Micronutrient Testing

The article identifies combined intracellular and functional markers as the most comprehensive clinical approach. Intracellular testing is presented as more reliable because critical biochemistry occurs inside cells. Serum testing can detect severe acute deficiency but is a poor proxy for cellular nutritional status. Intracellular testing measures nutrient concentrations inside blood cells instead of surrounding serum. Functional testing evaluates how well a nutrient performs within the cell, not only how much is present. Normal extracellular nutrient levels can coexist with lower intracellular concentrations.