FAQ's

After chewing gently for 1-2 minutes the cotton should feel completely saturated - similar to a sponge soaked in water.

No, it does not. Refer to the kit shipping instructions for the requirements specific to the test. Requirements do vary and in cases where a frozen specimen is required, plastic ice is included. We DO NOT expect or require that the sample(s) arrive frozen. We simply want to keep the sample as cool as possible during the shipping process.

• Urine – within 1 week of collection
• Hair – indefinitely

No. The testing will reveal your current total body nutrient status, and identify if supplements are at adequate levels. However, it is best to consult your clinician as some doctors like to discontinue supplements prior to testing.

Usually if the order is received by 2.00pm Monday to Friday, you will receive your delivery the next day. International clients expect 7-10 days for delivery.

You could use a paper bowl or paper plate – anything that is clean, non-porous, and disposable. The collection container only needs to be clean, NOT sterile.

The statement on the bag does not in any way pertain to your shipment and should therefore be left unmarked. The FedEx laboratory packing materials are universal and meant for many types of specimens.

Four spots of blood the size of a standard hole punch completely filled and completely soaked through to the other side of the collection card.

• Hair – ½ gram
• Urine - there is no minimum specimen requirement as it is a 6-8hr. or 24hr. urine collection. For accurate results, no collections should be missed during the collection period

UK Clients:

Once completed, the kits are sent in the clinical bags provided with address label attached, to a holding station in Oxford from where they are transported by air to the United States on a Friday. It is vitally important that you post using the Next Day Special Delivery Service, provided by the Royal Mail, on a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday Only. This will ensure your samples reach the laboratory on time and your results are accurate. Some (BioHealth) samples you send direct to the laboratory in America. Please send by the Priority Air Mail service at the Post Office. A blue clinical bag with address label attached is provided with the test kit.

International Clients:

Once completed, the kits are sent direct to the laboratory in the United States by a FEDEX International priority service. Collections can be made from any address provided by you. Please ensure samples are ready at the designated time as additional charges will be incurred otherwise. The necessary customs and delivery documentation will be sent to you via e mail one day before collection in pdf format. Please note there is an additional charge for this collection service dependant on location, we will advise you of this amount prior to collection.

Most people report only a momentary slight prick of the skin which they do not think is of any significance.

Most definitely yes. Full step by step instructions are included in the kits. Take time to read these instructions carefully and you should not experience any problems at all. If you do, please contact us and we will talk you through the process.

Yes, if this is the only way to get a patient’s specimen. Try to avoid contamination with urine as it can dilute the specimen.

When considering Celiac disease, it is important to exclude acute infective causes of diarrhea particularly Giardia infections, which can produce symptoms very similar to tropical sprue and celiac disease. Laboratory tests definitive for celiac are:

1. Antigliadin IgA Antibodies have been shown to be predictive of celiac disease. The presence of antigliadin antibodies refers to a sensitivity to gluten-containing foods. This test, in combination with a patient presenting with clinical signs of celiac, is predictive of celiac. Diagnosis may require additional tests, as listed below.

2. Endomysial Antibodies have a high sensitivity and specificity for the diagnosis of untreated celiac disease.

3. Jejunal Biopsy is diagnostic. It will show mucosal damage characteristic of celiac disease.

Metametrix tests Antigliadin Antibodies in the Adrenal Stress Plus profile. This test may help as a first step in assessing Celiac Disease, but should be used as an adjunct to other tests in the event of a positive result.

The minimum interval is 30 days and the preferred interval is 60 days.

If you repeat an Organix test in 2-3 months, you can clearly see improvements from supplementation of B vitamins, depending on the B vitamin.

Variation is less than 15% for each of the 90 IgG food analytes, the majority being less than 10%, which is very good. Regarding reliability, you can refer to Dr. V. Marinkovichs work. IgG food testing is one of the tests from which we get the most feedback from physicians telling us how much their patients clinically improve when they make dietary modifications based on this test.

High neurotransmitter turnover is an overall status and prognostic aid, although the finding does not call for any specific nutrient intervention. Cases with significant elevations of multiple neurotransmitter catabolites invariably display other areas of metabolic disturbance. The primary difficulty may be various combinations of micronutrient insufficiencies, toxin and detoxification effects, or GI microbial dysbiosis. When the specific vulnerabilities for physiological maladaptation are successfully addressed, neurotransmitter turnover, as reflected by the urinary catabolic products of epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, quite predictably returns to normal.

The milk on the IgG assays is cows’ milk. There are similar proteins in cows and goats milk therefore a person who tests positive to cows milk may also be positive to goats and should eliminate, or at least rotate goats milk initially.

The “Comprehensive” profile includes all test parameters (organic acids, lipid peroxides, blood-spot fatty acid and food allergy testing), while the “Basic” profile does not contain the blood-spot fatty acid and food allergy tests. The “Basic Plus” profile adds back the blood-spot fatty acids test to the “Basic” profile and contains everything the “Comprehensive” profile includes except the blood-spot food allergy test.

The Plasma Fatty Acid profile is an amplification of the standard serum triglyceride analysis. Instead of measuring only the total of all fatty acids present, the plasma profile reports the individual concentrations of each fatty acid. A person with high serum triglycerides will have higher levels of many individual fatty acids in plasma. Any condition indicated by elevated serum triglycerides will likewise be revealed as elevated fatty acids. The pattern of the high and low levels will depend on recent dietary intake and, depending on the length of fasting state, the type of stored fatty acids. Erythrocyte membrane fatty acid profiling is most commonly used to determine the presence of long-term insufficiencies and imbalances. Some 45% of the erythrocyte membrane is made up of fatty acids in the form of various phosphatides and glycolipids. The procedure used for profiling measures total concentrations of individual fatty acids. Erythrocyte data are generally preferred for assessing overall body status of fatty acids, because the levels reflect those present in most tissues, including the brain.

If you routinely take medication and want to evaluate its effects, continue to take the medication when you collect for the test. If the medication you are taking is related to your testing, its impact should be seen on the results. If you choose to cease your regimen please be aware that we cannot know for certain how long it will take for the medication to clear your system. This might make your results more difficult for your clinician to interpret. Always consult your prescribing physician first. This information is also applicable to supplements, diet, and exercise. There are some tests that will be affected by certain medications. Please consult your kit instructions for specific information.

Yes, there are certain elements that have no known benefits to humans, and are considered toxic. Examples would include but are not limited to lead, mercury, and arsenic. Even too high a level of beneficial nutrient minerals can be a problem. For example, in normal quantities, zinc is essential; in quantities too high, it can cause anemia, and deplete copper.

Nutritional Medicine is focused on correcting underlying causes of health problems. In traditional medicine, doctors are trained to diagnose and then use a variety of drugs that can help relieve a particular symptom. This approach usually does not address the cause of the problem but may significantly improve the symptom. A good example here is migraine headaches. The traditional approach would be to treat the symptom with aspirin or other painkiller. A Nutritional Medicine approach is to test for food allergies or a magnesium deficiency since both are common causes of migraine headaches. Another Nutritional Medicine approach is to determine some other possibility, like toxicity, that could be causing the headache.

The two situations are closely related, however exclusive. If a patient has a high wheat antibody reaction, they are reacting to anyone of the proteins in wheat, including gluten (gliadin). Gluten intolerance may be a co-existing problem but is not implied with elevated wheat antibodies. A person with gluten sensitivity would have elevated IgG wheat antibodies assuming he/she has ingested wheat.

One of the benefits of Nutritional Medicine is that you’re using compounds that have evolved with the body. Vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and fatty acids are part of what makes up the body. Consequently, they’re very low in toxicity. The body is capable of handling them, even in doses much higher than the recommended daily allowance. Herbal products, on the other hand, are outside of the realm of Nutritional Medicine. They are used as an alternative therapy that can produce pharmaceutical effects similar to drugs. They are not natural to the body. So, there is a difference between herbal medicine and nutritional medicine in terms of potential toxicity.

Trans fats are hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated oils found in many baked food products like breads, crackers, cookies, donuts, and also peanut butter and French fries. The message partially hydrogenated vegetable oil on food labels indicates that a natural oil has been chemically modified in a process that converts some of the cis unsaturated fatty acids to the unnatural trans form. In human tissues, trans unsaturated fat behaves as if it were saturated, leading to higher risk of heart disease and adverse impact on HDL or LDL cholesterol. Production of eicosanoids (fatty acids that serve important hormonal and neurotransmitter roles) may be inhibited by high levels of trans fats in body tissue. Trans fatty acid levels in cell membranes are determined by dietary intake of hydrogenated oils. A person eating a doughnut for breakfast (3.19g of trans fatty acids), a small order of French fries with lunch (3.43g), two teaspoons of margarine on bread with dinner (1.24g), and two cookies for a snack (1.72g) would ingest a total of 9.58g of trans fatty acids, enough to negate the serum cholesterol-lowering effects of a decrease in saturated fat of 10 percent of total energy intake. Elaidic acid is generally the most abundant of the trans fatty acids because it is produced by the hydrogenation of the most common oils used in the food industry, including corn, soybean, safflower, and olive. These oils contain relatively high amounts of oleic and linoleic acids, both of which may convert to elaidic acid during the hydrogenation process. Hard margarine may contain as much as 60% of the total unsaturated fatty acids as elaidic acid. The plasma level reflects body burden of trans fatty acids and is useful in monitoring intake of hydrogenated oils.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone released by the adrenal gland in response to stress. Increased levels of cortisol in the blood can result in a weakened immune system through decreased production of white blood cells and antibodies. Inadequate or irregular sleeping patterns also may cause cortisol levels to be out of balance.

Nutritional Medicine is an approach to health care that applies the knowledge that certain micronutrients are essential for our bodies to function optimally, and the lack of these essential nutrients can lead to illness. Nutritional Medicine uses sophisticated laboratory testing procedures to examine biochemical imbalances in the body, which can cause or complicate a specific health problem. Practitioners that practice Nutritional Medicine use the test results to design a diet and supplementation program, which will reinstate balance into the body, give the body what it needs to function normally, and help the patient feel better.

Nutritional Medicine involves a good diet, which is fundamental, and specific supplementation based on individual need, which can make all the difference in a persons overall health.