Description
Why You May Need an Intracellular Vitamin Analysis
There is overwhelming scientific evidence confirming that vitamin deficiencies are associated with disease processes and the overall condition of your health. Vitamin, mineral, antioxidant and other essential micronutrient deficiencies suppress the function of the immune system which can contribute to degenerative processes such as arthritis, cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes,to name a few. Yet you, like most people, may be deficient in some vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and other essential micronutrients and not even know it. These deficiencies can contribute to disease processes and keep you from feeling your best.
Functional Intracellular Analysis™
Available exclusively from SpectraCell Laboratories, worldwide, the patented FIA™ measures the intracellular function of selected vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other essential micronutrients within your white blood cells (lymphocytes).
Current standard serum micronutrient tests reflect an individual’s nutrient intake over a relatively narrow window of time. The results are often biased by many factors, especially by foods eaten during the few days preceding the test, allowing potential long-term deficiencies to be missed.
But now, resulting from University research that began in 1978, the FIA™ uses your own lymphocyte cells to measure the intracellular function of selected essential micronutrients. Analysis of the function of these cells under SpectraCell’s patented conditions reveals your nutrient status that is reflective over a period of several months versus a few days. (The average life span of a lymphocyte is approximately four to six months.)
The results obtained, therefore, uncover deficiencies that standard serum tests may miss. If not corrected, such deficiencies could impair your health by contributing to the development and/or progression of chronic disease.
Why is nutrient status important?
Nutrient status is a vital foundation of health. Each micronutrient plays an individual and indispensable role in promoting the optimal function of all our cells. When some of those cells do not function at their best, the foundation of our health is compromised, setting the stage for the development of disease. By identifying and correcting nutritional deficiencies, you are taking an important step toward long-term maintenance of optimal health.
But I eat a balanced diet, exercise and take a multi-vitamin
If this describes all or part of your lifestyle, read on. Many people work at improving their health, yet some individuals still have deficiencies. Why?
Biochemical Individuality: Because each of us is metabolically and biochemically unique, the micronutrient requirements for one person are often quite different than the requirements of another.
Absorption: Although you may eat a balanced diet, if you do not absorb micronutrients properly – such as vitamins, minerals and antioxidants – you will have deficiencies
Chronic Illness: Health conditions such as arthritis, cancer, cardiovasculardisease, diabetes, fatigue and multiple sclerosis, to name a few, can be affected, directly or indirectly, by micronutrient deficiencies.
Aging: Our micronutrient requirements at age 30 are quite different from our requirements at age 40, 50 and beyond. In addition, absorption difficulties (such as vitamin B12) quite commonly occur as we age.
Lifestyle: Alcohol, medications, over-exercising, sedentary habits, and smoking all impact our micronutrient demands.
The FIA™ is the only functional intracellular analysis that takes all of the above factors into consideration to assess your baseline nutrient status. With this information, specific deficiencies that may be negatively influencing your health, may be corrected.
How do the FIA™ tests work?
Your blood is collected and sent to SpectraCell (no fasting is required). At our laboratory, your lymphocyte cells are isolated and grown in a series of patented culture media. First, the cells are stimulated to grow in the control media which contain optimal amounts of each micronutrient analyzed. Then, as each micronutrient is removed from the media, one at a time, your cells must use their own internal mechanisms (reserves or metabolic processes) to grow sufficiently on their own. The growth of your cells under these different conditions reveals possible deficiencies. If your cells grow optimally, they are functioning adequately and thus are not deficient; and if your cells do not grow optimally, then a deficiency is indicated. For example, when B12 is removed from the media and cell growth is not sufficient, this indicates that your lymphocyte cells have a functional intracellular deficiency of B12.
FUNCTIONAL INTRACELLULAR ANALYSIS (FIA™) PROFILES
SpectraCell’s FIA™ is a clinically effective diagnostic tool for the prevention and management of chronic disease conditions. There is overwhelming evidence confirming that nutrient deficiencies have been shown to suppress immune function contributing to chronic disease process including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, arthritis and Alzheimer’s.
FIA™ Comprehensive 5000
Vitamins | Minerals | Amino Acids | Antioxidants | Carbohydrate Metabolism, Fatty Acids & Metabolites |
---|---|---|---|---|
Vitamin A | Calcium | Asparagine | Coenzyme Q10 | Lipoic Acid |
Vitamin B1 | Magnesium | Carnitine | Glutathione | Oleic Acid |
Vitamin B2 | Selenium | Glutamine | Cysteine | Choline |
Vitamin B3 | Zinc | Serine | Spectrox™ (Total Antioxidant Function) | Inositol |
Vitamin B6 | Fructose Intolerance | |||
Vitamin B12 | Glucose/Insulin Metabolism | |||
Biotin | ||||
Folic Acid | ||||
Pantothenate | ||||
Vitamin D | ||||
Vitamin E |
Includes SPECTROX™ Total Antioxidant Function
SPECTROX™ is a unique method to assess antioxidant function on an individual basis. SpectraCell uses isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (mostly lymphocytes) that are stimulated to grow in a chemically-defined, serum and protein-free media. Cumene hydroperoxide is added to the media to provide oxidative stress, and after several days of incubation, lymphocyte growth is measured by tritiated thymidine incorporation.
All factors that influence antioxidant status are taken into account by SPECTROX™, since live, metabolically active cells are used. Since the function of antioxidants is to protect biomolecules from oxidative damage, SPECTROX™ measures the net ability of antioxidants and repair mechanisms of each individual’s own cells, reporting a total assessment of antioxidant function.
You must go to a laboratory to get your blood drawn, there is a fee to have the blood drawn. You receive the results by email.