Micronutrient Testing
Cellular Nutrition Assays (CNA) – The next generation of functional cellular nutrition testing.
The CNA assesses your unique needs at the cellular level. It provides information about nutrient stores inside your cells-like hemoglobin A1C provides long-term information about blood sugar regulation. The CNA is calibrated according to the individual’s need and how the immune cells respond to the addition of each test item.
Nutrient insufficiency and deficiencies can lead to chronic disease. This can be mitigated or prevented using targeted nutrition with an individualized food and supplement plan.
Your personalized meal plan will help:
Optimize Metabolism
Improve Energy
Immune Support
Protect from Oxidative Stress
Enhance Performance
Who Will Benefit?
- Nutrition and health status optimization with an individualized plan
- Weight management, obesity
- High performance and/or severe stress
- Sports nutrition
- Women’s health; fertility, pregnancy, lactation, perimenopause, menopause
- Burnout, fatigue, depression, mood swings, low vitality
- Chronic and metabolic conditions (increased blood pressure and blood sugar, excess body fat, abnormal cholesterol)
- Pre- and post-surgery
How Testing Works
Cellular Micronutrient Assay (CMA)
Functional cellular nutrient analysis assesses the impact of individual nutrients on cellular function. The CMA directly measures the effect of specific micronutrients on the ability of T and B lymphocytes to reproduce when stimulated with a mitogen (an agent that causes mitosis/cell division). When the body has an infection, it increases the production of the T and B lymphocytes (memory cells) that “recognize” and combat that specific invader. The faster these cells reproduce the faster infection is overcome. The ability of these cells to multiply is driven by our nutrient stores. Cells need nutrients in order to grow and multiply. Those nutrient requirements are unique to each individual and are impacted by many factors. Stress, genetics, high energy output in sports, pregnancy, recent infection, toxic burden, sleep patterns, etc., all play a role.
Intracellular vs. Serum and Plasma Assessment
Measurement of micronutrients in plasma or serum is a reflection of their levels in circulation and outside of cells, not a reflection of nutrient levels within the cell where they have the most functional impact. Serum/plasma levels of nutrients are prone to daily fluctuations and are not necessarily a complete and perfect indication of intracellular nutrient status. Therefore, assessing micronutrients and their impact on cellular function at the cellular level is preferred as it provides insight into an individual’s long-term nutritional status (6 months) versus short-term variability.
Redox Assay
Oxidative stress is a significant contributor to chronic disease. “Redox’ (reduction-oxidation) is a chemical reaction involving the increase and decrease in oxidation that occurs during metabolic reactions. A prolonged imbalance of oxidants and antioxidants, and its association with physiological damage and chronic disease, has prompted the need for measuring redox imbalances and antioxidant capacity within cells.
The Redox Assay is a measurement of the cells’ resistance to oxidative stress and their overall antioxidant capacity.
Increasing concentrations of a free radical generating system (H2O2) are added to the lymphocytes. The increasing levels of peroxide will diminish cells’ growth rates and/or damage cells to the point of cell death (apoptosis or necrosis) depending on the functional antioxidant capacity of the tested cells. The cells’ ability to resist oxidative damage and prevent further damage to cells is determined and compared to that of the general population.
Antioxidant Protection Assay
The Antioxidant Protection Assay (APA) determines which specific antioxidant nutrients may be beneficial and support the patient’s cells to resist oxidative stress.
Single antioxidants are added to the patient’s cells and serum in the presence of oxidative stress molecules. This process is repeated for each individual antioxidant. Specific antioxidants that support the recovery of patients’ lymphocytes from the effect of oxidative stress are reported as highly protective or protective.
