Over the past year or so, I have been testing minerals like magnesium and zinc intracellularly (via red cell testing) as well as in normal blood tests. Interestingly, in quite a few cases where the normal blood test looks OK, it certainly doesn’t in red blood cell tests.
In other words, blood levels of, eg. magnesium, look OK but when you delve a bit deeper into what is actually in the cells being used, it is not OK. It is a functional deficiency that then requires the level of the mineral correcting.
Red blood cell (RBC) analysis gives a current snapshot of functional mineral status as well as toxic metals. Since it measures the mineral content inside blood cells, it gives a better indication of the minerals that the body is actually absorbing and utilizing. Since the average lifetime of an RBC is about four months, the results reflect an average over the past four months
So, I have been on the hunt for a way to red cell test most of the minerals. Up to now, I have only been able to do magnesium and zinc, using two different labs. Happily, I have just been able to list a full red blood cell mineral test which looks at the main minerals including calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc, selenium, iron etc but will also give you an idea of if there is any recent or current exposure to some of the main toxic metals including arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury.
Go here to read more about the test.
I have kept the original mineral test with RBC magnesium as a cheaper option for you but I would advise red cell testing if you can – I know some of you have been waiting for it to come on the system, so here it is!
Hope it helps.