Vitamins and Minerals

Checks whether your diet is keeping up on vitamins, trace minerals, iron and omega-3 fats, with a marker that rises when B12 or folate runs short.

Most nutrient panels stop at vitamin D and B12. This one covers the water-soluble vitamins, the fat-soluble ones, the minerals and the fatty acids, and it adds the functional checks that say whether a level in the normal range is enough. Homocysteine rises when B12, folate or B6 are short at the cellular level, so it catches a deficiency a serum B12 can miss. Magnesium is measured inside red blood cells rather than in serum, because serum magnesium is held steady at the expense of the tissues and stays normal until the deficit is severe. Zinc and copper are read together, since each drives the other down and the ratio is what matters. Vitamins A, E and K and thiamine are the ones that go missing on restrictive diets, after bariatric surgery, with heavy drinking, or on the reduced intake that comes with GLP-1 medication. The iron panel, blood count and metabolic panel show what any deficiency has done to your blood, and the omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids show whether your fat intake is in the range linked to lower cardiac risk. Vitamin D is included too.

Blood is drawn at a Quest Diagnostics, Labcorp or BioReference patient service center. Price by laboratory: Quest Diagnostics $199, Labcorp $282 or BioReference $321. Your price depends on your state and the laboratories near you. Enter your ZIP code to see them.

What’s included

• Vitamin D (25-hydroxy): 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the main form of vitamin D circulating in the blood.
• Vitamin B12 and folate: Vitamin B12; serum folate
• Homocysteine: Homocysteine, an amino acid the body processes using vitamin B12, folate and vitamin B6.
• Magnesium, red blood cells: Magnesium inside red blood cells.
• Zinc: Zinc, an essential mineral, in serum or plasma.
• Copper: Copper, a trace mineral, most of which is carried in the blood by a protein called ceruloplasmin.
• Iron, TIBC and ferritin: Serum iron, total iron-binding capacity, iron saturation and ferritin, the body's iron-storage protein.
• Comprehensive metabolic panel (CMP): Glucose, sodium, potassium, chloride, carbon dioxide, calcium, the kidney tests BUN, creatinine and eGFR, total protein, albumin, bilirubin and the liver enzymes ALP, ALT and AST.
• Complete blood count (CBC): Red cells, white cells with a breakdown by type, and platelets, plus hemoglobin, hematocrit and red-cell size.
• Vitamin B1 (Thiamine): Vitamin B1 (thiamine) in whole blood, measured by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).
• Vitamin K: Vitamin K
• Vitamin A: Vitamin A
• Vitamin E: Vitamin E
• Omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids: Omega-3 (EPA, DPA and DHA) and omega-6 fatty acids in the blood, with their ratios.

Before your draw

Fasting required.

Fast for 9 to 12 hours before your draw; water is fine. Ask your clinician whether to pause iron or B-vitamin supplements before the draw. Zinc and copper supplements can raise those results; ask your clinician whether to pause them. If you take insulin or other diabetes medicine, ask your clinician how to take it while you fast. Don't stop your usual medicines unless your clinician tells you to. If you take biotin (vitamin B7), including in hair, skin and nail supplements or multivitamins, have your blood drawn at least 8 hours after a usual dose, or at least 72 hours after a high dose. If biotin was prescribed, ask your clinician before stopping it.