What a NutriSTAT test measures, and how to read it
NutriSTAT is a pathology profile from NutriPATH, an Australian lab (you’ll also see it written Nutri-STAT). It pairs a fasting blood collection with a first-morning urine sample, and reports on everything from iron studies and thyroid function to fatty acids, amino acids and urine organic acids.
It’s a private test and we order it for you, so there’s no GP referral to organise. You can order your NutriSTAT test with us.
Written and reviewed by Georgina Waugh, Clinical Nutritionist. Updated 5 November 2026.
General information, not medical advice. A NutriSTAT doesn’t diagnose any condition, and new or worsening symptoms belong with your GP first.
The short version
- A NutriSTAT uses two samples: a first-morning urine sample you collect at home, and a fasting blood collection at a pathology collection centre, sent back together.
- The report spans eleven sections, from ordinary markers like iron studies, vitamin D and thyroid function to red cell fatty acids, plasma amino acids and urine organic acids.
- Preparation changes the result. NutriPATH asks for a Monday or Tuesday morning collection, 8 to 10 hours of fasting, non-essential supplements paused for 4 days and a list of foods avoided for 48 hours.
- A result flagged high or low is being compared with a range that’s normal for the population, not necessarily for you. It’s a reason to look closer, not a verdict.
- With us it’s from $890, and the $1,120 option includes a 60-minute Zoom consultation on your results.
What’s in a NutriSTAT report
NutriSTAT is test code 5005 at NutriPATH, an Australian integrative pathology lab. Most of the report comes from the blood collection. The organic acids come from the urine. This is what NutriPATH’s published sample report lists, section by section.
| Section and sample | What it includes |
|---|---|
| Metabolic health Blood | Cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL and LDL, apolipoprotein B and A-1, lipoprotein(a), LDL particle subfractions, high-sensitivity CRP, homocysteine, fibrinogen and fasting glucose |
| Kidney and liver Blood | Sodium, potassium and the other electrolytes, urea, creatinine, bilirubin, liver enzymes, total protein and albumin |
| Iron and vitamins Blood | Iron, transferrin, transferrin saturation and ferritin, active vitamin B12, serum folate and vitamin D |
| Thyroid Blood | TSH, free T4, free T3, rT3 and three thyroid antibodies |
| Hormones Blood | Progesterone, DHEA sulphate, testosterone, sex hormone binding globulin, calculated free testosterone and oestradiol |
| Minerals Blood | Red cell magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper, iodine, manganese, chromium and others, plus plasma copper, zinc and caeruloplasmin |
| Metals Blood | Fifteen metals in whole blood, including lead, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and aluminium |
| Fatty acids Blood | Red cell omega-3 and omega-6 fats, the omega-3 index, the AA to EPA ratio and trans fats |
| Amino acids Blood | Essential and non-essential amino acids in plasma, related metabolites and functional ratios |
| Organic acids Urine | 63 markers the lab groups by pathway: energy production, B vitamins, methylation cofactors, neurotransmitter breakdown products, oxidative stress, detoxification, oxalates, and compounds of bacterial or yeast origin |
| Summary pages Report | An interpretation-at-a-glance page pulling the flagged results together, and a nutritional guide with suggested supplement doses |
Labs update their panels, so the list on your own report is the one that counts.
Breadth is the point of the test, so how you prepare and who reads the report matter as much as the markers. Pathology Tests Explained notes that something can be flagged as abnormal and still be perfectly OK for you.
See your GP first if any of these apply
- tiredness that has lasted more than 2 weeks and isn’t getting better
- tiredness that is worrying you, or stopping you from doing things
- tiredness alongside other symptoms, such as weight loss
These come from Healthdirect. New, severe or unexplained symptoms of any kind need a medical assessment before a functional test.
NutriSTAT or a blood test from your GP?
They answer different questions. Healthdirect notes that you need a referral from your doctor for a blood test, and that Medicare covers all or part of the cost of most common ones. A NutriSTAT is a private test, usually ordered through a practitioner.
Some of it overlaps with what a GP can order, like iron studies, vitamin D and thyroid function. Other sections, such as red cell fatty acids, plasma amino acids and urine organic acids, sit outside that. So it helps to know which question is yours:
| If your main question is | A more useful place to start |
|---|---|
| Is my iron, B12, vitamin D or thyroid low? | Your GP. These are everyday blood tests, and a doctor is the right person to act on them. |
| What does my urine organic acid pattern look like on its own? | An organic acids test, which is urine only. A NutriSTAT includes an organic acids section alongside the blood work. |
| Which methylation gene variants did I inherit? | A genetic methylation test, which reads DNA from saliva. A NutriSTAT measures what’s in your blood and urine now, not what you inherited. |
| Several things overlap, and ordinary bloods haven’t explained them | This is where a NutriSTAT can add context, read beside your symptoms and history. |
If you already have recent bloods from your GP, keep them handy. They’re part of the picture.
How to prepare for a NutriSTAT test
Preparation is the part you control, and on this test it’s unusually detailed. NutriPATH warns that without these precautions your results may be inaccurate, or you may need to collect again. This is what its collection instructions ask.
| When | What the instructions ask |
|---|---|
| Which day | Collect only on a Monday or Tuesday morning, so the samples reach the lab in the same working week. |
| 4 days before | Stop non-essential supplements, including protein powders, creatine, alpha-ketoglutarate and malic acid, and minerals in citrate, malate or orotate forms. |
| 48 hours before the urine sample | Avoid alcohol, coffee, tea, caffeinated drinks and fruit juices, and avocado, bananas, chocolate, cocoa, cheese, citrus fruits, grapes, kiwi fruit, pineapple, plums, tomatoes, walnuts, pecans and vanilla. |
| 24 hours before | Avoid products containing aspartame or MSG, and don’t overdo any one food. |
| Fasting | At least 8 to 10 hours without food before the blood collection. Water is fine. |
| The urine sample | Your first urine of the morning, with fluids limited so it isn’t dilute, frozen for at least 2 hours. Don’t collect while menstruating, and after a urinary tract infection wait 5 days past the end of treatment. |
| The blood collection | At a partner pathology collection centre, as early in the morning as you can, with the blood kit. |
| Prescribed medicines | Talk to your prescriber first. The instructions leave that decision with them. |
How do you collect a NutriSTAT sample?
- Pick a Monday or Tuesday morning, so your samples reach the lab in the same working week.
- Follow the supplement and food pauses above, then fast for 8 to 10 hours. Water’s fine, just don’t overdo it, so your urine isn’t dilute.
- Collect your first urine of the morning at home and freeze it for at least 2 hours. It stays in the freezer until you send it.
- Take your blood kit to a partner pathology collection centre, as early in the morning as you can. They’ll hand the tubes back to you.
- Send the blood and urine back together that same day, in the prepaid packaging from your kit. NutriPATH estimates about 21 business days from when the lab receives them.
The instructions that come in your kit are the ones to follow, since labs revise them. The summary above is from version 4, July 2023.
One rule sits above all of it. Don’t stop or change a prescribed medicine for a test without talking to the doctor who prescribed it.
Two notes worth making. Write down every supplement you usually take and the date you paused each one. And keep a simple food diary for the two days before the urine sample.
The report shows the numbers. Those notes help whoever reads it judge whether a pattern is you, or what you ate on the weekend.
How to read NutriSTAT results
Each marker is printed with your result, the lab’s reference range and a flag if you fall outside it. Healthdirect is clear that what results mean depends on your personal situation. Here’s what each part of the report can and can’t tell you.
| On your report | What it shows | What it can’t tell you |
|---|---|---|
| A result marked H or L | Your number sits outside the lab’s reference range, which Healthdirect describes as generally normal for the population, but not necessarily for every individual. | Whether there’s actually a problem. That depends on your symptoms, history and other results. |
| The interpretation-at-a-glance page | Which results were flagged, gathered in one place. | Which of them matter for you, or in what order. |
| The nutritional guide | Suggested supplement doses the lab generates from the organic acid results. Its own disclaimer says the prescribing practitioner must weigh age, weight, sex, pregnancy, medicines and allergies. | What you should take. It’s a starting point for a practitioner, not a prescription. |
| Iron studies, B12, folate, vitamin D and thyroid | Familiar markers that a GP can also look at, and the most straightforward part of the report to follow up. | What a result outside range means medically. A thyroid antibody or ferritin result outside range is one to take to your GP. |
| Metals in whole blood | How much of each metal was in your blood on the day of collection. | Where it came from. For lead, the Victorian health department advises that a level above 5 µg/dL means the source of exposure should be investigated, and that starts with your doctor. |
| Hormones | One fasting morning blood sample. | How a level moves across a day or a cycle. It’s a single point in time. |
| Amino acids, fatty acids and organic acids | Patterns that shift with what you eat and the supplements you take, which is why the preparation asks you to pause both. | The whole story on their own. They’re read beside your food diary and supplement list. |
| Bacterial and yeast markers | Compounds in your urine that the lab attributes to bacterial or yeast activity. | Which microbes live in your gut. That’s a question for a gut microbiome test. |
What I look at first. When someone brings me a NutriSTAT report, I don’t start with the organic acids. I start with the ordinary markers: iron studies, B12, folate, vitamin D, thyroid and fasting glucose. Anything clearly outside range goes to their GP first.
Then I check the preparation. Was it a true fast, which supplements were paused and when, what they ate in the two days before.
Only then do the fatty acids, amino acids and organic acids get read, against their symptoms, their food and their history. The nutritional guide at the back is the lab’s generic starting point. I don’t hand it over as a plan.
After your results
If something sits well outside range, particularly in the thyroid, iron, kidney, liver or metals sections, take the report to your GP. Those are medical results first.
A clinical nutritionist works alongside your medical care: reading the report beside your food, supplements, medicines and symptoms, working out which findings are worth acting on and which can be left alone, and turning that into changes you can actually keep. If low energy is the main thing you’re living with, our page on how we work with fatigue and brain fog lays out the wider approach.
If you’ve decided a NutriSTAT is the right next step, we offer it as the Complete Nutritional Blueprint. Its page has the options, including having your report read with a clinical nutritionist.
Not sure a NutriSTAT is the right test?
Whether you’re weighing it up, or you have a report in front of you and don’t know what matters, a short call is usually enough to work out the next step.
Book a free 15-minute callFifteen minutes on the phone with Georgina, at no cost. Bring any results you already have.
Common questions about the NutriSTAT test
What does a NutriSTAT test for?
It combines a fasting blood collection and a first-morning urine sample into one report covering eleven sections: metabolic markers such as cholesterol, glucose and CRP; kidney and liver function; iron studies, active B12, folate and vitamin D; a thyroid panel with antibodies; several hormones; red cell minerals; metals in whole blood; red cell fatty acids; plasma amino acids; urine organic acids; and summary pages. It doesn’t diagnose any condition.
Do I need to fast for a NutriSTAT test?
Yes. NutriPATH’s collection instructions ask for at least 8 to 10 hours of fasting before the blood collection, and water is fine. They also ask you to pause non-essential supplements for 4 days and avoid a list of foods and drinks, including coffee, tea, alcohol and several fruits, for 48 hours before the urine sample. Follow the instructions in your own kit.
What should I avoid before a NutriSTAT test?
Your kit asks you to pause non-essential supplements, including protein powders and creatine, for 4 days. If you’re not sure a supplement counts, ask us before you stop it. For 48 hours before the urine sample, skip alcohol, coffee, tea, caffeinated drinks and fruit juices, plus avocado, bananas, chocolate, cocoa, cheese, citrus fruits, grapes, kiwi fruit, pineapple, plums, tomatoes, walnuts, pecans and vanilla. For 24 hours before, avoid aspartame and MSG, so check the labels on sauces and packet foods, and don’t overdo any one food. If a food isn’t on these lists, it isn’t one the instructions ask you to avoid.
Can I take Panadol or my usual medicines before the test?
Your prescribed medicines stay as they are unless the doctor who prescribed them says otherwise. The collection instructions don’t mention paracetamol or other over-the-counter medicines, so if you’d usually take something, ask us before collection day.
Where do I have the blood collected?
At a pathology collection centre that NutriPATH has an arrangement with in your state, such as Melbourne Pathology in Victoria, QML Pathology in Queensland, or Douglass Hanly Moir or Southern IML Pathology in New South Wales. The kit includes the tubes and a request form, and the collection is done in the morning, after the first-morning urine sample.
How long do NutriSTAT results take?
NutriPATH estimates about 21 business days from the day the laboratory receives your samples. That’s an estimate, and posting early in the week helps the samples arrive in the same working week.
Is a NutriSTAT the same as a blood test from my GP?
No. Part of it overlaps with blood tests a GP can order, such as iron studies, vitamin D and thyroid function, and it also includes red cell fatty acids, plasma amino acids and a urine organic acids section. Healthdirect notes that Medicare covers all or part of most common blood tests with a referral from your doctor, so if a doctor is already looking into your symptoms, those tests come first.
Do I need a GP referral for a NutriSTAT?
No. It’s a private test and we order it for you, so there’s no referral to organise. All three options are on our Complete Nutritional Blueprint page.
How much does a NutriSTAT cost in Australia?
It’s a private test, so Medicare doesn’t cover it. Postage and the blood collection fee are included in our prices. With us it comes as the Complete Nutritional Blueprint, in three ways. $890 is the test kit, the collection instructions and your full lab report. $1,040 adds a personalised video from a clinical nutritionist, talking you through your results. $1,120 swaps the video for a 60-minute Zoom consultation, where your results are read beside your symptoms and goals and you leave with a plan for food, lifestyle and supplements where they’re appropriate. That’s the one we recommend for a profile this detailed.
Is a NutriSTAT accurate?
Preparation is the big one. NutriPATH says that without its precautions your results may be inaccurate or you may need to collect again, which is why the kit’s so specific. A lot of the report is everyday pathology: iron studies, B12, folate, vitamin D and thyroid function are markers a GP can look at too, read against the lab’s reference ranges. The fatty acids, amino acids and urine organic acids are read as patterns, beside your symptoms, food and supplements.
Can a NutriSTAT tell me which supplements to take?
Not on its own. The report includes a nutritional guide with suggested doses generated from the organic acid results, and NutriPATH’s own disclaimer says the prescribing practitioner must take into account age, weight, sex, pregnancy, medicines, allergies and clinical state. Any supplement decision belongs in a conversation with whoever is managing your care.
Sources
- NutriPATH. NutriSTAT (test code 5005). Collection kit, spot urine, the 21 business day turnaround, and ordering through a referring practitioner.
- NutriPATH. Nutri-STAT Profile, sample report, 2023. Every section and marker listed on this page, and the Nutritional Guide with its disclaimer.
- NutriPATH. Nutri-STAT collection instructions, version 4, July 2023. Supplied in the collection kit. Collection days, fasting, supplement and food pauses, urine and blood collection and collection centres.
- Healthdirect Australia. Blood testing. Reference ranges, referrals and Medicare.
- Pathology Tests Explained. Tips on reading your results. Results flagged as abnormal that are still OK for you.
- Healthdirect Australia. Fatigue. When to see a doctor.
- Better Health Channel, Victorian Department of Health. Lead exposure and your health. The 5 µg/dL blood lead level.
Important: This page is general information written by a clinical nutritionist. It’s not medical advice and doesn’t replace care from your GP or another qualified health professional. Functional testing doesn’t diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. Read our full disclaimer.
Written and reviewed by Georgina Waugh
Clinical Nutritionist, BHSc Nutritional Medicine, member of the Australian Natural Therapists Association
Last updated: 5 November 2026
Sources reviewed: NutriPATH’s NutriSTAT test information, sample report and collection instructions, Healthdirect Australia, Pathology Tests Explained and the Better Health Channel