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Nutrition is powerful! A few simple tweaks can make a big difference in your body and how you feel. Nutritional testing can help you identify your unique nutritional needs.
Nutrition is important for every body system. Poor nutrition contributes to many chronic diseases. If you struggle with any of the following conditions or are curious about your nutritional status, nutritional testing may be able to help identify the root cause of your ailments:
Genova’s nutritional testing provides a more complete assessment compared to what standard labs offer. Personalised recommendations for amino acids, fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, digestive support, and other nutrients are provided. Testing can also reveal toxic exposures and measure your body’s ability to neutralise those toxins.
The benefits of nutritional balance include healthy weight, mental wellness, disease prevention, and increased energy – if you are ready to feel your best, talk with your healthcare practitioner today about nutritional testing.
The Metabolomix+ can be collected completely in the comfort of your own home. It requires a urine sample and if your practitioner orders add-on testing, a bloodspot finger stick, and cheek swab. We have many resources to help make your testing experience a success. Review the Test Preparation tab to learn more about the collection process.
Certain medications, supplements, and/or foods may impact test results. Please note that the reference ranges were established based on patients who were taking no medications or supplements. In some instances it is unknown what potential impact a medication may have on test results.
Genova never recommends that patients discontinue medically necessary medications or supplements in order to complete testing.
There may be times when a patient may stay on a medication or dietary supplement during testing in order to evaluate its effectiveness. The recommendation to discontinue any substance is intended to establish a baseline finding. While there are no rigid rules on time frames for discontinuing supplements to establish a baseline, some clinicians choose to discontinue 4 days prior to testing. If you choose to discontinue a medication, a good rule of thumb is to take the biological half-life of the drug times 5 to allow for ‘clearance’ before testing. With certain medications, the drug itself may have cleared the body, but the effect of the medication may be longer lasting. Below you will find a list detailing the potential interference or influence of certain substances on the biomarkers.
Dietary Factor | Possible Impact on Results |
Artificial sweeteners and MSG | Artificial sweeteners and MSG are composed of amino acids which can directly impact measured amino acid levels |
Eat your usual diet; avoid over-consuming any single food, extreme diets, or engaging in a rigourous activity (i.e. marathon) | Extreme diets and activity may impact certain organic acid biomarkers related to the citric acid cycle, neurotransmitter metabolites, dysbiosis markers, or amino acids |
Phenol and flavonoid containing compounds in fruits, vegetables, chocolate, and tea can result in elevation of certain bacterial and fungal dysiosis markers on the organic acids profile | |
Bananas, pineapple, kiwi, plums, avacado, walnuts, and pecans can result in an elevation of the serotonin metabolite 5-HIAA measured on the organic acids profile | |
Seafood | Seafood containing heavy metals such as mercury and arsenic can result in a transient elevation |
Six 8-ounce glasses of fluid | Creatinine concentration is influenced by fluid intake |
Fasting, water allowed only | Reference ranges were set based on an overnight-fasted population. Overnight fasting minimises influence of a single meal and provides a “steady diet” sample |
Medications and supplements may impact results. The discontinuation of any medication is at the discretion of the clinician, only if medically appropriate.
Medications and Supplements | Possible Impact on Results |
Valproic acid | Direct assay interferent for organic acid xanthurenic acid |
Acetaminophen | Direct assay interferent for multiple organic acids |
Berberine HCl | Direct assay interferent for organic acids IAA and 5-HIAA |
Antibiotics, antifungals, probiotics, digestive enzymes, acid blocking medications | May indirectly influence urinary organic acid markers of malabsorption/dysbiosis Amino acid levels may be impacted by aminoglycoside antibiotics |
Amphetamines, centrally acting medications, antidepressants, Anti-Parkinsonian medications | May influence urinary organic acid markers of neurotransmitter metabolism1,2 |
HMG-CoA-reductase inhibitors (statins) and red yeast rice | May indirectly increase urinary organic acid B-methylglutaric acid levels |
N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) | Direct assay interferent for cholesterol and triglycerides add-on tests; may lead to falsely low results |
Oral contraceptives, estrogen therapy | May increase the organic acid quinolinic acid excretion both from altered tryptophan metabolism directly, as well as the indirect functional vitamin B6 insufficiency3 |
Quercetin | May elevate the organic acid homovanillic acid4 |
Steroids | May lower inflammatory neurotransmitter metabolite quinolinic acid, an organic acid |
Diuretics | May impact creatinine concentration, thus affecting all urinary biomarker measurements |
Fibrates | May influence fatty acid levels In some animal studies, fibrates also impact cellular energy metabolites on the organic acids profile |
Kreb’s cycle and amino chelated supplements (i.e. citrate, malate, succinate, glycinate, threonate, and orotate forms of supplements [magnesium citrate], alpha ketoglutarate, and others) | May result in elevations of corresponding Kreb’s cycle markers and amino acids |
Provocation/chelating agents (i.e. DMPS, DMSA, EDTA, etc.) | Reference ranges are based on a non-provoked, non-chelated patient population |
Vitamin C | May increase urinary excretion of organic acid oxalic acid or lead |
Dietary Influences on urinary organic acids:4-16
Urinary Metabolite | Common Dietary Sources |
Indoleacetic acid | High tryptophan intake, green/black tea |
Phenylacetic acid | Wine/grapes |
Dihydroxyphenylpropionic acid | Whole-grains, chocolate, coffee, green/black tea, olives/olive oil, citrus fruits (animal studies) |
3-Hydroxyphenylacetic acid & 4-hydroxyphenlyacetic acid | Wine/grapes, cranberries, green/black tea, berries, orange juice, grape seed extract |
Benzoic acid/Hippuric acid | Orange juice, elderberry, huckleberry, food preservative, berries, other flavonoids |
Citramalic acid | Apples, cranberries, sugar beets |
Tartaric acid | Wine/grapes, chocolate, food additive/preservative |
Malic acid | Fruits (apples, pears), vegetables, throat lozenges, syrups, beverages with food preservatives and additives |
Homovanillic acid | Flavanols including tomatoes, onions and tea |
5-hydroxyindolacetic acid | Bananas, plantains, kiwi, pineapple, nuts, and tomatoes |
Urine glucose is a direct interferent to the lipid peroxides assay. Patients with uncontrolled diabetes and elevated urine glucose may receive a result of ‘not reportable, NR’ for lipid peroxides. Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) Inhibitors lower blood sugar by disposing of excess glucose via urine.
The urine biomarkers are ratioed to urinary creatinine. The urine biomarkers include organic acids, urine amino acids and urine oxidative stress markers. If urinary creatinine is out of range, it can impact the levels of reported urine analytes which are used for nutrient recommendations. The collection instructions recommend not to drink more than six, 8-ounce glasses of liquid (48 ounces) 24 hours prior to sample collection because it can dilute the urine impacting the reported urine analytes. Below are considerations for altered urinary creatinine:
We do not recommend urine testing in a patient with known kidney dysfunction, defined by abnormal serum testing.
Testing is not available for children under 2 years old and samples will be discarded. Appropriate reference ranges have not been established for this population. We do not recommend squeezing liquid out of a diaper for sample collection, as this can result in altered concentrations of creatinine and biomarkers. A pediatric urine bag that can be taped to the body is available upon request for appropriate sample collection. While this is not a catheter procedure, instructions for catheterised patients can be followed below with regards to collecting and pooling all urine samples from the child’s bedtime to early morning awakening.
It is unknown whether having a catheter placed will affect the results, or whether there will be any interference or decreased viability of the sample owing to this procedure. It is imperative to collect all urine samples from bedtime until early morning awakening. The bladder should be voided before bed. If the patient urinates during the night, the contents of the bag should be emptied into a clean container and refrigerated as soon as possible. This must be done each time urine is collected during the night. This may be inconvenient for the patient but would ensure a more viable sample. Finally, collect the first urine upon waking for the day, and combine that sample with all samples collected during the night. Ensure the combined sample is well mixed before transferring into the labeled tubes.
The reference ranges were not designed for a pregnant population. However, it may be useful to evaluate functional nutritional needs to optimise health during pregnancy, for both the mother and fetus. In pregnancy, the demand for various nutrients increases dramatically. The recommendations offered may reflect that increased nutritional burden. However, because the reference ranges were not established for this patient population, the implementation of nutrient recommendations or botanicals should be in accordance with standard pregnancy recommendations and precautions. Please refer to the link below addressing micronutrient needs during pregnancy and lactation:
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