What a NutriSTAT test measures, and how to read it
NutriSTAT is a NutriPATH pathology profile that 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.
This guide covers what is in each section, how to prepare, and what a flagged result can and can’t tell you.
Written and reviewed by Georgina Waugh, Clinical Nutritionist. Updated 13 September 2026.
General information, not medical advice. A NutriSTAT does not 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 is normal for the population, not necessarily for you. It is a reason to look closer, not a verdict.
- NutriPATH says tests people request for themselves are meant for monitoring dietary and lifestyle changes, not for identifying illness or disease.
What is 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, and it is also the catch. Every marker is a chance to be flagged, and Pathology Tests Explained notes that something can be flagged as abnormal and still be perfectly OK for you. That is why how you prepare and who reads the report matter as much as the markers.
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 is 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. They are part of the picture, and they may answer the question before a wider test is needed.
How to prepare for a NutriSTAT test
Preparation is the part you control, and on this test it is 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. |
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 is 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 is 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 is 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 is 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 are 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 is a stool test question. |
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 there is a conversation with their GP before it is anything else.
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.
Either way, Wellbeing George does not diagnose or treat any condition. Where a clinical nutritionist fits is 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 are living with, our page on how we work with fatigue and brain fog lays out the wider approach.
If you have decided a NutriSTAT is the right next step, our version is 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 are 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. No test is booked on that call.
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 does not 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.
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 is 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.
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, collection centres, and the self-request statement.
- 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 is not medical advice and does not replace care from your GP or another qualified health professional. Functional testing does not diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. Read our full disclaimer.
Written and reviewed by Georgina Waugh
Clinical Nutritionist, BHSc Nutritional Medicine
Last updated: 13 September 2026
Sources reviewed: NutriPATH’s NutriSTAT test information, sample report and collection instructions, Healthdirect Australia, Pathology Tests Explained and the Better Health Channel