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From food to a lab result
Your cells process carbohydrate, fat, and protein.
Organic acids take part in many of these steps.
We review the measured compounds with your wider health picture.
A machine that adapts to the work
Think of your body as a living machine. Your cells turn energy stored in food into forms they can use. Training creates a demand on that system. With enough food and recovery, repeated practice can make the same work feel easier.
Those are the body's upgrades: adaptations to a stimulus it can recover from. More stress does not always mean more progress. An organic acids test adds clues about some of the reactions involved, alongside how you feel and perform.
What is an organic acids test?
An organic acids test measures small compounds in urine. Many take part in how your body breaks down food and uses nutrients. Others come partly from microbes or things you have eaten.
At Optimability, we use the Vibrant Wellness Organic Acids panel when it fits the client's plan. We review it alongside symptoms, blood work, food intake, medicines, and supplements to decide what deserves a closer look.
What could the results change?
A result might prompt a review of your meals, a targeted blood test, or a discussion with your clinician. We first ask whether it fits the problem you want help with.
Once a change is agreed, we help you follow through. That could mean more regular meals, a training load you can recover from, or a simpler supplement routine with a clear reason for each item.
We agree on how to track progress, including symptoms and daily habits. We use repeat testing when it can answer a question that would change the plan.
Learn to read one result
Methylmalonic acid (MMA) is a small compound made as your body processes some fats and amino acids. Vitamin B12 helps this pathway work. MMA can rise when B12 is low, but kidney function and other factors also matter.
Each row has a marker, a result, a unit, and a reference range. A flag tells you the result falls outside that lab's range. The example below lets you explore each part.
This panel adjusts results for urine creatinine to help account for how dilute the sample is. Always use the units and range printed on your own report.
What does each part of a result mean?
Real marker and report reference limit, with an invented result for learning. This is not a client result.
The marker name
Methylmalonic acid (MMA) is a real organic acid. Vitamin B12 helps the body process the pathway it belongs to. A raised result can prompt a closer look at B12.
From a finding to a useful next step
MMA is the B12-related marker introduced in the sample report. The walkthrough shows how a clinician might investigate that question before deciding what to do.
One finding, followed through
An educational scenario, not a client case or a supplement recommendation.
MMA raises a question
In this educational scenario, a urine MMA result is flagged. That may prompt a closer look at vitamin B12. A urine result alone does not establish the cause.
Question: is this finding relevant to the person's symptoms?
The marker groups, in plain language
Start with what each group covers. Open the marker names if you want to match them to a report.
Energy production
Compounds involved in turning food into usable energy.
View marker names for energy production
- Lactate
- Pyruvate
- Citrate
- Cis-aconitate
- Alpha-ketoglutarate
- Succinate
- Fumarate
- Malate
- Ketones
- Adipate
- Suberate
- Sebacate
Food intake, fasting, illness, and sample conditions can affect these results.
Vitamin-related markers
Results that may prompt a closer look at nutrient intake or further testing.
View marker names for vitamin-related markers
- Methylmalonic acid (MMA)
- Pyridoxic acid
A result may guide follow-up. It does not set a supplement dose or prove a deficiency on its own.
Protein breakdown
Compounds made as the body processes amino acids, the building blocks of protein.
View marker names for protein breakdown
- Phenylpyruvate
- 2-oxoisocaproate
Clinicians review the full pattern and health history. Specialized organic acid tests also help assess inherited metabolic disorders.
Microbial byproducts
Compounds that can come partly from microbes, with food and other factors also contributing.
View marker names for microbial byproducts
- Hippurate
- HPHPA
- 4-cresol
- Arabinose
- Tartaric acid
A urine result alone cannot establish Candida, a parasite, a specific gut infection, or mold exposure.
Chemical messenger breakdown
Traces from the processing of substances such as serotonin and dopamine.
View marker names for chemical messenger breakdown
- HVA
- VMA
- DOPAC
- 5-HIAA
- Kynurenic acid
- Quinolinic acid
These urine results do not directly measure neurotransmitter levels in the brain.
Other metabolic pathways
Additional markers related to oxalates and reactions involved in the body's response to stress.
View marker names for other metabolic pathways
- Pyroglutamate
- 2-hydroxybutyrate
- Oxalate
- Glycolate
- Glycerate
Read these with the wider clinical picture. They do not measure total toxin load or establish a need for a detox program.
See where the energy markers come from
Your cells break down fuel through a series of reactions. Many happen inside mitochondria, small structures with a folded inner membrane. Those folds hold the machinery that makes much of your ATP, a molecule cells use to power work.
The Krebs cycle helps supply that machinery. Follow the four steps below, then explore the chemistry to see where markers such as citrate and succinate fit. Their urine levels do not tell us how efficiently a mitochondrion makes ATP.
How cells use fuel
Food supplies fuel
Your body breaks down food. Many of the resulting compounds feed the Krebs cycle inside mitochondria.
Carriers collect electrons
The cycle loads small carriers, including NADH, with electrons. These carry energy to the next set of reactions.
The inner membrane stores energy
Electrons move through a chain of proteins. This pumps charged particles called protons across the inner membrane, like filling a reservoir.
ATP synthase puts that energy to work
Protons flow back through ATP synthase, a tiny molecular machine. It uses that flow to make ATP, which powers cell work.
Where do oxygen, water, and carbon dioxide fit?
Oxygen accepts electrons at the end of the chain and helps form water. Carbon dioxide is released as fuel is broken down, including during the Krebs cycle. Some energy also leaves as heat.
The urine test measures related compounds leaving the body. It does not measure how much ATP you produce.
Free radicals: useful signals, too much stress
A free radical is a particle with an unpaired electron, which can make it quick to react. Your body makes some during normal cell activity. Oxygen-based reactive molecules are called reactive oxygen species, or ROS. Some ROS are free radicals; others are not.
Mitochondria help make ATP, the energy supply cells use for work. They also make reactive molecules. In small, controlled amounts, these molecules help cells send signals. Exercise creates signals that help muscles adapt. Mitochondria are only one source of them.
Oxidative stress happens when reactive molecules overwhelm the systems that keep them in check. This can damage cell fats, proteins, and DNA. The aim is balance, rather than removing every reactive molecule.
What does this have to do with your OAT?
The panel includes compounds such as pyroglutamate and 2-hydroxybutyrate, which relate to pathways involved in glutathione, one of the body's antioxidant systems. Their urine levels need context. They cannot tell us how many free radicals you have or show what your mitochondria look like.
We review a finding alongside food intake, training, sleep, and medical history. A flagged value does not automatically call for an antioxidant supplement. The next step should answer a clear question with your clinician.
Serotonin, dopamine, and the markers in your report
Serotonin and dopamine help cells send messages. They have several jobs across the body. When they are broken down, some of the resulting compounds can be measured in urine.
Compare their roles below, then switch to the pathways to see how they connect with your OAT report. These urine markers do not directly measure what's happening in the brain.
Serotonin & dopamine
Different roles. Both leave traces as the body breaks them down.
Serotonin
5-HT- Helps regulate mood, sleep, and appetite.
- Most of the body's serotonin is made in the gut, where it helps control movement of food.
Dopamine
DA- Helps with motivation and learning from rewards.
- Helps control movement. Its effects depend on where it acts and which receptors receive the signal.
Where do VMA and the other tryptophan markers fit?
Dopamine also leads to norepinephrine and epinephrine. VMA is a breakdown product of those messengers. This family is called the catecholamines.
Tryptophan can take another route through kynurenine. Its branches produce kynurenic acid and quinolinic acid, and one route contributes to making NAD+, a molecule involved in energy transfer.
What a result cannot tell you on its own
A flagged value needs context. Food, medicines, illness, kidney function, and collection conditions can affect results. A value inside the range also cannot rule out every health problem.
This panel does not measure your ATP output, diagnose mitochondrial disease, or explain every cause of fatigue. Persistent or worsening symptoms need medical assessment. Sleep loss and missed meals still matter, whatever the report says.
Common questions
No. This is a urine test. Some compounds can be linked to microbial activity, while a stool test looks at different markers in a different sample. The right choice depends on the question your clinician is trying to answer.
It may help guide follow-up, but fatigue has many possible causes. Poor sleep, anemia, thyroid disease, low food intake, and medication effects may also need review.
Follow your kit's current instructions and check with the ordering clinician. Do not stop prescribed medicine on your own. Tell the team what you take so they can interpret the results.
The next step may be a food change, another test, or no action after review. If a supplement is appropriate, agree on its purpose, dose, safety checks, and when to reassess it with your clinician.