion, to detoxification, to clear thinking, to regulating inflammation…the list goes on. Nutrients are substances that are essential for growth and the maintenance of life and include calories, carbohydrates, protein, fat, and vitamins and minerals. Getting the right amount of nutrients is key to keeping your energy and metabolism high, and your body functioning as it should.

But how do you know how much of each nutrient you need? Well, there are recommended daily allowances (RDA). The RDAs are the estimated amount of a nutrient per day considered necessary for the maintenance of “good health.” The RDAs vary by age, sex, and whether a woman is pregnant or nursing.

But are the RDAs enough? The concept of “good health,” as defined by the RDAs, is the minimum nutritional amounts needed to avoid diseases or clear symptoms of deficiency. These minimum nutritional amounts are far lower than amounts that are fully supportive or optimal. For example, there is a big difference between the amount of vitamin C needed to prevent scurvy and the amount needed for an optimally functioning immune system.

Also keep in mind, the RDAs imply perfect conditions and do not take into account the increased need for certain nutrients to combat stress, environmental toxins, illness, poor diets, medications, or gut problems that cause malabsorption, all of which can increase nutritional needs.

And finally, the RDAs don’t account for genetic variants, and how they can increase nutritional needs. Knowing which specific nutrients you may ‘genetically’ need more of can be the key to solving health issues or even just optimizing wellness.

I offer vitamin and mineral testing as a way to better target dietary and supplement recommendations. I love looking at diet, and vitamin and mineral needs through a genetics lens. I would love to dive into these topics with you! Schedule a call to learn more.