A 27-year-old female asked:
Can you have a test done that checks all your vitamin and mineral levels?
2 doctor answers • 3 doctors weighed in
Dr. Michal Traczanswered
Nephrology and Dialysis 21 years experience
Not easily: There is no panel that just checks everything but you can certainly try to check as much as you could. It will cost you, though. Most insurance plans would not pay for that.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsAnswered >2 years ago
Dr. Randy Bakeranswered
Holistic Medicine 42 years experience
You can but not easy: There are 2 types of vitamins, fat and water soluble. Fat soluble ones like d and e can be checked accurately. B12 & folate (folic acid) can also be accurate, but most water-soluble vits do not stay in your system long so their values vary from day to day; "functional tests" like organic acid analysis or spectra cell may give a better picture. Minerals are a challenge to assess- see my
comment to learn why:.
Created for people with ongoing healthcare needs but benefits everyone.
4.9k viewsReviewed >2 years ago
Dr. Randy Baker commented
Holistic Medicine 42 years experience
Provided original answer
Most minerals have a far higher concentration in our cells than our blood, so blood levels don't give an accurate assessment. Some labs test levels inside red blood cells, but those are atypical cells. Exatest measures levels in epithelial cells but only tests some minerals. Functional tests as mentioned & amino acid tests may give evidence of mineral status. Holistic docs can order these tests.
Sep 27, 2013
Last updated Apr 5, 2019
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