What are Cellular Micronutrients: They are vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and other nutrients that cells need to function. They are essential for the production of enzymes, hormones, and proteins. In this Blog, All U Health is going to break down nutrients, essential nutrients, and cellular micronutrients and the understanding of why testing is important. Just think if you give your body all the critical nutrients to fight off age related diseases, how much more vitality would you have in your life. This test is the keys to information on how you can do this for your body!
Nutrients are vital to health. They are required for every metabolic process in the body including:
Essential nutrients—vitamins, minerals, trace elements, water, phytonutrients, amino acids, and essential fatty acids— must be obtained from what we ingest. We must obtain these nutrients from food or in supplement form because the human body either cannot produce them at all or produces them in quantities insufficient to meet metabolic needs. In order to promote optimal health, assessing nutrient status regularly is key to understanding what to address regarding the ideal dietary intake for an individual.
Metabolism and all biochemical reactions take place intracellularly (within cells). Nutrients- vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids are utilized within cells to produce energy and to manufacture enzymes, hormones, neurotransmitters, and proteins in order to sustain life. Micronutrients in particular—vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients— are the driving forces (we call these the “sparks”) behind these metabolic reactions. An insufficiency of any of the nutrients involved can contribute to a disruption in cell metabolism.
Many factors impact nutritional status: food and beverage intake, digestion, absorption, age, disease states, stress, medications, exposure to toxins, genetics, and activity level. A nutritional deficiency is defined as “an inadequacy of nutrients in cells or tissues, resulting from inadequate dietary intake or altered digestion, absorption, or metabolism”.
Nutrient deficiency diseases described in the early 1900s (ex. Rickets, Scurvy) represent the end stage result of prolonged nutrient insufficiency. However, more recent discoveries reveal that years of subclinical nutrient insufficiency (without classic symptoms of deficiency) can cause a less recognizable progression of chronic disease. Insufficiency at the cellular level can be seen without the individual expressing symptoms of overt deficiency or disease. If the need for particular nutrients is not addressed, the insufficiency may progress to early-stage disease.
Nutrient insufficiencies and deficiencies can lead to chronic disease, a well-established fact. Such consequences can be mitigated or prevented using targeted nutrition support with an individualized food and supplement routine.
The Standard American Diet, which consists of highly processed foods, is inherently calorie rich, yet nutrient deficient. Many individuals are NOT consuming the daily recommended number of fruits and vegetables and insufficient micronutrient intake has been well documented. Intake of several nutrients falls below 50% of recommended levels in the United States. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) consistently reveal that the U.S. population does not meet recommended intake levels for several nutrients including magnesium, calcium, zinc, vitamins A, B6, C, and D.
Functional cellular nutrient analysis assesses the impact of individual nutrients on cellular function. Cellular Micronutrient Testing, also known as Cellular Micronutrient Assay (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 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 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.
Do your homework to avoid being fooled by advertisements that offer cheap micronutrient testing as they may only be looking at the critical nutrients. A quality, thorough test will review over 50 different combinations of minerals, vitamins, and amino acids.
All U Health offers CMA testing to further enhance your wellness goals. It is performed by scheduling a simple blood draw. The results are received within approximately one week. Our medical professionals will then review your results and provide recommendations to help with any deficiencies identified in your test.