Is there any point in doing a vitamin & mineral analysis?
I've recently started the paleo/primal diet and I'm kind of worried that after years of bad eating habits [+ being a low-fat, high carb vegetarian for quite some time] have lowered my numbers.
Is it enough to simply continue down this path of meats, eggs, high quality fats, vegetables and berries?
Those tests are pretty expensive and if they're not that necessary I might as well not take them.
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depends if you have developed any health or digestive problems from the previous diet. if not, you'll probably "fill up" potentially deficient stores pretty quickly. the only thing i would specifically test for is B12 and your iron store (ferritin). those usually can get pretty bad on a vegan diet, and often need to be filled up "manually" with respective supplements. other than that, why not do a general "health panel" that includes the most important health markers like liver and kidney status, A1c (blood sugar), CRP (inflammation), blood lipids, vitamin D, etc. then you have a set of tests you can repeat in a year or so and see how you have improved on the paleo diet. |
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If you are worried, a few weeks of good quality calves' liver in your diet should turn everything right around. You could also do some bone broths for minerals. Add some fish oil, get some sun and eat a nice big bowl of veggies once in a while and any major deficits should right themselves. I am a numbers junky so I'd opt for the tests if I had the money. It's good to have a benchmark so you can do paleo for a while and then get check again to see progress. |
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First I would do a vitamin and mineral analysis of your intake. Make sure you aren't missing any obvious nutrients in what you are eating. After that, I would say it depends on how you feel and what your financial situation is. If the money is not an issue, then go for it! Or if you have lingering health problems, such testing might give clues to underlying problems. Just keep in mind that blood levels of some nutrients don't accurately reflect deficiencies. You will want to thoroughly research each nutrient before jumping to conclusions. |
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